Centauro Rent a Car Reviews 

We waited an hour for the transport to pick up the car. No one answered the phone, so we took a taxi .of course, no one will reimburse that! When we arrived, it was just chaos and nothing more. It’s only a waste of nerves, really. We waited like crazy and got zero information.

Do not use this company at Santorini Airport! We booked via Booking.com & We were instructed to meet a shuttle bus outside arrivals but when we arrived there was no shuttle, we waited 15 mins and then started trying to get hold of the company, we eventually got through to the Santorini branch and they sent a shuttle down but by the time we got to the branch it was 40 mins past our booked time and we were told it was too late and we’d missed our booking. Although our car was sat there the booking had lapsed and we also couldn’t pay again to rehire the same vehicle under a new booking as the car wouldn’t be ‘released’ for 12 hours and they had no other cars available. We were left stranded now 10 mins away from the airport with no hire car and no solution offered from the company. Total scammers.

Con men. Do not book with them! First they applied their aggressive high pressure tactics to try and sell an additional insurance, which I declined and paid the Au$800 deposit. The car was the most beaten up car I’ve ever rented, so naturally I took a video of the condition. On returning the car they inspected the vehicle and said it was fine. However after a month my deposit has not been returned. On questioning this, they said it was due to damage to the car. There was no new damage! I have written and said I need photographic evidence of the “damage”and I can supply timed video recordings to prove there was no new damage to the car. I have not heard back! They are total con artists, out to get the tourists with their insurance scam!

Our initial car broke down after 2days due to mechanical (gearbox or clutch) failure. It took us several attempts to get connected to support service. First lady said someone would call us back - nobody did, so had to call again. The tow truck and taxi arrived on time so that was OK.
The car had 3/4 fuel left when it broke down and so it was not our choice to not return the car full of fuel, but outrageously we were charged the fuel levy fee to fill it up again Also there is no way someone went to fill it up as the car was totally undrivable!!! There was no good reason from the staff why we had to pay the levy, other than “we dont make the rules, this is just the way it is”.
Pickup is also really not great - it should also be alot clearer that when you get picked up from the airport that only one person can go to the Centauro depot (10-15min drive) to collect the car, and that the other person needs to wait alone at the airport for 30+minutes for the hirer to return to collect them.
Both cars we had also beaten up somewhat, maybe understandable given the small narrow roads - but still…
Definitely do not recommend this company and wont be using again.

I made a reservation on booking.com with full insurance also taken from booking. It's not the first time I've traveled and rented cars, but I've never experienced anything like this. Even though I had full insurance purchased in advance from booking, when I got to pick up the car they told me that I had to pay an insurance from them of 160 euros and that the one on booking is not valid. They didn't even give me the full amount refunded for the gas even though I returned with full tank, instead of 100 euros I received 90.5. Scammers!! I WILL NEVER RENT FROM THEM AGAIN.

I had a very disappointing experience with this car rental company.

When I placed my reservation, the total price shown was 459.00 €, which I already paid. However, after completing the booking, the reservation suddenly showed an additional payment of 368.53 €, bringing the total to 827.53 €.

This is not what was shown at the time of booking, and it feels misleading. I contacted their support to get this corrected, but I have not received any response for 8 days.

I would not recommend booking with this company unless you are prepared for unexpected extra charges and very poor customer support.

I rented a car in April 2024, paid deposit for fuel, for tolls and for damage. All went fine, i received deposits back in about a month or so. However, in January 2026, I received a letter from Portuguese authorities saying that I have to pay a fine for the car I rented. I am Portuguese resident, hence I received the fine on AT platform. Documents said that there's been 2 unpaid tolls, all about 3-4 euros. Since it hasn't been paid in time, each of tolls got penalties. In total I had to pay ~40 EUR. A day after I received another fine on AT platform for the same unpaid tolls. This time it was ~60 EUR for each unpaid toll, which is some sort of fine on top of penalty. In total I had to pay over 160 EUR in fines. When I contacted Centauro indicating that I had paid the deposit for tolls and they had all my contacts but never reached out to me, they first responded that they're looking into it and afterwards they simply ignored me. 90% of time your rent goes well, however people should know what to expect in other 10% cases.

I hired a hybrid car. On the morning of the flight the car would not start. I had to take a taxi costing €150. Centauro have been unhelpful and would not refund the taxi even though their car was faulty. I am forced to consider legal action. I will never use Centauro again. They do not reply in a timely fashion to my requests for information. A very bad experience.

What would you do if someone stole your wallet and ran? Would you shout "Stop! Thief!"? That is Centauro, Porto airport. My credit card covers extra insurance charges, but they charged me for their insurance anyway, without my permission! €140! I didn't realise it until afterwards, but they also charged my a surcharge on fuel of €71. I returned the car full after receiving it three quarters full! I have asked my credit card to deal with them. They are scammers! Go somewhere reputable if you don't want to be ripped off. Centauro, don't bother giving me a link and telling me you will respond. The only response I need I will get from my credit card company who deals with the likes of you regularly.

We use credit card insurance instead of expensive car rental insurance. This requires a deposit of EUR 1500. Our rental charge went through, but the deposit charge was repeatedly declined. Agent said this has been a problem all week with credit cards from the US. They wouldn't allow us to use a different card for the deposit. After phone calls to our credit card company (no problem at their end, no fraud attempts) we had to buy Centauro insurance (more than 50% of the rental price, additionally) in order to be able to rent the car. I think this is a scam, or at best, tech services are not fixing a serious issue. The €320 EUR charge for their insurance was approved no problem, so it's not a credit card issue - it's Centauro. Don't book with them unless you are prepared to pay an additional 50% on your rental for their insurance.

How can I trust a company that doesn't even bother to answer an email question?
I booked a car on their website, wanted to check the info about their policy with credit cards if you don't have to pay the deposit and it's been already more then a month and 4 requests from my side with no effect.
Thenk you for the hard work you make there, dear staff.

Madeira: upon arrival there was a lot of scare-mongering to try and sell their in-house insurance (which costs as much as a week's hire). They told us our booking.com cover was useless and the only way be covered was to buy theirs. They make you pay a massive deposit as well as fuel totalling over £1500. Due to the scaremongering, I was afraid they were also scammers, and I was continuously afraid they wouldn't refund the deposit (and the contract is in Portuguese). They did refund it, as it happens, but we spent our entire holiday stressed at the prospect of being scammed

I see Centauro have responded below to ask me to email them. I already have. Twice. Nothing has happened. I STILL haven't received any refund and looking around, there are other reviews (for example on google) reporting exactly the same in relation to snow chains. Luckily I booked through a good broker and they are pursuing the car hire company on my behalf. Centauro's policy must be "do nothing until the customer gives up and goes away" but 65 eur isn't a minor inconvenience to me, so it will be a Requerimiento de Pago sent via Burofax next. Also, when I tried to edit my review elsewhere (google) to add some additional factual, completely non-defamatory information, Centauro flagged it and tried to get it taken down. Sharp practices.

Cannot for the life of me understand why Which? rates them so highly.

Hired a car from Milan Malpensa from these guys during the winter when either snow chains, snow socks, or all-season tyres are a legal requirement. None of these were supplied despite me emailing twice before the rental to absolutely make sure they would be, because we were going somewhere with snow.

I was left trying to source AND PAY FOR my own snow chains, at the end of March when everywhere's running out, for a car with unusual-sized tyres at 830pm at night. Had to stop at 4 filling stations, as a single parent after a really long journey.

They promised to refund them, because they were 65 euro, and guess what?? Nothing has touched my account since. Despite repeated emails. I will never rent from them ever again.

Plus, service was very slow, the supplied vehicle was absolutely cream crackered and stank, and they refused to give me any kind of upgrade to a car that might actually have snow chains (unless of course I paid a whopping fee).

Rubbish.

Their car broke down on the highway and when we contacted them for assistance they advised us to accept a tow from a mechanic that had (thankfully) already stopped to assist us.
Upon arrival at the shop they then told us we would be responsible for all the towing charges!

Great experience, we had a mark on our bumper which we and centauro didn't pick up on when we picked up our hire car but on return they never charged us , great understanding company , would definitely use again A++++++

AVOID DO NOT USE THEY HAVE HIDDEN FUEL COST AFTER YOU HAVE BOOKED Just booked with Malaga Centuro as they have an offer on which makes car hire look cheaper than the likes of Malagacar.com. However when you go to book after they have taken your payment they then slap £85 on for a fuel charge. Disgusting and I will never use Centuro and will stick to good honest guys at Malagacar.com

They will deduct money without your consent 2 years after your rental. 735 eur was deducted from my account without my consent.

In Malaga, we came back with 60 % fuel in tank.. Correct charging, no extrasss ! Great service and pricing overal!

Had a full to full rental. However the car was not full. They said no problem” just return with same level.
Stupid to trust them since they charged me fuel from start-level to full tank.
Complaint did not change their mindset - and did talk to their customer service with no support.
Fraud company.

Booked a car for a holiday in Italy, but after reading all the negative reviews I emailed them to make sure which documents they need for the rental.

Turned out they don’t accept credit card with initials + full surname, only with full names. Well, in NL that’s not possible and therefore I had to cancel my booking because they would not accept my credit card, although my initials correspondent clearly to the names in my passport and driving license. Glad I double checked!

But I have rented cars in many countries and never experiences something like this…