Car hire has turned into a major annual chore for holidaymakers, with a bewildering array of deals on offer that appear cheap but can leave unwary customers with large bills later on. Our guide shows you how to find the best car hire deal and how to cope with the hard sell at rental desks. We also look at what to do when collecting and returning a car to avoid unexpected charges later, while detailing the most common tricks of the trade. Plus, we compare car hire costs at Malaga airport. 1. Check several broker websites We tested four websites, all of which promised great deals by searching lots of providers – Rental Cars, Holiday Autos, Ryanair and Zest Car Rental. The last of these is smaller than the others but was named best car hire site by Which?. We tried booking a car at Malaga airport for two weeks from 28 July. Judged on price only, Ryanair was cheapest. It found a Fiat Panda for £67.63 through a car hire company called Del Paso The cheapest deal at Rental Cars was £87.30 (a Ford Ka from Record Go), though next to this boldly highlighted deal was a note saying there would also be a “car hire company fee” of a further €30 (£26.45), with no explanation as to why this fee was not added to the overall advertised price. Zest’s lowest-price deal was £144.14 for a Fiat 500 booked through Centauro. 2. Look out for the mandatory extras Car hire is a confusing market designed to catch out the unwary, and the key is to make sure you are comparing like with like. “Bargain” deals are usually littered with add-ons (such as Record Go’s €30 fee), while service and car quality vary enormously. For example, in the small print on the cheap Del Paso deal with Ryanair, holidaymakers are required to deposit €1,200 (£1,060) at pick-up. If the named hirer does not have that amount available on their credit card, they are in trouble (debit cards and pre-paid cards are not accepted).