I saw lot's of bad reviews after booking and got a bit scared. I went out of my way to write this review since it really was a great experience. The car is not super clean or new, but I paid less than 60 EURO for a 9 day car hire, which is unbeatable in my opinion. I went for a third-party "No-excess" insurance coverage as it was a little cheaper than the one that they offered - however I didn't need it for anything. I must say that everything was fine from start to finish. The car was fine, the service as well - they picked us up according to plan and returned us to the terminal after returning the car. The car had no mechanical problems other than a bit of air missing from one of the tires which I quickly fixed. The car had some scratches, but the guy who gave me the car made sure the entire car was "marked" on the rental papers. No unexplained charges and no hard-selling of their insurance or anything of the sort. Would recommend for young travelers who want the best value for money - other companies charged AT LEAST 4 times their price.

We rented a small car online to pick up at Funchal, Madeira, airport. It was by far cheaper than all other rental cars. We were supposed to meet a representative after the customs. But, no one was there. We asked someone and he said Bravacar is always late. After about 15 minutes he showed up and took us to their office (which was a bit shabby). The rest went fine. The car had more than half tank gas but the lady said if you return half full would be OK (which we did; even slightly less than half). They gave us clear instructions and were quite friendly. We got a Fiat Panda, which was a little old; otherwise OK. We returned the car on time (around 8am) and they were quick to handle everything.

If I could give minus stars I would. First of all we arrived in the airport with nothing on our paperwork stating where we should go to meet. After wandering around looking for 15 mins looking for anything with Bravacar on, we asked a taxi driver if he knew where they were he, rather kindly, pointed us in the right direction. Once we got to car park 4 we were pretty much still none the wiser. There were no signs of Bravacar, again we had to ask someone we assumed was also waiting, he was their representative. He showed us our car, which was actually fine, explained how we returned it, fuel type, expectations etc etc. We had to pay 25 euro to drop it off outside of office hours as we needed to drop it off at 7:30am, which is fair. However, at 8am we were very annoyed that our rep hadn't turned up. After 15 mins of calling he finally arrived (45 mins late) with no mention of the cost we had to pay for him to be on time. During our final phone call before he arrived he instructed us to leave the keys behind the front left tire. We didn't as we did not want to be liable for anything should the car be stolen etc. He looked the car over, said it was perfect to him as we had returned it in the exact same condition that we had received it (which it was). He signed his paperwork to say it was fine and we made our flight on time. FOUR MONTHS LATER we have received a charge of £27.35 with no explanation. I have done further research and this company do this often. They say is an unpaid toll charge - which was near impossible for us as we just went to and from the supermarket, which has no tolls along the route. I believe one day we went to the beach but were very careful to avoid toll roads...for obvious reasons. Other customers have said this charge was accrued by a subsequent hirer. I have had the same experience as many others, in which my emails keep getting bounced back. I have completed the online form twice with no receipt or response. I initially booked with Atlas Choice - I am still waiting on their response. I am now in contact with my credit card provider in the hope they may be able to help, as many people said they paid this charge, only to be charged again a year or so later. I am fuming and I wish I had done the proper research beforehand. My advice to everyone is to pay a little bit more for a better company and save yourself the worry. If this post prevents even one person from hiring from this awful company I feel better. I will update this as soon as I hear back or reach a conclusion.