I always use Holiday autos to book hire cars but after some trouble over Xmas this time I thought I would look at alternatives. I just used a web site carhire4less.co.uk and booked a car for next week. After the first screen it is obvious you are on the Holiday autos web site but the prices are cheaper. I saved £5 on my hire of their cheapest car (over 10%). Looks like thier price promise is fiction if they can even beat themselves!

Tut tut marlc, I hope you also looked on the car hire site on the home page here. I have been using them since we bought our house and come out nearly every month, I have found them great and much cheaper than anywhere else, or at times Steen has matched the price of a competitor for the web site users.

If I'm to be chastised for offering some useful information and not towing the corporate line then maybe posting here is not for me.
FYI I just did the check and my deal is £6 cheaper

I wasn't chastising you, just having a bit of fun!! the info will be very useful to others, I was just saying it was worth looking on the home site.
Sorry......

At www.algarvedriver.com we match any quote, on top you get a free week* (*group B in the low season) for every 10 weeks booked and paid.
Furthermore it helps paying the bills of running this site

I was only trying to do a bit of advertising for your site Steen and look where it gets me.

Thanks for the car last week, Tues/Fri, nice clean, comfy car at a very good price. Keep up the good work.

I was interested in this and decided to book with them this morning instead of holiday autos as it seemed to be exactly the same site but exactly UKP5 cheaper.
I was just about to enter my CC number when I noticed the webpage was not secure (not https no padlock) I then went through the motions of booking on the normal holiday autos site, sure enough that was a secure page! At that point I opted not to use them. Has anyone actually used them, are they real?

www.algarvedriver.com is more secure; no credit card details are entered on the site or needed before you pick up the car.

Angloman,
Yes I used this site last month and it works just like Holiday Autos.
I wrote to HA to ask about the difference and got the following reply from their Marketing Manager:

As you have correctly pointed out, Car Hire 4 Less is indeed part of the same group as holiday autos - it was a brand that lastminute.com, our parent company, had in its stable when it purchased holiday autos almost 2 years ago. Clearly, the crossover in terms of car rental between ourselves and Car Hire 4 Less has led to synergies on customer handling and operational supply of cars. Car Hire 4 Less undoubtedly offers a great price in the marketplace it operates in but it is much more "stripped-down" in terms of some of the elements of both supply and service that we provide. It caters excellently for many renters who have standard requirements and need less of an outlet on pre-booking queries and phone support. Additionally, holiday autos customers are served by more direct communication of one-off booking incentives and we have forthcoming plans to further extend this service by recognising and rewarding the loyalty of frequent customers like yourself.

We have just returned from CVO and used Steen's company for the third time. We find the convenience of pick up and drop off a major advantage, with prices at least as good as elsewhere. We have never had a problem, but it is good to know that Steen is very visible should a problem occur. No hiding in a call centre full of customer relations officers, or whatever. Will be back in 3 weeks and using the service again.

Whereabouts in Carvoeiro is Steen and his cars?

Think his office is in Praia do Rocha, Steen can confirm. But the joy of the service is that there is no office in Faro airport, you are met by an agent after having cleared Customs. You pays your money (no advance payment), and the car is in the terminal car park waiting for you, a short walk away.

So if we are on a package deal and have got to Carvoeiro via coach and want to just hire a car for day trips or even a few days then it would be no good for us if we are all ready in Carvoeiro?

you can choose where you want the car dropping and picking up. Cvo is no problem. Just take a look at the website (link on here)

I've always find other companies sting you for extras either when you pick the car up (after you've paid in advance) or when you drop the car back off. Algarve Drive or YOR (the company advertised on this website) don't charge anything but the price you see on here when you get your quote or book. I find its much cheaper.

J

Thanks Barry & Jake. Seems like Steen is the man And of course he can't afford to lose his good reputation so the sensible thing to do would be to use his co.