Very poor service, dangerous cars

This is by far the worst car hire company I have dealt with, and I would urge everyone to avoid Auriga Crown at all costs. We booked through Holiday Autos but didn't know which local agent we were using till the booking was made.

We had a number of problems with Auriga Crown from start to finish:

- firstly, when we arrived at the Auriga Crown offices in downtown Seville to pick up the car we were given a Ford Focus which was not only in poor condition but was not roadworthy. Its rear bumper was hanging off, it had scratches across much of its bodywork, its aerial was missing and one of the main headlights did not work at all, making it illegal to be on the road. We took pictures of all this on our phone and returned to the offices. When we told the person who had given us the car that we were not happy she looked mystified, though she must have known that the car was in such bad condition. She did however immediately offer us an alternative car. This was a Seat Leon and was better than the original Focus, so we accepted it, but it had a very high mileage (around 115,000km) and was still not in great shape (scratches etc).
- whilst using the car during our holiday it was generally fine, but it did not feel in great condition (rattling engine, other interior rattles and the clutch seemed well worn - it could start from a standstill in 3rd gear).
- when we returned the car to Malaga Airport there were no signs telling us where to drop off Auriga Crown cars. This was in the main multistorey car park where all rental cars are returned at the airport. The instructions in our booking details told us to park in an Auriga Crown space to return the car. We therefore parked in the first space we saw with an Auriga Crown sign above it. When we got out we could see no office to drop off the keys and we spent the next three quarters of an hour trying to locate the office. there were no signs anywhere or any staff telling us where to go. Eventually out of desperation (we were worried we might miss our flight) we walked round the whole car park and found the drop-off office on the lowest floor - there were no signs telling us that's where we should have gone. It turned out the original space we had parked in was for customers picking up cars, not dropping off but there should have been signs telling customers this was the case as it was very confusing.
- finally, one other gripe was the policy of having to pick up the car with a full tank but having to return it empty. On picking up the car you pay extra for the full tank of fuel - in our case over €80(this is not made clear at the time of booking). As it turned out, the tank was very nearly empty when we returned the car, but this was more coincidence than planned. It seems to me this policy is a cynical money-making attempt by Auriga Crown, as most people will find it very difficult to make sure they return the car empty, so the hire company will make money on fuel for most cars on top of the rental fees, as they will not have to fill up a full tank for the next user but will charge them for a full tank.