Car Hire or Similar – What does ‘or similar’ mean when hiring a car?

If you’ve hired a car recently, you’ll no doubt have noticed that when looking at options the car make and model will have ‘or similar’ stated next to the option. If you delve into the terms and conditions also you see a reference to ‘or similar’. So what does this actually mean and why can’t car hire suppliers offer the exact make and model suggested when booking?



Managing a fleet of rental cars can be a complicated business with nearly all of the rental agents taking direct bookings or receiving bookings from comparison sites and specialists brokers such as Rhinocarhire.com. As such, it’s not always possible to know exactly what car will be available for every given rental. Typically a car rental agents fleet with comprise a wide range of vehicles to suit a range of customer demands and needs from mini / economy cars for those looking for a the cheapest option to hire a car up to high capacity vehicles and people carriers for groups and larger families to luxury and high end vehicles for customers looking for something a little more exotic and happy to pay for the privilege to drive something they may otherwise not have access to.

In addition to this, the supplier to has to actually source the cars to fill their fleet and the categories within and this can come from a range of car manufacturers and suppliers to suit the demands with appropriate makes and models. This can lead to a rental agent having more than one make and model car within the same category and is why we have to state ‘or similar’ at the quote stage when hiring a car with Rhinocarhire.com.

So whilst we can’t confirm the exact make and model will be as selected, what we can say is that in the unlikely event that the rental agent may not for example have the VW Golf hatchback you booked, they will supply a car of equal or higher class that will be suitable for your needs. For example, if you booked a 5 door compact class hatchback (in this case a VW Golf), should you not be offered a VW Golf on collection, you would be supplied with a car similar in class and equal or above in specification. So if you ordered a 5dr automatic car, you would receive at least a 5 dr automatic compact hatchback.

It is rare that the actual car supplied is not the exact make and model displayed on our website, however in the event that doesn’t happen, rest assured you’ll receive a vehicle of equal or higher specification. We’ve put together a table of suggested cars by category and what other makes and models would typically be in the rental agent fleet that could be offered as an alternative;
 
* list not exhaustive, based on most popular rental fleet make and models per category