Lava Car Rental Reviews 

Competitive price and easy to contact. The staff at the airport was great! . Enmanuel was the staff member who help us with the drop off and he was super kind not just with us but with a group of friends picking up the car . Will repeat Lava Cars for sure !

The company free upgraded me to a 4x4 MG. Great service, great car!

I recommend LAVARENT for a safe and cheap rental in Iceland. The car had no problems. The shuttle service is excellent and on time.

Great experience with Lava Car Rentals, staff were super friendly and the car we had was great. We were struggling to find a rental car company who accepted debit card and this company did which was great! Make sure you watch the video for pick up at airport so you go to the right pick up point. Full tank of fuel on collection, no issues throughout the whole holiday with the car, winter tyres were on which gave us extra reassurance in the icy weather. Drop off was also super quick and easy, with a quick shuttle service back to the airport. All in all would highly recommend this car rental service and we would use again in the future

We were picked up from the airport and brought directly to Lava Car Rental. The collection of the car was quick and easy. We had added on a WiFi modem while booking and this was so handy as you could bring the modem everywhere with you for the duration of the trip so you had WiFi 24/7.
The only slight downfall we had was our wipers were slightly damaged which made it a little hard to see in bad weather. We reported this on return and they said they would be fixed before the next rental. Overall we had no other issues and I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Iceland. We were dropped back to the airport at 5am which was very handy.

They are very informative/communicative and offer great service, while also offering great prices. The staff is really nice and patient.

Can highly recommend Lava car rental. I looked around for ages for somewhere to hire a car on our trip to Iceland and chose Lava as I came across their highly informative article of driving in Iceland. They sent regular emails which were very friendly, welcoming and informative. We landed in Keflavik to our luggage being lost, no coats, rain and 48mph winds. The gentleman who picked us up from the airport and checked us in to collect the car was extremely helpful in giving me the names of a number of shopping centres and information about them for us to go and replace essential items of luggage. The car was very clean, full tank of fuel, no deposit to pay and very competitive rates on a 4x4 with the full insurance package.

The car was good for the price. It was in great condition and we did not have any issue.
However when we arrived, we followed the very well done vidéo to go to the waiting point and waited the 15 minutes without seeing the Shuttle.
When we called, nobody answered.
We were unable to reach anyone and started worrying.
In the end the shuttle arrived, but if at least we could have reached someone who could have confirmed the shuttle was coming, it would have been a better expérience.
Similarly we had to wait a long time at the desk since the employee was in the back room.

This is my second time using Lava in Iceland. From booking all the way through to dropping us at the airport the service is amazing. Great rates, great service and so easy to deal with. I highly recommend Lava

Great - was raining heavily when we got the car so I just trusted them re dings but all was good and no issues when dropping back. Quick note: pick up from airport is from the left side of the airport as you come out

Part of a group how rented 5 4wd cars for 8 days.
When we got cars delivered we claimed that there was a lack of rubber left on the tires. The weather was winter -5 /-10c and snow. Lava Car rental answers that it was the drivers responsibility to manage to drive the cars and they don't use better tire In Iceland 😓🙈
Even after few days driving other one car the steel belt of tires sticking out !!!

A refreshing change to the usual car rental nightmare. Collected promptly from the airport to collect our vehicle. The car we had reserved was out of stock, therefore we were upgraded, very happy. Encouraged to check and photograph our vehicle before leaving, so that we were happy with any existing damage. Lava also keep a log of any existing damage on the vehicle. Returned the car a week later all good. The fuel tank is full when you collect it and they ask you to make sure it’s full when you return it. Simple no hidden fuel charges.
A pleasant, helpful and professional company. We will definitely use Lava car rental again when we return to Iceland. Which will hopefully be soon, what a fantastic place!

Very nice brand new car, easy to drive and had winter tyres on for our journey around the ring road and into the north. Appreciated an email at the end of our trip from Lava cars to warn us of the wind weather warning which would have affected our plans. It made us leave earlier than planned to miss it.
Easy process for dropping off the car back to the airport, but did have to call a couple times to get picked up from the airport, but we weren’t in a rush. Overall a great experience renting a car.

Lava Car Rentals are a fantastic company to hire through. The booking process was streamlined and the pick up from the airport and the car pickup was very smooth. The staff were friendly and very helpful. The company recommended a 4wd car which was modern and suited the road and weather conditions which made driving stress free. The drop off process was just as smooth which topped off a great time in Iceland. Would definitely recommend them and would hire through Lava again.

I had a traffic infraction and the fine was around $10. Unfortunately, Lava charges $50 as an admin fee on top of this! Seems very excessive. I was trying to use a local business vs a traditional provider. I looked past the fact that it took well over an hour of shuttle waits to get from the Airport and I had to leave my family there to get the rental. I thought maybe they were understaffed that day and was willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Right from the beginning of the process from looking through the choices of the car, information on website, ease of booking, through to post-booking support, like emails and calls, all worked very well. There was a delay of half an hour to 45 minutes at the airport for the shuttle which was unpleasant due to the wait in the cold wind. However, once got through the phone to customer service, shuttle van came quickly. Car was nice (Nissan Qashqai); it smelt of moisture / musty, but very likely due to the washed out mats which were still quite wet and hence may be had less time to dry before we picked the car up. Once used with warm AC, the inside dried up over a couple of hours of driving and from then on it was a pleasure to drive and manage 4 days without unpleasant odours. Returns process was quick and smooth as well. Their location is very convenient next to the N1 petrol station which makes it easier to fill up and return. Overall, a good experience. Will rent again from them if visit Iceland again!

We recently hired a vehicle and were very pleased with it. Great service from the team. Pick up from airport was fine once we figured out correct place to wait for shuttle bus ( our error). Smooth and quick handover and easy to exit the airport area. Drop off again was smooth and efficient Would highly recommend.

From pick-up to drop-off of the vehicle, we have only had positive experiences. Reliable shuttle service from the airport to the hire station. Very accommodating staff. Everything was to our complete satisfaction. Any time again.

I secured a 2023 LAND CRUISER SUV for my family trip to Iceland during the last week of October, 2024. I had three adults and two teenage minors in my party; a total of five persons. I used Northbound.is for this rental trip. When I went to the Northbound.is website for my rental vehicle of interest, I made certain to search for the LARGEST vehicle possible for my trip, knowing that I had five parties and accompanying luggage and personal effects. This trip was largely a road trip, and I foresaw us spending a great deal of time in this vehicle. The Toyota Landcruiser was the largest rental vehicle offered on this website. Additionally, it was a "guaranteed model" rental.

Northbound.is apparently subcontracted my rental to Lava Car Rental. The online and email processes, up until the time of my actual trip, were satisfactory in that both companies kept me apprised as to the status of my rental and how to meet with an operator at the airport for shuttle transportation to the Lava Car Rental facility for my rental vehicle. On the date of my travel to Iceland with my family, I had some airline issues and though my flight did arrive late, it still arrived on the same day I had anticipated. "Prince" - with Lava Car Rental - met us at the airport terminal in the shuttle. I recall him immediately pointing out our large group and large of accompanying luggage. He expressed to me his concerns with me fitting everyone and everything into our rental.

As we traveled to the rental facility, Prince brought up to me that it was after hours and as such I would be required to pay for an insurance supplement. I wasn't immediately certain what he was talking about - as it was my understanding that Northbound provided insurance for this vehicle AS ADVERTISED ON THEIR WEBSITE. As such, I dismissed this conversation and changed the subject.

At the rental car facility, things got really awkward. Prince repeated his assertion that I would be required to purchase the nearly $300 USD insurance supplement because it was after hours. He phrased this as though this insurance supplement would somehow give him a kickback for his late work hours this day. While he didn't say this outright, I couldn't understand why else he would make this assertion and near requirement for me to purchase this insurance supplement; why he would really even care. I mean, he did hand me a slip of paper which provided the legal terms and such associated with this supplemental rental car insurance plan. I tried to decline this, and even asked him what Northbound was offering, insurance-wise, and how this was any different. He did not wish to discuss this matter further and reminded me that I had to pay it because, again, it was after hours. My wife and I were unbelievably perplexed by this; but, being that we were now in a foreign country, that it was late in the evening, and that we had tight plans for this trip that did not permit us to spend any more time here, we decided it best not to argue with Prince and just allowed the last-minute insurance supplement shake down. Hadn't even barely started our trip and our first Iceland encounter is a rental car shakedown for almost $300 USD; so infuriating.

To add salt to the wound, after swiping my credit card Prince hands me the keys to my rental car; the keyfob labeled KIA. WHAT??? I ordered a TOYOTA LANDCRUISER. He explained to me that they didn't have any available and was quick to advise me that my rental agreement was for a TOYOTA LANDCRUISER or similar. I asked him what model KIA this was. He told me it was a SORENTO. I looked outside and could see a silver KIA SORENTO parked at the side of the building. I pleaded with Prince that I had five parties in my group and a heaping pile of luggage. I even pointed out to him that the KIA SORENTO was almost the exact size of a nearby parked TOYOTA RAV4. Both of these were mid-sized SUV's which were maxed out at five passengers and had barely any room for five passengers' luggage and personal effects. He told me this was a winter version and was fully equipped for travel on Iceland's roads. We argued for a bit. In our back and forth, I asserted that I could care less as to the vehicle's capabilities or equipment; I needed ROOM for my party on this largely road trip. Prince made it clear that there was no alternative here, and that this vehicle was the only vehicle available to me. With my hands completely tied, my family squeezed into this vehicle like a sardine can.

During this trip, I made numerous efforts to contact both Lava Car Rental and Northbound. I entirely got the run around. Lava made no efforts to address my complaints and Northbound played the blame game until both just stopped communicating altogether. DEPLORABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Would've rated ZERO STARS if I could. Will be certain to stay with the major brands in the future