Hire Cars in Ukraine

[Kuna]

We're heading back to Ukraine (and Russia) early next year and we've been talking about transport in Dnepropetrovsk.  I've had a look at the online hire cars and the price is pretty crazy.  As there will be 4 adults + 1 "little one" on this trip we'll need a "full size" car,  but most sites are quoting $250+ per day for hire.  I'm worried that hire costs PLUS BRIBES could end up being a BIG cost.  

Where does everyone else get their hire cars if they choose to drive themselves when returning home to visit family???

Any tips?  Cautions? Things to be aware of?

[kievstar]

Sounds like a decent price for a driver and a big car.  Remember insurance is very high in Ukraine and does not cover everything.  So rental companies have to pass on some of the cost.  Paying bribes to cops is over rated.  If you have a driver, do not worry about bribes.

But if you do not have a driver probably should pay around $100 usd a day if you rent 7 days minimum.  Again paying bribes is cheap around $5 usd unless you really did something wrong and than your bribe will be higher.

[Kuna]

Sounds like a decent price for a driver and a big car.  Remember insurance is very high in Ukraine and does not cover everything.  So rental companies have to pass on some of the cost.  Paying bribes to cops is over rated.  If you have a driver, do not worry about bribes.

But if you do not have a driver probably should pay around $100 usd a day if you rent 7 days minimum.  Again paying bribes is cheap around $5 usd unless you really did something wrong and than your bribe will be higher.

Kievstar,

Car and driver???  That's what I thought.  I guess I was having flashbacks to the glory days in Singapore.  All of the prices I've seen so far are self-drive (which is preferred).

Do you know where we could find a car for $100 per day???  Any web sites, or is it a matter of sourcing once we arrive?

The other option I've considered is placing an ad before arriving and offering $XXX per day for a driver on call - with a maximum contact time per day of X hour per day.  Dunno, need to think about it.

We could just use cabs (buses will be difficult with my elderly mother and the baby) but it just seems like such a pain in the butt searching for cabs the whole time.

Any tips would be appreciated.

[kievstar]

You can try this company - http://www.smart-car-rent.kiev.ua/en/

People I have sent to them before have had no complaints.  But looks like the bigger cars are more than $100 usd and with gas prices maybe cheaper to use taxis.  Hiring taxis maybe a problem as you may have to get two since most taxis are small cars.

[Kuna]

Kievstar,

Thanks for that website... it's great - and the prices are good too.  For this trip convenience will be important because we'll have our baby with us as well as my 76 yr old mother... 

Kuna

[Stirlitz]

In October my client rented a Nissan in Odessa for €65 a day for a few days then extended and ended up one week. The service was great. I was driving him all the time though.

[Kuna]

In October my client rented a Nissan in Odessa for €65 a day for a few days then extended and ended up one week. The service was great. I was driving him all the time though.

Yeah sorry... not going to Odessa.  What type of Nissan was it? Can't see 5 ppl + luggage in a Micra.  Also, which hire company did he use?

[Stirlitz]

Forgot to mention — it was a Nissan Almera Classic 2006 1.6. Less than my Volga but bigger than a Lada and definitely bigger than a Matiz The company was Europcar. I really liked the service, I had expected tedious paperwork and all kinds of conditions and fault-finding, but it took us 20 minutes to start driving, and when I returned it a week later they did not study it with an X-ray looking for possible damage or measuring how much gas it had and if it was exactly as much it was when it was rented… Not typical for Ukraine (probably because it is EUROPcar)… By the way they had an office in Kiev too and we thought about returning it there but then realized I would have to take a plane back to Odessa, and it would be more expensive to give it back in another city, but it was possible too.