Have you ever gone abroad and thought I can take the local transport, but it’s the heat of summer and 40 degrees of heat and humidity; maybe I can rent a car and adventure on my own?
I am here to share my story abroad in the hopes my story inspires you to be a bit more cautious or even adventurous like I did but know your risks when driving in a country that’s far from your own.
I rented a car from a local company known as rent from locals.ai with the suggestion from a local expat group.
So here I am choosing a car rental from a local and since I was trying to be price conscious I went with the “more reasonable option:”
Well let me tell you about the saying “you get what you pay for.”
The young VW owner met me to exchange the car and agreed to drive me out of town as the traffic in Albania, particularly Tirana is best describes as a bit advantageous and aggressive. This is the case, especially if you’re not used to a large city and especially a city abroad.
I’m grateful the rental owner agreed to pick me up and drive to the outskirts of Tirana to avoid any extra anxiety about driving with the crazy city driving.
A combination of lack of English and languages we both didn’t speak of each others taught me- this is all the adventure and part of life of travel.
Before I take off in the vehicle I took photos and a video of the car, just like I have done renting from any other company. This is highly recommended especially if a company comes back later, saying there was damage to a vehicle, so if you learn anything from this post, always protect yourself.
I get in the car, leave rental guy at the side of the road at a roundabout, as he insisted his friend was coming to pick him up.
I then look up and notice the visor is broken and the light is illuminated, which could essentially lead to a dead battery on my excursion. I didn’t panic and figured I would sort it out later. Thankfully I was able to fix it for the light to turn off, but then noticed the gas tank was nearly empty.
Next up, my seatbelt started ringing as if it wasn’t plugged in, which it was. Can you see it now? Driving along and you keep having to re-latch your seatbelt.
Here goes the adventure I asked for, but didn’t know this was how it was going to begin. I am now on the highway to find a gas station and saw a sign for a petrol station, which I pulled up to get gas. The one great thing is Albania has full service stations. I arrive and the gas attendant asks how much I want to put in the vehicle, after he tells me the credit card machine isn’t working.
To ensure I kept cash on me I told him to put 2000 lek into the vehicle which is about $25.00 USD. I knew this would give me enough to get to my next stop and or I could find another station to use my card if needed. As Albania is heavy on cash, it is advisable to always keep some Albanian currency on you, known as lek.
Also, always suggest to go with your gut and spend the extra money to rent from the original company you began speaking to.
The positive side to this story as I drove from Tirana, Albania down to Sarande, where the guy came down to pick up the car (which note you will pay extra for the pick up.)
Moral of this story; ask for photos of the vehicle inside and out- just asking if the car has been serviced is not enough when you rent from locals abroad.
