18 May 2024

A grenade, mannequins and snakes; the strangest items found in hired cars revealed

Car hire firms often find items left behind by customers in rented vehicles.

Car hire companies often find items left behind by customers in rented vehicles. Whilst the odd wallet or pair of sunglasses may be expected to be left behind in a rented car, a few other odd items have left car hire employees baffled.

Imagine cleaning out a rented car only to find a hand grenade rolling around or a handgun in the glove box, well, one car hire firm has.

A few years ago Europcar released a list of all the strange and wonderful items that customers have left behind, which includes mannequins and even half a pint of lager.

The mind boggles as to how forgetful customers could leave a false leg behind in a rented car or a suitcase containing designer clothes.

The car hire giant has a number of centres located around the world. In one Scottish centre, a black ostrich feather hat, which is commonly worn by Scottish pipers was found in one vehicle. A car returned to a South African centre contained a hand grenade in the back of the vehicle.

To make matters worse, the hand grenade was discovered by the Europcar employee at a petrol station when they were refuelling the vehicle. It was discovered that a personal protection company previously hired the car in question.

South African customers are dangerously absent-minded as a handgun was found in the glove box of one rented car at the Cape Town centre. In addition to this, a snake was also found making itself at home in the car's engine!

It's not just car rentals in South Africa which contain strange belongings as one vehicle in Yeovil was returned with a pair of furry handcuffs in the back. Car hire staff in Salford discovered a bag of 10 odd shoes after a vehicle was dropped back to the centre.

If you're looking to hire a car, it could be worth using the MoneyMaxim car hire comparison tool and checking if car hire excess insurance would cover lost or stolen items within the vehicle.