I am moving my possessions from Spain to the UK at the end of October
(25 October - 30 October). I will be hiring a (large) car for this
purpose, starting in the UK, catching the ferry from Portsmouth to
Bilbao, and driving to Madrid. There I will pick up my stuff and then
return the way I came.

I would like to hire the car from a company in the general area
between and around High Wycombe / London Heathrow airport. If they
deliver the car then High Wycombe would be ideal.

My problem is that, although I do not have a large amount of stuff, I
am transporting a large piano keyboard, 1.5m long, which must remain
flat. Therefore it must be possible to completely remove both the
middle tier and 3rd tier seating from the car.

According to my research, a Kia Sedona or Hyundai Trajet fit the bill
perfectly, and have enough luggage capacity for the rest of my stuff.

So my question is this: Is there a company in the UK who will rent a
guaranteed model (preferably Kia Sedona or Hyundai Trajet) matching my
requirements, for the dates 25 - 30 October 2006? My budget is maximum
GBP 500 including:

* all extra insurance options
* one additional driver
* travel in Spain for 2 days

I would like to finalise the arrangements now so that I do not have to
worry about it in October.

Additional Requirements
=======================
* I do not wish to drive a van
* The car must be < 1.8m high, < 5.0m long, < 2.0m wide for me to be
sure it meets the ferry's definition of "Standard car"
* Luggage capacity must be > around 3200 litres (113 cubic feet)
* Preferably diesel

Research
========
* EuropCar list the Kia Sedona as available at London Heathrow but
emailed me to say they "cannot guarentee a particular make or model of
car but we can put a preference for one".

* Thrifty in High Wycombe currently have the Hyundai Trajet in their
fleet but have told me they will change their fleet before October and
therefore cannot guarantee they will have that model then. They also
cannot guarantee any particular model will be supplied.

* http://www.1car1.com/ (also http://www.1van1.com/) have the Kia
Sedona at London Heathrow but require a minimum age of 30 to hire it.
I am aged 29 and the additional driver will be 28. When I called they
said it is policy and they cannot hire to me.

---

Clarification of Question by andramar-ga on 15 Aug 2006 07:51 PDT

The hire company does not need to be located in the UK -- it could be
a U.S. company, for example. But it must allow a UK citizen to pick
the car up in the UK, travel to Spain with it (by ferry), and then
travel back to the UK, returning it to the place where they picked it
up from in the UK.

Creative answers may form part of the answer, such as finding websites
which advertise private individuals willing to loan their cars for
short periods of time.

In the case of a company, the money will be awarded if, when I call
the named company, they are able to rent me the car given the
conditions in the question. Otherwise I will not have been helped by
the Answer.