Renting a Car in Malaga: DOs and DON’Ts + avoid these SCAMS

Renting a car in Malaga and Costa del Sol can be stressful if you are not familiar with the place and a few scams that unprofessional providers run.

In this guide, you will find all the things you should know before booking a car, the dos and don’ts, including the easy ways to avoid scams.

But without further ado, let’s start with the pickup location, which is different based on the provider.

Car rental Pickup areas in Malaga

When you rent a car in Malaga Airport, be aware that there are two pickup places, on and off the airport.

For the On-Airport, the location is at the big parking area, on the right side of the arrival terminal (marked in red in the picture above).

This area is mostly used by the major car rental companies which tend to be more expensive (some apply also an airport tax). It’s an easy walk there. The benefit is of course that you will save time.

Alternatively, go next to the entrance of the train station (marked in green in the photo above) where you will find the pickup for the Off-Airport rentals, usually offering better deals. The drawback is that you will spend more time with the courtesy shuttle. I would say 30-45 minutes each way.

Car Rental companies in Malaga

There are plenty of rental companies in Malaga, from global players like Budget or Hertz to a few local options like Centauro or Delpaso.

It’s hard to suggest one because, based on my experience, they may suddenly change the way they do business (improving or deteriorating). Certainly, I would avoid Goldcar. I rented twice from them and in both cases, they tried to scam me with pre-existing car conditions.

Nowadays, I usually use DiscoverCars, an aggregator website that compares all of the rental companies and gives the best deal for the period that I plan the road trip.

I love it because it works like Airbnb using the feedback of the renters to rate the company from 6 (poor) to 9+ (exceptional). GoldCar in Malaga is, for example, rated as 7, one of the lowest values. I personally suggest hiring from companies that are ranked 8+

Another great advantage of DiscoverCars is that they can provide full insurance for just 7 Euros a day which is a great lifesaver because it’s so easy to scratch the car on these tiny roads of Spain.

The 3 biggest scams when renting a car in Malaga

The biggest scam of all is in my opinion the Full Insurance Scam. How does it work and how can you prevent it?

Basically, the rental company offers an extremely competitive daily price which includes both TPL and CDW with a high deductible (read my Spain Car Rental Insurance Guide if you are not familiar with the types of insurance). Once at the counter to pick up the vehicle, they will almost harass you to get full insurance which costs 30-50 euros/day.

Important! You will be obliged to have full insurance with the rental company if you don’t have a working credit card or you have an International driving licence (non-European) without an IDP (International Driving Permit).

If you decide to avoid the very expensive rental full insurance make sure that all damages to the car (even interior and small scratches) are included in the contract before signing it. Moreover, document the condition of the car with photos and videos at the pickup time.

For example, I once rented a car from GoldCar. At pickup, the car had plenty of scratches and the guy working there told me that only the big ones would be documented in the contract because they were already aware of the small ones.

My nature is not to trust anyone in the car rental industry so I took two videos and plenty of photos, including close-ups. Luckily I did because once I returned the car they wanted to charge me 200 euros for two pre-existing scratches. They withdrew their request once I provided photos proving the damage was pre-existing.

My way to prevent any issue nowadays is to take full insurance directly on DiscoverCars. It costs only 7-8 Euros/day and it’s such a piece of mind. 

The rental companies will claim that their full insurance is better, however, I still have to find any difference, to be honest with you, except they charge a ludicrous 30-50 euros/day.

The second scam is the Empty-to-empty Fuel Policy. It’s less common and less costly. They give you the car with an empty tank and you have to take it back empty which is impossible. So any petrol left will stay with them.

The only way to prevent this small scam is to either go with providers having the more practical Full-to-full fuel policy or top-up only 10-20 Euros amount once you get closer to the end of your holiday.

The last scam is very very rare, but very damaging too. Exclusion of the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) from the quote. How does it work and how can you prevent it?

In this case, the provider gives you a quote without CDW, which is mandatory in Spain. Once at the counter, they will charge you 20-30 euros/day for CDW or you will not get the car.

In this case, all you need to do is to read the rental conditions and make sure CDW is included.

Parking in Malaga

Certainly, the Historical Centre and Soho are two of the best areas to stay in Malaga, however, street parking is very very limited if non-existent. You can only leave your car in a multi-level garage which costs between 15 and 25 Euros per day. Driving inside these narrow streets may be also challenging.

My suggested Malaga neighbourhood to stay with a car is El Ejido, a university area that is 10-15 minutes walking distance from the Historical Centre, just north of it. You can find free street parking plus the area is actually a great value for money for both accommodations and restaurants. 

Do you actually need to rent a car here in Malaga?

You don’t need to rent a car if you plan to visit just the City Centre, the art area of Soho and some of the many attractions of the city, like, for example, the Picasso Museum. You can either walk or you can take public transportation, a taxi, or Uber.

In my opinion, renting a car is a must if you plan to have a few day trips like to El Caminito del Rey or visit a few of the best places in the Costa del Sol, like Estepona or Casares, up in the hills.

It becomes essential if you are planning an itinerary through the most beautiful towns of Andalucia. 

Public transportation is fine but it takes time and having a car will make your trip so much smoother plus if you’re travelling in a group of people or as a family, it is actually going to be cheaper too.

Driving in Malaga and south of Spain

The driving side in Spain is on the right like most of Europe except the UK. If you’re used to the left side like me, take it very easily for the first couple of days and follow the flow. Locals tend to be very relaxed. 

The only challenging bit is going to be navigating roundabouts, which are very common and can sometimes be painted directly on the road. Remember to slow down, stay to the right, and give precedence to the cars already in the roundabout.

There are all sorts of roads in the South of Spain like really in any country, there is only one exception that I want to highlight, the small and tiny streets of the historic centre, where you don’t want to venture with a car and sometimes they are anyway only for the residents.

These streets may fit just one car (possibly only a small one) and turning around can be a nightmare. Park your car outside the Historic Centres and walk in, so much easier.

Dropping off the car in Malaga

If you rented the car directly at the terminal, then drive back to the same location. Keep the airport and parking gate ticket for the rental company. They may ask for both.

If you rented outside the terminal, there will be a courtesy bus that will take you back right at the departure gate, very straightforward.

In both cases, make sure to have handy on your mobile the photos you made at the pickup time. They may be useful in case of any disagreement.

My tip: take photos also of the car interior, especially if you see white halos on the seats (usually caused by salt water) or cigarette burns. These issues are typically not covered even by full insurance.