autovia.it - Pisa Aeroporto Reviews 

We rented a car at Autovia in Pisa, Italy for 7 days. A brand new Ford Puma, that had only driven about 2500 km.
When we had the car, everything was fine, but when we delivered it, the chaos began.

We were going to fly early, so we used the drop off box in the morning. We took pictures of our car 7:45, 15 minutes before our rental period expired and nothing was to see.

When we got back home, they suddenly send a letter with a picture of a big scratch, and a charge of 292€. It was obvious on the pictures that it was taken at sunset, so probably about 10 hours after our reservation period ended.

We replied immediately and send all our own pictures back to them. After 14 days they responded that they could not accept our pictures. We again answered straight away, but this time it took more than a month before they replied - but without an answer, only the charge.

When we first got our car we saw that 2 times with 14-days interval before us, there had been registered damage to the car. Due to our experience, we find this very suspicious. We can’t prove it, but with the damage record on the car, we suspect them to make scratches on the car to charge extra money. All the damages was mysteriously in a scale were they don’t affect the function of the car - and it can still be rented out.

They take extra fees, they dont reply to you and since they have reserved a deposit they can just take away your money, no matter your complaint. Every other car rental company must be more professional than Autovia…

WARNING – Avoid AutoVia at Pisa Airport!
We never even got our rental car despite a confirmed booking. The staff refused to accept a credit card from one of our travel companions – something every other company allows. The woman at the desk was extremely rude and made no effort to solve the issue. She even admitted that if the manager had been there, it would have been fine – but since she wasn’t, we were simply left stranded.

Unprofessional, unfriendly and unreliable. Save yourself the trouble and rent from another company.

First of all the desk is quite far from the terminal and they do not tell you this so they can charge as "on site" It took me asking several people before I found someone who could direct me to where they were. Then when I arrived there was no one at the desk, and no one who answering any of the numbers available. I had to wait for twenty minutes before someone showed up, no apology. The car was fine overall, although some of the media stuff didn´t work which was annoying and inconvenient. I had to drop off when they weren´t open and it was dark at the time. After 3/4 days, they contacted me about a "scratch" that was tiny and nearly invisible and not there when i left the car. They want to charge me over 200 euros for this! I have external insurance so it doesn´t matter, but it feels very like a scam. I see from reviews many other people have similar experiences. I complained about it, they say it was discovered imediately and that because I was using out of hours service, I have to accept their word. I would never use this company again, and would not recommend to anyone, even with insurance.

No problems with Car, problems afterwards with 'charges' made to my credit card for no justified reason.

Autovia.it also do not respond to e-mails and their desk at Pisa Airport was not able to, or unwilling to help. I have video evidence that the car was returned full and with no damage!

Appalling service, charges now being disputed via credit card company.

*********** UPDATE 24th SEPT ************
Autovia.it have seen my photos and video of UNDAMAGED car left at their return location. They quote 'terms & conditions' say that it DOES NOT MATTER IF THE CAR WAS DAMAGED WHILST BACK IN THEIR CARE, as I used "Key Drop" service.

I thought taking a video and submitting it would help them see sense.

It seems they ARE determined to defraud their customers of money by 'claiming for damages' which are not the responsibility of their customers.

AUTOVIA.IT i hope Karma gets you. I will spend my time now telling people of your terrible service and dishonest business practises I have experienced first hand!

Good experience with this car rental firm. There was a long queue and wait at the counter but then all friendly and smooth.
No aggressive haggling about extra insurance sometimes encountered with other firms.

I rent a car about once every one or two months and bar one problem when the flight was late, Autovia is consistently good. One of the few companies that doesn’t seem to look for problems when you return your car unblemished!

Summary:
Terrible service and snide remarks from the check-in desk and dismissive attendant has left a sour taste.

Longer Version:
Unfortunately a poor experience overall.

Picked up the car from Pisa airport and at first everything was good. Staff were helpful and polite to start... then they tried to upsell me insurance and that is when the experience went downhill...

I politely declined having already purchased insurance in the UK and immediately the whole attitude changed. Complete loss of interest, surliness and snide remarks. Two examples: "No protection? In Italy?" and as we left: "Good luck with your car and NO protection! (haha)" I mean, even as a sales tactic, it makes no sense to try and belittle?/scare?/worry? the customer.

The car itself was fine -- not exactly the quality I'd usually expect from a hire car but I suppose it is on the cheap side. There were quite a large number of scratches to start with and its not easy on the diagram to locate individual blemishes. There wasn't enough room in the car park between the cars to examine that closely and the attendant didn't really want to know when I tried to discuss it and distinguish between which of the marks were recorded and weren't. In hindsight, I should have been more forceful but with two young kids who had been up since 3am just off a flight in the scorching sun it wasn't an ideal situation -- anyway, that was my mistake.

Long story long -- returned the car and the attendant found a speck on the windscreen the size of a grain of sand and a scratch on the hubcap. No discussion, no question - just this and this, sign here. I didn't really have time to argue as I had plane to catch so signed the thing and left.

The charge when it came was for a significant amount which I assume is a new windscreen which is firstly disproportionate to the blemish and I'm 95% certain that car will NOT be getting a new windscreen! I'd love to go back and see...

Anyway currently claiming on the insurance in the UK and hopefully it will be OK so I'm not that bothered about the damage side of things; but unfortunately I still cannot get over the general attitude at the desk and in the car park.

My advice -- move the car so you can examine it in detail and force the attendant to show each individual dent and scratch that exists and make sure that anything, no matter how small or inconsequential, is recorded.

Quick check in and friendly service

Good customer service, great cars

Great communication!!
I received better car than expected!
Great service!!

I hired a car from Autovia in Pisa airport. Stood in the qeue for nearly 2 hours before I managed to speak to someone. There was only one Autovia customer advisor available during the rush hours. Read some reviews earlier and decided to take some photos of the car before I left the rental company car park. It was a good decision because they tried to charge me for wheel scratch that I never did. Sent them an email with complain and photos attached and problem resolved. I do not reccomend to hire a car from Autovia and will never do this again.

I would give zero stars if I could. I hired a car from Autovia and was charged for bumper damage I did not cause – damage that was already there when I picked the car up. I noted it at the time, yet they still billed me after the rental.

To make matters worse, they slapped on a “late return” fee because I used their key box service instead of handing the keys directly to the desk – even though I was specifically told that either method was fine. This is pure money-grabbing behaviour.

Autovia clearly has no integrity, ignores its own policies, and treats customers as easy targets for bogus charges. I will never rent from them again and strongly urge anyone considering them to look elsewhere unless you want to risk being scammed.

The staff was friendly, check in/out was easy & smooth and the car, though it was a little bigger than I was hoping for, was AMAZING!

Dear Autovia Team,

Herewith we would like to officially state, that we are not accepting your claim regarding the car's back bumper theoretical damage, as being not founded.
We returned the car without any damages caused by us on 21.07.2025, dropping the key in the box you told us to, as your office was closed at that time. During our rental period we didn't have any accident, crash, or damage, and we didn't notice any other damage, than the 12 minor and more serious ones it already had on the enclosed doccument since 2023 and 2024, but caused by others. So if you originally gave us the car with several similar damages without repairing them since 2023, shows that your company tolerates smaller esthetical damages, and these are not authomatically basis of a claim.
We would like to highlight that because you didn't take back the car in person, and you didn't immediately check the car after return, as we left it there at about 6:00 am, while you opened the checkpoint at 8:00 am, and sent us an intitial report only on that day at 20:10 pm, you cannot proove that this minor damage hapenned before we left the car at the checkpoint, but maybe after. Based on the photos one neither can say without doubt, that this is a true damage, as it seems more like dirt.
Based on the above we refuse your claim, and ask you to cancel this, and release the 500€ deposit fully.

Waiting for your confirmation,
Best regards
OLAHNE GALOVICZ TIMEA,

Untrustworthy car rental company. We left the car in pristine condition at Pisa airport and the company are now trying to charge us €300 for a barely visible scratch on the body work. We have clear evidence with a time stamped picture which shows the car was not scratched when we left it. The company are refusing to accept this evidence. We will be challenging their claim via our credit card company but save yourself the hassle and DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Poor pick up, staff not helpful. Worst was that they are now trying to charge €280 for a tiny scratch that we didnt cause. Have to use a magnifying glass to see the scratch. Absolute scam.

Good company, helpful service.

I recently rented a car from Autovia / Optimorent and was very disappointed with the overall experience. The vehicle I received was not properly cleaned and the interior had a bad odor. The car's chassis was not in good condition. On top of that, the car had several scratches and dents that weren’t documented.
Additionally, the pickup process was incredibly slow, even though I had made a reservation in advance. I waited over 1hour and 20 minutes to get the keys. The staff seemed disorganized and unhelpful when I asked about the delays.
To make matters worse, I was charged €292.00 at the end of the rental for damages that were already present when I picked up the car. The breakdown of the charges was as follows:
€210.00 for repair or replacement of supposedly damaged parts
€80.00 administration fee
€2.00 stamp duty

I feel this charge was completely unfair and dishonest, as I was not responsible for the damage.

I would strongly advise others to avoid this company. My experience was stressful, costly, and unprofessional.

Ever wondered why the Autovia hire car desks are busier than all the others ?
Do they have fewer staff ? No
Do they get more complaints ? No
In my experience it’s because they have the most competitive prices, and have great staff !
I use Autovia whenever I’m in Italy, from the lovely ladies in Bari who couldn’t be more helpful, to my latest visit where the lady at Pisa airport faced with a big queue was “grace under pressure” smiled at everyone and sorted everyone’s issues.
I had on this occasion a brand new VW Golf, which was perfect from my use. However Italian roads can be poorly maintained, so when I had a puncture and switched over to the spare tyre, it meant I was late returning the car as per my booking time. The guy at the kiosk was great, fully understood what had happened, and no penalty fee was charged. Now that is good service ! A word to the wise, I always take out their insurance policy (which covers tyres) so no extra fees were payable.
This is why there will be probably be a queue at the desk when you arrive, it’s first class service from start to finish !

The company is a complete joke. Their customer service is non-existent and their lack of staff clearly shows how poorly the company is run. I would suggest not to rent a car through them, unless you enjoy waiting in queues for 2 hours to pick up keys. We also received a charge for €280 despite having no one on our arrival to review the car and there not being a mark in sight. We will be strongly disputing this and would suggest that others find another car rental company.