In the event of a breakdown or accident:

You should call the phone number for your vehicle’s manufacturer breakdown assistance service. You can find the number for the manufacturer of your lease vehicle from the list below:

All breakdown assistance services will aim to be with you as soon as possible depending on the location.

If your car can’t be fixed by the roadside, call the appropriate number from above and inform them that your vehicle has had to be recovered and that it has been taken to a dealership for further repair.

You must be aged 23 or over to rent a car with Autohorn directly. If you are lucky enough to be aged under 26 years old, a Young Driver Surcharge will be applicable to your booking and the type of vehicle selected.

Our rental desk will provide advice on these costs prior to you confirming your booking.

Due to insurance purposes, our maximum age permitted to renting a vehicle is 75 years old.

We can accept debit or credit cards as payment for your rental booking. The card details provided must match the hirer’s name and will stored on file throughout the duration of your booking.

For a full breakdown of permitted on unpermitted payment methods, please refer to our table below:

We have two locations available for you to collect your vehicle depending on whichever is most convenient to you!

York Station Rental Branch

Autohorn Car & Van Rental

Queen Street

York

YO24 1AD

York (Clifton Moor) Rental Branch

Autohorn Car & Van Rental

ALFIE’s Barn

Whitehall Grange

Wigginton Road

York

YO32 2RJ

If you wish to collect or your return your rental vehicle outside of our working hours, an additional charge will be applied to your rental.

Please speak to a member of our team on 01904 557 528 or email frontoffice@autohorn.co.uk to find out more details about this.

You can organise a delivery or collection to your home address as part of your rental. However please be aware that we are only able to service areas local to us in York and an additional charge may be applied depending on the distance.

If you wish to find out more about this service, please contact us directly on 01904 557 528 or email frontoffice@autohorn.co.uk.

When collecting your vehicle, please bring a valid driver’s license and credit or debit card matching the hirer details as well as documentation for any additional drivers.

For UK driver license holders, we will also require a national insurance number to enable us to remotely check your license (as well as any additional drivers) for endorsements.

Returning during normal operation hours

If you return during opening hours, the rental station should check the vehicle over with you before you leave (unless you do not wish to wait for the checks to be completed).

If you do not wish to wait, the inspection will be carried out without you present and you will then be contacted by our Fleet team to notify of any new damages found.

Should you receive notification that damage has been found and wish to dispute the claim, you will need to refer to the contact information available on the correspondence you have received.

As set out in our terms conditions, you are obliged to return your vehicle and its keys, accessories, or documentation to us in the same condition as they were at check out, subject to any fair wear and tear.

Please note, an administration fee may be applied to cover the resources used in managing a damage claim.

Returning your vehicle outside of operation hours

If you return your vehicle out of hours, we recommend you take photos of the vehicle whilst parked at the rental station; this is to avoid any pre-existing or old damage being attributed to your rental.
Please also ensure the keys are placed in the appropriate key return box.

NB: We don’t accept liability for any items or personal possessions that you may have left in the vehicle at the end of the Hire Period.

It is your responsibility to remove all documentation from the Vehicle containing your personal information such as your copy of the Rental Agreement and delete any data you may have stored within the in-car infotainment system.

Please be sure to check the vehicle thoroughly before you return it. For full information regarding our damage policy or tariff guide, please visit our Terms and Conditions and Damage Management Policy available on our website.

You can add extras, modify, or extend your booking. You will need to speak to a member of our team directly on 01904 557 528 or email frontoffice@autohorn.co.uk to organise this.

You are permitted to cancel your booking early, but to organise a return date you will need to call 01904 557 528 or email frontoffice@autohorn.co.uk.

Please note you will not receive a credit for any unused days of your rental.

Depending on the type of vehicle booked, you are permitted to take our vehicle abroad. However additional fees may apply.

Please speak to a member of our team on 01904 557 528 or email frontoffice@autohorn.co.uk with the desired location and we will be able to advise.

As standard, we require all new rentals with a £750 pre-authorisation charge that is simply ‘frozen’ rather than taking the amount automatically from the bank.

When you return your vehicle, the pre-authorisation will be released from ‘frozen’ minus any additional charges.

Please keep in mind that you won’t see a credit of the pre-authorisation, your balance will simply increase.

As standard it can up to 10 working days for the pre-authorisation to be released by your bank from the point of returning your vehicle. Please check with your bank if there aren’t any issues causing delay to this.

If the 10-working day period has elapsed and you are still experiencing issues, please contact us directly on 01904 557 536.

Do not start your engine. This could cause further complications and damage.

Instead, please call us directly on 01904 557 521 and we will arrange for the right assistance to come to you.

When you return your vehicle a member of the team will assess the body condition, mileage and fuel level of your vehicle weighted against your original vehicle condition report (VCR). If there are any changes to the condition of the vehicle and the damage falls out of standard, you will receive a notification of this via email or phone. 

As members of the British Vehicle Leasing and Rental Association, we adhere to industry standard guidelines to ensure that damage is assessed fairly against general fair wear and tear.

Please click on this link to view an interactive guide on acceptable or unacceptable return standards.

If you wish to contact our fleet team directly about damage to your vehicle, please call 01904 557 521 or email fleetmaintenance.support@autohorn.co.uk