Carwiz Croatia Reviews 39

In more than 30 years of renting cars around the world, I have never experienced such an extraordinary level of unprofessionalism and poor customer treatment. What I encountered here went far beyond simple incompetence — it reflected a disturbing combination of arrogance, deceptive practices, and what can only be described as outright fraud. This was, without question, the worst rental experience I have ever had.

The staff will aggressively try to sell you additional insurance that is often unnecessary. If you refuse, be prepared for potential problems later. In my case, after returning the vehicle, they claimed damage that did not exist and charged an excessive amount for it.

This is the first rental company I have ever encountered that expects customers to wash and clean the car before returning it. If you do not, they will simply add additional charges.

The entire process gives the impression that the company’s main objective is to cheat and extract as much money as possible from each customer rather than provide a fair and professional service. Customer satisfaction and reputation appear to be of little concern.

In Western Europe, a company operating in this manner would have long ago been prohibited from doing business. Unfortunately, in parts of the Balkans such practices are still tolerated, where too often business is conducted with a “live from today to tomorrow” mentality rather than with professionalism, accountability, and respect for customers.

After decades of renting cars globally, I can confidently say this is a company best AVOIDED. I strongly recommend choosing another rental provider.

Non-transparent damage charges Carwiz Rijeka, Croatia

I was charged €460 for alleged tyre damage plus an €80 admin fee at vehicle return, without clear explanation or repair documentation.

Later, a different amount was stated and a partial refund issued.
Carwiz refused to provide any workshop invoice and relied solely on internal assessments.

The entire insurance process was left to me, causing unnecessary delays and wasted time.

Not professional. Not transparent. Not recommended.

Happy with the service. Had to wait a bit when picking and droping but kind stuff. Great price. Not happy as I was charged at the end because the car was dirty from outside. I never heard anything more silly then that. I understand if I make the car messy inside but from outside you cannot avoid it as its winter, road wet, snowing...So I dont remember anyone even mentioning that to me and personally didn't had time to read the contract. So when I drop the car back the young lad said all is good and then in a short time I saw on my online bank I was charged 10£ for bringing a dirty car (from outside). What a nonsence. Overal good experience and price. Please you cannot charge people for bringing a dirty car on outside common. Please, change that. Thank you. Best wishes.

Such a shame that an otherwise perfect hire was spoilt by Carwiz running a cleaning fee scam! At time of booking with Expedia there was no mention anywhere in the Terms and Conditions of a mandatory 10 euro cleaning fee. We returned the car perfectly clean and yet several days after our return this scam charge was made. Carwiz simply ignored my plea to refund the charge. However, Expedia takes scamming more seriously and admitted that the charge wasn't explained in the terms and conditions and had no choice but to refund me the charge. As I said, such a shame that Carwiz tried to pull such a pathetic scam!

The rental price was reasonable but additional charge for islands of 100 eur? When I returned the car there was noone to check the condition. At the counter they claimed that it is only one person working and that I should not worry. The car had more scratches than documented so I took bunch of pictures and uploaded those. I would not recommend.

Beware of scams! At the counter, they suddenly demanded the credit card, hidden in the fine print. Without it, we wouldn’t have gotten the car or our already paid money back. We were forced to pay overpriced insurance and cleaning fees, and the staff was rude, unhelpful, and completely unreasonable. In the end, we paid almost three times the original price. Absolutely untrustworthy – never again CarWiz!

In Croatia, Carwiz is a a spammer. They lure their victims via Booking.com and Rentalcars.com.
I spent four days driving around Dubrovnik. I took pictures of a pre-existing scratch that wasn't in their pictures before I left.
False claims of a pre-existing scratch were made when I was dropped off at the Zagreb airport.
The manager declined to verify the scratch with me and complete his task.
Even though it was decided that I would post my photo after I got back home, his greed and the ingrained habit of robbing others of their money made him not wait. I was shocked to learn that he had charged me EUR 440 even though I had promised to provide him a picture of the existing scratch.

It was evident from reading their evaluations that they treat any client who chooses not to purchase their insurance or does not make a direct reservation with them in the same way.
Carwiz was the worst part of my vacation and, in my forty years of renting cars, the worst car I have ever had. They are holiday spoilers, and I wrote to Booking.com and Rentalcars.com requesting to consider banning them from trading on their platforms, where they fish for victims to rip them off.
I advise Carwiz's victims to take action and sue him wherever they are, if at all possible. I refuse to let Carwiz defraud my insurance company or me. The manager's entire point was that since my insurance would cover me and he was prepared to provide the necessary paperwork, I shouldn't be troubled. It's that unethical, unprofessional, and illegal...
Unless you purchase their own insurance and rent straight from them, renting a car from Carwiz puts you at risk of ruining your vacation and getting into a fight at drop-off. Avoid becoming the next victim of Carwiz's fraud.

Awful experience

Carwiz is one of the dodgiest rental companies I’ve ever dealt with in over 30 years of hiring cars across Europe. The car they gave me was nothing like what I booked – it was an old, filthy, high-mileage vehicle in disgusting condition. It was misrepresented as a new model but turned out to be several years old with over 60,000 km, bald tyres, missing hubcaps, and an interior that looked like it had never been cleaned. Totally unroadworthy.

To make matters worse, their office was closed when I arrived, and I had to wait for the so-called sales agent to return from “running his other businesses.” When he finally showed up, he tried to force me into buying overpriced insurance using high-pressure, aggressive tactics. When I questioned the condition of the vehicle, he became hostile and argumentative.

This company is completely unprofessional, dishonest, and should be avoided at all costs. If you value your safety, money, and sanity, do not rent from Carwiz.

We called and asked for a delay to pick up. Because of delays in our travel plans we were worried about being able to pick up on time. They said if we weren’t able to pick up within 1 hour of schedule the booking would be lost and we would need to pay for a completely new booking at twice the price. Luckily we were able to arrive on time, but if we hadn’t…

We were then charged 900 euro for a minor scratch on the car. The level of scrutiny , desperately seeking something to charge us on, was an indicator of their business model

Do not use. Totally unprofessional scanmers

The good:
• Cheapest option we could find through a broker
• Car was clean, full of fuel, and ready to go
• Fast pickup despite a late-night arrival
• Early morning drop-off was smooth
• €10 cleaning fee is fair
• They provide a full overview of pre-existing scratches – take your own photos with equal attention to detail

The bad:
• Google said the office was closed when it wasn’t – caused unnecessary stress
• Would’ve felt safer buying insurance directly from Carwiz; office staff don’t know what the broker covers
• Broker promised a VW or similar – we got an Opel
• The €10 cleaning wasn’t mentioned. Should be stated or absorbed in the cost.
• Carwiz really needs to address the many “scam” reviews online – they don’t reflect our experience, but they nearly scared us off

Their rates are high. Would not recommend

Carswiz not Carwiz! Do not use this company!! We made a booking some weeks before our holiday to Croatia based on a form that asked us all about wanting to cover two drivers, needing to take a ferry and needing to return the car by 2pm on our last day away. We filled in all the forms they sent ahead. But when we turned up to pick up the car to start our planned road trip we were told they had none of this on their record, the quote we’d been given was based on the basic rental and we’d now have to pay extra for all the elements we needed on top. This was unless we took the full insurance package of around €300 and then they’d be prepared to make us a deal on the other extra costs. Either way we felt completely tricked as we’d budgeted based on the price we had been quoted, chosen this company based on that quote and now found we would have to pay around 3/4 of the same amount again to leave with a car that covered our needs for the trip whatever we did. When we did try, in despair, to avoid messing all our other plans up, to agree a price then our credit card was repeatedly declined. We called the bank and were told it was working fine and there was no record of it being declined. We think the guy had decided that as they couldn’t wring us out for the full price they weren’t going to accept our business. We guess Carwiz hope by giving you a basic quote to get your business you will then just agree under pressure on the day you need to travel to pay everything on top.

Reading these other reviews we realised we were not alone in this experience and our only option was to walk away. We felt we couldn’t trust anything with this company. Not helped by the previous customers coming back in to ask if there wasn’t another car they could have, to be told not. We lost half a day of our holiday and had a lot of stress, leaving our accommodation late, but eventually found another fantastic car rental company that showed us how an honest, straightforward, professional car rental service can work. Yes we did end up paying them more than Carwiz wanted from us, but we needed a car and we didn’t feel tricked which has given us confidence we would never have had with Carwiz.

Do not use this company. Just been charged 560 Euros for a tiny scratch on a wheel arch which I’m virtually certain I didn’t cause. As everyone has said, staff just sit smirking - and there is nothing you can do but pay or they’ll claim your whole deposit. These rip off repair charges are clearly how they make this money. Avoid.

To the Dear Carwiz Team,

My name is Sira Salinas, and I recently rented a car from your agency between July 26th and June 7th. I am writing to formally express my dissatisfaction with several aspects of the service I received during this rental period.

First and foremost, upon picking up the car, we were subjected to a high-pressure sales approach to purchase an additional insurance policy, despite already having coverage. The language and tone used by the staff were uncomfortably intimidating, clearly intended to persuade us into buying more coverage than necessary. This created unnecessary stress at the beginning of our trip.

Secondly, the vehicle we were provided with broke down in Pula. We reported the incident immediately, yet it took an entire day for a replacement vehicle to arrive. When the car was finally delivered, it arrived with only half a tank of fuel and was in poor interior condition — noticeably dirty and not properly cleaned for use.

Finally, upon returning the vehicle to Split Airport, we ensured the car was in better condition than we received it. It was returned with more fuel and was cleaner than the one delivered in Pula. Despite this, we were charged €50 from the €200 deposit without any clear explanation. This charge feels entirely unjustified, given the circumstances.

I believe these practices — both the pressure to upsell insurance and the lack of clarity and fairness regarding deposit charges — reflect poorly on your company’s professionalism and customer care.

I would appreciate a clear explanation for the €50 charge and hope you take this feedback seriously to improve your service for future customers.

Sincerely

Sira Salinas

Absolutely shocking! Please avoid this company! They have taken 1430 euros from my card for a tiny scratch that was probably there before we hired the car! My husband works as a vehicle paint sprayer and this scratch will easily buff out and won’t need painting! Not sure how they can justify charging this amount of money! The 2 members of staff at the desk @ pula airport sat smirking at us as they claimed another victim! I should have read all the reviews as these scratches seem to happen a lot! Let’s just say I feel
For the next people who rent this car as they will be stung too! I will never use car wiz again and please stay clear of them!

Awful Experience! Like others, tried charging us to pay extra for insurance & then added hidden fees onto the bill once we arrived & they knew it was too late

Final straw was them charging a cleaning fee even though the car arrived back to them spotless.

As soon as we arrived to get our car for the week . 2 customers had been at the desk that had been charged for supposed damage to the car. When we arrive back at the airport we had the same experience, a scratch had appeared on the car. They conveniently charged us the exact amount of our insurance excess. Things to consider:

1) don't leave the car once you return to the Pula airport. Do not give them an opportunity to be alone with the car before they check it

2) book with more reputable brand as they will likely have global T&C's

Bad experience. Would not recommend

Carwiz will lure you with low listed rental prices, but it will cost you much more at the end.
They play fraudulent tricks at the end of rental by claiming there is a scratch under the bumper, which I did not cause, and could not be seen upon picking up the car and performing a normal inspection. They will charge you hundreds of euros, 430 in my case. Avoid at all costs.

1. All cars are not in good condition. Key fob batteries must be checked and replaced at regularly.
2. My car does not even have parking sensors, no android auto.
3. Lost key cover not available in the full insurance cover even though they charge high amount for Full insurance cover
4. Check-out process takes long time. Keep 30min to 1hr time for this for worst case scenarios.
5. Friendly staff (5* for this)