Sixt

With Edinburgh on the cards for New Year, the first thing I did was check train prices from Sheffield. To say they were expensive would be putting it mildly. After comparing a few options, hiring a car actually worked out cheaper, and over the Christmas and New Year period it also gave me far more flexibility.

I had never hired a car before, so I started where most people probably would and searched for cheap car hire in Sheffield. A few of the main companies appeared straight away, so I compared prices across Enterprise, Sixt, Hertz and Avis. They were all fairly reasonable, but Sixt came out best on price and had the added advantage of being only a few minutes’ walk from where I lived in Sheffield. That made collection and return much easier.

Booking Sixt car hire in Sheffield

I was originally planning to hire the car for four days. While testing different dates and hire lengths on the booking site, I noticed something useful. Extending the hire to nine days only increased the total by around £20.

Over Christmas and New Year, that felt like excellent value. It also meant I had more freedom around the trip rather than having to plan everything tightly around collection and return times. It is worth playing around with dates before booking, as the pricing structure is not always obvious from the website. Small changes to the hire period can make a surprising difference.

As this was my first time hiring a car, and because I did not have a credit card, I had a few questions about how the booking would work. I ended up calling the Sixt call centre several times. Each time, the staff were helpful, clear and quick to answer my questions, which was especially appreciated given the 0844 number.

They talked me through the process and made the whole thing feel much less uncertain. That mattered, because when you are hiring a car for the first time, the small practical details can feel more stressful than the driving itself.

The online booking process

Booking online was straightforward. The website was easy to navigate, the steps were clear, and the whole process was quick. I chose the Vauxhall Crossland or similar, which seemed like a sensible option for a longer road trip with luggage and motorway miles ahead.

One detail I appreciated was the courtesy call the following day. Sixt confirmed the booking details and explained exactly what paperwork I would need to bring when collecting the car. That small step made collection day feel much more straightforward, especially as a first-time renter.

Collecting the car from Sixt Sheffield

On the morning of collection, I arrived at the Sixt office at the agreed time and was greeted by an extremely cheerful member of staff. Possibly a little too cheerful for that time of day, although in fairness it was appreciated.

The office itself was bright, almost aggressively so, and the colour scheme felt a bit garish. That may have been my early morning mood talking. Either way, I was only inside for around ten minutes while the paperwork and payment were processed, so it was all fairly painless.

Once everything was complete, I was handed the keys and told the car was on the fifth floor. It took me a moment to realise this meant the multi-storey car park next door rather than the office building itself.

This was probably the only point where the service felt a little less polished. After such a smooth check-in, being left to locate the car on my own was slightly disorientating. For first-time renters, it would have helped to be shown where the car was, or at least given slightly clearer directions.

Checking the car before setting off

Once I found the car, I gave it a careful inspection. I checked all the marks that had been pointed out during handover and, following advice I had read online, took photographs of the bodywork before setting off.

It is a simple step, but it gives a bit of peace of mind when returning the vehicle later. If you are hiring a car for the first time, it is worth taking a few minutes to do this properly rather than rushing away as soon as you have the keys.

Inside, the car had been well valeted and felt clean and ready to go. The outside was fairly dirty, but given that it was January and the weather was typical British winter weather, it was hardly surprising and easy enough to overlook.

Driving from Sheffield to Edinburgh

Over the course of the trip, the car performed exactly as it needed to. I covered more than 1,200 miles without any issues at all, including the run north to Edinburgh and local driving over the holiday period.

For a winter journey at one of the busiest times of year, that reliability mattered. It was not a complicated or especially exciting hire car experience, but that was the point. The car was comfortable enough for the distance, had enough space for luggage, and did the job without giving me anything extra to worry about.

Returning the car out of hours

For the return, I had originally booked the Monday morning off work so I could take the car back in person. In the end, I used the out-of-hours return facility on the Sunday evening instead.

This turned out to be very straightforward. I parked in the allocated bay and dropped the keys into the secure safe. In practical terms, it saved me using a day’s holiday allowance, which made the whole hire even better value.

Overall thoughts on Sixt car hire in Sheffield

Overall, the experience was very positive. The pricing was competitive, the booking process was easy, and the car itself was reliable over a long-distance winter trip. I am already looking at places to visit later in the year, and I would happily use Sixt again for future journeys.

Sixt is located at 7 Broad Street West, Sheffield, S1 2BQ. It is a convenient central location, particularly if you are collecting on foot from the city centre or from nearby residential areas.

For anyone planning a similar trip from Sheffield, especially when rail fares become unreasonable over holiday periods, car hire is well worth considering. It will not always be the cheapest option, but for this trip it offered a better balance of cost, flexibility and convenience than travelling by train.