Deposit, excess, and what actually happens if you scrape it

Two different things get confused constantly: the deposit you pay us, and the insurance excess. They are not the same and they do not cover the same events.

The deposit

The deposit is a refundable sum we hold for the duration of the hire. It is set by the car's category, not by how long you have it or which badge is on the bonnet: most of the fleet is RM1,000, sports and performance cars are RM1,500, and supercars are RM2,500. Every car page on this site states its own figure.

It comes back in full once the car is returned without new damage and with no outstanding summonses against the plate. That second part is why it is a few working days and not the same afternoon — summonses take time to appear, and we would rather wait than chase you a month later.

What comes out of it

• Traffic summonses issued during your hire.
• Fuel, if the car comes back short of full.
• Tolls used on the Touch 'n Go card.
• Repair costs up to the insurance excess, where there is damage.
• Interior cleaning, where it genuinely needs a full detail, not a wash.

What does not

• Road dust, or a weekend's worth of ordinary use.
• Normal wear on tyres and brakes.
• Servicing that falls due while you have the car.
• Anything we cannot show you a photograph of.

The excess

The car is insured. If there is accident damage, the insurance covers the repair beyond a fixed first portion — the excess — and that first portion is yours. The figure is stated in your rental agreement before you sign it, not buried in a schedule you receive afterwards.

So a serious accident does not mean you owe the value of the car. It means you owe the excess. That is the entire point of the arrangement, and it is worth understanding before you spend a weekend worrying about it.

The two things that actually get charged

In practice, almost everything we ever bill for is one of two items: a kerbed wheel or a scraped front lip. Both are car park injuries. Both are quoted at the actual repair invoice, never a standard fee, and both are avoidable with the approach in our piece on parking a low car.

If it happens

1. Tell us straight away. Not at handover — at the time. It is always cheaper and simpler.
2. Photograph it where it happened, before the car moves.
3. If another vehicle is involved, get a police report. Insurance requires one and there is no way around it.
4. We quote you the actual repair figure with pictures. You see what we see.

Nothing gets taken out of a deposit on the strength of an estimate. If we cannot show you the photograph and the invoice, we do not charge for it.