New research reveals that European summer car hire prices have fallen by 16% since January 2025, with last-minute bookings now offering better value than early reservations. Travellers who booked a week’s rental in January for the summer paid an average of £384, compared to just £321 if booking in mid-July - a saving of £63.
“If you’ve already booked your hire car for this summer, it’s definitely worth checking prices again,” said Ben Wooltorton at iCarhireinsurance.com. “Many rental companies offer free cancellation within 48 hours of the pick-up date - allowing you to rebook at a lower rate if prices have dropped.”
The costs comparison study by iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading provider of stand-alone car hire excess reimbursement insurance, compares the cost of booking a medium compact car (e.g. VW Golf or Ford Focus) from 26th July to 2nd August 2025 if booked back in January 2025 or if booked on 21st July 2025, a week before departure. Seven popular European destinations (Barcelona, Crete, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Faro, Milan and Nice) and six major rental providers (Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz, and Sixt) were surveyed.
The research finds that the biggest savings are in Nice (26% cheaper) and Crete (21% cheaper) where approximately £100 could have been saved with a last-minute booking made now compared to booking at the beginning of the year.
Barcelona (17% cheaper), Faro (19% cheaper) and Milan (14% cheaper) also show good reductions, compared to booking at the start of the year. Dalaman is the only destination in the survey where there is no change in prices.
Table showing average car hire costs (six rental companies were researched) for the week, 29 July to 2 August 2025, if booked in January 2025 or the week before travel in July 2025.
| When Booked/ Destination | Weekly car hire cost if booked in Jan 2025 | Weekly car hire cost if booked in July 2025 | Difference in price v January |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nice | £412 | £305 | 26% cheaper |
| Crete | £481 | £381 | 21% cheaper |
| Barcelona | £345 | £287 | 17% cheaper |
| Faro | £356 | £288 | 19% cheaper |
| Dubrovnik | £383 | £333 | 13% cheaper |
| Milan | £400 | £343 | 14% cheaper |
| Dalaman | £315 | £314 | 0.3% cheaper |
| AVERAGE | £384 | £321 | 16% cheaper |
As well as shopping around for the best car hire price, savings can also be made on extras bought at the rental desk.
The most expensive of these is car hire excess protection which protects a hirer from having to pay the excess amount if the hire car is damaged or stolen, which costs around £1,500, according to this study. The rental companies charge, on average, £174 for a week’s super damage excess policy and £42 for a tyre and windscreen excess policy, costing £2161 in total.
Buying a standalone excess reimbursement insurance policy from a specialist provider like iCarhireinsurance.com costs from just £3.492 per day, or £41.993 for an annual European policy, offering a potential saving of up to £182.854.
Standalone car hire excess reimbursement policies not only offer significant savings but usually include cover for damage to vulnerable parts of the vehicle such as tyres, windscreen, undercarriage and roof – areas often excluded when excess protection is purchased from the rental company. Renters should note that they will still need a credit card for the rental company to hold the excess as a deposit, as standalone excess insurance reimburses the hirer directly.
Other extra charges include paying for an extra driver, costing £61, on average, renting a sat nav, costing £73, on average, and hiring a child’s car seat, costing £68, on average.
Ben Wooltorton said: “It’s important to understand what extras you really need, and where you can save. Bringing your own child car seat, using your smartphone instead of renting a sat nav, and buying excess cover from a specialist provider can all help keep costs down.”
- iCarhireinsurance.com surveyed the costs for a week’s car hire and extras (such as excess protection, car seats, sat navs and extra drivers) from 26 July to 2 August 2025 in 7 European countries. It found that on average the weekly cost for car hire excess protection cost was £174 and average cost Tyre and windscreen excess cover was £42, making a total of £216 average cost.
- £3.49 daily price is based on a UK resident aged between 30-85 travelling in Europe for 10 days or longer.
- £41.99 annual price is based on a UK resident aged between 30-85 buying an excess Europe annual policy excluding in-country cover.
- £182.85 is calculated by comparing the price of the combined average cost of excess protection in the survey, £216 with the price of an 8 day single trip European car hire excess policy for a 30 year old UK resident from iCarhireinsurance, which is £33.15.
