Essaouira Car Hire

Terrible and stressful experience

Pros: There was nothing pleasant about the whole experience including Budget's US customer service who said the company is a franchise and aside from having the Budget name on it, there is nothing Budget can do to ensure compliance with safety standards.

Cons: At my pick up time (1500), the office was closed and the agent only showed up one hour later. He then gave me a car that showed a full gas tank only to realize 2 1/2 hours later driving through a desert of area in a third world country that the gas gauge was broken. I had a GPS that proved useless since the cigarette lighter charger was not working. USB port was also not functioning so I had to turn off my phone to save the battery during a long trip going from south to north. I had no idea how much gas I had at that point and could have broken down anytime with no gas station in sight in the middle of the night in a hostile area. Once I did find a gas station and filled up, I realized I had an almost flat tire; when I checked it, it clearly had a hole in it and it looked like it was badly rigged. I then changed the tire by putting the spare and had to drive 300 additional kms. All Budget customer service did after the fact was to tell me to go to the nearest local agency (another franchise) to get the car replaced. Budget puts its name on companies that conduct no maintenance on the cars, follow no standards, making it a hasard for the renter. They also charge double what I would have paid with a local company...and all that, just because the reservation says Budget. DO NOT rent with budget overseas, there is absolutely no quality or safety control.