DO NOT RENT FROM SIXT - especially Sixt Manchester Piccadilly - unless you like being stranded by the side of the road for TWO days!
On August 11, 2025, we rented a brand new Volvo xc40 from Sixt Manchester Piccadilly. We were strong-armed into buying Sixt's most expensive insurance offering, by Ken Kelly, a sales associate. He assured us that with this insurance, if we had any issues whatsoever, we'd be back on the road within a couple of hours. Because we were heading to the Lake District, with its tricky roads, we were convinced to buy it. We were fooled.
On August 18, we had a flat tire. Although the car did have a spare, it was decided that the best thing would be to replace the tire, since a new tire was required. After 4 hours, Sixt Recovery arrived. It was soon discovered that the locknut key provided with the car did not fit ANY of the 4 tires on the car (so the spare was useless).
Sixt Recovery's recommendation was to tow the car to the local Volvo dealership - so they left, and again we were abandoned on the side of the road. We spoke to Volvo, and were told that they could help us.
After repeated calls to Sixt Recovery and to Mr Kelly, we were going in circles. No one seemed to have any authority to make a decision. The only option we were offered by Sixt was an 8 or more hour roundtrip journey to Manchester to replace the car. This would have had us arriving back at our cottage quite late at night, which we were uncomfortable with. We pleaded for a car to be delivered to us, but Sixt flatly refused.
In the end, it was Volvo Roadside Assistance, NOT Sixt, that rescued us. But, the negotiations with Sixt took so long that we could not get to the dealership by closing. A kind man gave us a ride back to our cottage (again no help from Sixt). By the time we arrived, this had been going for over 9 hours. (Calling their Roadside Assistance is like a trip to purgatory, transfer after transfer, each time re-explaining your situation.)
The next morning we walked back to the car, where we met the tow truck (arranged by Volvo). He drove us 1 hour to the Volvo dealership in Kendal. Eventually, it was discovered that the car did not even have authentic Volvo locknuts. According to Volvo, who enlisted a local expert with an assortment of locknut keys, the only way to fix that car was to drill out the locknuts on all four tires and replace them.
Now we were completely stranded. And again no one at Sixt would help us. We were told that it was Volvo's problem. Again we asked Sixt to deliver a replacement vehicle to us. Again, they flatly refused. At this point - 29 hours later - it was clear that no help was coming. So, we were forced to terminate our rental contract and rent a car from Enterprise in Kendal, at a VERY expensive last minute price. We finally arrived back at our cottage 31 hours after the ordeal began. Losing 2 full days of our vacation.
We were lucky that we had that flat tire in the morning and could drive the car to a safe place (the roads are largely single track) with cell service and kind local people who assisted us. Otherwise, it could have been quite precarious. Note that we purchased the absolute best Sixt insurance we could buy, and were repeatedly assured that we would get immediate help and be put back on the road as quickly as possible when we purchased it. Total BS.
After all of this, Ken Kelly, called us to apologize and told us that Sixt would NOT be charging us at all for our rental. And that Sixt would reimburse us in full for the Enterprise replacement car. Again total BS.
After the dust settled, and several letters to the black hole of Sixt Customer Service, we were eventually reimbursed for only 4 days of rental - the 2 days without the car, and the 2 days remaining on the contract. They refused to compensate us for the expensive rental with Enterprise. And for our two days of lost vacation. Sadly, the verbal commitments were total lies.
DO NOT RENT FROM SIXT. They will NOT be there for you when you need them. read more