19..........and still too young for a hire car

[M@Turner]

I rang up VW on Tuesday about booking my polo in for the pedal box recall. After a couple of minutes on hold i finally got through to chat to someone. I was told that i could take it in any time after the Wednesday 11th, so i checked my work rota and arranged to take the car in on Monday 16th so then i could have a hire car for getting to work and stuff.

After answering a few questions, the lady then proceeded to tell me that when i take the car in, i need to take both parts of my driving licence and have proof that i'm over 21 for the use of the hire car. She then put the phone down.

Now with this information i was shocked.

Why can you pass your driving test;
Buy a car;
and insure a car aged 17, but not be able to have the use of a hire car until your 21.

For people like me who are under 21, it is a huge pain in the arse that should your car need some work done under warranty or need to go in for a recall, that you have to find some other way to get to places.

Surely they should drop the age of hiring a car to 19 at least!

Please share your comments about this subject with me![/list]

[cyhliu]

That's a bit of a bummer really, I can understand from the dealers/insurers point of view and most certainly yours, I was once a young driver you know!

However, because this is a recall maybe you should ring the recall campaign line and see what they can do for you...I think at the end of the day it is up to the dealers but VW may give them a kick up the bum and they may end up making an exception...if you don't ask you won't get!

Thinking about it though, I've never been asked to bring proof of being over 21, maybe it is your dealer...

[madmatt]

at the deelership i work at we put u on out insurance for £5 but i think u do need to be 21 or over but if your not over 21 u can arange to have it on your insurance by phoning them up at the deelership not sure how this works but thats what we do

[carmadaaron]

yeah, 21 is really a stupid age.

im 18 just now and i can hire vans/cars as my company buys fleet insurance.

even BMW 330Cis can be insured for me.

if u buy ur own insurance, car hire can be any age (well over 17 and valid licence!)

[mikegti]

I hate the way they never offer me a courtesy car unless I whinge at them!

when I took mine in they asked me if my own insurance covered their courtesy car, so I lied and said no...
then they told me the excess on their policy was £1000!! - unless I paid £5 there and then! just another money making scam

but I sneakily didnt tick the box agreeing to the £1000 excess or pay the fiver

[DMWRIGHT]

I've never had a problem with my VW dealers and getting a hire car, everytime its been in there has been one for me. I'm 21 and know how you feel, but policy is policy, only way around I believe is to bring in proof of insurance that covers you on their car. Generally doesn't cost much to get cover for a week !

[Josh_PoloGTi]

I never had a problem getting a courtesy car from my dealership, even when I was 18. (god, that was a long time ago )

Hire cars were a different ball game though. Hertz, Avis, Euro etc etc all wanted you to be over 21.

[carmadaaron]

ive heard some companies are over 25