Cheap car hire on Madeira, car by car

A small car suits one or two people and is the easier one to drive and park on narrow roads. The popular selection runs from the Fiat Panda and the Hyundai i20 through the Fiat Tipo and two small crossovers, the Hyundai Bayon and the Peugeot 2008, to the Volkswagen Tiguan.

Seven seats come in people carriers such as the Dacia Jogger. Each car's page states its seats and its gearbox before you book.

Free cancellation, offered on many cars and marked where it is, and the minimum age and the years the licence must have been held, both set car by car. The search filters for no deposit, no credit card, full insurance and free cancellation. The standard cover leaves the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen and the interior out, and the excess on each car is shown on its page, zero on some cars.

On Madeira, it makes the driving easier. Madeira's roads climb in hairpins, the gears change often on them, and a manual suits a driver with plenty of practice on a stick. Automatics are among the cars at the airport alongside manuals, and the search filters by gearbox.

Most cars offer a second driver, a child seat, a booster seat and a seat for babies up to one year old, each chosen at booking and priced by the car's company. Portuguese law requires an approved child restraint for children under 12 who are shorter than 135 cm, and a child under 3 in a rear-facing seat may sit in front only with the front airbag switched off.

Mileage is unlimited on most cars; where a car carries a daily cap, its page states it.

Cheap car hire in Madeira starts with a search on your exact dates. Narrow the list first: besides the deposit and insurance filters, the search filters by class and brand, and marks new cars under 5 years and SUVs. Then compare what sits around the price: any handover or delivery charge, higher on the west coast, is paid at pick-up, and the higher levels of cover are priced per car, free on some.

The cheapest rates run from November to April, the off-season, when rental companies reduce them. Car hire on Madeira is priced for the dates you choose, and the price moves as rental companies load and book their cars.

The popular selection shows a model for each class; across all classes, small cars are the most popular hire cars on Madeira, with the Fiat 500, the Fiat Panda, the Skoda Fabia, the Toyota Yaris and the Kia Picanto among the usual choices. The search shows every car for your dates with its own price and conditions.

Convertibles and premium cars are among the cars at Madeira Airport. The Fiat 500 CC is the convertible in the popular selection and carries its latest daily price in the Convertible class, and the Fiat 500C has been offered as well. Premium makes have included BMW with the X2, Mercedes with the A200 and the GLB, and Volvo with the XC40, and the search holds both budget and premium options.

A car shown with "or similar" is booked by class rather than by model: the rental company cannot guarantee the specific model and will provide a car in the selected class with similar characteristics. The search has a Cars with model guarantee filter that leaves those cars out, so the list can be limited to cars whose model is fixed.

If the rental company cannot provide the booked car because of a breakdown or other force majeure, it must provide a car of the same or a higher class on the same terms and at the same price.

A second driver can be added on most hire cars on Madeira, as an extra chosen at booking, and goes into the rental agreement. The price is set by the company that rents the car, so it differs from car to car, is free on some, and shows on the car's page before you pay.

The second driver must meet at least the minimum age and driving experience in the car's standard conditions. To draw up the agreement, the rental company needs the second driver's driving licence and passport. Where the car asks for a card for the deposit, it must be in the main driver's name.

The minimum age to rent a car on Madeira is set by each car, and each car's page states it with an upper age limit and the years the licence must have been held. The legal minimum age to drive a car in Portugal is 18, but rental minimums start higher.

The requirements can differ even between similar models. Young drivers and those with little experience can still rent, with fewer cars to choose from: enter the driver's age and driving experience in the search filters, and the list shows the cars that accept them.

Sat nav is not one of the extras offered on Madeira hire cars, which include a second driver, child seats and boosters, a baby seat, Personal Accident Insurance and Theft Protection. A rental company provides navigation only when it is included in the booking, so do not count on one in the car.

GPS works well on Madeira. It can, however, suggest impractical or steep roads, and there are often several ways to the same place, so choose routes you are comfortable with and keep to the main roads when in doubt.