When my vehicle wasn't available, they told me I had two choices: wait for a car to be returned (may happen/ may not) or pay more for an upgrade. Being pressed for time I paid, but only because they refused to honor the original reservation .
TLDR-the car was a total wreck, literally the only thing working properly was the radio. Pickup was a disaster, drop off smooth. Hertz Dakar forgot our reservation and so had to drive the car to the office from the garage after we arrived. This took over an hour, and put us in the middle of Friday prayers so we had to wait more. I budgeted two hours for pickup but total round trip time (from Mammelles) was four hours. The car itself was more a rent-a-wreck than a rental car. Basically every maintenance light that could be on was on. The car had obvious been in a front-impact collision and the driver’s door would only stay closed if pulled very gently and then locked. The A/C wheezed out tepid air, which didn’t actually cool and the whole dashboard vibrated when the fan was turned past a certain point. The car maxed out at 100km/hr and vibrated furiously while there. We had to creep over speed bumps for fear that the suspension would collapse. I’m shocked that this car was on the road let alone a rental, even by Senegal standards it was quite poor. Positives: Drop off was smooth The car had a fire extinguisher and all the reflector triangles it should.
No Show !!!!!
First off, the location was wrong, doubly. Kayak shows this location on the north of peninsula when it is, in fact, in Plateau. Then the street address is also wrong the Rue Joseph Gomis location closed years ago and the actual location is 102 Rue Amadou Assane Ndoye, Dakar. This location screw up left me searching for Hertz somewhere in Plateau, which resulted in my picking up the car late. Since I was late, my rental through Kayak was no longer valid and my costs more than doubled from Kayak’s estimated $163 to over $350. To add insult to injury, The car was in no state to be a rental. Literally every panel was scratched, dented, or otherwise damaged and had clearly been in multiple wrecks. It literally had “Toyota” scratched into the hood. The check engine light was on from the outset and multiple gauges didn’t work. The proprietor said, Yes it had an electrical problem, but the car was fine, “c’est bon”. No it was not fine, it was a total wreck, truly, it was probably “totaled”. This is not what I would expect from Hertz, from whom I have rented around the World. The check-out/in process was slow, but smooth. To the credit of the staff, they did send the missing lug-wrench to my house the next day. When it comes to renting in Dakar, please pick someone else. In Dakar, renting from Hertz just hurts and you will lose both your time and your money.
The offer at Kayak was misleading and ambigious .... it did not mention or state that the kilometers are not free, and the deposit is 10 times the daily rental .... no one can properly rent a car in Senegal ..... I will also stop to use Kayak .... very disappointing service