Car hire in Lagos: the excess, the deposit, and what gets added at the desk

The gap between what a rental car is advertised at and what it ends up costing is the single most complained-about thing in Algarve travel. Almost all of it happens at the counter, in about four minutes, while you are tired and there is a queue behind you.

This article is about that four minutes. There is one rule running through it: we do not quote a number we could not verify. Where the industry does not publish its figures — and it mostly does not — that is stated plainly rather than filled in with a plausible guess. A wrong figure about a deposit is not a small error; it is the difference between your card working at the desk and your holiday starting badly.

The two words that decide everything

Excess is the amount of any damage you pay yourself before the rental company’s insurance takes over. It is not a fee. You only meet it if something happens.

The deposit is a sum blocked on your credit card while you have the car, as security against that excess, plus fuel and any fines. It is a hold, not a charge, and it is released after you bring the car back without problems. But it is blocked, which means it is unavailable to you for the length of the rental and often for some days afterwards.

CDW — collision damage waiver — is the product that reduces the excess. Reducing it to zero costs the most. This is where the desk makes its margin.

Why we cannot tell you your excess

Here is the awkward finding. Guerin is one of the largest rental companies in Portugal. Its published terms and conditions set out the rules in detail — and when they reach the amount of the excess, they refer to “the table in force at the start of the Rental”. The figure is not on the website. The same is broadly true across the big brands: the number arrives with your quote, and it varies by vehicle group.

Independent guides commonly put the typical Algarve excess somewhere between €600 and €2,000, and the deposit in a similar range, generally rising with the size of the car. Treat that as a sense of scale and nothing more. The only number that binds you is the one printed on the rental agreement you sign, and it is worth reading before you sign it rather than after.

If you want the figure in advance, it appears in the terms attached to a specific quote. That is the moment to compare what different suppliers in Lagos are actually offering, because the excess and the deposit differ far more between companies than the daily rate does.

The other business model

Not everyone works that way, and in Lagos this is worth knowing. Several local firms price the full CDW into the rental instead of selling it at the desk. LUZCAR, which operates in Lagos and delivers to Faro airport, states plainly that because full cover is included in the car’s price there is no deposit to pay and no excess insurance to buy; additional drivers are added free of charge and baby seats are provided free on request. Mileage is unlimited and cover for trips into Andalusia is included.

The headline daily rate is usually higher. What you are buying is the absence of the four minutes at the counter.

Neither model is a trick. The airport model is cheaper if nothing goes wrong and you are comfortable with a large hold on your card; the all-inclusive model costs more up front and removes the variable. Knowing which one you have booked is the part that matters.

Age, and the licence

Portugal’s legal driving age is 18. Renting is a different matter: 21 is the usual floor. Guerin requires 21 with a licence held for more than a year, and 25 for all-terrain and luxury vehicles; drivers of 18 to 20 may be accepted at the company’s discretion as a “young driver” with a daily supplement, and only for its smaller vehicle groups. That supplement’s price is not published online either. LUZCAR requires 21 and a licence held for more than two years.

If anyone in your party is under 25, check the surcharge before booking, not at the desk.

The card

Expect to need a physical credit card in the main driver’s name. Guerin’s terms exclude virtual cards and require validity running to at least 30 days beyond the scheduled end of the contract. A debit card is accepted by some companies and refused by others, and where it is accepted it often comes with a condition — typically that you buy the zero-excess package, so that no hold is needed.

This is the single most common reason people are turned away at a rental desk. Check it while you are still at home.

Fuel

Two policies exist and the difference is real money.

Full to full — you collect the car full and return it full — is the one that costs you nothing beyond the fuel you burn. Guerin calls its version a refuelling service: return the car at the level you got it, and anything missing is charged at the company’s rate plus a service cost.

Pre-paid tank means you buy a full tank at pickup and get no refund for whatever you do not use. It is convenient on a very short rental and expensive on a long one, because almost nobody returns a car running on fumes.

Extras, ranked by whether they are worth it

Child seats — not optional, and a legal matter. Under Article 55 of the Portuguese Código da Estrada, children under 12 years old and under 135 cm must travel in an approved restraint suited to their size, and children under 3 may not travel in the front seat. Rental seats are commonly around €6 to €10 a day and stock runs out in high summer, so reserve one when you book and confirm the category in writing. Some local firms, as above, include them.

Additional driver — worth it on any trip where one person would otherwise drive the whole west coast loop. Free at some local firms, charged daily at most others.

A toll transponder — no longer needed here. The A22 along the Algarve has been toll-free since 1 January 2025, under a law published in August 2024. If a desk offers you a transponder for driving in the Algarve, ask what road it is for. This is the clearest example of an upsell that outlived its reason.

Cross-border cover — needed if Seville is on your list. Guerin requires prior authorisation and a specific cross-border product before the car leaves Portugal; some Lagos firms include Andalusia. Taking a car into Spain without clearing it first can void your cover.

The two minutes that save you the four

Photograph the car on all four sides before you leave the bay, including the wheels and the windscreen, with the timestamp on. Check that the fuel gauge matches the contract. And read the excess figure on the agreement out loud to yourself before you sign — it is the number the whole transaction is built around, and it is the one nobody reads.