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

What you pay when you book is not what you risk at the desk. The excess (in French, franchise) is the sum that stays with you if the car is damaged; the deposit is the amount held on your card to secure it; and the “full” protection offered on the spot (CDW or its upgrade) is not fully comprehensive insurance. Before hiring, compare the suppliers on Discover Cars, but read the terms of your own contract: the amounts below come from a single supplier and are not necessarily those of yours. And if you would rather skip the desk on arrival, a private airport transfer costs €3.79 for a group of up to four, rated 4.6 out of 5 across 6,469 reviews.

See prices and availability for the private airport transfer in Marrakesh

Excess and CDW: two terms, one confusion

The excess is the part of the damage you pay out of your own pocket. The CDW (collision damage waiver) reduces that excess without necessarily removing it. It sounds like fully comprehensive cover and is not: contracts list exclusions. In the example we checked, the mirrors, the windscreen and the underside of the vehicle are not covered, even with the extended protection.

So there are two lines to read in your contract: the amount of the excess for your car category, and the list of what the protection excludes. They differ from one supplier to the next.

The deposit: what is held on the card

At the desk, the supplier holds a sum on your card. In the example of a large supplier in Morocco, according to the summary of its terms for the country, the deposit is between 15,500 and 30,000 MAD depending on the vehicle if you take no additional protection, and it falls to 2,000 MAD with the most complete protection. These amounts are in dirhams; we do not convert them, because the day’s exchange rate will tell you more accurately than we can.

Above all, keep three points in mind. The deposit is held, not spent, but it lowers your card’s limit by the same amount for the duration of the hire. The supplier in the example accepts only physical credit cards with the cardholder’s name embossed, not debit cards. And a card close to its expiry date can lead to the handover of the vehicle being refused. So check your card’s limit and expiry date before you leave.

What gets added at the desk

Additional driver. With the supplier in the example, it costs 240 MAD including taxes for the whole hire period, and the person must meet the same conditions as the main driver. If two of you will be driving, declare both at the desk.

Age and licence. The minimum age and the young driver surcharge vary by brand and category: the same supplier’s documents do not all say the same thing, 21 for the smaller categories and 25 for the others in one, 25 for all with two years of holding a licence in the other. Read the age your contract requires. A licence written in a non-Latin alphabet must be accompanied by an international licence; with a European licence, show it together with your passport.

Fuel. The fuel policy in the example is full to full: the vehicle is handed over full and must come back full. Otherwise the missing litre is charged at 21 MAD plus 500 MAD service fee, whereas the “prepaid fuel” option is 18 MAD a litre. Fill up before returning the car and keep the receipt from the petrol station.

Child seat. Request it when booking and confirm it at the desk: not every supplier has them in stock.

If you don’t want the desk

You can also choose not to hire at all. For a day out, an Essaouira excursion with lunch costs €13.36 per person (4.9 out of 5, 13,803 reviews) and requires neither a deposit nor an excess. Our article on the question of whether you need a hire car in Marrakesh tells you who it suits.

See availability for the day trip to Essaouira with lunch

Our recommendation

If you hire, compare using your dates on Discover Cars, look in the contract for the amount of the excess and the list of exclusions, and plan on a credit card whose limit can absorb the deposit. Weigh up the protection that removes the excess: it costs money every day, but in the example it brings the deposit down from 15,500 to 30,000 MAD to 2,000 MAD, a sum your card copes with more easily.

If you simply want to arrive without fuss, take the private airport transfer in Marrakesh at €3.79 per group, and book your outings as excursions. The excursions to Essaouira give you an idea.