Driving in Tuscany

Apart from the fact that the car we received was dirty and hadn't been cleaned properly, everything else was fine. There was no hard sell of expensive insurance. We added full coverage at the counter for 20 euros a day, which met our expectations, and for safety, we opted for full coverage. Adding an extra driver was 10 euros a day. The translation booklet from QEEQ allowed us to rent with a domestic driver's license. Remember to ask for the exact return address, as the one provided by QEEQ was not accurate. We refueled about 10-20 km away from the return spot. During the inspection, they said the tank wasn't full, and we had to either pay 100 euros or fill it up ourselves. We drove back and added 7 euros of fuel nearby, so it's best to refuel close to the return location.

This local Italian car rental company is very laid-back, no upselling at all. What you book is what you get. I had to ask for full insurance myself for it to be added. The rental location at Florence train station has separate spots for paperwork and car pickup. It's about a five-minute walk between them. Most importantly, the car pickup spot is in a garage outside the ZTL, which is very convenient! Once you finish the paperwork and walk over, the car is already prepared. There were no staff members around to explain anything, very laid-back! You inspect the car yourself and contact staff if there are any issues. During the paperwork, the staff told me to return the car with a full tank of fuel. I assumed the car was full when I picked it up, but it wasn't! I filled it up upon return and realized it wasn't full when I picked it up. I mentioned this to the staff when returning the car, and he just smiled and said I simply spent a bit more money but there was nothing he could do.

Firstly, the pickup address didn't match the one provided in the order. It was supposed to be 74, but it was actually 100, which cost us half an hour. Secondly, the first car they gave us was broken. The rental company handed me the keys, and when I went to the garage to collect the car from the intermediary, I found it was broken. The intermediary didn't care, so I had to walk 300 meters back to the rental company to get a replacement car, which took another hour. Lastly, after admitting the car issue and apologizing for their service attitude, the new car had only 6 liters of fuel when it should have had a full tank of 52 liters. When returning the car, they refused to refund the fuel difference, implying it was my bad luck to get a broken car. Seriously?

The lady who helped us when we switched cars was very nice and even showed us the way to the parking lot.

Sicily by Car was forcing me to buy additional insurance after I repeatedly told them that I already had purchased extended insurance. The attendant then informed me that I had to put an $800 hold on my car. At that point I decided to walk away and not rent the car with them. This ruined my plans to visit Tuscan wineries. Never again!