Drivalia UK - EDINBURGH CENTRAL Reviews 

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!

Huge shoutout to Rob at Edinburgh Drivalia in the Omni Centre who was friendly and professional and made this a straightforward experience!
Would recommend this to anyone and will be using again.

Two things to be wary of. We were given a car with a dent and scrapes along one side but with no documentation of this at all, and they did not do any walk round with us even when we asked. It would have been very easy to have blamed us for the damage. Also they do not require the car to be returned with a full tank, so we had a problem estimating how much fuel to put in. Not very professional. Suggest you definitely photograph car and dials on hiring.

We booked a rental car via Economy Booking, fully insured. But at Drivalia they Saïd there was no insurance at the car, so we had to pay an extra 300 euro, on top of 300 euro for a VW up, one week. Crazy! We Will never use Drivalia again, neither Economy Booking

Drivalia and Enjoy Travel operate together in a way that feels like a coordinated scam.

I booked a car through Enjoy Travel at 10:50 AM — it was shown as available. I arrived at the Drivalia branch at 11:30 AM, and the car was not there. The Drivalia employee said the booking was made too close to the pickup time and that the availability on the Enjoy Travel website doesn’t match what they actually have. He offered a different car — not an upgrade, just the only vehicle left — and told us to call Enjoy Travel for a refund.

We called several times and never got an answer. I also emailed Enjoy Travel explaining everything, but they refused to help. They claimed I accepted an “upgrade” and used a new rental contract signed at Drivalia as supposed proof — but it was a completely separate booking. I was never given a choice.

In the end, I paid for a car I never received, was forced to pay again for another car, and neither company took responsibility. They blame each other and hide behind paperwork, making it impossible to get your money back.

This was clearly a setup between Drivalia and Enjoy Travel — one shows fake availability, the other pretends it’s not their fault, and the customer is left to pay the price.

Rob was brilliant and helped when I had a problem with opening the fuel cap.

They charge an extra fee without warning or consent. I ask them, but they don't respond. I've complained to Visa, of course, and they've been reported. Overall, the experience has been terrible.

Booking ref. 3259378 - worst rental experience EVER. Read every sentence from their website and DON'T book unless you are 100% sure you're ok with the requirements. I was sure, but looks I didn't read all their website and didn't call or come to the branch in person before booking.

Both support and branch manager said it's my responsibility to check the requirements and they will not give me the car. I agree with this responsibility in general, but it turned out that my documents were ok with requirements from one page (DRIVALIA_WEBSITE/mandatory-documents/ and also section 9 "Cancellation refund" from account page) and, they think, not ok with requirements from the other page (DRIVALIA_WEBSITE/rental-terms/). IMHO: they kinda contradict each other. As a result their insurance company didn't want to approve the insurance for the rent and they could not sign the contract. Drivalia stated that in this case they will not do any refund!!! I couldn't even use the insurance which I prepaid on their official website, because the insurance company did not agree to sign the rental agreement in the first place.

And you know what happened when I created query CS-3259378-01 and described everything (really detailed, with screenshots of their own requirements on different pages)?? They said they forwarded it to their branch support team.. and just closed the query!

It's a shame. I never had such an issue for 10 years of rentals on at least 3 continents. You're free to not give me the car, but in that case I should get the refund for not rendered services (minus some penalty) - this was kind of a rule of thumb, but it seems it doesn't work for every company these days.

Thanks, Drivalia, probably you know what to do with my "honestly expropriated" 176.08 GBP. Will never come back and will dissuade my friends to use your "service".