Bravacar Reviews 34

This is clearly a scam company, avoid at any cost!
I gave back the car without any damage, they took my complete deposit without any note.

The manager of Bravacar Lisbon is part of the scam, he gets in conflict with all his clients including me and every client i saw before me.

Terrible. Even though I had arranged the rental online, the whole process, once in Lisbon, took well over two hours. The car they gave us was filthy and smelled of some kind of exhaust, so we insisted they changed it. We then had a car of dubious age, covered in scratched, torn upholstery, etc, it was an absolute disgrace.
In addition, they advertised on the web as based ON the airport - which they are not and the number of which I had made a note was completely wrong. Even the helpful information desk at the airport were unable to find the correct number as Brava's website had it wrong.
All in all - KEEP AWAY.

We booked a rental car through VIP Cars, which in Portugal was provided by Bravacars. The vehicle was an old, heavily worn model with over 100,000 km and numerous visible dents and damages. After driving only around 350 kilometers, the clutch failed – and now they are trying to hold us responsible for the damage.

The repair costs are being covered entirely by withholding our security deposit. The “invoice” we received is far from an official document – it is neither transparent nor comprehensible and does not clearly state what was actually repaired.

VIP Cars has provided no support, despite multiple attempts to contact them. Several automotive experts we spoke to unanimously confirmed that it is virtually impossible to completely destroy a clutch within just 350 kilometers – especially when the vehicle is used properly.

Our conclusion: If you want a relaxed and fair holiday experience, stay far away from Bravacars and VIP Cars.

Will not rent from then again... Why?
1) Rented a diesel estate. On arrival, the car had smooth tyres and was not roadworthy. BravarCar swopped out for a Petrol estate. No deduction of charges was given, as diesels are more expensive to rent, but you save on fuel with a diesel.
2) Returned the car in good order with fuel at the same level as received. Received my deposit back some weeks later
3) Had a deduction off my credit card of 430,50 Euros in October! 5 months later! Their claim was that I had mis-fuelled the car with diesel instead of petrol. This was an impossibility as I had driven over 300kms on a tank to return the car at the same 1/4 level.
4) "Invoices" were produced for the diagnosis and repair of the vehicle for the same day I handed back the vehicle. How so? If they handed back my deposit months before, meaning everything was fine?
5) Misfuelling a car with diesel instead of petrol will cause the car to stop. They dropped me off at the airport in the same car in good order, signed off as such too.
The whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth. I would NOT rent from them again, and would rather stick to reputable car rental companies next time.

Worst customer service ever! NEVER BOOK WITH THEM. We arrive in Lisbon after our flight being delayed by 30 minutes and waiting for luggage for around 1 hour, we come out and look for them in the area we are told to nobody is there, we than have to pay to call them and they say they have given are car away because it’s been over 2 hours which is hadn’t been it had only been an hour and 45 minutes since the time we had booked it for. They then say we can’t give you any other car. Never booking through them again. Anyone looking don’t book with them you are better off paying a little more and making sure you actually have a car on arrival!

Don't use Bravacar! Beware if this company. Read the reviews. Rented the car through Carjet, (also a company not to use), arrives at the airport, no one showed up, couldn't get in touch. The next day spoke with an extremely rude employee named Luis, that said he had no car for me. So they took my money and I had no car.
Reading the reviews about the cars and the service it was probably for the better.
Read the voucher. If it's Bravacar cancel and rebook. There are lots of other companies that are reliable.
Carjet is also a no go. If you have a problem they will leave you hanging.

I booked a car through Rentalcars.com for a one week holiday in February in Madeira. The car was supplied by Bravacar. I picked up the car, which is quite a way from the airport where I had to leave my companion with all the luggage. The car had very little petrol in it which I had to sort before returning to the airport for my companion, this was at 7.30pm following a flight and with an hours drive still to do to our accommodation. I used my credit card to pay the 1250euro deposit which they told me they would hold on the card pending return of the car in the agreed condition. At the end of the week the car was returned and accepted. When I got home I found that they had taken the full deposit at the start of the rental. This is not what their rental agreement states.
Bravacar never refunded the deposit to my credit card and I had to contact the bank to retrieve it. I have read similar experiences to mine. It is appalling that Bravacar are getting away with this. I would never hire a car from them again, it caused a lot of unnecessary work and stress.

Had read awful reviews but Patricia could not have been more helpful. We were given an upgrade and vehicle was clean and more important, road worthy. Offered to let us leave car in hotel car park and they would collect or run us back to our hotel. Paid an extra $10 to waive all liabilities and it worked so well for us. Would definitely use again.

Rented a car for 1 month with fair price. Rent gave me 1 year old Toyota Yaris in good condition. Everything was pretty quick. Deposit was returned immediately, in 1 minute after drop off

WARNING:: I rented a car from this company on Jun 18, 2022 and they fraudulently charged my card again on Apr 23, 2023. I got the charges reversed but now I am getting letters from the court in Portugal saying I illegally parked rented to me by Brava in 2023 (I wasn't in Portugal then). Save yourself the grief, rent anywhere else but from them.

I rented a SW/Estate, on arrival no one was at reception since the 2 ladies serving customers had left for the airport to pick up passengers. Then, they didn’t have the kind of vehicle I had booked. Lousy and unprofessional service, keep away and you’ll be better off with another company.

I booked a car through VIP Cars for a one week holiday in Madeira. The supplier was Bravacar. I picked up the car and used my credit card to pay the rental price and to provide Bravacar with the 1250euro deposit which they told me they would hold on the card pending return of the car in the agreed condition. At the end of the week the car was returned and accepted. When I got home I found that they had taken the full deposit at the start of the rental. This is not what their rental agreement states.
Over a month later I am trying to get my money back through my bank. Bravacar would appear to have defrauded me. I hope this helps someone to avoid having to spend a lot of time and effort attempting to get their own money back.

Bravacar should be closed down immediately, do not under any circumstances use this company. Their cars are sub standard and often damaged and not clean, but this will be the least of your troubles should you wish to use this company. They take a huge deposit from your credit card, yes they physically take the money, typically 1250 euro and when you return the car they will give any and every excuse why they cannot refund the money there and then, this is theft on a grand scale, the guy in the office admitted that they had done the same thing earlier in the day to another client and they also like me had a massive argument with them in the office. Days later after getting home still no refund of deposit, will update again, but remember do not use them ever !!!!

Terrible company. zero customer service
The car I had was fit for the scrap yard
Arriving at Lisbon airport no representative to meet us . After calling Bravacar
A surly guy turned up with a beat up 5 seat car telling us our cases and golf clubs would not fit as he had another couple to take to the office.
I had to go to the run down back street office where I was given the worst car I have ever seen (it was take it or leave it) and then return to the airport to pick up my brother clubs and cases.
Please do not use this company.

Horrible car. Horrible service. Car was filthy. Brought back first car due to ac not working. Second car was worse. Our vacation greatly impacted by this company. And they demand a 1250 dollar deposit just to rent. I’ve rented many cars in my life and never had this. The service people were rude. Did not meet us at airport as they said and then argued with us when we called a second time. Truly horrible. Do not rent from these people.

Our flight arrived 30 minutes late in Lissabon. Brava nowhere to be found. The lady in charge said she departed as we were not there. She did not check the flight number. The telephonenumbers did not respond. A friendly guy helped is. When the lady arrived she was rude. We had to wait at the AirPort for more than one hour for the car to arrive. The car was damaged, intensely used, the tyres were completely gone, the windscreen was dirty, the petrol level 3/8, there were no insurance papers and no car manual. We were glad we survived. Brava never again.

Had a car booked via this company from 2 July for 6 days at Lisbon airport. Arrived with a delay at Lisbon airport (2 hours) and searched in vain for almost 1 1/2 hours for the rep of Bravcar at the airport. Never saw anybody. Phone calls made to the office with no replies, e mails unanswered, etc. etc. In the end took a taxi at a massive cost to my destination at a cost of Euro 150.00 . During the week again no answer on the phone, no reply on the email. Used to car rental companies for years in Spain and Portugal, this was purely diabolic. Wonder how to get my car rental fee back, which they took up front off course.

Despite the low price, after asking me the number of the flight during the reservation, they would have charged me upon the late arrival of the plane . Moreover, when I called the company to ask what should I do, they told me to cancel the reservation and pay the penalty (that there wasn't). So did I!

After renting a car through carjet, I was charged more than 1/3 of the cost of the rental upon collection, because the booking was made "out of office hours". There is no information about additional charges in the terms and conditions. Both carjet and brava car refused to accept responsibility for who is responsible for telling the customer about the full cost of the rental in advance, and told me that I had the option of cancelling the car instead. When I refused to make the payment that was not listed anywhere on either company website, they took the extra payment automatically from my credit card without my consent. The car itself is not even the one I booked and is in terrible condition. This company have been reported to consumer rights, and legal proceedings to follow.

Recently rented a car from this company, with two consecutive rentals. Offered to pay for the second in advance and when I tried to cancel due to schedule change, they refused to return the money.
The car was old, filthy, scratched all around and the remote didn't work.
Steer clear if you can.