I rented a car from Cal Auto through Holiday Autos for two weeks for my road trip around Israel. Cal Auto is a rental company in Israel specializing in car hire in most major cities. In this Israel car hire review you will learn about Cal Autos and how to use a rental car in Israel during a holiday.
Holiday Autos is a global car hire specialist, offering car rental at almost all locations around the world. Basically, it is a price comparison site where you can pick the car that most suits your needs.
This is what I did when I booked my car rental for my Israel road trip: I went on the Holiday Autos website and then did a bit of comparison and picked Cal Auto as they were offering the best deal at the time.
By the way, you can get 5% off if you use this Holiday Autos link for your next booking.
The Holiday Autos Website
I booked the car three months in advance on the Holiday Autos website. I’ve been using Holiday Autos and Argus Car Hire for years as I can filter by price, reviews and select various options such as “full-to-full”, “unlimited mileage” and so on. I’ve used them for years so I am now a silver Argus Car Hire member.
The best is that nothing is hidden away in the small print, everything is above board and you can cancel for free if you change your mind. I booked my Cal Auto car for pick up in Tel Aviv for two weeks, costing $350 including third party, collision damage waiver and theft waiver. The car came with unlimited mileage, air-conditioning and automatic transmission.
For pick up I need a credit card with at least €1,500, the rental documents, my drivers license and my passport. In my opinion it is always best to rent a car with “full-to-full” fuel policy and with unlimited mileage. That way you will not worry about any additional costs, all you need to do is make sure you fill up before drop off.
In Israel it is also very important to check if third party insurance is included as they don’t normally offer this. If you then have an accident you will end up in a big boo boo without it. Most importantly, don’t sign up to anything the clerk is trying to upsell!
Last, but not least, make sure you have insurance that covers the windscreen, tyres and underside of the car and mark down every scratch, big or small on the pick up document before driving away!
How To Rent A Car In Israel
The car hire desk was at the airport and all went very swift, I got the keys within about 10 minutes. They then dropped me off at the car park using their shuttle bus and after checking the car I drove into Tel Aviv.
Tip: Read my article about avoiding upsells at the airport pick-up desk
My car was a Chevrolet Spark, the smallest in the range but it was still quite powerful and there was plenty of space for one person.
Good Stuff About The Cal Autos Car
There was a door for the back seats so I was able to pick up hitch-hikers – they gave me lots of good advice on where to eat or visit during my holiday. Also, the front door was nice and big so I could get in easily. I rented an automatic car and I would recommend you do the same so you can just relax and focus on the driving and the scenery instead of fiddling with the gear.
Small Booth Space
The only thing I did not like was that the booth space was pretty small, so I could just about fit my tent and rucksack in there, if I had a bigger suitcase it would have been a struggle.
Starting A Car In Israel
When you rent a car in Israel the first thing you need to remember is the PIN code to your car. The cars are fitted with a special device connecting to the ignition – if you don’t know the pin the car will not start so make sure you memorize the number! Once you have entered the code, you can put the key in the ignition and start the car.
Tip: make sure you rent a car with air conditioning because Israel is a really hot country!
Driving Distances
I drove nearly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) and I had to fill up about six times in total. Considering Israel looks like a tiny spec on the map, the distances can be quite far as it is a long and narrow country.
Dropping The Car Off At Tel Aviv Airport
I dropped the car off about three hours before my flight. We quickly checked around the car and fortunately there was nothing wrong with it so I got my deposit back in full. They drove me back to the airport desk and I was off on my way back to London.