[Rajesh Rawal]

Repeat customer of Zain (Aug 4-7)and everything was perfect

Got a yellow board silver ritz (pretty well maintained car having odo reading 1 lakh change kms)

As mentioned by shady_lawyer you have to go their shop in vasco town (prepaid cab from the airport will charge inr 200 and likewise a cab will drop you back to the airport )

I hope Shamina adds automatic cars to their fleet

On a side note :- The whole stretch from Baga to Candolim is in a mess

[ank.nsit]

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal

...
On a side note :- The whole stretch from Baga to Candolim is in a mess

Mess in what sense? Road potholes? Traffic?

[Rajesh Rawal]

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

Mess in what sense? Road potholes? Traffic?

Absolute mess in terms of potholes which eventually slows the traffic down and provides discomfort

[sourav.info111]

Hi Guys, I have a vacation planned for Goa from the 1st week of October. Some of my friends wanted to go by train so we are going by train, and plan to get self driven cars there. So please could you help with some contacts or some reputed and trusted companies from which we can hire car or jeep.
Thanks in advance.

[Lij]

Had been to Goa last week with family and had booked a self drive rental from Zain travels after getting very positive reviews here on Team-BHP.

Shamina was great to interact with and had confirmed for a white board Wagon-R or a Swift (for INR 1200 and 1400 respectively).

We were asked to take a cab from the airport to her location, right opposite the HDFC bank lane near Vasco railway station. We were pleasantly surprised to find and almost new Swift Dzire (less than 5000 km on the odo) with very well maintained interiors provided to us due to unavailability of Swift and Wagon-R with the same tariff of the Swift.

Transaction was quick, with upfront payment of the entire duration of rental + INR 5000 as deposit. Quickly showed us the scratches and took the pictures for reference.

Delivery was equally quick, and since I had reached early suggested me to have lunch at a nearby restaurant and then return the vehicle.

Will I do business again with them? Absolutely!!

[jobish]

Hi,

I have hired a Wagon R (VXi) from Zain travels between 7-11th of Sept 2016. I too had a very pleasant experience with them. The car I got had 62k Kms on ODO. But was very well maintained. Used it for around 450 Kms over 5 days without any issues.

Earlier they used to deliver the car at the airport, now due to some protest by the taxi union, we will have to pick it from their office in Vasco. Prepaid taxi costs 200/- till their office. While returning they arranged a taxi for us to airport at the cost of 250/-.

They charged 1200/- per day for 5 days. And a security deposit of 5000/- and an original ID card needs to be submitted as well, which will be returned at the time of returning the car.

Conditions were

1. No drunk and drive.

2. Drive only in the state of Goa as they don't have any contacts outside Goa, in case of any unfortunate incidents.

3. User will have to pay the entire amount to repair the car in case of any accidents.

4. Petrol need to be filled by the user. There was 6 points in the fuel bar at the time of delivery, they asked me to keep the same level of fuel while returning the car. If you fill more, they will not reimburse it.

PS: They have the following cars, Wagon R, Swift, Swift Dzire, Ertiga and Scorpio.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Jobish

[centaur]

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal

Got a yellow board silver ritz

Originally Posted by jobish

Hi,

Conditions were

2. Drive only in the state of Goa as they don't have any contacts outside Goa, in case of any unfortunate incidents.

Isnt a person supposed to have a commercial driver's license when driving a car with yellow board or is point 2 as mentioned by Jobish a reason why you can drive a yellow number plate car in Goa without a commercial license?

[pradeepvarma1]

Dear Friends

Just returned from my Hyd-Dandeli-Jog falls-Murudeswar-Gokarna-Goa-Hyd vacation and wanted to share a few things about Self drive car rentals in Goa -

Self Drive Rentals - Goa

1. Zain Travels - Best service provider based on reviews, spoke to them but they do not allow cars to be taken out of Goa

2. Velankani Car Rental - do not allow cars to be taken out of Goa

3. http://carrentingoa.com/tarrifs-for-self-driven-cars/ - do not allow cars to be taken out of Goa

4. http://carrentgoa.com/self-driven/ - aka. Push tours and travels, very bad reviews, spoke to Badshah who gave his personal number to arrange car for outstation, seemed unreliable and in a hurry

5. http://www.carrentalsingoa.in/fleet.html - Did not pick up despite 3-4 calls on the number provided on website

6. http://gogoacarrentals.com/contact-c...-services-goa/ - Did not pick up despite 3-4 calls on the number provided on website

7. http://www.goa2u.com/carrental.htm - Booked with them, details below


Feedback on Goa2u.com -

Disclaimer - I am in no way connected to goa2u.com and the below synopsis is based honestly on my experience with them.

1. Booked a Wagon R from 1st Oct 9 AM to 9th Oct 1 PM, total 8 days only (+ 4 hours extra), for our journey from Dandeli - Jog falls - Murudeswar - Gokarna – Goa (Myself, Wife and 5 yo daughter)

2. Got the car delivered to castle Rock railway station, for a nominal fee since I was traveling by train from Hyderabad and did not want to travel all the way up to Madgaon and then drive back the same route to Dandeli

3. Surprisingly I got a free upgrade to a Chevy Aveo (petrol/White Board). 89000 kms on the odometer, but I must admit that the vehicle was well maintained. Tyres, a/c, clutch pickup, gear shifts were all fine with nothing much to write or complain about.

4. For the next 8 days, the car did a decent job, be it on the hills, singled laned rural KA roads, state highways etc, clocked 1250 kms overall

5. The service was simply superb and Matilda madam (Proprietor) was upfront on the pricing and security deposit

6. The follow up from Rajesh ji, fleet manager was very prompt and assuring

7. Driver Roshan was courteous and well ahead for vehicle delivery and pickup

8. Not all Self drive rental companies in Goa allow the car outside of Goa, there are just 2-3 and GOA2U is simply the best!!!!

9. Rating them a well-deserved 5 stars

10. If you can, please book a month in advance and ensure to transfer Half of the rental amount + security deposit to their bank account, e-mail a copy of your DL and Aadhar


Rental Charges (9 AM to 9 AM is 1 day) –

1. Wagon r (Outstation) – 1650/- day * 4 days = 6600
2. Wagon r (Local) – 1150/- day * 4 days = 4600
3. Vehicle delivery to Castlerock = 1500
4. Vehicle drop off at Dabolim Airport on 09th Oct at 1 PM + 4 hours Extra = 850
5. Security Deposit – 5000 (full amount returned promptly by driver at airport)
6. Total for 8 days – 13550

Contact details –

1. http://www.goa2u.com/
2. Matilda – 75987 71717
3. Rajesh – 99236 55628

[jogidada]

Had a very pleasant experience with Zain Travels last month between 25-Dec and 29-Dec. Entire process was professionally managed by Shamina from the booking till return. It was my first experience of flying down to Goa, since my previous 8 visits to Goa have been road trips.

What I liked:
1. All charges and restrictions such as not going out of Goa state quoted upfront
2. Reasonable deposit of 4,000 for 5 days rental along with ID proof.
3. We got a well maintained VXi model Wagon R which was better than a Swift on the narrow by lanes of Calangute and Baga.
4. Photos clicked of the car from both my phone and their phone before setting off so there is no difference of opinion on any damage caused before or during the rental.

What I did not like:
1. White number plate. I would have preferred the legal yellow on black self drive option.
2. No airport pickup and drop option. This is due to the taxi mafia. But their office is very close by in Vasco so it was a 200 prepaid taxi from the airport to Vasco and Shamina called another prepaid taxi to drop us at the airport for 250.
3. We need to pay for any damages/ scratches from our own pocket. No insurance cover or max deductible offered.

Will I choose them again?
Absolutely! Much better than being at the mercy of the taxi operators.

[ank.nsit]

Originally Posted by jogidada

Had a very pleasant experience with Zain Travels last month between 25-Dec and 29-Dec...

What I did not like:
1. White number plate. I would have preferred the legal yellow on black self drive option.
...

Had been meaning to put in this review for long - but your statement finally made me do it..

I with my wife traveled to Goa in the month of August and having read a lot of positive reviews about Zain, took a self drive white number plated Swift from them for 3 days. The price decided was 1200 per day. The renting process was smooth, with 5k deposited as security to them. I was told to tell the cops that the car belonged to a friend in case a cop caught us for white number plate.

Now, at the beginning of the second day - A cop stopped us at the aguada fort and inquired about the car - Following is the conversation that took place :

Cop: I know this car belongs to Zain travels, and it is being renting out illegally - the white numbered plate car. Tell me what are the charges that she took from you.

Me(Remebering what I was told to say): The car belongs to family friend Shamina and she has a boutique in Vasco.

Cop: Don't lie to me, I am warning you.

Me: I am telling the truth sir.

Then the cop asks me to park the car on the side. He searches the car and finds a card of Zain Travels.

Cop: (Now angrily) - I told you that the car belongs to Zain even without searching the car. Now here is the card of Zain travels. Don't try to act innocent. I can arrest you for abetting an illegal activity. You don't understand that people like these ferry drugs in the car without the tourists even knowing about it.

Not knowing what to say, I don't say anything.

Cop: Leave the car with us, sign here on this chalaan & take another cab back to your hotel.

I was shocked with this incident, especially after the cop mentioned about the arrest & drugs thing. We then went on to see the Aguada fort, called shamina and she arranged for a cab to take us back to the hotel.

I had multiple conversations with Shamina over the phone for the next 2 days, here is a created gist of the conversations:

Over The Phone:

Me: You told that white number plate won't be a problem, then how did this happen?

Shamina: There was just this one cop who was creating an issue for us. We are already in talks with his boss & paying him the money. We didn't expect him to be present at Aguada on Saturday.

Me: You should have warned me before renting out the car. Can you arrange for another self drive yellow plated car in replacement?

Shamina: That wouldn't be possible as we are in South Goa and you are in North Goa. Please hand me over the chalaan when you are in South Goa & I will refund your deposit along with 1 day's fare.

Conversation when we met in South Goa:

Shamina: Here is your i-card, 5k deposit, plus 1 day's fare along with extra 500 for the cab you paid from Aguada to the hotel.

Me: Our car was taken at the beginning of the second day itself - so you should refund the second day's fare as well.

Shamina was not at all willing to agree to this request. But i was kind of stuck that I wanted the 2nd day's fare at any cost. So she handed me over 500 rupees more (instead of the 700) which I accepted and handed her the chalaan.

[Impala59]

So I visited Goa about 6 months back, in the month of June.
I DESPERATELY wanted to rent a Thar and drive it around. But turns out there has been some issue regarding renting out Thars to tourists (Mostly on white number plates)
The guy told me that the locals have complained that the people who move around in Thar create a lot of ruckus etc.
According to my source, Thars running on white plates are stopped everywhere by the Police and if they find out that it is rented, they impound the vehicle along with a hefty fee. Yellow number plate Thars were said to be scarcely available, at a price of INR 3500+ per day!!! In June!!!

Can someone shed light on this matter? Has it been resolved? Or was I just scammed?

P.S : Ended up driving an Ertiga

[fine69]

Is it ok to be renting cars out even if its a private vehicle (white number plate)? Is there a law against it?

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by fine69

Is it ok to be renting cars out even if its a private vehicle (white number plate)? Is there a law against it?

Yes. When someone rents a vehicle he is making money off it which makes it a commercial activity. White board(private vehicles) pay less road tax as they are NOT used to make money. Makes sense?

[fine69]

Originally Posted by akshay380

Yes. When someone rents a vehicle he is making money off it which makes it a commercial activity. White board(private vehicles) pay less road tax as they are NOT used to make money. Makes sense?

Then why is a particular person being praised and promoted while she continues to do this illegal activity? Shouldn't bhpians NOT rent private vehicles or at least not discuss it on this forum.

[smrtdvl]

Originally Posted by fine69

Then why is a particular person being praised and promoted while she continues to do this illegal activity? Shouldn't bhpians NOT rent private vehicles or at least not discuss it on this forum.

+1

In fact a few resorts have bad reviews on Tripadvisor just because there is a taxi union in front of the resort. When I was in Goa couple of months back I took a yellow on black numbered WagonR from a guy in Panjim and the taxi people never objected to it. I had rented a 2 wheeler from the union ppl for a day so when I got into a conversation they said that most of them have just 1 yellow numbered car to make their living and a few travel agencies are trying to ruin their livelihood by renting white board cars that are used occasionally by the owner.