CICAR Reviews 10,816

Great service.
Payments from debit card, credit card, cash.
No deposit option.
Perfect.

We booked with Cicar Av. de las Playas, Puerto del Carmen. Our experience with them was A1. The blonde lady I dealt with was extremely helpful and patient, she is a credit to the company. She dealt with the mix up in dates that I created swiftly and with zero drama after I decided to book our car for a second week and mixed up the return date
I would book online and in advance as they appear to be very busy. Excellent experience with this company branch

Terrible experience, we got a car and it had fuel problems. They checked it and said it was fine. The car stopped in the middle of the road at late night. We almost lost our lives since car could have hit us. We called Cicar assistance and they didn’t pick up the phone. We were alone at night on the road just because they told us the car was fine. We complained and they keep saying the car was fine. Police saw us and they tried to start the car and it wasn’t going. Cicar refused to take responsibilities. They don’t care that we almost died cause they are incompetent, not professional. Do not get a car if you wanna feel safe!!!

We’ve been renting with Cicar in the Canaries for over 10 years. In fairness, at the beginning they stood out as being really good which is why we continued to hire from them. However the standard of cars and service has in our experience steadily declined in recent years.

In December 2024 we were greeted with a very long queue to collect the car we had pre booked at Tenerife South. They had only two people working behind the desk and only one (for a reason known only to themselves) was serving customers. We gave up queuing after two hours. With another 30 customers still waiting in front of us we estimated we’d be there for at least another hour and a half and we'd then have been queuing for 3.5 hours, just to collect the car.

Maybe a one off bad experience? We think not - the quality and condition of the cars has also gone downhill. In recent years we’ve been allocated cars with ripped/foam exposed in the driver’s seat, another where you could not shut the tailgate because the trim was hanging off and one occasion where a tyre had a bulge in the side wall where it looked to have been kerbed by a previous user.

We’ve increasingly found the cars allocated are old and weary and/or not adequately maintained. We complained on one occasion and they gave us a much newer car, but really you should not have to be tooing and froing, getting back in the queue etc.

We hired again last week and were given a circa 5 year old, 113,000 km’s battered Peugeot 308. Most panels (including the roof) had damage. We’d booked a Ford Focus but the Peugeot they allocated was that old they do not even advertise the model on their website, despite their website stating they have a ‘modern fleet of new vehicles’. The engine on the 308 sporadically spluttered when driven a distance and the transmission/clutch was worn. As such my wife did not want to risk a trip to visit Teide for fear of the car breaking down. That defeats the object of hiring a car in our view, if you cannot use it as intended.

We had a further booking arranged with Cicar later this year and so we told them about the car's condition for this most recent hire. We were seeking reassurance that for the next hire we’d not be allocated an old worn out car again. They replied saying they would ‘try’ and ensure a car in ‘optimal condition’. Try, is that it all they can offer? We'd hoped for firm assurance that the next car allocated would definitely be good, not that they'd just try!

Not reassured, we’ve given up with Cicar and obviously cancelled the next booking and booked with another car hire company. We will have our family with us next time and the last thing we need is to be worrying about the reliability of potentially another old car, plus we’d like to visit Teide!

Cicar have not acknowledged our cancellation and so we assume they're not bothered. And so we have left this review in order to inform others who may hopefully avoid a similar experience.

Footnote – before leaving this review I thought I would check prices. Because of the 2 hour wait in the queue last December, they offered us ‘special conditions’ on our next rental which we thought was a genuine offer; perhaps a way of apologising to a regular customer who received sub standard service. They offered us a price of 1,100 euros and we booked it. But having checked on their website just now with the same dates, the price offered today would be 44 euros less!

They clearly did offer us ‘special conditions’. Special conditions that would have cost us more money.

Won't be using Cicar again.

Extremely Disappointed with CICAR – Long-Time Customer Treated with Disrespect

I’ve been a loyal CICAR customer for years, renting cars from them regularly during my visits to Tenerife. Sadly, this recent experience has completely changed my opinion of the company.

As usual, I booked a car online — and as is often the case, I didn’t receive the model I requested, but I’ve come to expect that. Everything went smoothly until the return. I dropped the car off at the airport and, due to time pressure, rushed through security to board my flight. Just 12 minutes after returning the vehicle, I realized I had left my designer hat — a personal and valuable item — on the back seat. I immediately called CICAR and explained the situation, asking them to keep it safe until my daughter, who had also booked a car with them a few days later, could pick it up.

They called me back shortly after to say nothing was found. I was very upset. I know exactly where I left it, and this wasn't just a hat — I’m a bald man, and I wear it every day. It’s a part of me.

I was already angry and disappointed, but then came the most shocking part. I received another call — not an apology or an update — but a rude and aggressive lecture from a CICAR employee, telling me they are not responsible, and if I don’t like it, I shouldn’t use their service again. The tone was completely unprofessional and disrespectful.

Well, they got their wish. I will never use CICAR again. It’s clear that as they’ve grown into one of the largest rental companies in the Canary Islands, they’ve lost sight of customer care and basic decency. Being a big company doesn’t make you immune to failure — and it starts with treating loyal clients like they don’t matter.

A once-reliable service has become careless, arrogant, and unprofessional. Avoid CICAR if you value respect and accountability.

Everything was straightforward and smooth until it was time to hand it over.
I hired a Peugeot 108 and it was great! Very reasonable price for the week.

When I gave it back a week later, in the same condition and with a full tank of petrol, it was a different story.

The Cicar assistant yelled at me and my son because we did not know our way around the airport carpark and we allegedly parked in a bay that was one further away than the one that we should have parked in ( this was my first experience of car hire, ever). I tried to explain that I did not understand where exactly she wanted me to relocate the car, but she then became irate and concerningly hostile.
Apart from the end bit, it was a success, and I can highly recommend Cicar for value for money if not for customer service.

booked a new model SUV with CICAR online and provided my flight number as requested. Due to a 3-hour flight delay, I arrived late — only to be told at the counter that my reservation had been cancelled.

Instead, I was offered a very old Peugeot 308 in shocking condition: broken features, a rear wiper hanging off, and clearly not roadworthy. Yet, they charged me the same price as the SUV I originally booked — no apology, no partial refund, not even a fair explanation.

The man at the counter was unfriendly and dismissive, and as a group of Asian travellers, we genuinely felt we were not being treated with the same respect as others.

CICAR was once a good company, but this experience has completely changed my view. No communication, terrible service, and no accountability. I won’t be using them again — and I recommend others think twice before booking.

I have been a customer of Cicar for many years and have always opted for a opel astra on the options page and have been pleasantly surprised by either getting an Astra or bigger. For example my previous booking to this was a Peugeot 3008.. However this rental I was given a Seat Ibiza the equivalent to a Opel Corsa when I complained via email I was told you should have ordered a Astra Sw meaning Station Wagon or a UK Estate.

In a nutshell Cicar has less bays for cars and it's rental pick up point has now moved from the front to the rear of the rental spaces tells me something is badly wrong. Alas another point was my rentals seats was covered in crumbs. Covid is clearly over.. Sorry Cicar it's my last rental with you.

Was given a bigger car than we had asked for and then charged a deposit for fuel. on return we left more fuel than when we collected. Had to chase for refund of deposit and then when this was done was only given a partial refund as they state that there was less fuel than we had left in it. My advice if you use them take photos of the fuel gauge on collection and return. I wish we had done that. Won’t use the company again

Long waits at Tenerife South Airport overshadow Cicar’s competitive prices

Renting from Cicar at Tenerife airport comes with the promise of low prices, but my experience revealed that the savings often come at the expense of time and vehicle quality.

Lengthy queues after arrival!
Despite having a reservation, I had to wait in line for over an hour at the Cicar desk. This isn’t an isolated incident-many travelers in the queue reported similar or even longer waits, especially during busy periods. After a long flight, standing in a crowded queue is the last thing you want. The other counters at hertz , topcar And Europecar were empty and we regret do not have booked via these other operators. On saying how long the waiting queue was, we asked for a price quotation at Hertz and the price was not that much from Cicar. We regret that we could not cancel our former reservation to try hertz.

Old vehicle condition!
We rented a van for seven people, and while I didn’t expect the exact brand reserved, the real letdown was the vehicle’s age and state. The van was quite old one and had technical problem, like a vibrating steering wheel. After such a long wait, i just accepted the car and moved on, too exhausted to complain. The staff at the pick up desk just told me: that’s all that we have as van…

the sheer volume of customers means the handover is often rushed…
Just be aware when you book via Cicar : the risk of long delays and receiving a very used car is significant at Tenerife south airport.

We hired in Fuerteventura March 2025 and the car we were given was a Vauxhall Corsa as requested but the car had done 70,000kms, what has happened to paying a decent amount of money as Cicar charge for a decent car. I will add that the car had a few dents and scrapes but still looked respectable for a holiday hire car and drove OK apart from some very questionable noises from the engine. I will not pay the extra that Cicar charge next time due to the above and instead take a small excess with my own car hire excess insurance and hire from another supplier with a better standard of cars.

We rented a car from Cicar in Fuerteventura last week in Calleta de Fuste. Very quick, easy, good car, full to full. Returned the car after 3 days with no issues, filled it up with petrol before return and already got our deposit for petrol back, excellent. No q when we collected although there are very popular so may have q in the airport or resort but we arrived early and no issue. It nice to have a car hire company that don’t try to rip you off.

What a fantastic service we've just received. We booked a car for a week at what was a really great price. Actually picking the car up from fuerteventura airport was a doddle. Within 5 minutes we had the keys and were on our way. The car we were given was an auto which was a bonus. It was very new and in great condition. Dropping the car off was easy, they weren't even going to come and have a look at the car until I asked them to inspect it with me for peace of mind. Excellent service and highly recommended.

I have rented car from Cicar again and like before everything was perfect. No problems, even we have got flat tire on the second day of the holiday. We went to the cicar office and have got another car without any additional cost. Highly recommend.

Like many reviewers have used cicar at tenerife south airport for many years without any issues whatsoever. That all changed on our recent visit as when we arrived there must have been over 100 people in front of us in the queue to collect my prebooked car. After an hour and hardly moving I cancelled the booking and did without

Queued and queued for hours to get keys, staff not friendly or hasn’t got good customer service , car battery died on me which should’ve been checked beforehand, due to the car battery being dead in Tenerife , i had to get someone out to recharge it, drive it back to the airport to then change it, during this i missed a £200+ activity which me and my friends missed, hasnt offered no refund or nothing I find it disgusting, also lorena who I dealt with i asked to talk to the manager and she completely ignored me , i asked 3 times

Used this business a few times in Tenerife and never had any issues. My main concern with any rental car is that I'm going to get stung for unfair charges but never had any issues despite some minor dings along the way (none of which occured whilst driving). In the Canaries it is inevitable that sooner later you are going to return to your car to find a nasty dent in your door or crack in your bumper as parking spaces are so small so please be aware that some cheaper car rental places will charge you for this even though it's not your fault. You also read horror stories of some businesses charging customers due to mechanical breakdowns etc as if it was their fault the clutch has gone! Happy to say that I've not had any issues with Cicar on this score. If you are going to rent in the Canaries PLEASE check out Tripadvisor first as otherwise it could be a very expensive holiday.

I would give zero star if I have an option. I book an auto car months in advance. Travel 6 hours and the guy in counter told me sorry we don’t have any automatic car and try to being smart hole saying even tho manual cars are expensive but I can give you for the same price. I said why didn’t you told me or email me. He was ohh it’s systems fault. If you not happy then fill the complain form. I said that’s the way your company works? So my whole holidays just wasted? The guy Didn’t bother at all. There were 7 other people like me as well filling complaint form.
Absolutely shocking. Please stay away from them. Cheap for the reason.

The company is a joke.

I was lucky enough to find an other car company or my holiday would be ruined.

Never using them again or recommending them to anyone.

I regret having to write this review after what began as a positive experience with CICAR. This was my second time renting from them, and I was initially satisfied with their service, even recommending the company to friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, my recent experience has been nothing short of frustrating and disappointing.

During my last rental, there was an issue with the vehicle, which required a replacement at the office in San Sebastián de La Gomera. The car had to be towed due to a problem with the accumulator, and another car was provided for the remaining rental period. When paying the rental fee, I was assured that my fuel deposit of 36 euros would be fully refunded upon returning the car with a full tank. However, due to this breakdown and subsequent paperwork, only 18 euros were refunded. The explanation given was that there was some error in the documentation, but I was told the mistake was visible in their system and that I just needed to contact customer service to have the remainder refunded via bank transfer.

Fair enough, I thought, and I contacted customer service via email with all the necessary details explaining the situation. To my first message, no answer came for two weeks, so I sent a second message—still no response. A third message, CC-ing their info desk, finally elicited a reply. But it was far from what I expected. They claimed to have reviewed the documentation and insisted that I had been refunded the full amount, which is absolutely untrue.

Since then, I have sent two further messages attempting to clarify the situation, but I have received no reaction whatsoever. Calling customer service only places you in an endless queue with hold music, making it another dead end.

The lack of willingness to resolve the issue or communicate properly has been incredibly disappointing. I expected much better from a company I had trusted enough to rent from again.

Based on this experience, I can no longer recommend CICAR and will not be using their services in the future. If you value responsive and trustworthy customer service, I urge you to look elsewhere.

Used cicar for years in all Canarias islands . I have been very pleased until today .
This review is only for Tenerife airport s.

We had the car we wanted ,very pleased in the beginning, after a week our car was window smashed and things stolen , in a parking lot at shopping mall Meridiano , after 3 hours waiting at the police station reporting the incident, because I needed to change the car. After another hour of driving to airport we arrived around 9 pm, we found a personal not prepared for this situation ,considering lately it is happening more often, they should be as they know about this

We gave the car and the keys to the person who told us by costumer support ,the only number answered after 8 pm .
They guy from parking lot ,didn’t know what to do and sent us with all stuff inside the airport to do there.

This is were starter , the lady from there was very rude and a professional, start shouting ,because I don’t have the keys , when I explained she was still angry I don’t have them. We was chatting in English, she is definitely racist, soon I start speaking in Spanish she told me I should speak with her in Spanish if I know , but I did explain I am not fluent so I prefer the language I know.

Anyway after she was like different person . I can’t believe that happened