The Real Numbers Behind Cicar’s Tenerife Car Hire Reputation

Ask on any Tenerife travel forum which car hire company to book, and the same handful of names come up again and again — and Cicar, alongside its sister brand Cabrera Medina, is consistently near the top of that list, often ahead of every international brand at the airport. That’s not an accident of marketing; it comes down to a genuinely different pricing structure than what most visitors are used to from Hertz, Avis, Europcar or the budget aggregator brands, where “zero excess” is usually an optional upsell rather than the starting point.

What’s Actually in the Price

• Full comprehensive insurance with zero excess is Cicar’s standard rate, not a paid add-on — the deposit taken instead is only €200 for small, compact, SUV and estate categories, or €400 for larger MPVs and premium vehicles.
• A second driver, child and booster seats, roof racks, and unlimited mileage are all included at no extra charge, along with a free Canary Islands audio guide you can request at the desk.
• Fuel works on a deposit-and-refund basis, not the “return full or pay a fee” model most international brands use — you get the deposit back if you bring the car back with the same level it left with.
• Cicar has offices at both of Tenerife’s airports and most major resort areas, but if you arrive at the desk without an existing booking, you can be quoted a walk-up rate double what the same car costs online — book ahead, even by minutes, rather than assuming a fair price on arrival.
• Reviews are genuinely strong in volume and consistency (tens of thousands on Trustpilot), though not flawless — a small but real minority report vehicle condition issues or desk friction, so it’s worth treating the reputation as “very good on average” rather than “no possible complaints.”

What actually makes Cicar different from the big international brands?

The core difference isn’t the cars themselves — Cicar’s fleet of over 15,000 vehicles across the Canary Islands includes the same mainstream models (Opel, Peugeot, Fiat, Citroën) you’d get from any major brand. The difference is structural: where international brands typically build their advertised rate around a high excess (often €900 to €2,500+ depending on the car category) and then sell you a waiver to bring that down to zero, Cicar builds the zero-excess cover into the base price from the start. You’re not choosing between a cheap-but-risky rate and an expensive-but-safe one at the counter — there’s just the one rate, and it’s already the safe one.

How much is the deposit, and why is it so much lower than everywhere else?

Cicar’s security deposit sits at €200 for Small, Compact, SUV and Estate categories, rising to €400 for the larger MPV, Premium and V3–V5 categories — figures that look almost small next to the €900–€2,500 excess holds common elsewhere on the island. The reason is straightforward once you understand what each figure is actually for: an excess-based deposit exists to cover potential damage costs up to that ceiling, whereas Cicar’s lower deposit exists mainly to secure the fuel-return promise and general contract compliance, since damage liability itself is already handled by the zero-excess insurance rather than sitting on your card as a hold.

What’s actually included in the price, beyond the insurance?

More than most people expect walking in. The free extra driver alone is worth checking against a competitor’s quote, since plenty of international brands charge a daily fee for a second name on the contract. Child seats, booster seats and roof racks being free rather than a per-day rental extra matters if you’re travelling as a family, and unlimited mileage removes any need to think twice about a longer day trip out to Masca or up to Teide. The Canary Islands audio guide is a small, slightly unusual touch — not something that changes your trip, but a sign of a company positioning itself as more than just a functional pickup counter.

How does the fuel policy actually work, and does it favour you? ⛽

Cicar takes a fuel deposit matched to whatever level the car has when you collect it, then refunds that deposit if you return the car at the same level — a genuinely fairer system than the common “full to full” model, where even a small underestimate on the return fill-up costs you the difference at inflated rates, and where topping up exactly right on the way to a rushed airport drop-off is its own small stress. It’s worth reading how fuel policies generally work across Tenerife rental companies if you’re comparing Cicar’s approach against a different provider’s quote, since fuel policy differences are one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of any car hire contract.

What happens if you show up without a booking?

This is the one place where Cicar’s reputation and the on-the-ground reality can genuinely diverge, and it’s worth knowing before you fly. Renters who’ve turned up at the desk without a prior reservation report being quoted rates roughly double what the identical car costs booking online in the moment — in one documented case, €260 for six days at the counter versus €125 for the same car booked online from a phone in the same terminal, minutes later. This isn’t unique to Cicar; it’s standard behaviour across the rental industry, where walk-up rates are deliberately priced to reward advance booking. The lesson is simple: book ahead, even the night before, rather than planning to sort it out at the desk — and if you do find yourself facing a high walk-up quote, booking the same car online on the spot, as some renters have done, is a completely legitimate way around it. If a desk agent pushes back on that approach or implies it isn’t allowed, the same calm-but-informed approach that works for any pushy add-on applies here too.

Is the “zero excess” claim actually true, or is there a catch?

Based on the volume and consistency of independent reviews, it holds up genuinely well — renters repeatedly describe returning cars with no inspection drama, no “gotcha” scratch claims, and no separate insurance upsell conversation at the counter, which is precisely the friction point most complaints about other companies centre on. The one caveat worth knowing about, rather than the insurance itself, is around electric vehicle charging: at least one reported case involved a renter unable to use a charging network’s app because it wouldn’t accept a foreign passport for verification, requiring a swap to a petrol car instead. If you’re specifically booking an EV with Cicar, it’s worth asking about charging network compatibility for your nationality before you commit, since this is a charging-infrastructure issue rather than anything specific to Cicar’s own policies.

Where can you pick up and drop off with Cicar in Tenerife?

Cicar operates from both of Tenerife’s airports — Tenerife South and Tenerife North — along with locations across the main resort areas, making a mixed pickup-here-drop-off-there itinerary genuinely workable if your trip spans both ends of the island. Because the group also operates across Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro under the same terms, it’s a practical option too if your trip includes an inter-island ferry leg and you want continuity in your rental terms rather than starting fresh with a different company on each island.

Is Cicar actually as good as the forums say, or is the reputation overstated?

Broadly, the reputation holds up under scrutiny — tens of thousands of reviews clustering heavily toward the positive end is a meaningfully different pattern from a company propped up by a handful of curated testimonials, and the specific, consistent praise (no excess drama, no hidden fuel charges, straightforward pickup and return) matches exactly what the stated terms promise on paper. It isn’t flawless: a small number of reviews describe damaged vehicles or an overly casual handover process with little inspection either way, which cuts both ways — convenient if nothing goes wrong, less reassuring if you’d prefer a documented walkthrough. Compared against the wider field of Tenerife car hire companies, Cicar’s structural advantage — insurance built in rather than upsold — is the single biggest reason it keeps outperforming brand recognition alone.

FAQ

Does Cicar really include zero excess insurance as standard in Tenerife? Yes — full comprehensive cover with zero excess is Cicar’s baseline rate, not an optional upgrade, which is the main structural difference from most international brands.

How much deposit does Cicar take when you pick up a car in Tenerife? €200 for small, compact, SUV and estate categories, or €400 for larger MPV and premium vehicles — noticeably lower than the €900–€2,500+ excess deposits common elsewhere.

Is a second driver really free with Cicar? Yes, the extra driver is included at no additional cost, added at the desk rather than charged as a daily add-on the way many competitors handle it.

What happens if I arrive at the Cicar desk without booking in advance? You risk being quoted a walk-up rate significantly higher than the online price for the same car — booking ahead, even briefly before arriving, avoids this.

Does Cicar charge extra for child seats in Tenerife? No — child seats, booster seats and roof racks are included free of charge, which is worth factoring into a price comparison against a company that charges per day for the same items.

Is Cicar only available in Tenerife, or across the whole Canary Islands? Across the whole archipelago — Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro all operate under the same group and broadly the same terms.

How does Cicar’s fuel policy compare to a full-to-full policy? Cicar takes a fuel deposit matched to the car’s collection level and refunds it if you return at the same level, rather than requiring a full tank on return regardless of what you actually used.