Auto Rental Albania "ARA" - Makina me Qera

Do not trust this company – dishonest and unprofessional. We rented a car for 4 days and returned it on time. When we brought it back, they suddenly pointed out a scratch on the back side of the car that we hadn’t even noticed. We’re 100% sure we didn’t hit anything, and there was no visible damage during our use. It was a small surface-level scratch that could have been easily covered with €7 worth of spray paint – yet they charged us €150. What’s worse, they claimed they needed to “change the entire back part” of the car for that tiny scratch, which is ridiculous. The car already had scratches and marks all over the body from previous incidents, but they didn’t seem interested in fixing those. Why not replace the entire car then? Their logic doesn’t add up. It felt like a scam – like they were just looking for an excuse to charge more. At the end, they even tried to act like they were doing us a favor by saying, “We didn’t charge you for the extra one hour,” which just seemed like part of their drama to make us feel guilty or grateful. Totally unprofessional behavior. Avoid this company at all costs. They try to take advantage of tourists and seem to be running a damage scam. Please be careful.....

Considering our flight was 1.5 hrs delayed, and I'd emailed to make the company aware, I had no reply. On arrival our car was ready, in fact it was even there ! I'd booked a Citroën C1, but given a Peugeot 108 instead (same group). After an approx 1 hr wait and a further 10 min walk, we were presented with what could only be described as something that had been through a demolition derby. Basically we were in a position of take it or leave it as we had a 200km drive to Sarande (and our overnight hotel). As you can see by the photos (video) any new bumps / would be difficult to identify. Now the driving experience, anyone who's driven in Albania will know it's interesting at the best of times, but at to that a car who's clutch has more play than a sausage been thrown down an alley, lights that were as bright as candles ( that were extinguished). The gear box was a total pick and mix, any gear in a storm basically. As for reverse, it was there somewhere. As for the drive, it was gutless (even accepting it was only 1000cc) Then there was that lovely metal on metal grind from the front offside wheel on every right hand bend. No washer fluid in the reservoir. All this was relayed to the company on the cars return, which earned a smirk and a shrug of the shoulders. Seriously avoid at all cost !!!!