Drivalia UK - EDINBURGH CENTRAL Reviews 

Rob is Great！

STAY WELL CLEAR OF THESE COWBOYS (EDINBURGH CENTRAL - GREENDSIDE ROW) Do not hire from this company - utter scammers. Half day hire paid online at a reasonable £53 … until I went to pick up the van. Extra £20 for not having a credit card (obvs very small print … and I had already paid!!). Then an extra £44 because I was not returning it after hrs atl 6pm (nothing obvious on the website to highlight this reticular charge .. why a charge anyway, returning it late invites no extra costs to them. (I offered to take it back earlier to avoid the charge - not a chance, pal, you’ve already paid for the hrs!). Reputable Companies don’t charge extra for this). And then the van itself .. rent a wreck! Bashed, cabin smelt like an ashtray and looked like the inside of a bin. Front tyre clearly illegally bare tread, inside of the van hadn’t been cleaned from previous use (clearing a garden or something) as it was full of weeds and muddy) It was embarrassing. And the staff member was arrogant, disinterested and obviously used to giving the tired blurb about ‘terms and conditions’. Shambolic disgrace. SO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. PLEASE STICK WITH PROPER HIRE COMPANIES!!

Service is perfect as always

Excellent service from Rob, always very friendly and helpful.
I’ve rented 4 cars in the past few weeks and they have always been in good condition and well turned out.
I would recommend them for rental in central Edinburgh.

My wife and I decided to book the car in Edinburgh Waverley at the last minute and took the first morning slot on 12 November. We got served by the very cheerful Rob who gave a very good car for our use to drive up the Scottish Highlands and assured us it will be an enjoyable drive. He went thru the pick up and drop off checklist items to note thoroughly and everything was smooth and we were able to set off our journey immediately. In my opinion, Drivalia’s car, rental prices & customer service support is good overall. Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would like to say thank you to Robb who made our process of borrowing car as great as possible. We recommend this company by all means.

The car company allows you to book to hire a car at 1pm on a Sunday in Edinburgh City Centre, but closes at 1pm... This is not communicated at the point of purchase, as most cars don't let you arrive before your booking as they won't let you have the car until your allotted time. Furthermore, the company has no customer service at this time, and gave no help or guidance. I stayed overnight to pick up the car on Monday morning instead, to which they said they have cancelled the booking (a week later I still have received no cancellation) and tried to charge me triple the amount. Crazy! The man in the shop who I spoke to was extremely rude, and had no intention of trying to help me, only scam me out of more money. Terrible. I had to find alternative arrangements, and still don't have any sign of my money being returned.

People only write when something goes wrong but I want to express my thanks to Sam, it was the fastest pick up ever and drop off was also very fast so I can only say thank you and we had excellent service

First of all, they gave us a dirty car in exchange for a full tank of gas that wasn't there because the tank was only about half full. Upon returning it, we had to pay an extra £60 for going to the Isle of Mull, as a small paragraph in the contract—which you don't have time to read—states that if you want to go to the Scottish islands, you must pay this completely unjustified and fraudulent fee. The car was old, and had a rather high mileage on it. They don't have an airport location, but you have to take a shuttle, so the location is inconvenient. If you can, avoid it.

I'm warning everyone about this rental company. I rented a car from this company, and after driving a dozen or so kilometers, the car stopped working, the clutch failed. The rental company said it was my fault and took my deposit. Of course, I didn't get another car. I'll just mention that I've been driving for 35 years and have driven about 2 million kilometers in my life. I'm also a mechanic with over 30 years of experience. I drive various cars daily and have had no problems. Unfortunately, they didn't buy it. I know it definitely wasn't my fault. I received a faulty car, and now they want to repair it at my expense. They're scammers, that's all. Avoid them completely because a cheap rental will turn into a very, very, very expensive one. Renting a car for 2 days will cost me over 1500 euros if I don't manage to get my deposit back, and it seems that way, because they don't respond to emails with complaints. I will try all methods to get my money back, but it will cost me a lot of time and my nerves, so be careful of these scammers.

0n September 10th, we rented a Škoda car, and after drobiny a few kilometra, It starter smoking. Without investigating the cause, the rental company Staff claimed IT was our fault. I am sure the car was damaged beforehand, and they where trying to deceive US.

Terrible experience with Drivalia.
My email address was not saved properly in their system, so I was never informed about a parking ticket I received while using their service. Because of this, the fine escalated unnecessarily and I was only informed 3 months later via a recovery service letter.

On top of that, Drivalia tried to deduct money from my account — without any explanation — for a so-called “processing fee” related to the ticket. This fee was supposed to cover notifying me, but I was never notified. Months later, that amount was further inflated by a different fishy recovery service, which harassed me by text message with a suspicious, non-functioning payment link. No letters, no proper communication: just confusion and stress.

It took me weeks to understand what was going on. The whole process lacked transparency, felt extremely unfair, and seemed designed to trap customers with hidden charges and fine print.

I do not recommend Drivalia.

I arrived at Edinburgh airport to collect my car and it’s took over 1.5hours before I was able to access the car. Basically there wasn’t enough staff for the amount of bookings on the day. This all lead to me being later for a very important meeting.

Avoid at all costs! Worst car hire experience we’ve ever had. It took forever just to get the car, and when we finally did, it was filthy inside and out and handed to us with no fuel, we barely made it to the next gas station.To make things worse, they forced us to buy their overpriced insurance, even though we had full coverage through our credit card. They justify it by requiring an outrageous £60,000 collision coverage (a sneaky tactic, since most US credit cards already cover up to $65K, which is more than enough anywhere else). This is clearly how they trap customers. They market themselves as the “cheaper option,” but in reality, they nickel and dime you at every step. Unprofessional, dishonest, and stressful from start to finish. 🚫 Stay far away from Drivalia in Edinburgh, go with literally any other company if you value your time, money, and sanity.

EDIT: Expedia has already contacted you multiple times on my behalf to request cancellation and refund of the unnecessary insurance that was added to my booking. Despite their efforts, you have repeatedly denied approval. I have also personally tried to reach out directly and received no response from your team, which makes this situation even more unacceptable.

Rental Agreement No. 3323934

Since you have refused to resolve this matter directly, I will now be filing a formal complaint with UK consumer protection authorities (Citizens Advice / Trading Standards).I am giving you one final opportunity to process the refund of the insurance portion of my booking immediately before escalation proceeds.

Really friendly and efficient service both on pick up a drop off. Good value

Rob at the city centre branch was great. Made sure all my questions were answered and the car was fantastic!

We had a great experience with the rental car company in our first UK driving trip! Sam from the Edinburgh Central - City Centre Drivalia helped us immensely on check-in - he was very kind, able to get us into our rental car quickly and was a very personable individual. We came in feeling nervous as we had never rented a car before and we were able to joke with each other, which helped to calm us down before embarking. We didn't run into any issues with our 5 day road trip across the Scottish Highlands and returning the car on our last day was seamless with no hidden charges which was appreciated. Overall you have a great team of people and we really enjoyed our rental especially for the price we paid :)

I had an absolutely fantastic experience renting a van from Drivalia Edinburgh City last Wednesday (July 16, 2025). The entire process was incredibly smooth and straightforward, earning them a well-deserved 5-star rating.
From the moment I needed to rent a van for the day, the process was easy and efficient. The instructions provided on how to find their location within Q-Park OMNI (Level -4) were clear and accurate, making the pickup hassle-free.
What truly made the experience exceptional, however, was the customer service. Rob was outstanding – incredibly friendly, professional, and went above and beyond to ensure I had everything I needed. His excellent service made a significant positive impression.
The van itself was in good condition, and the rental terms were clear. I highly recommend Drivalia Edinburgh City for anyone looking for a reliable and customer-focused vehicle rental, especially if you're lucky enough to be assisted by Rob!

Rob was fantastic. Very helpful

The guys down at drivalia in Edinburgh central were extremely helpful, joyful and efficient in setting me and my girlfriend with a hire car. Only took 10 minutes and we were on our way!