Slightly OT Spain and Bail bonds ??

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Hirsty's - 27 Jul 2006 23:08 GMT

Propose to hire a car in Spain at end of month through package company. All
the advice I can find says bail bonds are no longer required by Spanish;
anyone here know anything about this. I plead extreme ignorance. If I need
one how/ who do I get one from ?/

Tia

John H

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Peter A - 28 Jul 2006 08:02 GMT

> anyone here know anything about this.

I live and work in Spain and recently had cause to hire a car for 3
months - I can confirm that bonds are no longer required. In fact they
haven't been for quite a few years, although I can't recall exactly
when the requirment was dropped. As a benchmark, you should expect to
pay about a hundred sterling a week for a eurobox runaround btw. At the
other end of the scale, a big jap 4WD runs at about 700/week. Note
though that most, if not all, hire cars are *not* insured for use on
unmade roads - and there are a lot of unmade roads, if you venture out
into the campo. Should you break down on a dirt road, flag down the
next passing Santana and get towed (illegal btw!) back onto the tarmac
before you 'phone it in. Hope this helps.

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Peter A - 28 Jul 2006 08:05 GMT

> although I can't recall exactly

when the requirment was dropped.

Ah, insert 'e' in 'requirment', according to taste...

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Hirsty's - 28 Jul 2006 08:08 GMT

> > although I can't recall exactly
> when the requirment was dropped.
>
> Ah, insert 'e' in 'requirment', according to taste...

Thanks Peter much appreciated ( I'll keep an eye out for the Santana ! )

John H

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Ian Rawlings - 28 Jul 2006 09:45 GMT

> Should you break down on a dirt road, flag down the next passing
> Santana and get towed (illegal btw!) back onto the tarmac before you
> 'phone it in.

Illegal to be towed? At all or just on unmade roads? Sounds a tad
odd really.

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Hirsty's - 28 Jul 2006 12:03 GMT

> On 2006-07-28, Pet
> Illegal to be towed? At all or just on unmade roads? Sounds a tad
> odd really.

Might refer just to hire cars which usually have a clause in small print
restricting them to metalled roads etc.

( After I graduated I spent a while in Australia. My cousin was sent off to
hire a 4wd to use for a hunting trip in the bush, being tight fisted he
hired a 1.6 ford escourt so we had a weekend off road in that. Ran the
battery down after spotlighting at night and had heart in mouth each time he
drove over "boulders" which usually turned out to be cow pats! Sump was
safe.
Small print in that agreement was " no unmetalled roads. Little town was
called Texas I think and was on the NSW border.
No wonder students get a bad reputation !! )

John H

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Peter A - 28 Jul 2006 22:43 GMT

> Might refer just to hire cars which usually have a clause in small print
> restricting them to metalled roads etc.

Yes, that's it exactly. But if you're exploring inland, it's difficult
not to find yourself on unmade roads at some time or other. People
regularly bring unsuitable vehicles down the track I live down and then
knock the sumps out on the rocks down the middle. It looks nice and
scenic alongside the river but it just gets worse and worse. So I come
trundling down in the Landie and there's a thin black line down the
middle of the track, and I think, betcha there's a dead car at the end
of that stripe! 6 last year, in all. Every one an alloy sump btw.

If the hire company have to come and get you and they find you down an
unmade road, you're usually liable for the repairs yourself, was what I
was getting at.

It's only a single track here so I often end up moving them just so as
I can get home. But sometimes it gets surreal. I pulled a guy out last
week; they plough up the olive groves in the spring with a tracked
tractor with serious hooks on it, down 18" or so, as a firebreak -
there's big rocks turned up all over the place, ok, and it's furrowed
like a potato field; you would drive a 4WD across it *carefully* if you
had to. And right in the middle of it is a goddam Ford Escort of all
things, completely dug in flat on it's belly pan with about 25 bags of
cement in the boot and on the back seat. I pulled it out in low 1st, I
have *no idea* how he got it in there. Maybe he took a run at it.

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Peter A - 28 Jul 2006 21:59 GMT

> Illegal to be towed? At all or just on unmade roads? Sounds a tad
> odd really.

Yeah, illegal anywhere for any vehicle. You have to use a rescue truck
(the 'grua') as a result of which, every small town has it's grua men.
It can be a real pain in the neck. Neither can you drive a non mot'd
car for it's test, you're supposed to grua them there as well. (Yeah,
right!) For that matter, you can't book an appointment for the ITV (the
MOT) anyway.

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Nige - 29 Jul 2006 17:09 GMT

>> Illegal to be towed? At all or just on unmade roads? Sounds a tad
>> odd really.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> as well. (Yeah, right!) For that matter, you can't book an
> appointment for the ITV (the MOT) anyway.

Well, I'm coming to Spain for a couple of week on Tuesday, Casares to be precise & bloody nice it is too!

I just hope Malaga airport is finished as it was utter chaos last time we came!

Nige

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Tim Hobbs - 29 Jul 2006 21:03 GMT

>>> Illegal to be towed? At all or just on unmade roads? Sounds a tad
>>> odd really.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
>Nige

Was there in November and the car hire hall was like turning out time
at Wembley Stadium - absolute chaos. That said, the car hire was
excellent - good cars, upgraded and pretty cheap. Booked a Megane and
a Clio (7 of us in the party) and got a Megane and a Zafira.

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Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'03 Volvo V70
'06 Nissan Navara aka "The Truck"

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Peter A - 30 Jul 2006 08:13 GMT

> I just hope Malaga airport is finished as it was utter chaos last time we came!

Ummm... I'm very sorry to tell you.... they apologise for the
inconvenience, and all that.... but should you happen to work in the
construction industry you're going to feel right at home!! Complete
chaos. I know you don't want to think about going home when you haven't
got here yet, but when the time comes, the word on the street here says
allow an extra hour to check in. (For check-in, read, to 'get'-in!)

You're actually not far from me - I live near a very similar white
pueblo, Monda.
http://www.idealspain.com/pages/Places/Monda.htm

You want to meet up for a beer and talk Landies, pm me. There'a a new
90 SW with my name on it at the dealers in Estepona waiting to have a
winch fitted, collect next week they say, so if you want to go
someplace the hire car co. might not approve of I'm up for any shake
down test. Current truck is a well used 300Tdi 110 truck cab so I'm
just getting my head around the idea of *gosh* electric windows and
other such frivolities.

Peter.

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