Sixt Rent a Car

After reading reviews I was a little bit worried, but it all went smoothly. Person at the counter was pleasant and informative, not pushy which is nice for a chance. I have bought upfront fuel witch came with slight car upgrade, fuel was slightly more expensive then at the pump, but I have got better car, so not complaining. Car was clean and tidy all in good condition.

After reading the reviews, renting with Sixt in Europe for years, and renting a car in Madeira for a week…here is my experience and what you need to do:

Within your price budget, (1) rent an automatic (2) get the 0 euro deductible insurance (3) get the wheel with windshield insurance.

With the steep inclines and elevations changes, I wouldn’t trust the clutch in any rental car from any rental company. The roads are narrow, the garages are narrow, the turns are tight with curbs, some hiking parking areas aren’t paved, and some roads have big potholes. Make sure your rental has those 3 items above and just enjoy a carefree drive of the island.

The reviews for all Funchal car rental companies are appalling so I wasn't sure what to expect. For us though things were absolutely fine. I am a very experienced renter so I don't fall for any of the common scams, but they didn't even try them with me anyway. No attempts to sell upgrades, insurance or tanks of fuel. Perhaps it's just my demeanour because I did overhear the desk next to me trying to push a full tank of fuel on the family (you're doing well if you can use a full tank on a 34 mile long island!). Their pickup process was unnecessarily long with the agent feeling he had to show me every existing damage to the vehicle (I only care about finding any damage they haven't already logged). Return was easier and received an email within minutes confirming no new damage. I have my own excess insurance anyway but I'd hate for them to have to pay out due to a car-hire scam. You definitely need a powerful car for this island. We apparently had their best vehicle (Ford Kuga) and it often struggled with the hills. It only had about 20K on the clock but the automatic gearbox felt like a car of 4 times that mileage! Kuga is possible one of the worst cars I've ever driven but that's not really Sixt's problem.

I can see a lot of bad experiences with Sixt Madeira, but our experience was great. The car was clean and in good condition, pre-rental inspection quite thorough, but we also did our own video as well, so no issues at all.

Like everyone else, I was slightly worried due to the negative reviews, but everything went smooth and I even received a phone call earlier in the day to confirm the age of a child for the car seat.

My only reservation was that we picked the car up at midnight and were told to take pictures of any damage since nobody is at the car, but it was in the dark, covered with rain and almost impossible to see the damage on the car, never mind take photos, which did leave me feeling slightly uneasy, particularly due to the very thorough inspection done on arrival.

One of the best rental experiences with Sixt!

I don’t know the name of the agent who gave us the car at Madeira airport after midnight (on March 29th), but he is the best! Professionalism, great advice, true sense of hospitality, good mood even so late at night! The best service! So thankful to Sixt that they waited for us after the opening hours due to our flight delay and to the agent for the advise to upgrade for a more suitable car.
Everything was smooth and easy. Thank you!

No fuss, everything went smoothly - both the pick-up and the drop-off. Nothing to pay extra, insurance has been explained but not forced upon us. Car was adequate to our needs and clean. We also have been given a choice from a few models without any extra fee. I can surely recommend them.

Thank you Diane and Helene for the pleasant conversation and the brief information on my arrival. Renting the car went quickly, even without booking in advance. It was a good decision to rent the car on all days of the stay. I couldn't imagine exploring so much of the island without it. I had a good trip on Madeira :)

I was here last year and still owe a review. The service was phenomenal, we were at the counter extra late due to a delay in arrival and had to deal with an inconvenience with the manager.

They took this time to provide us with a car that we urgently needed. 100/100 stars

We had a good experience with Pedro at Sixt. We reserved an economy size car and upon arrival we talked about what our plans were on the island. Since we were going hiking and doing a lot of driving in the mountains he suggested a car with more horsepower to get up the hills. At first I was a little annoyed thinking it was a scam but when we did the PR1 hike, there were cars similar to the one we were going to rent, not able to get up the hill and having to reverse all the way back down. They were also overheating!

The car we had was a fiat 500 and it was absolutely perfect. Good power to get up the hills but also small to get through the right streets. I hope the other concerns in previous reviews are addressed by Sixt but to be honest we had a great experience.

I booked the car beforehand using my company's platform. The reviews here made me slightly nervous beforehand but there was no issues at all. The check-in was super fast, stark contrast with the long lines at the other side.

As for some reviews here: you can just choose to not take any extras, make pictures of everything, standard procedure. The car itself was exactly as booked, good enough ride for a good stay. Madeira is a pretty mountainous terrain, so it would be advisable to know how to handle a car before renting one

The staff is very friendly, speaks perfect English, are calm and explain everything you need to know detailled and nicely. We booked "Intermediate" and got a sporty Audi A3 in white. We asked about the price for full coverage and he suggested we better take it because Madeira was not the kind of place where you don't want insurance and we are more than happy that we took it regarding the streets there. Therefore we got the additional driver for free. Check-out before opening times worked perfectly.

Front desk with Francissco was quick and easy. Didn't push hard with insurance. Did convince me to change my booking from my small engine manual to bigger car, which I'm happy I did once I was driving through some interesting neighborhoods. The only minus was that I paid double my original and it included full thank fuel. I was concerned I wouldn't use that value and unfortunately I didn't. Only used half a tank, so that made me feel like I wasted money for no reason. Other than that, nothing to complain about. I will edit this if I see some surprises like some reviewers have mentioned, since they have not charged my card yet.

I had a great experience renting with Sixt. I got an automatic VW Polo for 5 days. It was already scratched when I got it. I chose to fill the tank myself. I returned the car in the same condition as I got it, with full tank, and they told me that my deposit will be refunded to me. The lady who was renting me the car was extremely nice, and same was the guy who received the car when I returned it. It was the best experience I have had with renting a car, and I have rented before in US, Canada, Mexico and all over Europe. I didn’t opt for the optional insurance as my credit card company covers rental cars as long as I pay with it, and I did. The car was powerful enough to drive around the island.

No issues, easy to pick up & drop off.

Trustworthy company! I rent from Sixt all the time.

My experience is from Funchal airport: Booking online was easy, website and options to choose were clear. Price level acceptable. Very friendly staff, explained well. All electronical, so hopefully you use a smartphone, easy to find when picking and returning the car. My choice of small SUV was good for us, well maintained (nearly new) car.

Since I imagine many people have a smooth experience like me and don’t review, I wanted to reassure travelers that everything went as smoothly as expected for us at Sixt. We decided to pay an extra €120 upon pick up for the full insurance. Our car was as advertised and worked well. Pick up and drop off we’re very easy, and staff was friendly.

Amazing service. We got a small twingo for our 10 day vacation and everything worked out flawlessly. Return was super easy as it was directly at the airport. Bruno was super nice and we can only recommend renting with sixt.

Everything was perfect! Thanks to Diana, who did the onboarding. Great service! Received a fantastic car for the steep roads. Booked via check24. Anytime again.

Helena helped me today with my booking and she really went above and beyond. Fantastic service and a great welcoming to the island. Overall, I would recommend!