We often get asked if there are any companies that offer automatic vans for hire.

The answer is that there are a few – but not many.

Why Would You Want To Hire An Automatic Van Anyway?

There are two main reasons that demand for automatic van hire is growing:

• Some people have automatic-only car licences – so they can only drive automatic vans
• Automatics are easier to drive – you don’t have to think about changing gear. When you’re not used to driving a van and are concentrating on manoeuvring it, this can be a big help

Why Aren’t Automatic Vans More Popular, Then?

Historically, the types of automatic gearboxes used in cars have not been very well suited to vans. They have offered poor performance and poor fuel economy – not good if you are running a business that uses vans.

That’s all starting to change, however. Newer types of automatic transmission don’t have these disadvantages – in fact, the latest automatics can offer fuel economy and performance that is the equal of a well-driven manual. They also don’t have the higher emissions that old-style automatics have.

For these reasons, automatic vans are becoming more common, but they do still have one disadvantage for van hire companies – they cost more to buy in the first place!

Despite this, expect to see more automatic cars and vans in the next few years – the new automated gearboxes that are in use have too many advantages to ignore and are steadily gaining ground on traditional manuals.

Click here to visit out automatic van hire page and learn more about automatic vans

Small and medium businesses looking for a regular, on-demand van hire service in London could do worse than consider Sixt’s new Sixt Trade program.

Sixt Trade is aimed at business customers who need van hire but don’t want to have the hassle of setting up an account – basically, it’s just like regular day hire but at Sixt’s most competitive online rates (trade prices are quoted exc. VAT).

As an added bonus, Sixt Trade customers will get a loyalty card that entitles them to one day’s free rental for every nine days paid rental – a nice little extra. Customers can also register to use a third party’s payment card – normally, the driver of a rented vehicle must use their own credit card to pay for the reservation and must be present at collection. This isn’t realistic for many business users, so Sixt offers a third party authorisation form that allows rentals to be completed without the card holder present.

(The Sixt Trade service is currently being advertised as only available in London – I think that this is because Sixt’s only branded branches are in London – throughout the remainder of the UK, they use branches that are members of the United Rental Group.)

I’ve always needed glasses to drive and usually keep them in my van – but it’s easy to forget to take them with you when you are driving a hire van.

If you do need glasses to drive, it is important never to drive without them – doing so is an offence.

If you haven’t used glasses but suspect you might need them, take a look at the driving test eyesight  requirements (basically, read a licence plate from 20m away) or take yourself along to your nearest optician for a test. It doesn’t take long.

If you do a lot of driving, then I would wholeheartedly recommend prescription sunglasses. I recently bought a pair for the first time and they are fantastic. I chose a light-grey tint and it is perfect – all the glare is gone, but colours remain natural and I can still see clearly when the sun goes in.

There are two types of dirt on rental vans – good dirt and bad dirt.

Good dirt is normal road dirt plus a little dust inside.

Bad dirt is excessive mud (inside or out) and food, drink, oil or other mess inside.

The reason for this is that while hire vans do get dirty in use, you don’t expect them to be like that when you pick them up from the hire company. That means someone has to clean them between rentals.

Van hire companies always do a quick wash down between hires – but if they have to do much more than that, they may decide to charge a cleaning fee to the person who created all the dirt! Your job is to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.

Fortunately, it is surprisingly easy.

Spilled coffee on the dashboard? Kitchen roll or baby wipes should take care of it (moisten the kitchen roll if the drink has dried on).

Excessive mud on the floor? A quick sweep or vacuum should get rid of it (easier if it is dry).

Oil? It should come off most plastics OK, but you may be in trouble if it is on the upholstery. Consider using disposable seat covers (or putting an old blanket on the seats) if you will be doing dirty work with your hire van.

Rubbish and litter? Do I really need to explain what to do with this?

I’m no cleaning expert and this is not meant to be a cleaning guide – just a gentle warning to try and return hire vans in the same state you found them – especially on the inside. Naturally, vans get more wear and tear than cars and some of the ones I have hired have been pretty shabby – so don’t get too paranoid about it.

It’s often tempting to plan house moves and other activities requiring a hire van for the weekends. However, if saving money is a priority, it may pay to plan these for mid-week, instead, as rates can be cheaper and you may be able to reduce your hire period.

For example, Europcar currently has an offer on mid-week van hire, with rates starting from just £22.50 per day at selected hire locations.

Hiring mid-week might also enable you to manage with one day’s hire, instead of two. Most van hire branches are closed on Sunday’s and many shut at lunchtime on Saturday – meaning that if you hire on Friday, you are probably going to have to keep the van for the whole weekend. Hire mid-week, for example, and you can get a full 24-hour period without having to keep the van for a second day.

It’s just a thought…

To find van hire locations in your area, click here for our van hire search facility

One of the attractions of a hired vehicle is that if it goes wrong, it isn’t your problem. That’s true with regard to genuine, unforeseeable breakdowns – but you are still responsible for looking after the vehicle while it is in your care.

The main areas that you are expected to check are oil, water and tyres. When you pick up a rental van, these should all have been checked – but in my experience they may not have been.

Of the last three cars and vans I hired, one was fine, one had low water and one had a nearly flat tyre that would probably have punctured if I had driven it any distance while fully loaded.

If the van you have hired suffers damage as a result of you failing to check the oil, water and tyres, then you may be held liable for the consequences of that damage – which can be considerable. Motoring expert Honest John, writing in the Daily Telegraph, confirms this in response to a reader’s letter (scroll down to the “Start Wreck” heading).

Most rental companies’ terms and conditions also imply this, with words to the effect that the renter is responsible for returning the rental vehicle in the same condition as it was rented, excluding normal wear and tear.

Van Checks

Fortunately, checking the oil, water, tyre pressures and (for convenience and safety) the windscreen wash is quite easy. The SimpleMotoring.co.uk website has a handy illustrated guide to doing all of these tasks, if you are not familiar with them:

Simple Car Care Guide

Van Tyre Pressures

You probably won’t be familiar with the correct tyre pressures for vans – if this is a problem, I would suggest two possible solutions:

• Ring up the van hire company and ask them
• If the tyre on the other side of the van seems fine, check what pressure that is at and pump up the flat tyre to the same pressure (remember that front and rear tyre pressures will be different)

Finally…

Don’t get paranoid or scared about all of this – the vast majority of rentals are completely trouble free. It just pays to be aware of the potential problems and protect yourself from them.

Our DIY Removals Guide is one of the most popular pages on the site – it’s based on my own experience of moving house for myself. However, it has been a few years since I last moved, so I thought it was time to refresh my experience and put my money where my mouth is.

Luckily enough, my sister was due to move recently, so I offered my help in the form of a hired van and my labour for the day. As she was living in a furnished, rented house, she did not have a lot of furniture or appliances – so I opted for a medium van from my local rental company. The van in question turned out to be a Renault Trafic – a hugely popular model that is also sold as the Vauxhall Vivaro and Nissan Primastar.

Renault Trafic

Here’s a snapshot of the inside, empty:

Inside an empty Renault Trafic

Here’s what it looked like when we had finished loading:

Renault Trafic loaded up and ready to go

The lesson here is that, correctly packed, you can get a surprising amount in a van of this size. I could have booked the next size up, but I would then have had a lot more space than I needed and would have had to restrain the load to stop it all moving about while I was driving.

There are a few additional tips I would like to share:

• A lot of the stuff was packed in identical boxes. I could stack these against the bulkhead neatly and efficiently – if the boxes had all been different sizes, this would have been less convenient and stable.
• Start at the front, with the heavy, stackable stuff. Stack hard against the bulkhead and work your way back.
• Anything like flatpack furniture or table tops can be stacked against a side wall and then boxed in so it can’t move – use an old blanket or sheet to protect any unboxed furniture from being scratched.
• Drive carefully – with the van this full, I did feel the extra weight
• Make sure your tyres are inflated correctly – mine all looked okay before I loaded the van, but one was badly underinflated and after the van was loaded it was visibly flat. I pumped it up at the first garage I came to.

I’m pleased to report that nothing moved and nothing was damaged during the move – which was over a distance of about 190 miles, many of which were on winding, country roads. Of course, I did take care and took the corners slower than I would have in an empty van (or car).

Car and van hire rates could rise by as much as 15%, according to Sixt. Sixt’s Managing Director, Ian Lawrence, told Fleet News that:

Even with the most recent increases, rates are still nowhere near where we need them to be … They are still 10 to 15% below where they should be.”

It’s not just Sixt, either. An Avis spokesman confirmed that they too were seeking to “continue to take opportunities to maximise price increases where appropriate”.

Rental rates have risen by about 8% in recent months. These rises can mostly be explained by two factors:

• Rising vehicle acquisition costs being passed on to rental customers
• Reduction in fleet sizes in order to lower debt requirements and increase fleet utilisation (and hence profitability)

Both Avis and Sixt have managed to improve their financial results this year – in Avis’ case by reducing debt by 14% and in Sixt’s case by improving revenue (although profit stayed unchanged in the UK).

We try to provide as much information as possible about van hire on this website, but we can’t cover everything for everyone.

That’s why we setup our Van Q&A forums – a place where anybody can ask questions about vans or van hire.

Anyone is welcome and no question is too stupid – as the wise man says, the only stupid questions are the ones you don’t ask.

There’s even a handy search facility to allow you to search through all the previous posts and see if your question has already been asked. It’s really that easy.

So if you do have any questions about vans or van hire, why not take a look now?

If you haven’t hired a van before, you may be a little nervous when it comes time to collect it.

The good news is that everything is pretty much the same as for a hire car – so if you have hired a car before, you will be on familiar ground with the paperwork and procedures.

As with all hire vehicles, make sure you know how much fuel should be in the vehicle when you return and take care to mark any damage on the rental company’s check sheet before you sign for it.

There are also a few extra things that are worth checking or preparing for:

• What type of fuel does your hire van require? It will probably be diesel but check.
• Check the maximum payload (load weight) of your van – items such as tiles and timber can be surprisingly heavy and you will often reach the weight limit before the van is full. Liquid (e.g. wine and beer) can also be heavy – see our booze cruise guide for examples.
• Adjust your van’s mirrors carefully before you leave the hire company and make good use of them (including the blindspot mirrors if fitted). You will need to depend on them more than in a car.
• Take care when parking – have someone see you back if you are unsure or if there are a lot of pedestrians around.
• If you are hiring a van for European use, check out our European driving tips.