First Car Rental at Cape Town Airport

Pros: The speedy drop off

Cons: The pick up, took a long time.

Pros: Quick and initially helpful

Cons: Car provided had a chip in the windscreen that we did not notice until we were a couple of miles out of the airport. This was distressing because I would have expected that the car was properly inspected by First Rental’s staff and this blemish noted by them

Pros: Best service and friendly staff

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Friendly and professional

Cons: Nothing

Pros: I just visited my friends and family

Cons: Im a little disappointed that my holding deposit was taken immediately and I have to wait 2 to 3 days for it to be paid back to me.

Pros: A bit impersonal but quick and efficient, and exchanged the car without question when the first one developed a fault with the door locking

Cons: The loss of money due to having to pay a deposit for fuelling

Cons: The car I booked and payed for was not what I got! It really mad travelling harder than it should have been and regardless I paid extra for a car I didn’t receive. Really not impressed.

Pros: Efficient processing, particularly on vehicle return.

Pros: Not all issues were reported in inspection sheet.

Pros: At check-in I had to provide a lot of information. It was good that I could type on the computer rather than telling the agent and them typing it in. When this happens there is usually more time consuming as the agent asks for spelling or for you to repeat the information

Cons: I wasn't told that the rental return was not at the same place as where I picked up the car. I had to fill in a lot of information at the check in desk. It would have been good if I could have done this online in advance

Pros: Raymond in the car park in cape Town who was very helpful

Cons: Charging for an additional driver when my voucher said it was free

Pros: I like that there ade 2 monitors on the counter, 1 facing the Car Rental Team, and 1 facing the Customer.

Cons: Administration was a mess. The Fuel in my car was almost empty wheb I received it. Already sent email with Phiti proof of the condition, and was told when I returned the car, no need to fill it up. Yet when I didn't, they still charged me.

Pros: Quick service.

Cons: None.

Pros: Incredibly quick pick up and drop off. Easy no hassle customer service.

Cons: I requested a specific car well in advance of the rental date, but when I arrived to collect the vehicle, I was told that the model I had booked was unavailable. However, as we walked through the parking area, I noticed that the exact model was in fact available. It took considerable back-and-forth before they eventually provided us with the vehicle we had originally requested. If they address the handling of specific vehicle requests and elevate their customer service at the branch, I would co

Pros: All good

Cons: All good

Pros: Quick and efficient

Pros: Very friendly and helpful staff on arrival and drop off. Close proximity to the terminal at Cape Town International. Easy pick up and drop off service.

Cons: Was a little unsure of the drop off location, but not the fault of first car it is the location for all cars at this airport but staff were incredibly helpful to find it.

Pros: Boot didn't close properly and reverse gear only worked after going onto first gear 4/5;times. Very bad fuel economy

Pros: First Rental staff very hood and efficient

Cons: Flight changed gave car back a day early no compensation

Pros: Online payment was simple.

Cons: On check in at First Rental was very complicated, wasnt explained clearly and the staff were unfriendly and unhelpful. Typing in your details was cumbersome especially when you have luggage and documents in your hands

Pros: Most everything

Pros: Easy and helpful by personal.

Cons: They did not look at my online bookking.they just gave me a car and it was not the one o booked online.the car was not up to date on safety. The suspention on the car is in very poor state.the radio was taken out and replaced with a cheap radio so none of the controls on the steering wheele worked.no gps no fhone holder.i had to drive on my fhone gps and had to hold it most of the time in my hand...

Pros: The official who attended to us was very courteous and very professional in helping us. Her name is Kulakazi. Offered us an excellent service.

Cons: None

Pros: All staff were helpful and friendly.

Cons: No complaints at all.

Pros: Friendly, courteous and helpful. Went the extra mile. Return of vehicles is quick and efficient.

Cons: Deposit fees are too high. Details should be preloaded to avoid the long processing time before collection.

Pros: I had to push very hard to get baby car seats that weren't disgusting and old and had top tethers

Cons: I had to push very hard to get baby car seats that weren't disgusting and old and had top tethers

Pros: Fast and friendly

Cons: Nothing

Pros: I have used First Car Rental on numerous occasions. Each time everything goes through seamless from pickup to drop-off. I will continue to carry on using them in future.

Pros: The contract details were clear and concise, and no pressure to to consider the higher insurance cover aspect

Cons: Your contract stated fuel top up gave me the option to return the car refueled but I read in a follow up email after I returned the car that FirstCar top fuel regardless of me having gone to time and cost to top up the car before return. I sure hope I’m not charged for a cup petrol and additional admin fees. That will neutralize my regard for FirstCar

Pros: Extreemly helpful car rental services

Cons: Quick and eansy with good cars

Pros: Easy to use. No fuss.

Cons: Polite, easy and a good quality vehicle

Pros: The staff were outstanding. The car was in good condition inside and out.

Pros: New car

Cons: Car signed off as fine on return and then later received an email stating there were issues. Not sent the attachment to appeal despite repeated requests and the companies stated protocol was not followed.

Pros: Friendly staff, easy access near the airport. Helpful return staff.

Cons: Poorly trained counter staff. The process of handing over my credit / combined debit card and then watching someone scanning details on the card is unacceptable in this day and age. I both a debit and. a credit card details on the back of my card with the CVC numbers for both. Today we use virtual credit cards, yet this process is not supported. Why not for security sake?

Pros: Very friendly and helpful. Correct work

Pros: Good value for money. Booked for 70 days so that was important.

Cons: Drop off quick and easy. Checkout person friendly but took awhile.

Pros: Fairly new car, clean and reliable and very fuel efficient.

Cons: The inspection was not explained clearly

Pros: The agents were friendly and competent and the service was very effective

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Excellent service

Cons: Possibly disclosed my phone number to third party either intentionally or due to date breach

Pros: Great car, excellent condition

Cons: At the airport we were told we could pick our car up in central Cape Town but when we got to the town centre office there was no car & we had to take an Uber back to the airport.

Cons: Exterior of the car was dirty in pick up

Pros: Had a brand new car

Cons: Not applicable

Pros: Helpful and friendly.

Pros: Quick efficient and friendly

Pros: Very amicable service! A breath of fresh air in this industry! THANKS!

Cons: A computer error at First Car rental, due to NOT activating their MS software license caused a delay! The gas cap release did not work, and had to "manually release" to refuel!

Cons: They charged me about 8% more and I don't know why

Pros: Fast, helpful, efficient.

Cons: nothing - the service was excellent

Pros: Nothing

Cons: Took our money twice, the fuel charge and condition of vehicle

Pros: Nothing. The price shown on the booking was way lower than the one I ended up paying at the airport.

Cons: According to the internet booking I had to pay only R1324 at pick up. The pick up process was very slow. They held a deposit amount of R12000 on my card, that was all right, I returned the car full BUT they charged me for some extras a total amount of R3000 (the concept is: fuel and possible extras). I never asked for any extra. I asked them several times where this comes from and their costumer service is pathetic since they mention what says to the invoice (as if I wasn´t able to read).

Pros: Easy to collect

Pros: easy to use efficient representstive

Cons: car was lowest end automatic without reverse camera

Pros: It was efficient and friendly

Cons: I felt deceived because I signed up with Discovery Cars when I booked and paid them. When I got to the rental cars at the airport, I searched for Discovery Car Rentals, but couldn't find them. Then I discovered that I was really renting from First Car and had to pay them again. So, two payments - one for booking and one for renting. That did not seem clear to me at the outset and therefore it felt deceptive.

Pros: Excellent service overall.

Pros: I needed to both adjust the pick up and drop off date. No problem, they made it easy

Cons: There was nothing we disliked

Pros: Very efficient, the car was in very good condition. For a change it was exactly what we had specified as we need extra boot space, so no hassle there. Waiting time to pick up and collect was very good

Cons: We never received the renewal contract after the 30 day expiry as we hired for 52days. It had worried us to find this clause in the contract after booking but they had reassured us they would simply renew it and send us a copy.

Pros: Car very basic-passenger seat not properly fitted

Pros: Very good

Cons: Nothing

Pros: No hassle to return deposit quickly without spurious deductions. All sorted in less than 4 days after car returned

Cons: They tried to add additional insurance even though I booked with complete insurance.

Pros: Quick drop off

Cons: No options while picking up car inspite of small boot size.

Pros: Very friendly and helpful staff

Pros: Professionalism

Cons: None

Pros: Friendly staff

Cons: Desk service a bit slow

Pros: We had a slight glitch with our initial rental. One phone call and it was sorted out by Dominque. Very impressed with the service from the Cape Town airport staff

Cons: I wasn't charged the amount agreed on the voucher. The car wasn't ready when we arrived at the allocated time. The office was closed when we needed to drop off the car at the agreed time and date. Discover cars then chased us assuming the rental was overdue. Stress you don't need when you are trying to relax on a well needed break.

Pros: Friendliness of staff

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Efficient service.

Cons: Nothing.

Pros: Fast, friendly and efficient service with a smile.

Cons: N/A

Pros: Car assessors, before you pick the car they help mark scretches that were omitted on the check list, and also freindly help on loading laggage if you need help.

Cons: Booking a specific car yet given a different car. The "similar" car rental category is useless when you booked based on a specific car.

Pros: Very friendly staff and surprisingly efficient (not already our experience in the past)

Pros: Car quite adequate and return speedy

Cons: They couldn’t find the booking. It took some time

Pros: Superb services provided

Pros: Responded promptly to issue raised via online portal after car had been returned.

Cons: Extra unlisted small admin fees after rental completed.

Pros: Attendants

Cons: Very good services

Pros: The staff was professional and friendly. Car looked brand new.

Cons: Car was slightly smaller than we thought it would be but it was fine.

Pros: Good service New vehicle

Pros: Very convenient and efficient

Pros: We had a flat tire and they were able to replace the car quickly. Thats was great.

Cons: The time it took to pick up the car. The double charges that I’ve had to call frequently to have fix.

Pros: The employees Malcolm and Johan

Cons: There were a lot of scratch and damages on the car that were not mentioned. But luckily Mr. Malcolm helped me to do a thorough inspection of the vehicle.

Pros: Renting a car in a foreign country and driving on the other side of the road can be a daunting challenge. The process renting and returning the car and basic information went seamlessly.

Cons: The car, although quite new, was a very base level vehicle. Also, the toll pass put in the car did not work. However, we were able to pay at the toll gate, without issue.

Pros: Fast efficient service

Cons: Drop off and route to BP petrol station confusing (CPT)

Pros: We got a second driver included in the price.

Cons: The lady was polite and changed vehicles when we asked for a 5 door one to fit our mobility scooter.

Pros: Prompt delivery easy refund

Cons: condition of the car in one case was a bit compromised. My booking was mixed up with another booking so spent a lot of time trying to fix it.

Pros: More efficient than most car rental firms we have used

Pros: They were available for.roadside assistance if needed it.

Cons: Everything was fine.

Pros: let me say the young african lady went above and beyound to assist me she is a absolute assit to the company.

Pros: On returning the car, the agent drove us to airport drop off point as we had lots of luggage. That was a tremendous help.

Cons: Getting petrol at the airport was stressful. I wish we had known that you did not have to return it full.

Pros: Amazing - well done

Cons: No fuss

Pros: Very good service

Cons: Nil

Pros: Speed of pickup and friendliness of staff

Cons: Nothing all good

Pros: The only thing we liked were Derrick and Etienne, who tried to prevent the company from trying to charge us for things out of our control

Cons: We had the worst experience with First and they actually ruined our entire holiday

Pros: Prompt and friendly. Incredibly efficient.

Cons: Nothing whatsoever. 10 stars out of 10.

Pros: The return guy was very good

Cons: The baby seat was in a horrible condition. Was not fully functional had to hire a separate one as I did not feel the one provided was safe

Cons: ASked about extending the car rental for 4 or 5 hours due to late plane departure. Charged 680 rands for 4 and a half housr extra. Find that a very large amount for very little time.

Pros: Very easy to use and handy location

Cons: Simplified collection and drop off process

Cons: Pick up took some time. Car has already quite a lot of mileage

Cons: I just think that the car which was a Nissan Almera was underpowered. It had no extras e.g.cruise control. It felt it needed a sixth gear. It felt very "tinny". I expected an Almera to be a 2 ltr car. Admin concerning car was very good.

Pros: Very quick abd efficient deposit paid back quickly

Pros: Great service

Cons: Nothing. Superb

Pros: Friendly at the desk and at rhe handover.

Cons: Car was slightlly more expensive and a different make to the one I had booked.

Pros: We ordered a vw polo at Cape Town Airport at a sharp price for 17 says and to our surprise we got a Suzuki Jimny, fantastic deal for our trip including safaris.

Cons: Swift efficiënt service, with all the needed paper work, for border crossing.

Pros: Friendly efficient staff.

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Least expensive option

Pros: Good value for money.

Pros: Reliable service great staff

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Was good

Cons: No complaints

Pros: I liked the rental car..it's cleanliness and the handover was seamless

Cons: I did not like that they put a 3000rand refundable deposit thru my credit card to cover police fines, road tolls and non full fuel tank on return. I was not informed that this cost would be stopped in advance of hire. It's not a problem had I been aware of it....but it came as an extra surprise which I would have liked to have been informed about in advance

Pros: Very quick and helpful

Cons: Wrong car - 2 groups lower than i paid for

Pros: Smart, friendly and efficient

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Fast collection, fast return, happy, friendly staff and no additional fees at any point.

Pros: Excellent

Cons: Long queue to get to counter. Lots of customers

Pros: Excellent price/quality ratio; good car, good service

Cons: Only negative point: car with no central door locking, and no door locking button on keys. All doors had to be closed manually (x5!) each time we left the car...

Pros: The car was brand new, low km and a very pleasant agent assisted me. Additional assistance rendered to me as my sister was frail and elderly.

Cons: It was great, no problems

Pros: Quick results

Pros: Nothing positive to say.

Cons: Long queue to desk, then had to wait 20 mins for car to arrive as was parked offside, despite being booked for a particular time which had already passed. Just handed keys and no one to check car, so had to go and find some one. Car was smaller than booked, could only fit one case in boot contrary to that booked. Car was very tinny and basic.

Pros: The team were professional, friendly, helpful and efficient.

Cons: Everything was great. From a technical standpoint, it would be a nice touch for us to be able to pre-fill / pre-check-in so that it's quicker when we pick up the car.

Pros: Service was superb

Cons: Although with only 8000km on the clock the car had previously suffered d treatment and was mechanically wanting.

Cons: It took one our to pick up the car

Pros: Everything was easy and worked as planned with minimum fuss.

Cons: Nothing really.

Pros: Just excellent service. From start to finish. All staff dealt with were exceptionally friendly and extremely helpful.

Cons: Nothing. They were tops and helpful all along.

Pros: I can't suggest anything better.

Cons: Absolutely nothing.

Pros: Friendly fast hassle free service

Pros: The quick drop off

Cons: Overall customer service was very poor, long waiting time at check in and unfriendly staff not willing to take an extra step or thinking ahead to help us

Pros: It was fast and efficient.

Cons: The prize was not the final prize you gave me. Instead of 188.05, it was 202.74 without any reason.

Pros: Very friendly at pick up and drop off.

Cons: Very bureaucratic pick up procedures.

Pros: Every thing

Cons: None

Pros: Short and sweet. Everything ready, no waiting around, very polite.

Cons: Nothing!

Cons: Taking R11000 in deposits

Pros: Quick and easy

Cons: Was not the best car. the key fob didn't work, and the handling was not the best.

Pros: As expected.

Cons: Nothing, it was fine.

Cons: The car we were given was very dilapidated and not what we paid for. We were also given a toddler seat for a 4 month old baby and was told this was all they had! Very dangerous for our child and we should have been refunded our money!

Pros: Lot off scrattes

Pros: Car was neat tidy and in good working order. The ONE AND ONLY ONE AGENT at the airport desk was very efficient but over worked.

Cons: I had to stand in a queue at midnight for 90 minutes before l was served. I had booked the car in advance so when it came to my turn it took the agent 5 minutes to process. You need to have at least TEO people working at that agency. One for those people starting the hire process from scratch and those just getting keys and signing for a booked car.

Pros: The car ive picked up (proton x50) was in realy good condition. But the honda ballade the rental offered was in terrible condition (4/10)

Pros: Efficient and friendly staff

Cons: The drop off was excellent at the airport but we were subsequently charged for a fuel top-up when we returned the car full. They had clearly made a mistake (or worse) but would not admit it and there was no way of getting our money back.

Pros: Everything went smoothly. The car was perfect for our needs. No hidden costs.

Cons: Everything was good.

Pros: Efficiency

Cons: Professional

Pros: Very quick and easy

Cons: Took quite a while to go through process of picking up car

Pros: Good friendly service

Cons: Car underpowered Basic model

Cons: Very slow- took over an hour to get the car. System was off line . Welcome to Africa!

Pros: Value for money

Cons: I didn’t get the requested car

Pros: The staff and the car

Pros: Value for money

Pros: Courteous, efficient,

Cons: The car

Pros: Very helpful staff, very clear communication when we arrived.

Cons: The car... really lacked any horsepower. Expected more from a family saloon.

Pros: Staff were pleasant

Cons: Car was old, aerial was missing so no signal on the radio. Very basic car for what we paid.

Pros: Awesome Customer service

Pros: Final signoff agent!

Pros: The staff was super friendly and got us on our way quickly

Pros: Received really great service and support.

Cons: No fault with the service, however the type of vehicle we required to accommodate all our luggage was quite expensive.

Cons: The spare wheel was flat. I realized it when I got a flat tire. Had to fix two wheels.

Pros: simple and easy

Cons: I was an hour early and was told I had to wait two hours or pay for another full day hire

Pros: Why was the deposit not returned in full? More than 1000 rand has been deducted without giving any reasons!!!

Cons: Why was the deposit not returned in full? More than 1000 rand has been deducted without giving any reasons!!!

Pros: Nothing

Cons: As stated being scammed for refuelling

Pros: efficiency

Cons: missed rental return location

Pros: Great service, friendly and helpful

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Quick turnaround times Friendly and polite

Pros: See answer to first question.

Cons: I canceled and you didn't return my deposit. see answer to first question.

Pros: Reminder emails.

Cons: The billing. Two different billing amounts were deducted. I returned the car with a dented bootlid and bumper. This damage was invoiced at R14 895.00. Do not rent from First For Cars. They sharks.

Pros: Friendly and efficient.

Cons: Speed.

Pros: Efficient customer service, friendly staff. A pleasure to deal with them.

Pros: First class.

Cons: What is not to like about such efficiency.

Pros: Service

Cons: price ( you don't have a loyalty program)

Cons: Mi sono stati addebitato 2 litri di benzina, ma come posso portare l'auto con il pieno fino a tappo se non c'è un distributore dentro l'aeroporto

Pros: Efficient and friendly and a quality vehicle

Cons: Car returned full and still charged for refill

Pros: First class service from First

Pros: Very quick

Cons: Stole my money for refuel

Pros: Agent was wonderful

Cons: Nothing

Pros: Nice friendly staff

Cons: The GPS didn't work. We asked for a refund and it was ignored. Fuel was supposed to be full to full. We brought it back full and stil got charged for refuelling.

Pros: Nothing

Cons: It would be great if thy could give more assistance!

Pros: all was fine

Cons: Bit slow to pick up the car, the team seemed to be unfamiliar with the processes. Drop off was confusing as no one physically checked out the car, we just had to drop the keys. This is not good as we needed to be told there was no damage etc, to avoid getting a surprise later. The car was not the one I had booked, it was similar, but not as good as what had been advertised. After drop off I got a surprise email about refueling, but Ieft it full

Cons: I never got a car

Pros: The drop off person was really kind and brought us to the drop off parking close to the terminals with our suitcases

Cons: Everything. Pick up took 2 hours. Car was not the one that was ordered. Credit card was not accepted. Will never rent from them again!

Pros: Perfectly friendly staff

Cons: Pickup process was a little slow and the car was covered in scratches and chips so the inspection took a long time

Pros: Replaced dirty car they first provided.

Cons: Adding more fuel to the vehicle when I did fill it so more could be charged to me.

Pros: Quick service

Cons: We returned the car full but still got changed a refuelling fee

Cons: Car carried a number of, well documented, small impacts. Personnel at check in was not well-trained and caused problems with credit card and dealing with deposit.

Pros: Very satisfied

Pros: Easy pick up and drop off, friendly service

Pros: Both pick up and drop off was really fast and efficient

Cons: Not much service and value for money (in current market conditions) was very good.

Pros: only the drop off

Cons: You are very unclear about your charges and I feel ripped off. I will make sure to take this further. I was charged a huge holding deposit of R15000, which is unacceptable. You charged £80, and then a further £500 was charged when I got to SA. When I raised this with them, they said it had nothing to do with them and I should contact you, which then meant an expensive telephone call to the UK at £1.50 per minute. Not what one wants after 24 hours of travel. I shall cancel my next booking.

Pros: Easy to find, easy to get out of the rental car area and on my way. The car was a little Datsun Go, 5 doors and what it said on the tin! The booking in and collection was relatively quick.

Cons: Having arranged the rental through a third party, via online search & booking, I was unable to successfully explain and inform the clerk that in fact I had already paid a deposit and what I was being charged at collection was incorrect. I gave up (after a 27 hour journey, masked up for the entirety, I didn't have the energy or brain lower to argue any longer), so I overpaid and followed up latterly via email. My emails 2 both were promptly acted upon + refund recd within 5 days of return to UK

Pros: Friendly, helpful

Cons: Not informed about drop off procedures so went to wrong place Could also have let us know location of airport petrol station for refuelling

Cons: Delay in return of credit card deposit

Pros: They gave me stanav which did not have an English channel, just German. Overall the staff were pleasant

Cons: Took too long at the desk.

Cons: they gave me their smallest and cheapeast car (no central locking and Category A while i booked category B). after changing cars , i managed to get a nissan micra (way smaller compared to the car on photo on the voucher). FInally, i wanted to extend by 2 weeks the rental and the price proposed was 4 times higher than the one i eventually got from Avis. Very disappointed

Pros: Easy pick up and drop off

Cons: I have ordered a Qashqai and got something completely different. Similar means similar in dimensions incl trunk

Pros: They were friendly but said that since I had booked through a third party there was nothing they could do.

Cons: Related to previous comment. First Car Rental refused any responsibility for the discrepancy between car size description as provided by discovercarhire and actual car provided by First Car Rental.

Pros: Fast and quality of car was good.

Cons: We asked for a car with backseats that could totally lay down, we especially called for this to your company but when we came there that was not possible. The staff was really rude and told us that was our problem... there was 1 nice guys working there who helped us take out the backseats completely so that we could sleep in the car, so eventually it was fine, but Fir Car Rental told us fake information... we were not happy with that. The car itself was good though.

Pros: What a painful experience, you quoted an amount and I found a different amount about 3 times what you told me, didn't even get the car and I need my refund back asap please.

Cons: The back and forth and not even ending up getting up the car was really horrible