11 Car Rental Brands at Kota Kinabalu Airport (BKI)

The credit card couldn't process the deposit, so they initially asked me to pay 2000 MYR in cash. I ended up paying 1000 MYR in cash as a deposit. Now it's May 5th, and the deposit still hasn't been refunded.

Reviewed: May 5, 2025

The vehicle was relatively old, and the key issue is they didn’t refund the deposit. Instead of a credit card pre-authorization, the deposit was charged directly. After returning the car, they said the deposit would be refunded in 14 business days, but then they went radio silent.

Reviewed: Apr 24, 2025

Do not rent a car from this company! The deposit was charged as a regular payment, and it's been over two months without a refund. I noticed many people had similar experiences based on the reviews. This seems to be a recurring issue.

Reviewed: Apr 7, 2025

Very satisfied, convenient and efficient, I will rent from this company again next time!

Reviewed: Feb 19, 2025

Excellent service, the car was delivered to the hotel.

Reviewed: Jan 28, 2025

Pretty good.

Reviewed: Mar 31, 2025

Overall pretty good. There were some issues with the deposit, but everything was actively resolved.

Reviewed: Mar 31, 2025

Good

Reviewed: Nov 21, 2024

The service attitude was good, but asking us to find the car ourselves was a bit unreasonable.

Reviewed: Aug 28, 2024

The communication was quite prompt

Reviewed: Jan 30, 2024

Good

Reviewed: Mar 26, 2025

Terrible experience. They overcharged for fuel. First, they claimed it was because of arriving a few minutes late to the airport, even though I had already paid the late fee. On top of that, the car delivered did not have a full tank of fuel, and I had to argue with the staff for quite a while. Eventually, they told me to refuel according to the fuel gauge. I took a photo and added 30 MYR worth of fuel, but when I returned the car, the staff deducted 25 MYR without notifying me. The attitude of this rental company was extremely poor. I waited for half an hour for the staff to arrive when returning the car. Everyone, please steer clear of this rental company. Never rent a car from them!

Reviewed: Mar 19, 2025

Excellent

Reviewed: Mar 23, 2025

The service is efficient, and the pickup and return process is seamless without any delays.

Reviewed: Feb 7, 2025

The pick-up and drop-off process is very simple and quick. The pick-up spot is right next to the store, which is very convenient.

Reviewed: Feb 3, 2025

Picking up and returning the car at the airport is very convenient. Self-driving trips are more suitable for middle-aged and elderly travelers.

Reviewed: Jan 11, 2025

Very good.

Reviewed: Dec 7, 2024

The staff were enthusiastic and professional, and the return process was convenient and straightforward.

Reviewed: Mar 19, 2025

When I arrived, Hertz was the only company with customers. There was someone completing their process ahead of me. An employee from Thrifty came over to assist, and everything was arranged fairly quickly.

Reviewed: Dec 19, 2024

Car is good

Reviewed: Nov 13, 2024

Kudos to Hertz! As expected from a large company, their service is efficient and seamless. You just need to stand by the roadside, and the staff will drive the car right up to you.

Reviewed: Feb 16, 2020

The car condition is perfect,well maintained.

Reviewed: Feb 4, 2020

Very satisfied with the service attitude, patient and detailed explanation of the vehicle condition.

Reviewed: Feb 13, 2025

The service was excellent.

Reviewed: Oct 14, 2024

Very satisfied!

Reviewed: Oct 9, 2024

Great customer service.

Reviewed: Aug 21, 2019

The staff was very friendly but they didn't speak Chinese.

Reviewed: Feb 10, 2020

Good.

Reviewed: Feb 6, 2025

I had a wonderful journey. The store gave me an upgraded and modified vehicle, which had impressive power. Since most areas in Kota Kinabalu are mountainous, having a pickup truck was absolutely perfect.

Reviewed: Feb 2, 2025

The service was excellent.

Reviewed: Aug 24, 2024

Aside from the old car and the long brake travel, you need to be extra cautious due to the road conditions in East Malaysia. Everything else was pretty good, but the vehicle's condition was average.

Reviewed: Aug 21, 2024

No issues.

Reviewed: Aug 15, 2024

Satisfied

Reviewed: Jan 28, 2019

Satisfied

Reviewed: Jan 25, 2025

Hmm, how should I put it? Overall, the service was very satisfactory. I think the staff's attitude was quite good.

Reviewed: Nov 7, 2024

Very good

Reviewed: Sep 11, 2024

Very satisfied

Reviewed: Jul 19, 2024

Excellent!

Reviewed: Jul 19, 2024

The service was excellent.

Reviewed: Dec 1, 2024

Okay

Reviewed: Jul 9, 2024

The car rental company is just five minutes from the Sabah airport exit. The staff at the front desk were extremely friendly. Our flight was delayed, and we arrived at 10 PM, but they waited for us.

Reviewed: May 20, 2024

Very satisfied

Reviewed: Mar 20, 2024

did not receive the car as booked due to overbooking for the model, in the end was given a smaller car, but enough to use for my trip.

Reviewed: Oct 17, 2022

Very satisfied

Reviewed: Aug 3, 2024

Very good

Reviewed: Jul 28, 2024

Very good

Reviewed: Apr 25, 2024

Very satisfied, call

Reviewed: Apr 4, 2024

The car we got was the make and model we booked. Though the car was a bit not so perfect in both internal and external condition, safety and reliability were satisfactory. No extra insurance was sold to us over the counter after I showed them my AXA additional cover that I bought together in my booking.

Reviewed: Mar 20, 2024

Very smooth for changing pick up points

Reviewed: Sep 4, 2023

It's acceptable.

Reviewed: Sep 11, 2017

We rented a car from Kota Kinabalu to Semporna, but the car broke down on the way. There was no power when stepping on the gas pedal. We called the rental company to report it, and they initially said to keep driving to Semporna and they would replace the car there. Since we were staying on Mabul Island for 4 nights, we parked the car in Semporna. When we came back from our holiday, they neither replaced the car nor fixed it. We had to drive uphill at 30 km/h, which was extremely frustrating. One cylinder wasn't working, so we had to start and stop all the way to Kota Kinabalu. Finally, the rental company refunded us for 2 days of rental.

Reviewed: Feb 18, 2017

An employee was waiting with a sign, which was great. The handover was smooth, and the car was very new with only 5000km on it.

Reviewed: Jan 11, 2017

Firstly, the car was quite old, with over 100,000 km on it. The steering wheel was very heavy, even heavier than the old Jeep I used for driving lessons. Additionally, they did not inform us about parking guidelines in Kota Kinabalu. We got fined RM30 for not displaying a parking card in a legitimate parking space. I parked for one day, and the rental company charged me RM30, but they could potentially park for free for the remaining 29 days. Is that how it works? Dissatisfied!

Reviewed: Aug 2, 2016

No issues, car was very scratched, tip they should tell people about the parking voucher system

Reviewed: Jan 5, 2019

Someone will be waiting at the counter even if you arrive outside working hours.

Reviewed: Apr 29, 2018

Even at 1 AM, someone answered the phone. Not bad.

Reviewed: Mar 26, 2018

Like: Staff very friendly, i left my stuff inside the car and the team sent iit back the same day.
Dislike: They close the business on sunday

Reviewed: Jan 13, 2018

Like: Staff service was friendly and accomodating. Car was in good condition.

Reviewed: Oct 7, 2017

Even though the rental fee was fully paid in advance and both Visa and MasterCard credit cards were provided for the deposit, the rental company insisted on accepting only a single Visa or MasterCard credit card. Many Chinese credit cards require an additional UnionPay certification, and this was not accepted. Offering a cash deposit was also refused, which wasted a lot of time and disrupted our schedule.

Reviewed: Aug 20, 2018

Very dissatisfied! Our flight landed at 11 PM and when we arrived at the terminal where the car rental company is supposed to be, there wasn't even a counter. It took us 2 hours to get in touch with someone from the rental company. The car they delivered had an empty fuel tank and the GPS navigation system we reserved online was missing. We had to wait another 20 minutes for them to bring it. If you're planning to visit Sabah, do not rent a car from this company, you'll definitely regret it!!!

Reviewed: Sep 27, 2014

The car is new, only 30,000 kilometers. The condition is good! The only issue was it wasn't fully fueled. Contacted them by phone to solve the specific issue.

Reviewed: Feb 8, 2014

Hawk is pretty good. Last year, we rented an MPV in KL, and it was very new and spacious. This time in KK, the car was old and in average condition.

Reviewed: Jan 24, 2014