Minster Self Drive

Vehicle hire from five depots across the North of England

Minster Self Drive is a family-run vehicle hire company that has been operating since 2005, according to its own account. It runs five depots in the north of England — York, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Sunderland and Wakefield — and presents itself as a small, local operation with a named point of contact at each branch rather than a central call centre.

The fleet is organised into four vehicle types: cars, vans, minibuses and trucks. Customers can search live availability and prices by selecting a vehicle type, a pick-up branch, dates and times, and a driver age before completing the booking online.

Rental formats: daily hire and flexi hire

The company distinguishes between standard daily rental and a longer-term arrangement it calls flexi hire. Daily rental is offered from each of the five branches. Flexi hire is aimed at business needs and starts at a minimum of 28 days with no long-term contract.

The flexi hire package, as described by the company, includes:

• Monthly rentals from a minimum of 28 days
• No long-term contracts required
• 2,000 miles included per 28-day period
• Full servicing, MOTs and breakdown cover
• Replacement vehicles to keep customers on the road
• The option of using the customer's own insurance or the company's insurance

Price match guarantee

Minster Self Drive states that it will match any genuine like-for-like quote a customer receives from a competitor. The company presents this price match guarantee as a central part of its offer alongside its daily rates.

Company profile and customer feedback

The business describes itself as family-run with more than 20 years in operation and a 4.5 Google rating. It also reproduces reviews attributed to Trustpilot, where customers comment on the helpfulness of staff, the cleanliness and mechanical condition of the vehicles, the choice of vehicles and the simplicity of online booking and of pick-up and return. These are individual testimonials reproduced by the company rather than an independent assessment.

The five branches

Each depot has its own direct telephone line and postal address. The York branch is on Malton Road Industrial Estate; Middlesbrough operates from Old Station Road in South Bank; Newcastle from Longrigg Road in Swalwell; Sunderland from Pallion New Road; and Wakefield from Denby Dale Road. The company states that vehicles can be picked up and dropped off at whichever location suits the customer best.