topping up the car before the airport

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madaboutangling
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topping up the car before the airport

Post by madaboutangling »

I keep making the mistake of topping up the rental car at the petrol station at the airport. It is more expensive but always undermanned so creating impatient queues. It does not help that the pumps have stickers saying you should prepay so this creates confusion and longer waits - you don't need too! There was only one till manned today so everyone was getting irritated as they had planes to catch.
The solution which I need to use myself is to top up either in the motorway service stations near Faro or in the one on the run in to the airport on a side road. I am sure there are other options on the N125 etc.
Farol
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Re: topping up the car before the airport

Post by Farol »

use a decent rental firm such as AlgarveDriver/YOR and their fuel policy is such that you can top up en-route without any problem.
smudger
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Re: topping up the car before the airport

Post by smudger »

Different companies have different policies, generally return full or return as you picked it up, full, 1/2 full or whatever agreed with rep and marked on agreement (the YOR way).
With the latter the trick is to judge how much fuel to put in that will get you to the airport and still show what fuel was in tank when you picked up. Last week collected with just over 3/8ths full, returned just under 4/8ths! Reckon bought 3 litres too much! :lol:

Oh well.
Geoff
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Re: topping up the car before the airport

Post by Geoff »

You also need to know the fuel gauge on the car...we had a Renault Clio and had to return it 3/8 full......but the gauge didn't register the increments I was putting in...had to almost fill it before it moved!
Moral, is to fill up a but earlier and not leave it till the airport...gives fuel/gauge time to settle!
RichardHenshall
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Re: topping up the car before the airport

Post by RichardHenshall »

Geoff wrote:You also need to know the fuel gauge on the car...we had a Renault Clio and had to return it 3/8 full......but the gauge didn't register the increments I was putting in...had to almost fill it before it moved!
Moral, is to fill up a but earlier and not leave it till the airport...gives fuel/gauge time to settle!
I had a similar experience but refused to keep adding more fuel. Luckily the Yor rep had seen me at the petrol station so took my word for it, despite the gauge showing well below what it should.
TomUK
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Re: topping up the car before the airport

Post by TomUK »

About four visits ago, I topped up my Fiat Panda from YOR car hire at the last filling station on the N125 (Repsol I think). I always use this one as the short 5 or 6 km remaining to the airport hardly makes the gauge move. It is also cheaper than the one at the airport.
Back at home the week later I found that YOR had taken €15 from my credit card.
A quick e-mail to Steen revealed that the gauge was showing only a quarter full, even though I had filled it to three quarters.
Then the penny dropped. The model of Panda I had has a horizontal bar type gauge (not a dial type). I remembered that each time I filled up on holiday, the little black squares took a good minute to crawl their way along the bar to the full position. I guessed that the agent checking the car had flicked on the ignition and not waited for the gauge to reach the true reading.
Steen arranged for my €15 to be returned accepting that this is probably what had happened.
Fortunately, the two Pandas and the VW Up! that I've rented since then all had dial type gauges with a more responsive needles!
I wonder how many of the larger rental companies would have been so accommodating.
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