Drivalia Italia Reviews 

⚠️ DISABLED TRAVELLERS SHOULD THINK VERY CAREFULLY BEFORE BOOKING WITH DRIVALIA.

Our flight arrived around 30 minutes late. My partner, who has a disability and uses crutches, then had to wait over an hour for airport assistance to help her disembark. This was entirely beyond our control.

We explained the situation to Drivalia and provided evidence of her disability. Their response was to apply the “no-show” rule anyway: no car, no refund, and the money already paid was kept.

The result was shocking: a disabled passenger was left stranded at the airport without the vehicle we had booked and paid for, because the disability assistance she DEPENDS ON caused our delay.

Is this really how Drivalia wants its “no-show” policy to be applied to disabled customers?

This is not simply a complaint about poor customer service. It raises a serious question about accessibility, inclusion and the fair treatment of people with disabilities.

I am publicly asking Drivalia to review this case and issue the refund. If Drivalia resolves this situation fairly, I will of course update this review accordingly.

Until then, travellers with disabilities or reduced mobility deserve to know how our situation was handled before deciding whether to book with this company.

Handed over an unroadworthy car – stay away!!

First car (Jeep Compass) at Palermo Airport: tyre already badly damaged at handover (chunk torn out, real risk of a blow-out – potentially life-threatening at speed), plus engine problems. This should never be on the road!!

The result: three cars in two days (one with broken A/C), a full holiday day (6+ hours) lost, and unhelpful staff.
Instead of an apology, Drivalia tried to blame me for the pre-existing tyre damage and repeatedly demanded the same proof. The upgrade fee I’d been pressured into was refunded only after a long back-and-forth – the extra fuel and the lost holiday day, to this day, were not.
A clear warning from me!!
Tip: always photograph everything at handover.

Absolutely avoid Drivalia Manchester.

This company appears to care far more about extracting money than looking after customers. I arrived only slightly outside their collection window because of a flight delay and airport transfer, and despite having already paid for an 8-day rental, I was told my car was gone.

Their “solution” was to charge me over £200 extra for another vehicle.

No flexibility, no genuine customer service, no reasonable attempt to help — just pay more or leave without a car.

After this experience, I would never use Drivalia again. In my opinion, this is an extremely customer-unfriendly, profit-first operation. Avoid.

NEVER NEVER NEVER book a car from this conpany!

Confirmed reservation, but no car available on arrival. Their solution: wait an hour and hope someone returns a car. No guarantee, and a long list of customers already waiting.

Staff were rude and simply said it wasn’t their problem. Apparently, a confirmed booking means absolutely nothing here.

Terrible attitude. Save yourself the trouble and book somewhere else.

We used Drivalia at the Rome Ciampino airport. The staff rudeness, insanely long waiting time and finally, the state of the car, made us question our decision of using this provider. Car was disgustingly filthy, smelled with sweat and stale dirt. All of the surfaces were covered with sticky dirt. Spillages on the carpets and other trim elements. Under-inflated tyre and empty screenwash reservoir. Only the fact that we were already very late stopped us from rejecting the vehicle. Scandalous service. First but certainly the last encounter with Drivalia.

They dont want to return back deposit either i paid everything!

Drivalia Sardinia – Confirmed Booking, No Vehicle Available and Extremely Poor Customer Service

We arrived at the Drivalia desk in Sardinia with our confirmed reservation, driving licence and identification. After waiting for approximately one hour, we were finally attended to.

At 10:57 a.m., the employee informed us that there were no vehicles available. We were told that we might have to wait at least five hours, without any guarantee that a vehicle would actually become available.

We repeatedly asked for written confirmation that Drivalia had no vehicle available, but the employee refused to provide anything in writing. We also asked her to contact Booking.com directly to confirm the situation and help find a solution. She refused to do this as well.

When we asked to submit a formal written complaint at the desk, we were told that there was no complaint form or complaint book available. The only option we were given was an email address written on a Post-it note.

The customer service was extremely disappointing. The employee was rude and dismissive, repeatedly interrupted us, raised her voice and shouted at us while we were trying to explain the situation. Communication was mainly through Google Translate, but there was no meaningful effort to assist us.

The situation became so uncomfortable that another Drivalia employee had to intervene. During the interaction, while we were trying to resolve the problem, the employee was also rolling cigarettes at the desk.

Because Drivalia could not provide the vehicle we had booked, could not guarantee when one would become available and offered no practical alternative, we had to find another rental company and lost more than half a day of our holiday.

We did not cancel the booking and we did not fail to collect the vehicle. We arrived as agreed, with a confirmed reservation and all the required documentation. Drivalia simply had no vehicle available for us.

This was an extremely stressful and disappointing experience. The lack of assistance, the refusal to provide written confirmation and the way we were treated by the employee were completely unacceptable.

I would not recommend Drivalia based on this experience.

Absolut Bad Service. We booked a car and already paid for it. At place when we wanted to pick up the car, they did refuse to take our card as guarantee, nor did they accept another credit card, nor did they provide any sufficient service. Not at all to recommend. No problem to get a car at the rental next door. Do not book there.

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE – ABSOLUTELY AVOID THIS COMPANY

The worst car rental company I have ever dealt with. An absolutely unacceptable and deeply disappointing experience. An absolutely disgraceful experience.

When the car was handed over to us, all the existing damage was already clearly listed in the rental agreement. Before driving away, we carefully inspected the vehicle and personally verified every single one of the damages already mentioned in the contract, taking photographs of each one.

Despite this, when we returned the car, €1,300 was charged to our credit card for damage that was already present and officially recorded in the rental agreement at the time of pickup.

We provided the rental documentation and the photographs taken when we collected the car, which clearly confirm what was already stated in the contract. Yet we received no serious response, no proper assistance, and no meaningful resolution.

This is completely unacceptable. It is unbelievable that a customer can be charged for pre-existing damage that was already documented in the rental agreement and additionally photographed at the time of pickup, and then receive no proper response when disputing the charge.

Professionalism: absolutely zero. Customer service: practically nonexistent. Handling of complaints: disgraceful.

After this experience, I will never rent a car from this company again, and I strongly advise everyone to think twice before doing so. There are plenty of alternatives — choose another company.

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ESPERIENZA PESSIMA – ASSOLUTAMENTE DA EVITARE
La peggiore compagnia di autonoleggio con cui abbia mai avuto a che fare. Un’esperienza assurda e profondamente deludente.

Al momento della consegna dell’auto, tutti i danni già presenti erano regolarmente indicati nel contratto di noleggio. Prima di partire abbiamo controllato attentamente la vettura e abbiamo constatato personalmente tutti i danni già riportati nel contratto, fotografandoli uno per uno.

Nonostante ciò, al momento della riconsegna ci sono stati addebitati 1.300 euro sulla carta di credito per danni che erano già presenti e già ufficialmente registrati nel contratto al momento del ritiro.

Abbiamo fornito la documentazione e le fotografie scattate al momento della consegna, che confermano quanto già risultava dal contratto, ma nessun riscontro serio, nessuna soluzione e nessuna assistenza concreta.

Una gestione a dir poco inaccettabile. È inconcepibile che un cliente possa essere addebitato per danni preesistenti, già dichiarati nel contratto e ulteriormente documentati al momento del ritiro, senza ricevere poi una risposta adeguata quando presenta una contestazione.

Professionalità pari a zero. Assistenza praticamente inesistente. Gestione della contestazione vergognosa.

Dopo questa esperienza, non noleggerò mai più un’auto con questa compagnia e sconsiglio vivamente di farlo a chiunque. Prima di affidarvi a loro, valutate molto attentamente le alternative.
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Exceptional service and a truly seamless experience at Drivalia – Milan Linate Airport ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From the moment I arrived, my experience with Drivalia was exceptional.

I arrived approximately 30 minutes late, and to make matters worse, my mobile phone had completely run out of battery. Despite this, Kim welcomed me with remarkable kindness and professionalism. He immediately reassured me, kindly offered to charge my phone, and made the entire process feel effortless.

He also very generously upgraded my vehicle, which was an unexpected and much-appreciated gesture.

What truly stood out, however, was the level of care and attention to detail. Travelling abroad and dealing with rental formalities can sometimes be stressful, but Kim handled everything with such efficiency, patience, and genuine courtesy that the entire experience was remarkably smooth and enjoyable.

This is exactly what exceptional customer service should look like: professional, attentive, thoughtful, and genuinely welcoming.

I highly recommend Drivalia, and in particular the team at the Milan Linate Airport counter. Kim deserves special recognition for his outstanding service and for making what could have been a stressful arrival such a pleasant experience.

A truly first-class experience from beginning to end.

Long que at counter 1 person dealing with lots of customers
Customer experience poor non existent. Rude man at pick up
Lots of damage to body of car photos to prove. Complained but wouldnt accept car is not fit for purpose
Dont go there. Dont entrust your family with their cars

Unsafe car, filthy on delivery, and no one answers: Drivalia Turin Airport (Caselle)

Collected a Cenntro Torres at 10:43 on 2 September 2026 (RA 007999). The car was handed over filthy inside and out. I complained immediately; I was told 20 minutes and waited an hour, after which the interior had been roughly vacuumed, but the exterior was untouched.

A few hours later I heard metal grinding from the wheels. A rear brake pad was worn through to the backing plate, and the disc was scored. At 58,600 km, this is worn-out maintenance, not something that happened in an afternoon. I stopped driving it for safety.

Since yesterday afternoon, I have called the branch, the Drivalia roadside assistance line, and the branch manager's mobile, sent an email with photos to the branch address, messaged on WhatsApp and left a voicemail. It is now 10:45 on 3 September. Not one reply from anyone.

I am in Italy on a paid 11-day rental with an unsafe car I cannot use and a company I cannot reach.

Check the brakes before you drive off, photograph everything, and do not expect anyone to pick up the phone if something goes wrong.

I reserved on-line from Drivalia in September of 2025. The staff was quick, and pleasant at the Siderno, RC location. They had an extra manual car and gave it to me at no additional charge. I'm renting again from them this September for 9 days and will post on how my experience is again. But so far, i've been very happy.

Drivalia are thieves - we booked a car online. After arriving at the Milan airport, we were told that we were not allowed to rent it unless we had a credit card. As I know this is often an issue with rental companies, I specifically looked for a company that allows drivers to rent a car using their debit card. There was absolutely no information on their website that stated this. At the airport, the lady at the counter told us that if we did not have a credit card, she could cancel the order and we would have the money returned (as we booked online). We agreed, and she proceeded to cancel the online order. Mind you, this meant that we had to go to a different company in the middle of the night and pay an airport premium for renting a new car, even after spending hours booking a car online through Drivalia.

Drivalia never returned the money - even though their sales assistant repeatedly confirmed that we would get the money back since we never used the car. My boyfriend has contacted Drivalia many times since then regarding the refund, yet all he's getting are generic responses, often with INCORRECT information regarding the case, such as a charge for the mileage (we have never even seen the car in person; how can we be charged for driving it?).

Drivalia's process is straight-up theft. They ensured that we will never book through them again.

do not rent from VERY HARD TO GET YOR MONEY BACK

A terrible experience. This felt like a complete cash grab and a clear lack of transparency during the booking process.
We had a paid reservation for €280. Upon arriving at the counter to pick up the car, we were told a physical credit card was required to hold the deposit. Because we only had a debit card, we were forced to pay over €750 extra for their Premium insurance ("Debit Pack") just to take the vehicle—more than tripling the original cost of our rental.
What makes this truly dishonest is how they hide this requirement:
Misleading booking flow: During the initial booking, they display Visa and Mastercard acceptance with a subtle asterisk, hiding the fine print away at the bottom of the page.
Information delivered post-payment: The actual details regarding the compulsory "Debit Pack" for debit cards are only emailed to you after the reservation is already confirmed and paid for, never beforehand.
They take advantage of the fact that you are stuck at the desk with no alternative transportation to force you into paying for an overpriced insurance policy. A thoroughly manipulative practice. I will never rent from Drivalia again and strongly advise others to avoid them.

Against my wishes, I ended up paying for the prime debit card package as I do not own a credit card. They pre-authorized 400€ for the deposit on my card and instead of releasing it after I returned the car in the same shape as i picked it up with a full tank, they collected the 400€. It has been nearly a month since I returned the vehicle without any damage and started a dispute via their customer complaint email and the only thing that I got back from them is generic response over and over. Nor will they release the 400€, nor will they send me proof of release.

Shifty. Returned a rental vehicle in perfect condition. Then they deducted for damage but cant send us photos of the damage...because there isn't any.
Will never rent from these dishonest criminals again.

Update: Despite providing further details of my experience to Drivalia they have decided not to respond.

I provide this review to assist other travellers in not being scammed as I was.

Drivalia, Lamezia Terme Airport.
The rental price seemed attractive, but there was a reason for that...
Online booking was easy. Vehicle pickup at the airport was rather slow (about 1 hour waiting at the counter).
Vehicle handover was poor: nobody was present in the parking area, the contract was signed on a tablet and sent only by email.
The real issue came at vehicle return.
We were charged for damages that we did not cause and that, unfortunately, partly due to inexperience and partly due to trust, we had not noticed (nor photographed) when collecting the vehicle. These damages were not recorded in the rental agreement.
We were told that the same detailed inspection performed with us at return is carried out with every customer, therefore the vehicle could not possibly have had any previous damage when it was handed over.
I would like to believe that this was simply an omission or an error in recording the condition of the vehicle before delivery. I would like to... but I cannot.
The alleged damages seem highly improbable: I was charged for damage to three wheel rims (not one, three!) and one tyre, for more than €500 (547, to be precise).
I find it hard to believe that three wheel rims and one tyre could have been damaged during my rental period without me noticing it.
I refused to sign the return report.
During the complaint process, since I unfortunately had no evidence to support my position, I agreed to accept responsibility for some of the damage. However, I challenged the need to replace the tyre (which only had superficial sidewall damage) and requested a technical reassessment. It seemed to me a reasonable way to settle the dispute.
The charge was nevertheless confirmed in full.
Although I am absolutely certain that I treated the vehicle with great care and never hit any curb or wall during the rental period, I was charged the entire amount.
The damages represented approximately 70% of the total cost of a 16-day rental! A great way to ruin the end of an otherwise wonderful holiday.
Therefore, if you absolutely decide to rent from this company, be extremely careful when picking up the vehicle. Take photos of EVERITHING, including tyres and wheel rims, and immediately report even the smallest defect, insisting that it be recorded in the rental agreement.
Do not rely on trust as we did.
(P.S. I almost forgot: they also "threatened" to charge me €100 for vehicle cleaning. In addition, the fuel tank was not full when we collected the vehicle, despite the contract stating full-to-full. Since we were excited to start our holiday, we did not bother reporting it at the time. Our mistake...)

Without a credit card, I would have had to pay more per day on top of the rental fee than the actual rental fee for 4 days in total.
How can there still be car rental companies who don't do deposits ond debit cards???