Collecting a car at Keflavík takes ten minutes if you know what you are looking at, and costs money later if you do not. The car park is dark for much of the winter, the wind is usually blowing, and the queue behind you is real. Here is what to check, in order, before you pull out of the bay.
Two things happen before you see the car: documents checked, hold placed. Get both right and the rest of the pickup is a formality.
Bring the physical licence for everyone who will drive, a passport, and a credit card in the main driver's name. Some Icelandic operators will not take a debit card for the security hold, and the rules differ by company, so confirm yours in writing before you fly. A licence issued outside the EEA, particularly one not in the Latin alphabet, may need an International Driving Permit with it.
The hold is not a charge, but it occupies your available credit for the rental and for some time after you hand the car back — release timing is down to your bank. Its size moves with the excess you chose, so it is not a fixed number — how deposits work at Keflavík covers the usual pattern.
Anyone who might take a turn at the wheel has to be on the contract. An unnamed driver is not insured and a claim involving one can be refused — which matters here, where the two things most likely to damage a car are gravel and wind.
Every operator uses some version of a damage sheet: a diagram of the car with existing marks circled, on paper or on a tablet. That sheet, not your memory of the conversation, is what gets compared against the car on return.
Read what is already on it before you sign, then walk the car and check it matches. If staff are doing the handover with you, point at anything unmarked and wait for them to add it. If the desk simply hands you keys and a bay number — common at busy arrival times, and normal for a late-night pickup — you inspect alone, and anything you find has to be reported before you leave the site. Go back to the desk, or email from the car park with photos attached, so there is a timestamp predating your departure.
Keep a copy: a photo of the completed sheet is enough. If it is all on a tablet, ask for it by email and confirm it has arrived before you drive.
A slow video walkaround plus a set of stills is the whole job. Narrate it if you like; a voice noting the date and bay number costs nothing.
Two Keflavík complications. Daylight is short for much of the year, so use the phone torch and take more shots than you think you need. And a wet car hides scratches: if the paint is streaming, say so at the desk, note it on the form, and rephotograph in daylight at your first stop.
Damage disputes cost money later. These items cost you a bad evening on day one.
Before you set off, save two numbers: 112 for emergencies and 1777 for road conditions.
Full-to-full is the standard arrangement and the one to prefer: you collect the car full and return it full, and the photo of the gauge is your evidence that it started that way. If the needle is not quite at the top, get it written on the damage sheet.
Prepaid tanks are sold as convenience: you pay up front and bring the car back as empty as you dare. Nobody manages empty, so you donate the difference. The exception is a departure too early to stop, which the return guide deals with in more detail.
One practical detail: Icelandic pumps are card-operated, often unmanned, and expect a four-digit PIN. Know yours before you land.
Nothing here is a scam and two items are close to essential; the question is which match your route. Cover is sold per day, so weigh the daily cost against the excess it removes — ask for both figures, in ISK and in writing.
| Extra | What it deals with | Worth it when |
|---|---|---|
| Gravel protection | Stone chips to paint and, at some operators, glass and lights | Almost any itinerary. Ask whether glass is included or sold separately |
| Sand and ash protection | Paint stripped by wind-blown sand or volcanic ash | South coast, Reykjanes, or any strong-wind forecast |
| Super CDW / zero excess | Cuts the basic excess to a small figure or nil | When a large hold on your card is a problem in itself |
| Windscreen and tyre cover | Chips, cracks, punctures | If it is not already inside the gravel product |
| Prepaid fuel | Return the car empty | Rarely — only for a departure too early to stop |
| Sat-nav unit | Navigation | No. Offline maps on a phone are better |
| Portable Wi-Fi | Data on the move | Only if your plan has no roaming in Iceland |
Gravel protection first. Route 1 is sealed, but roadworks drop you onto temporary gravel without warning and almost every turn-off to a waterfall or guesthouse is unsealed — chipped glass and pitted paint are among the most common claims Icelandic desks handle. Sand and ash next, but only if your route touches the south coast around Vík and Skaftafell, or Reykjanes, or the forecast shows a hard easterly. Those two are the Iceland-specific products; the rest is cover you would weigh up anywhere, and the wider picture is in the insurance guide.
That exclusion bites hardest in the highlands, which are seasonal: F-roads open route by route as the ground dries, typically from the middle of June into the first days of July, and they are closed to two-wheel-drive cars whatever the weather.
The cheap car on basic cover is a reasonable choice for a summer week on paved roads. It is a worse one in March, and poor anywhere the surface changes. Decide the route, then buy for the route, rather than accepting or refusing the whole list on principle.
No, and at busy times you often cannot. What matters is that anything you find is recorded before you leave the site — on the damage sheet, or by email with photos and a timestamp.
Note the conditions on the damage form at the time, then rephotograph in daylight at your first stop and keep those images. It shows you inspected as soon as you could.
Usually yes. Route 1 is sealed, but roadworks put you on loose surfaces, side roads to the sights are gravel, and passing traffic throws stones. Check whether the product includes glass, since that varies by operator.
Report it the same day, in writing, with photos. Weaker than a note made in the car park, but far better than silence until the return.
Sometimes for the basic collision excess, but gravel, sand and ash, and wind damage are commonly excluded. Read your card's wording for Iceland before relying on it, and expect the operator to place the full hold anyway.