Centauro Reviews 188

We rented a car from Centauro through Billiger-Mietwagen.de from July 10 to August 2, 2025 (pickup in Porto, return in Faro). The vehicle was in very worn condition when we received it – over 80,000 km and several pre-existing, though documented, damages.

During the rental period, the tire pressure dropped twice, so we visited the Centauro Lisbon office on July 22 to have it checked. Instead of helping us, the staff immediately tried to blame us for a puncture and wanted to charge us, without any evidence.

Only after strong protest and firm argumentation did they back down and give us a replacement car.

The whole experience was very unprofessional, rude, and stressful.

We strongly advise against renting from Centauro, and hope platforms like Billiger-Mietwagen.de reconsider working with them.

Where efficiency and customer service go to die! The personnel was demotivated and moving at the pace of inanimate objects, it took 1.5 hours to get the keys in hand and drive off.

I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction with a recent rental experience I had with your company. Unfortunately, the service provided fell far short of acceptable standards, and I feel compelled to voice my concerns.

First, I was shocked to discover that the full rental amount was charged to my credit card two months before the actual pickup date. In my many years of renting vehicles in various countries, I have never encountered such a practice. Typically, charges are applied upon delivery of the vehicle and only after the rental agreement has been finalized and the invoice issued.

Second, upon arriving at your office approximately two hours before the scheduled pickup time, I requested early pickup of the vehicle. My request was denied, even though the car was clearly available and parked at your location. I was forced to leave and return later, which was inconvenient and unnecessary. It was clear that the car had been there the entire time, and there was no valid reason for the delay.

Furthermore, the refund process was equally frustrating. The promised refund was only credited 27 days after the vehicle was returned, and only after multiple phone calls and repeated assurances that the refund would be issued immediately. This lack of efficiency and transparency was unprofessional and stressful.

Centauro advertises that refunds will be processed within 12 days, a promise that was clearly not fulfilled in my case.

In short, my experience with Centauro was disappointing from start to finish. The premature billing, lack of cooperation from staff, delayed refunds, and lack of accountability left me unwilling to use their services again. I strongly urge your team to review their customer service procedures and practices to prevent similar experiences with other customers.

I await a formal response to this complaint and an explanation of the discrepancies in your billing and refund practices.

Antonio Santos

2 1,2 hour wait at Alicante airport for the hir e-card. It took longer to get the car than flying to Alicante. Excessive charges to cover fuel and they push very hard for extra expensive insurance for damage.

I rented a Category B car from Centauro in Lisbon with full coverage. The vehicle was in perfect condition and matched the online description exactly, so the rental itself started off smoothly.

However, upon pickup, I was unexpectedly asked to leave a €209 deposit for fuel and tolls, which had not been mentioned at the time of booking. At least I was able to pay it using a debit card.

At the end of the rental, I returned the car without any issues. They promptly refunded the €83 fuel portion of the deposit, and I was told the remaining toll balance would be refunded within 10 days. Unfortunately, it's now been nearly a month and I still haven't received the rest of the money.

I called their number (+351 308810777) and was told not to worry — that the refund would be processed in just a few more days. But nothing ever happened. I tried calling again several times in the following days, but they were unreachable every single time.

I even used their official contact form, as they suggest, but the case was automatically marked as “resolved” without any action being taken. That’s completely unacceptable.

It’s a shame because the car itself was in excellent condition, but I will never rent with Centauro again. I don't trust a company that withholds money without explanation and then becomes impossible to contact. Beware.

Expect around an hour at least to pick up the car. A real disaster. Avoid Centauro as much as you can

Avoid Centauro Rent a Car – Scam and Dishonest Practices

Centauro lures customers in with very low prices, but it’s a trap. At check-out, they suddenly claim the car has damage that was never there. Even when I showed clear before-and-after photos proving the damage didn’t exist, they refused to listen.

They forced the claim on me, closed the contract without my consent, and ignored all my objections. I spoke to two or three other people, including colleagues, who confirmed I was right – the damage was fabricated. But because the contract had already been closed (against my will), they refused to take any responsibility.

This company operates in bad faith, looking to scam tourists by inventing damage and pressuring customers to pay. Stay far away from Centauro – it’s not worth the risk.

Honest and reliable. I had no issues. The car was like new. Make sure you take many pictures of the car before leaving. Make sure that the car is clean inside and take it to the carwash before returning.

Scammers is an understatement to this car rental company. Rented a car at the Valencia airport in Spain where they 1st gave us a car with a right side view mirror barely hanging to the casing, plus other obvious signs of having been in an accident. We asked for another one. They gave us a second car with almost 70,000 km and with multiple damage to the body. The only other option was a diesel, so we took it. On the way to the vacation home, a warning light came on and off, indicating problems with a tire. We stopped and couldn't see anything wrong, so we continued while stopping and checking on the way. Due to additional problems with the car's like poor steering, excessive gasoline usage, etc., we decided to exchange it the next morning. The guy who helped us (Victor) told us that before changing cars, we had to pay him to fix a nail in another tire, not the one shown on the alarm, accusing us of having caused the problem. A very rude guy who even went as far as to call my husband a liar and maintained that we were exaggerating. He refused to withdraw the 60 euros to "fix the tire" out of our damage deposit with Centauro, but instead demanded we pay him separately before giving us another car. We filed a complaint with Booking.com and the customer service manager literally said: "I am so sorry. This is unbelievable!" It was the worst experience I've had in my more than 40 years of traveling and renting cars.

Never use this company. We rented a car in Alicante Spain for 10 days. They told me I had to have their insurance as leaving a deposit of 1000 euros was not possible. The insurance was £280 for 10 days . Person at counter would not let me use my insurance from United kingdom as it was not valid. Never use this company.

I have used Centauro car rental in my trip to Portugal in the Pick up office Lisbon/Lisboa - Airport (24/04/2025).
When I received the car I noticed that the fuel registered at the contract (90%) wasn't correct. At that moment I requested the presence of the counter employee in order to correct the situation.
She was very professional and printed a copy of the contract where she corrected the situation, saying that it wasn't possible to correct on the system but at the end of the contract it would be corrected.
When I returned the car, there wasn't any power in the office, although the receiving employee took note that the fuel at the pickup was 75% and in the return 50%. Nevertheless my invoice for the fuel is showing 43.60 Euros without specifying the amount of fuel that was used. I believe that the amount that was charged was the total because I have noticed that Centauro is using the fuel policy as a way to take money from the clients.
Normally I do not check the contracts that are sent online because I assume that the car rental company is honest. In this case I have checked because in my previous booking with Centauro it was done the same . The fuel deposit is never full and although I have returned with the same quantity it was recorded that was lower. I didn't check the tablet before signing and the employee that received the car told me that was all fine without any issues.

This is pure dishonesty with the intention of taking money from customers.

Very annoyed with this company. We hired 2 cars based on what was a very reasonable weekly charge. However when we arrived at the desk we were told we had to pay the very expensive excess insurance 200euros times 2 because the 2 drivers didnt have a credit card only debit cards. I offered my creditcard but this was not accepted even though I had paid for both cards. I had already paid for excess insurance separately at a fraction of the cost but in effect I was left to pay twice. The man at the desk was totally unhelpful

Biggest ripoff, waited 37 minutes for the shuttle service, when arriving at the Faro Portugal Brunch the car was not ready waited again for it, got charged £ 230.00 for 4 days insurance and fuel deposit but the tank was only Half full, €70.00 to fill up, didn’t even use about €20 off fuel.
I only got back £50 from the fuel deposit.
I got a good deal for the car rental online £28 for 4 days in the bend the total cost for the 4 day £278.00 : total cost £69.50 per day.

We waited 25 minutes for the rudest shuttle driver ever. He then rather unpleasantly said drivers only and left 4 of us just standing there without a hint of whether or not he'd return. My partner had to go and leave me. The shuttle came back after 10 minutes and there was nobody waiting. It took well over an hour for us (my partner and I) to meet up again as he had no WiFi service. The price wasn't cheap and the service was just terrible. Never again. This was Centaro Maderia.

On collection of vehicle staff refused to inspect damage insisting all recorded. There were 13 reports already.
On return two minor damages were located immediately by staff. Despite vehicle being parked on my driveway for 1O days. My Centauro account closed because of my protestations and excess of € 390 debited within 5 minutes. Corrupt Vehicle Firm.

Terrible company, not fit for business and really poor customer service. They refused to hire a car on date of arrival citing the office would close soon. They again refused to hire a car on the following day after a 2 hour wait and letting all other customers get ahead in the queue.

I recently rented a car from Centauro, and while the initial rental process was straightforward, the post-rental experience left a lot to be desired.

When I returned the car slightly later than the agreed time (14:30 instead of 10:00), I was charged for a full extra day, including insurance costs. Centauro claimed to waive the standard €50 late penalty as a "gesture of goodwill," but the total charge for the extra day turned out to be even higher than the penalty itself. Adding to the frustration, when simulating a later return time on their website, the rental cost only increases by €3 for the same day. This inconsistency feels unfair and lacks transparency.

Additionally, I was charged twice for the Smart Cover fee on the final day, with no clear explanation or justification. Despite raising this issue, I have yet to receive a satisfactory response or a refund for the duplicate charge.

To make matters worse, I was warned that I would be charged €75 for cleaning because there was a fair amount of sand in the car. While I acknowledge that there was sand, this rental was in a surf and beach area where some sand is inevitable. €75 seems excessive, especially for Portugal, and the charge felt disproportionate to the situation. To avoid this fee, I took the time to clean the car myself before returning it, which was an unnecessary hassle.

While the car itself was fine and their staff was semi polite, these billing practices and lack of consistency leave a bad impression. I would caution future renters to carefully review their invoices and confirm any additional charges to avoid similar issues.

Well similar to all the other reviews, I rented at Porto Airport on 25th September 2024 and returned on 2nd October. The rental was cheap, and the car was OK.
But then when I returned, there was a tiny scratch on the Alloy wheel, cost - €600, coincidentally the amount of the deposit, and I know I didn’t do it, because at no time while driving did I go anywhere near a curb, It was also amazing that it was the first thing he spotted when checking over the car. I suspect they have a scratch on at least one wheel on every car. I always check over the car thoroughly when I rent, but have never paid attention to the wheels, which is probably the same for most people, they only look at the body work. Centauro know this and thus have a small scratch on either the wheel or hubcap and nail every returning customer. As one other review said, they know they have you by the short and curlies, because you have a plane to catch.
Its also now been a month since I returned my car and I have not received any of the deposit I put down for tolls and electric charging, despite the fact that I returned the car with more than 20% which was what I was told to do, and the deposit was €150, and a full charge on the car was about €15. And outstanding tolls were about €6. So to date I have nothing back, am out about €125 and I suspect I never will see any of it

I wish I had read these reviews before I rented, but it was recommended by the airline I flew with..

The car rental itself went very well BUT with Centauro being located a shuttle ride away from airport in Lisbon (Portugal), transfers from airport to depot took approx 40 mins for shuttle pick up to arrive and from depot to airport about 50 mins. When queried, no explanation was given, only you must wait (lunch time?). FLIGHTS DON’T WAIT CENTAURO. Also, your new location is terrible. Too much traffic on main road to airport.

This used to be a fine rental company. I mean, just book directly with them, if you wish to avoid hassle over scratches and other damages.

However, recently at the Lisbon-location, the staff is overwhelmed and they have 90 min+ waiting lines (half sept). I hope they just had a bad day.