Of course, renting a car with a driver or renting a car without a driver, both in Kyiv and Ukraine has its advantages and disadvantages. If you objectively evaluate both described options of a car rental, you can come up with the following arguments:
The advantages of renting a car without a driver
- Confidentiality. Any driver can be considered as a potential source of leakage. Especially when you have to rent a car from an unfamiliar company. Most transport companies do not control their drivers and cannot guarantee a full security of confidential customer information.
- Personal space. Each person’s personal space may have different boundaries, and not very agile driver can easily break them. Not all passengers like to talk “heart to heart” with a driver or listen to his favorite hits on radio station Chanson.
- Cost. There is an opinion that renting a car without a driver is much cheaper than renting a car with the driver. Let's try to consider this issue on the example of the rental of the popular Toyota Corolla in Kyiv. Renting Corolla of 2016 without a driver costs an average of 1,680 UAH ($ 60) per day (the longer the rental period, the lower the cost). Also consider the cost of gasoline, which the customer must fill when receiving the car. Its cost will depend on the quantity of kilometers that you plan to drive. Estimated cost of 1 liter of gasoline is 30 hryvnias ($ 1.15). Approximate fuel consumption is 8 liters per 100 kilometers. Wherein It’s impossible to book a car without a driver for several hours. Minimum order can be done only for a day, so the rent will be the same 1680 hryvnia ($ 60) plus the amount of expenses on gasoline. The cost of renting a car with the driver of the same Toyota Corolla costs 315 hryvnias per hour ($ 9). This cost already includes the cost of fuel. It should be noted that the car can be ordered at least for 2 hours. For 1680 hryvnia ($ 60) and presumably 300 hryvnias ($ 11.5) for gasoline, you can rent a Toyota Corolla with a driver for almost 8 hours! Usually this time is more than enough to solve the necessary tasks of the client during the day.
The advantages of renting a car with a driver:
- Responsibility of the driver. It's no secret that driving a car is associated with certain risk. In case of an accident or traffic offense during driving a rented car the client carries the material, administrative and criminal responsibility. When renting a car with a driver responsibility for any incident on the way relies solely on the driver. It can be argued that when renting a car without a driver the car is insured and with careful driving nothing can happen. But we never know what can happen... Consider one incident that happened not so long ago in Ukraine with tourists who rented a car without a driver. So, two US citizens went from Kyiv to another city on a rented car. Behind the wheel was a 58-year-old man who calmly and confidently drove the car. The unexpected event happened on the road. Grossly breaking the traffic rules, a local resident in a state of deep intoxication fell under wheels of a rented car. According to Ukrainian legislation, in case of a death of a person in the traffic accident criminal proceedings take place. In spite of his complete innocence, the driver was able to return home with great difficulty. To put it mildly, impressions from the trip on a rented car without a driver in Ukraine were not the best. Is it worth it to takes such risks?
- Professional drivers. No matter whether a tourist good a driver, he still doesn’t know the streets in cities of Ukraine and the situation on the roads as well as local drivers. The use of GPS navigation services greatly facilitates the process of orientation in the terrain, but they will not replace the skills and knowledge of a professional driver. After all, no service will not show the condition of the Ukrainian roads, which, as is known, in question of quality in many ways is inferior to the American and European roads. It should also be noted that the driving culture of local drivers is behind European standards.
- No additional costs. In case of renting a car with a driver, all unforeseen expenses are excluded. When renting a car without a driver in addition to direct costs, you will need to pay the transport company a pledge in the amount of UAH 16,800 ($600). This amount is returned in case of absence of any damage to the car. If a customer paid it in cash, then the money will be returned immediately after returning the car. If the deposit was made by blocking funds in the client’s bank account, then the bank can unlock money within 2 months after the return of the car. Of course during this period, this amount will not be available for use.
It should also be noted that even with a minor traffic accident, the total amount of the deposit will be deducted from the deductible amount indicated in the insurance policy. Often the franchise amount is equal to the amount of the deposit made by the client. Therefore, you should always be very carefully while reading the terms of the rental agreement and insurance policy.
- Convenience of service. In the case of renting a car with a driver, the car and the driver will arrive at the address given by customers. At the same time, the client does not need to go to the office of a company that rents a car without a driver in order to sign the necessary documents and leave, in addition, copies of their documents. Also, there is no need to go twice to the location where the car is rented-- to pick it up first and return it back after use to the owner.
Thus, after weighing all the advantages and disadvantages of both types of rent, you can make the right and informed choice. The main thing is not to make a mistake in choosing a company providing transportation services. If someone works with clients as it is said "on stream", meaning when the service ceases to be individual, and sometimes fair and honest, then any car rental will bring only disappointment and financial losses.
Your Driver Company has been renting cars with a driver for more than 16 years. We provide individual, reliable and affordable service. We hear and understand our customer. The company has a strict selection of candidates for the driver’s position: we look on professional qualities as well as personal. Drivers of the company follow clear ethical standards in customer service. They are attentive, courteous and do not trespass personal customer space. Only high professionalism, honed by years of work, is the key to satisfaction of our customers. Choose a car you are interested in with a driver on our website.