Autatlantis Avis 24

À dois dias atrás fiz uma publicação sobre a empresa de aluguer de viaturas para visita em ilhas de ponta Delgada Açores, AUTATLANTIS, empresa essa que depois de utilizar os seus serviços, já tinha mencionado que me foi entregue um veículo já com bastantes arranhões nos tampas das rodas,quando devolvi o veículo o funcionário que recebeu o veículo foi inspecionar o veículo e veio com a conversa de que tínhamos feito um arranhão no tampão da roda traseira do lado do pendura. Depois de tantos arranhões que as tampas tinham quando levantei o veículo.
Pois não devolveram a caução para ir para avaliação, quando quase ao fim de uma semana, vem com a conversa que o prejuízo que tínhamos causado no tampão era de quase 60€,eu respondi que dava para comprar as tampas todas e não só uma.
Continuam sem devolver a caução até hoje.
Venho alertar as pessoas que procurem viaturas para alugar nesta ilha para terem cuidado com esta empresa, pois quer ganhar dinheiro à custa dos clientes.

Aluguei um Fiat 500, mas no momento do levantamento do veículo foi-me entregue um Volkswagen up!, um modelo de gama bastante inferior. Quando questionei a situação, informaram-me apenas de que já não havia Fiat 500 disponíveis, sem qualquer alternativa ou explicação adicional.
Além disso, a caixa de velocidades do veículo apresentava problemas evidentes: as mudanças eram difíceis de engrenar, não entravam de forma suave e exigiam esforço excessivo, o que tornava a condução desconfortável.
No momento da entrega do carro, o funcionário confirmou que estava tudo em ordem. No entanto, no balcão fui informada de que a caução no valor de 700 € seria devolvida apenas ao fim de 2 a 3 semanas, algo que nunca me tinha sido comunicado anteriormente. Já aluguei carros em vários locais e, normalmente, o estorno é efetuado em 2 a 3 dias úteis.
Acabei por esperar mais de três semanas pela devolução da caução, o que considero inaceitável e revelador de falta de transparência no serviço.

I rent a car back in July delivered on August the 10th cost me $1,300 plus $600 deposit so today is January the 14th never received my deposit this company likes to steal the money from immigrants like me never heard from them my opinion stay away from this company

I strongly advise against renting from Autatlantis in Ponta Delgada, Azores. My experience was extremely disappointing and has cost me both money and significant stress.
I rented a VW Up! from October 24 to November 3, 2025. During the rental period (which was very rainy), I used the trunk only 3 times. On the third opening, the plastic cover of the trunk button came off in my hand during completely normal use. The button itself still worked perfectly - only the plastic housing separated.
When I returned the car on November 3rd, I immediately reported this issue. The staff were dismissive and rude, telling me they would "examine if it was broken by force" and would call me. Instead of calling as promised, they sent an email claiming "as agreed" the button was broken and had ALREADY deducted €166.98 from my deposit. I never agreed to anything. They charged me without giving me any opportunity to dispute or discuss.
They claim I broke it "by force" but if force had been used, the electronic mechanism would be damaged. It works perfectly. This is clearly a wear and tear issue, well-documented as a common defect in this car model, especially in wet climates like the Azores.
I sent a detailed dispute letter on November 4th with extensive evidence and photos. They have NEVER responded. I have tried contacting them multiple times through different channels - complete silence. They refuse to provide any photos, technical explanation, or proof of their damage claim.
This company charges customers for normal wear and tear, falsely claims you "agreed" to charges, takes your money immediately without discussion, treats you rudely, and then completely ignores all communication. Save yourself the stress and money - rent from literally anyone else.

PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

Autatlantis charged me £469 many weeks after I returned the car, without providing the necessary proof, no car shop invoice (just an estimate including tear and wear repair), and they made-up a “rear underside” damage that was never flagged.
Saw many others online with the same issue.
It seems every now and then they use this tactics with travellers, knowing it’s hard to fight back. Please don’t get influenced by the good reviews, you could be one of the unlucky one in which they apply this dodgy “unknown damage” tactics.

Customer service is the worst I’ve ever had to deal with in 10+ years of holiday car rentals.
The process of email exchange has been ongoing for 2 months and it’s mentally draining and completely time consuming.

Please AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS, seriously!

Facilidade de todo o processo ( reserva, levantamento e devolução da viatura) desbloqueio imediato do valor da caução. Funcionários cordiais.

We rented 3 vehicles with this company. In two out of three cases, the service we got was very unprofessional. Once an incorrect deposit was taken by them, so we had to point out that we were ensured and the correct deposit was taken after that. The second time, it was not correctly explained to us what the deposit is for, we thought only fuel. We thought we were fully protected so we did not check the car. If we did I am sure we would have proven that the damage was already there as we did not damage the car during the rental period.
But good, we could not prove so we thought they will just take our deposit. But they released the deposit and afterwards they are seding us threating e-mails and we need to make a bank transfer now. The details for the bank transfer are not correct so we can't make the bank transfer. Their unprofessionalism costs us tons of time and effort. We rented with many companies in many countries and never experienced this. Happy that they only operate in Azores and we probably never come back there.

just one problem with a tyre: I got a nail and then the tyre was totally damaged. Autatlantis charged me the cost of a new tyre (125 euro) even if from pics i took, it was evident the tyre was very very old, and probably deserved to be changed as normal maintenance.
So they applied the "cortract law" (you have to pay entirely for damaged parts) not caring it was almost evident i got a nail, but in old tyre, at the end of its life. I asked to pay just part of the damage, but they charged me a new tyre.
I dont think they care about real problems we drivers can have with a rented car.

This summer we visited the Azores. We were in Punta Delgada, Pico, Faial, and Terceira. We used Autotlantis on all of them. We were quite disappointed. On some islands, the staff was inexperienced. On Pico, they made us pay for the insurance when it was already covered by our contract. I had to file a claim to get a refund. On Pico, we also had an accident; a car didn't rear-end us. We filed a claim. When we returned the vehicle, they made me rewrite the details and explain the accident three times. At no point did they show any concern for our health.
The vehicles they gave us on Faial and Terceira were old vehicles in poor condition, underpowered, and dirty. I certainly won't recommend this company to any friends visiting the Azores.

Intransparente Abrechnung und unfreundliches Personal beim Car Return: die Angestellte am Desk am Flughafen von Ponta Delgada weigerte sich, uns einen Beleg auszudrucken, der beweist, dass das der Kreditkarte belastete Depot von 700 Euro gelöscht ist. „It‘s all digital now, you will get your money back in maybe 10 days or so“.
Und der Angestellte draussen auf dem Parkplatz begrüsste uns wortlos, umrundete das Auto und sagte dann: „you can go now“ und machte dabei eine leichte Kopfbewegung in Richtung Flughafengebäude.
Beide Kontakte mit Autatlantis-Angestellten zeugen von schlechtem Geschäftsgebaren bzw Betriebskultur.
Achja, und dann noch das: nach nicht einmal 100 Kilometer Fahrt zeigte eine Warnleuchte an, dass einer der Reifen zu wenig Luft habe. Wir suchten ein Autatlantis-Büro (Vila Franco do Campo) auf und wurden vom Angestellten dort sehr hilfreich bedient.

Contratamos con Autatlantis un coche de alquiler en la isla de Pico para dos días. Pagamos precio de Citroën C3 SUV o similar, vamos, casi a precio de Lamborghini. Pues bien, cuando llegamos a su oficina en el aeropuerto, nos dicen que lo único que tienen es un Toyota Yaris minúsculo en el que apenas cabíamos. No pusimos pegas, aceptamos para no perder más tiempo y nos subimos al coche.

Nada más arrancar ya se veía el desastre:
• El embrague estaba quemado hasta el punto de que apenas funcionaba.
• Los frenos respondían solo si los pisabas a fondo, y aún así casi no frenaban.
• El acelerador estaba partido, crujía en tres puntos distintos cada vez que lo pisabas.

Quien haya conducido por Pico sabrá que con esas pendientes brutales ni un Yaris nuevo serviría, pero este era directamente un peligro de muerte. Intentamos aguantar para no perder más tiempo volviendo al aeropuerto, pero la realidad es que el coche era una trampa rodante.

Cuando lo devolvimos para quejarme, el mismo tipo que me lo había alquilado por la mañana, entre risas, me suelta que está muy ocupado y que mejor me atienda su compañera, “que ya está acostumbrada a recibir quejas”. En ese momento, todos los que por la mañana hablaban perfectamente nuestro idioma, de repente dejaron de hablarlo y se negaban incluso a hablar en inglés. Vamos, que si no reclamabas en portugués, tus quejas no existían.

Redacté un escrito en portugués explicando lo sucedido. Mientras lo leían en su móvil, se lo iban pasando de unos a otros riéndose en mi cara, como si les pareciera lo más normal del mundo. Nadie se sorprendió. Era evidente que esto les pasa con cada cliente y que ni se inmutan.

Nos dieron otro coche, diciendo que era “el último disponible” y que si no nos servía, ni cambios ni devoluciones de dinero. Ese segundo coche era un Opel Corsa, igual de destrozado: frenos muertos y embrague también quemado. La prueba definitiva la vivimos bajando una de las colinas de Pico: los frenos fallaron por completo y tuvimos que parar el coche tirando del freno de mano, quedando a centímetros de un precipicio de más de 100 metros. Habernos matado por culpa de la negligencia absoluta de Autatlantis era perfectamente posible.

En ese momento decidimos abandonar el coche y dejar de jugarnos la vida. Contratamos a un guía local con taxi, José Gomes, que nos hizo todas las rutas de la isla con un vehículo de verdad, preparado para esas carreteras. Ironía del asunto: fue más barato pasar el día con él que con el coche de Autatlantis. Lo recomiendo 100%, buscadlo en Google.

Y para cerrar con broche de oro: devolvimos el coche en el puerto, como habíamos marcado. Allí nos atendió otro empleado, esta vez directamente hostil y desagradable, que llegó a levantarme los papeles del coche por encima de la cabeza en tono amenazante, gritándome que estaba harto de que todos nos quejáramos de lo mismo. Reconozco que me entraron unas ganas tremendas de que aquellos papeles cambiaran de sitio y acabaran en su garganta, pero me contuve: estábamos en el puerto, con policía cerca, y al final uno tiene más educación que ellos.

Lo vivido con Autatlantis en Pico fue un auténtico desastre:
• Coches en estado deplorable y peligrosos.
• Falta total de respeto al cliente.
• Negarse a hablar otros idiomas para bloquear reclamaciones.
• Burlas en la cara.
• Empleados con actitud hostil.

En resumen: Autatlantis es una estafa y un peligro. No solo arruinaron parte de nuestro viaje, sino que nos pusieron en riesgo real de morir en la carretera. Si pensáis alquilar un coche en Pico, mi consejo es claro: alejaos de esta empresa.

Matrícula de los coches con los que casi me mato:
Opel corsa: BC94OU
Toyota Yaris: AI04AR

Disappointed is understatement. Was told I was getting an SUV and got a Toyota Yaris. Was dirty. Windshield wipers didn't work had to do it manually every time. Car was constantly beeping saying it needed an oil change. Told them about and they didn't care. Very slow. Car actually went backwards on a hill and scared us all. Wanted to take view pictures and pulled into a spot, there was a rock and we didn't notice it ripped the oil pan underneath. Did as I was told about emergency services. They told.me it was negligence and wouldn't give me another rental even though we were there for another week along with the rest of the payment and deposit. Asked for clarification from.someone no one called.me back. Just terrible, terrible. I would rated minis if I could but we are not allowed. Never again.

Fahrzeuge in schlechtem Zustand (Beulen, Lackschäden, abgefahrene Reifen).
Die Fahrzeugabholung in Ponta Delgada dauerte bei uns auch unendlich lange. Vor uns war eine lange Schlange von Fahrzeugmietern, die nur quälend langsam abgefertigt wurden, um die Fahrzeugpapiere zu erhalten - anschließend musste man auf dem Parkplatz vor dem Flughafengebäude noch mal extrem lange warten, bis man dann auch den Schlüssel zu seinem Fahrzeug bekommen hat.

Wir haben über Autatlantis zwei Fahrzeuge auf Sao Miguel und Picó gemietet. Die Anmeldung am Schalter im Flughafen erfolgte in beiden Fällen recht zügig und unkompliziert. Die Autos waren in einem guten Zustand. Zudem ist es praktisch, dass die Kaution für aufeinanderfolgende Buchungen einfach übernommen werden kann. Insgesamt waren wir mit dem Service zufrieden. Einziger Kritikpunkt ist die Übergabe der Autos auf Sao Miguel, welche etwas unkoordiniert auf einem großen Parkplatz stattfindet. Eine klar gekennzeichneter Wartebereich wäre hilfreich.

**Very disappointing and unprofessional experience**

The service at the desk seemed friendly at first, but things changed quickly once the rental began. After we received the keys, we were told the company was already aware of all damages to the car, but none of these were listed on the standard damage sheet provided at pickup.

The car was not properly cleaned after the last customer. The interior was only somewhat clean, with an empty bottle left in the trunk, and the exterior was unwashed, full of dust, and various marks. When we asked about these marks, we were told it was "glue from the transportation cover when the car was new," and apparently it would take several months and washes to remove.

We made a video of the car’s condition and immediately emailed it to the company, stating that due to the dirt, a full inspection wasn’t possible. An employee on the parking lot showed no concern and simply said it was probably dirt and scratches.

During the rental, we discovered a couple of additional scratches (after rain revealed them), but at return, there was no issue with those. Instead, I was suddenly informed that I had damaged the plastic wheel cover and was asked to pay €80. I refused, as I was confident this was not caused by us. After a long wait and them searching their records, the charge was eventually dropped. However, I was not given any documentation or updated damage report as proof, despite asking several times.

I would not use this rental company again due to the lack of proper documentation, poor state of the vehicle, and the unprofessional way the return was.

Dishonest agency – possible scam at car return!
Very disappointing experience with this rental company.

At the return, we were accused of causing damage under the front right bumper (scratch + dent) that was clearly already present when we picked up the car. The agent had vaguely mentioned a “big scratch” but didn’t report it properly. Because we trusted them, we didn’t take a close-up photo of that difficult-to-see area (almost under the car). That trust was clearly a mistake.

We actually have a photo showing the start of the damage. The continuation matches perfectly with what they’re now accusing us of.
Their reaction? “You should read the contract more carefully next time.” No discussion, no responsibility, just a 3-minute check-in and a refusal to listen.

They also told us: “If you have any insurance with your credit card or the platform on which you made your reservation, you may deliver all of these documents to them to claim your refund.”
I let you think what you want on that...

If you’re given car BI-61-DQ, be extremely cautious you might be blamed for the same damage.

Excellent service. Car pickup and return was very fast. They take a deposit which they return immediately when you return the car. The only complain I have is the webpage doesn't always work very well.

Used this rental firm via Sunny Cars in the Azores. Everything was perfect and flexible! Could pay 1 deposit for 4 islands.

I rented cars from Autatlantis in São Miguel, Pico, Faial. I did not have to renew the contracts from one island to the next one. They were very flexible. When we got the car in P. Delgada, the man on the parking lot was even lifting the suitcases into the car. Never happened in the whole world. :-) Very friendly and helpful. The cars were good, the pick-up and return very personal and speedy. I can recommend this company and will hire again cars from them.