This year was finally the year we got to share our love of Iceland and it’s incredible landscapes with our children for a 6 day family holiday of adventure and exploring. Jon has been frequently visiting Iceland for the past few years for both business and pleasure, so we had an idea of some of the top locations we wanted to put on our list to visit. Iceland is bigger than some people expect, and to get to those amazing places, you need to do quite a bit of driving so a good size car to accommodate the four of us and all our stuff was on the agenda right after booking our accommodation.
We reached out to a few of the Iceland car hire companies, focussing on the ones in the airport car parking area, to see if they would like to collaborate with us. Zero Car came back with a very generous offer on the car of our choice, the Kia Sportage.
READ BELOW TO FIND OUT ALL ABOUT OUR ICELAND CAR HIRE WITH ZERO CAR AND WHAT WE THOUGHT OF IT!
We received a discount on our hire for review purposes but all words, photos and opinions are our own
The Booking Process
I’ve been through many car booking and pricing pages for Iceland car hire online, comparing prices and it usually feels a bit clunky navigating your way through the options once you have chosen the car and the date. We also had the added requirement of needing a child seat which with some companies was very unclear. Zero Car were the only company who I feel had a very clear and simple process to adding extras to the booking, especially with the child car seat options. You can choose from two different sizes so you know you are requesting the correct seat for your little one.
Hassle Free Insurance Cover
Most car hire companies wait until the end of the booking process to offer their various insurance cover packages with varying excess amounts. Zero Car Hire roll it all into one offer of zero excess in cases of damage for total peace of mind. You might be wondering why you actually need these insurances, are they just a scam to make more money? Short answer, no. The weather in Iceland is very unpredictable and because the landscape is so open, when it’s windy, there’s little escape from it. Opening a door on a windy day can go from ok, to “ oops, its snapped the door strap “ and you’ve dented the door. One time we were driving to the highlands and we got a puncture, but thankfully we had insurance so it was all covered. It’s definitely worth getting full cover.
Online Check-in
I have to hold my hands up, I totally forgot to do this! This resulted in me waiting in line at the airport car pickup, costing me 20 mins. The online check-in allows you to do all the usual stuff you would at the desk, but you can pick your key up from a lock box within a matter of a minute or two. No waiting around, just here’s your key, off you go.
The Car
We chose the Kia Sportage for this trip. I have previously hired a Rav4 and Discovery sport but fancied trying a new vehicle this time round. We knew we wanted a 4×4 as it had been snowing, and having the reassurance of the four wheel drive system for peace of mind was a must. Even thought the car is fitted with studded tyres as standard, I couldn’t imagine only having two wheeled drive, from experience.
The car comes with a full tank of gas/petrol/diesel as standard, and you return it with a full tank. With our car we got an Olis discount token to knock a few pence off the cost per litre. Most of the cars are now some sort of Hybrid. The Kia is a plugin hybrid but theres no need to worry about the EV side of things, just stick with petrol as you would any regular petrol only car. As soon as you have your key, you can jump in and get going on the open road.
One of the big reasons we wanted a 4×4 is for the peace of mind, that while navigating snowy weather, we could carry on our journey safely and without any worrying if the weather was to turn. I am so glad we planned for snow, as our first few hours driving were during a glorious snow fall, and in the dark no less. Where the vehicle really shone though was on some of the lesser used roads where the snow had compacted and started turning to ice. The car menus have a really cool graphic where it shows the traction/power being applied to each wheel and you could really tell where the car was working hard with all 4 wheels to keep you on the straight and narrow.
I am a bit of a fuel economy geek at home and it was interesting to see what a modern car like the Kia could achieve in economy compared to my old diesel Volvo. Our 6 day trip, and many many miles of driving ,we averaged 7.2l/100km which isn’t too bad at all for a petrol engined 4×4.
Luggage Space
Always a worry when you hire a car you’ve never seen before, but we managed to fit everything in comfortably in the boot, with a little hole left to see out of the rear windscreen. We took with us, 2 large suit cases, 4 carry on bags, 4 huge puffy coats. It all fitted in, snugly, but the tailgate closed and we were ready. I wouldn’t want to fit the luggage of 4 adults and 4 large cases in there, but you might get away with 3 large cases.
Childs Car Seat
We were pre warned that the child seat would not be fitted but it took us just a few minutes to clip the isofix in and route the seat belt. Nothing strenuous or complicated and the seat was the ideal size for Effie. Thats it really, nothing to write home about which is good as the last thing you want to do after a long day of travelling is faffing with a child seat in an unfamiliar car.
Returning The Vehicle After Our Trip
No ques, no hanging around, super simple. All you have to do is return the car with a full fuel tank, and hand the key in. Easy as that. There are fuel stations at the edge of the airport so you don’t have to worry about driving and using fuel to return the car with less than a full tank. Our rental agreement with Zero Car, as with all Zero Car rentals, came with full insurance coverage so even if there had been a scratch, a bump or any damage to the car, it is completely covered and there’s no unexpected charges when you get home.
Overall I would rate our experience with Zero Car hire 10/10. I honestly can’t fault them one single bit and they made our Iceland car hire experience pain and hassle free. Thank you Zero Car!
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