Car Hire - tips, suggestions and recommendationsLet me start with one simple statement: it is far better to book your car hire in advance online. I have to admit, I don’t take my own advice and just leave it till I get to the airport. It backfired on me one time, because nobody had any cars available! You will also probably get a better deal, financially.
Photo: Thomas Doefer - click on image to view license There is a full range of car hire companies to be found in Reina Sofia airport, at the end of the baggage collection area. They range from multinational, like Avis, to local ones, such as Cicar (the “Ci” in the name stands for Canary Islands - although why it should be in English is a mystery). As you would expect, the prices offered reflect the “importance” of the company. Avis car hire, for example, may be slightly more expensive.
All the staff manning these car hire booths speak good English. To hire a car, you need your passport and plastic driving licence. (Some countries require your paper licence too, but not Tenerife.) The full list of other car hire companies based at Reina Sofia Airport:
Car Hire Search Another thing which I am quite opinionated about is whether the car is provided with a full tank of petrol or not. There are two options: either the car is full of petrol when you collect it and you have to return it with full tank, or there is hardly any fuel and you have to return it with a similar amount showing on the gauge. The “full tank” option is by far the best, as it is a simple matter to top up the tank until the petrol pump clicks off. The other option means you have to guess how much petrol you’ve used and top up accordingly, usually ending up putting in too much, so the car hire company benefits. (Europcar use the “full tank” option.) Incidentally, Tenerife has quite a lot of petrol stations with attendants to do it for you. Some will take your payment, too. Others will put your petrol in, then direct you to the payment counter in the shop. If you want the car filling up, the Spanish expression is “Lleno [lyAYno], por favor”. “Lleno” means “full”. CAR HIRE DRIVING ADVICE As you venture onto Tenerife’s daunting roads, remember the simple rule, regarding “give way”. If there is a forward pointing arrow on the road, you have right of way. If there is an inverted triangle, you must give way. Remember to turn right at roundabouts and, when turning onto a dual carriageway, get over onto the right! If there are people waiting at a zebra crossing, you must stop to let them cross. It is a good idea, if going straight on at traffic lights, to get into the left-hand lane, as, if the lights are on red, there is often a flashing yellow light for right turns, meaning that anyone wanting to turn right may proceed with caution. If you’re in that lane, waiting to go straight on, you may hear a few horns being sounded behind you for blocking their way! There is one Tenerife driving idiosyncracy that you should be aware of. If you're behind a car and it suddenly indicates to turn left when there is no apparent left turn in the offing, it means that the driver is coming to a halt, to allow someone to cross or a car to pull out, for instance. There is also a quaint custom amongst native Tenerife drivers. If they see anyone they know walking down the street, they will just stop their cars in the middle of the road to have a chat with them, without a thought for other drivers. Just bear with them. It's their way. Should you ever be stopped by the police when driving (and they have been known to set up impromptu road blocks), always make sure you have your driving licence, passport and the hire car contract with you. (Fortunately, if you're a tourist driving a hire car, police are more likely to let you go - unless you're committing a really serious driving offence. More so if you make out you can't speak Spanish, even if you can.) When you park your car overnight, a good ruse is to leave the glove compartment open, with nothing in it. Hire cars are a notorious target for thieves to break into and, if they can see there's nothing of value inside, most likely they'll leave it alone. I knew someone who used to leave his hire car unlocked overnight, the theory being that, if thieves were going to target it, at least they wouldn't have to damage it by breaking in! MOTORWAY DRIVING Leaving a motorway during rush hour Here's a tip regarding leaving a motorway. Okay, you may think, I just take the slip road in much the same way as I would do in my home country, no problem. Indeed, that's the case, except if it happens to be "rush hour". Exit slip roads from Tenerife motorways quite often lead, quite quickly, to a busy roundabout, so a queue quickly develops. So what happens? The queue extends onto the motoway, doesn't it? And where is the only place for that queue to position itself? Along the hard shoulder, that's where. So, be ready for this. Otherwise, you may be gaily travelling along the inside lane, towards your turn-off, only to find that there's a long line of cars on the hard shoulder, stretching back behind you...and you have to try and cut in. You have to practically come to a halt in the inside lane, the motorway is only two lanes, you cause all manner of problems - including a potential crash situation. So, just be warned: if the motorway is exceptionally busy, look up ahead for a possible queue on the hard shoulder when approaching your turn-off and be ready to pull onto the hard shoulder too and take your position at the back of it. You know it makes sense! Slip Roads Sometimes, the motorways in Tenerife have two separate slip roads leading onto them. Yes, it's true! The potential problem here is that one slip road will have to give way to the other. So, be aware, in this situation that your slip road may suddenly have the inverted triangle on it, meaning you should give way (see above). I know it's strange that you have to stop on a slip road to check if anything's coming on the other slip road, but that's the way it is. Tunnels On the TF-1 motorway from the southern resorts to Santa Cruz, there is a short tunnel. The law in Tenerife is that headlights must be turned on, even though you're only in this tunnel for about five seconds. This applies to all tunnels on the island and traffic police have been known to lie in wait at the other end to catch anyone who doesn't comply. Safe driving!
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