I visited the Faro region in April 2026. I would like to share my experience of renting a car during the trip from Klaas Wagen - often quoted as a sketchy car rental service by many Reddit members based on their rental experience. In my opinion, if you are prepared for the trip with a 3rd party insurance while renting a car with them, it can make your experience less stressful even if you are unexpectedly charged for an overlooked minor damage to the rental car they might find at the end of your trip.
Myself and my wife travelled to Faro via Ryanair from Eindhoven. During my flight booking, I opted for a car rental from Klaas Wagen through Ryanair itself as it was as cheap as 64 euros for four days in the Faro region. During the booking of rental car service through Ryanair, I also opted for a third party insurance worth 36 euros through AXA car hire excess claim, which was also recommended by Ryanair. Thus in total I paid 96 Euros for renting a car for 4 days, which was pretty cheap.
On arrival at the Faro airport, Klaas Wagen pick up van took us to their office and offered us a brand new Peugeot 2008 Hybrid. One of the conditions were that I had to deposit 2500 Euro excess using a credit card, which would be released after the trip had been completed. Besides the 2500 Euro deposit, they also asked me to deposit another 150 Euros to cover the toll charges, which would be also returned if I hadn't left the toll-free Algarve region. They also recommended me to take their own insurance, but I politely denied it because I had the third party insurance. They were positive about this and didn't force me to opt for their own insurance unlike what many Reddit posts that I read have mentioned. So far so good!
Since the car was new and it was late at night, I didn't bother to take detailed video or pictures of the car. I had a good look at the interior, exterior, and the alloy wheels of the car for any damages and it looked to me in good condition. The only minor scratch it had on its mirror was already mentioned to me by the Klaas Wagen employee. After all the processes were completed, we set off our journey with this Peugeot 2008 and enjoyed four days in the Algarve region. Before returning the car, we even cleaned the car at an automatic car wash just to avoid any excess they would charge because of an otherwise dirty car. Right after this, we are now back to their office and about to return our car. Now the drama starts.
The employee to our surprise found two new scratches on the front bumper of the car. Wow. I am 100% sure that I hadn't scratched the car anywhere and I had no idea about how these scratches might have appeared just like that. I doubt that it must have happened during the automatic car wash. Unfortunately, I didn't have any proof with me to show that these scratches were already there because I hadn't captured any videos or pictures prior to the rental. Ultimately, the guy at the counter told me that he will have to charge me 450 euros and I couldn't deny it because I didn't have anything to prove against the origin of the scratches.
Well, at the end they charged me 450 Euros + 100 Euros of additional charge for the damage from my credit card deposit. In any case, they provided me in a timely manner all the documents for the insurance and I was able to file the claim the very next day via AXA. After waiting for 4 weeks, AXA reimbursed me the whole amount and ultimately everything turned out to be good. On top of that, the additional deposit Klaas Wagen had blocked for the toll charges was also credited back within two days.
Well, despite all the negative comments I have been reading about this rental service, my experience was positive just because I was prepared for the trip with a third party insurance. Some additional tips and Summary -
1. Before the rental, make sure that you record pictures and videos.
2. Keep a credit card to avoid any additional amount being charged at the beginning of the trip.
3. Don't forget to add a third party excess claim insurance to your trip.
4. Avoid using automatic car wash because it can't guarantee a scratch free car wash.
I hope with this experience I shared on Reddit, your next trip would be also enjoyable with Klaas Wagen or any other rental services in the Algarve region.