Yes, you can rent a car in Madeira with no deposit, and it costs about three times the cheapest rate. When we searched Madeira Airport on 9 October 2026, 47 of the 619 offers on Discover Cars needed no deposit. The cheapest cost €241.84 for 8 days, about €30 a day, while the cheapest car overall was €85.54 with €1,599 blocked on a credit card. Local firms that build full insurance into the price start at €35 to €37 a day with no deposit and no excess. One thing most pages leave out: no deposit does not mean no excess. On several offers you still owe up to €1,350 if the car comes back damaged.
“No deposit” is sold in three different forms in Madeira, and they do not protect you equally. The price gap between them is smaller than the gap in what you risk.
from €30 a day
The supplier or the platform waives the hold. Nothing is blocked, but the excess (often €1,350) stays unless the offer also says “No deductible”.
from €35 a day
Full insurance is part of the price, so there is nothing to secure. No hold and no excess, usually paid by debit card or cash on the day. Age rules apply.
+ €25 a day
Goldcar, MadPoint and others drop the deposit when you buy their top cover. Flexible, but it is the most expensive route on a cheap base rate.
What we found for 8 days at Madeira Airport
Discover Cars search on 9 October 2026, pick-up 11 October, return 19 October, driver aged 30 to 65
| Option | Total for 8 days | Per day | Blocked | Excess |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest standard booking (Drive4Move) | €85.54 | €10.69 | €1,599 | €1,599 |
| Cheapest no-deposit offer (Funchal Drive) | €241.84 | €30.23 | €0 | See voucher |
| No deposit, no card at the desk (Driving Madeira) | €254.18 | €31.77 | €0 | €1,350 |
| Local all-inclusive, booked direct (Rota Madeira) | €296.00 | €37.00 | €0 | €0 |
| No deposit and no deductible (Driving Madeira) | €344.82 | €43.10 | €0 | €0 |
These are last-minute October prices, booked two days before pick-up. Book two to three weeks ahead and every row gets cheaper, but the order stays the same. For regular prices by season, see our guide to cheap car rental in Madeira.
What does skipping the deposit cost you?
Move the slider to your rental length. Rates are scaled from the 8-day prices we found for Madeira Airport on 9 October 2026.
| Option | You pay | Blocked |
|---|
Four suppliers sold deposit-free cars at Madeira Airport in our search. None of them has a desk in the terminal: all four collect you by shuttle, a few minutes from arrivals.
| Supplier | From (8 days) | Excess | Card at pick-up | Driver | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funchal Drive | €241.84 | See voucher | Debit or credit | Licence 1 year | Not rated yet |
| Driving Madeira | €254.18 | €1,350, or €0 from €344.82 | None | 21 to 75 | 9.0 (1,634) |
| Way2Azores | €337.19 | Up to €2,750 | None | 19 to 85 | 6.9 (2,427) |
| Cassiano’s | €376.24 | €1,250 to €2,000 | Credit card shown | Licence 1 to 2 years | 8.3 (2,487) |
Cassiano’s shows how the pricing works. The same Volkswagen Polo cost €11.57 a day with a €1,250 hold, or €47.03 a day with no deposit. That is €283.65 more over 8 days for the same car and the same excess. In other words, you pay €35 a day to keep €1,250 of your card limit free. Driving Madeira is the better deal of the four: no card at the desk, the highest customer rating, and a zero-excess version for about €11 a day more.
Madeira has a group of local firms that skip the deposit because their price already includes cover with no excess. We read the terms of each one. The rule is rarely as simple as the headline on the home page.
| Company | Deposit rule | Excess | Driver | Pays with | Airport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rota Madeira | None, any booking | €0, windscreen and tyres included | 21, licence 1 year | Cash, debit, credit | Meet and greet, 24 hours, no late fee |
| CarRentMadeira | None, all car groups | €0, windscreen and tyres included | 23, licence 2 years | Card, Apple Pay, cash | Delivery €20 |
| Rent-A-Car Madeira | None from 24, otherwise €600 | €0 on bodywork, glass and tyres €10 a day | 24, licence 1 year | Cash, debit, credit | €25 out of hours |
| Funchal Easy | None from 22 to 65, otherwise €1,000 cash | Covered by SCDW in the price | 22 to 65, licence 1 year | Cash, debit, credit | €20 each way, €50 at night |
| MadPoint | €1,100 to €2,700, none with PLUS cover | Reduced with PLUS at €25 a day | 19, €9.50 a day if 25 or under | Card or cash | Shuttle, €35 out of hours |
Rota Madeira has the cleanest terms: “RotaMadeira does not require a deposit for car rental in Madeira”, full insurance on every car, and prices from €37 a day for an Opel Corsa. CarRentMadeira is close behind, with a higher minimum age. Rent-A-Car Madeira and Funchal Easy are fine if you fit their age window, and expensive if you do not.
Deposit checker: pick a company
Fifteen companies that rent cars in Madeira, with the deposit rule from their own terms or from the offer we opened on 9 October 2026.
Eight brands have a desk on the arrivals floor at Madeira Airport: Avis and Budget, Europcar, Goldcar, Guerin, Hertz, Madeira Rent, Rodavante and Sixt. None of them rents without a deposit as standard, but the hold is often lower than at the cheap off-airport suppliers, and some cut it when you buy their own cover.
| Company | Standard deposit | With its own top cover | Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goldcar | €950 (mini), excess €2,300 | €0 with Super Relax, €300 with Relax | Debit or credit |
| Europcar | €300 on a prepaid booking | €100 with zero-excess protection | Credit only |
| Guerin | €600 (mini, economy) plus €150 fuel | €300 with Super CDW | Credit |
| Sixt | €500 (mini to intermediate) | Not stated | Credit only |
| Rodavante | €1,000 on the offer we opened | Not published | Credit |
| Madeira Rent | €1,600 on the offer we opened | Equal to the remaining excess | Credit |
| OK Mobility (shuttle) | €1,350 | €250 with OK Premium Cover | Credit for the hold |
Goldcar is the only terminal brand where the deposit can reach zero. Its Super Relax cover cost €25.77 a day on a 7-day rental this autumn, and a fuel deposit can still apply. Added to a base rate of about €15 a day, that lands close to €40 a day, which is no cheaper than a local all-inclusive firm.
A deposit is money blocked on your card as security. An excess is the most you pay if the car is damaged or stolen. Removing the first does not remove the second, and this is where no-deposit rentals catch people out.
The excess matters more in Madeira than on the mainland. The tourist board warns that roads “can be steep, with sharp bends and occasional narrow sections”, and most damage here is scraped bumpers and wheels in tight village streets and car parks. Our tips on renting a car in Madeira cover the hill starts, the tunnels and the car size that makes this easier.
If you have a credit card with €1,600 of free limit and you do not need that limit during the trip, a standard booking is cheaper by roughly €135 a week. The hold is not a charge. Rodavante says it releases it within 24 to 48 hours of inspecting the car. Discover Cars quotes up to 21 business days, and Visa lets banks keep a rental pre-authorisation for up to 31 days, so plan for the slow end of that range.
A no-deposit rental earns its price in four situations: you only have a debit card, your credit limit is low, you need the limit for hotels and fuel, or you simply do not want to argue about a refund after the holiday.
Every local no-deposit policy has conditions. These are the ones that turn “no deposit” into a cash deposit at the desk.
Pick-up checklist for a no-deposit rental
Tick each point at the desk. It takes five minutes and settles most arguments before they start.
Nearly every deposit-free option starts at the airport, either by shuttle or with a driver waiting in arrivals. If you are staying in Funchal for the first days, you can collect later in town and skip paying for a car that sits in a garage. Our pages on renting a car in Funchal and parking in Funchal help you decide, and Madeira Airport transfers covers the ride into town without a car.
Once you have the keys, the island is easy on the budget. There are no toll roads in Madeira, and parking in Madeira is free outside the blue zones.
Yes. On 9 October 2026, 47 of the 619 offers for Madeira Airport on Discover Cars needed no deposit, from €241.84 for 8 days. Several local companies, such as Rota Madeira and CarRentMadeira, also rent without a deposit because full insurance is built into their price.
In our search the cheapest no-deposit car cost about €30 a day, against about €11 a day for the cheapest car with a €1,599 hold. Local all-inclusive rates with no deposit and no excess start at €35 to €37 a day.
No. A deposit and an excess are two different things. Driving Madeira, for example, sold a no-deposit car with a €1,350 excess. You only owe nothing for damage when the offer also says no excess or no deductible, and even then keys, misfuelling and off-road damage are normally excluded.
Yes. Discover Cars has a “No card required” filter, which started at €254.18 for 8 days in our search, and a “Debit Card” filter from €241.84. Local firms such as Rota Madeira, CarRentMadeira and Funchal Easy accept debit cards or cash at pick-up.
No. Discover Cars states that Full Coverage does not remove or reduce the supplier’s security deposit. It refunds what the supplier charges you after damage. To avoid the hold, pick an offer marked “No deposit” or buy the rental company’s own zero-excess cover at the desk.
Between €200 and €3,050 in our search. Budget blocked €200, Sixt €500, Guerin €600, Goldcar €950, Rodavante €1,000, Madeira Rent €1,600 and Klass Wagen €1,800. The cheapest daily rates came with holds of €1,250 to €1,599.
Rodavante says it releases the hold within 24 to 48 hours of inspection, Discover Cars quotes up to 21 business days, MadPoint up to 30 days, and Visa lets banks keep a rental pre-authorisation for up to 31 days. The money is blocked, not taken, but it reduces your available limit during that time.
It depends on the company: 21 at Rota Madeira, 22 at Funchal Easy, 23 at CarRentMadeira and 24 at Rent-A-Car Madeira. Below these ages some firms still rent, but ask for a deposit of €600 to €1,000.
Sources: Discover Cars search for Madeira Airport and its help centre (9 October 2026); the terms, FAQ and price pages of Rota Madeira, CarRentMadeira, Rent-A-Car Madeira, Funchal Easy, MadPoint and Beyond Madeira; rental terms of Goldcar Portugal, Europcar, Enterprise (Guerin), Sixt and OK Mobility; ANA Aeroportos list of rental desks at Madeira Airport; Visit Madeira road advice; Visa Europe guide for car rental merchants.
Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links to Discover Cars. If you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The local companies listed here do not pay us.
Last updated: 10 October 2026
