Geysir Car Rental: An Honest Review for Renters

Geysir's campers fall into two families. The roof-tent 4x4s are 4WD SUVs carrying a hard-shell iKamper Skycamp tent that pops up in about a minute; the standard tent sleeps two (the Jeep Wrangler carries a larger Skycamp 3.0 rated for three to four). These vehicles are highland- and F-road-capable, but they have no built-in kitchen, toilet, or shower — you cook outside and use campsite facilities.

The built-in motorhomes are the opposite: a full living space with a two- or three-burner gas stove, fridge, Truma propane heating that warms both the cabin and the water, a fresh-water tank with a sink, kitchen utensils, a 220V hookup, AC, and window blinds. The six-berth family unit also includes a shower and toilet. Bed linen, towels, and a camping set (tables and chairs) are optional paid extras on the motorhomes.

Motorhome pickup and drop-off happen at Geysir's depot at Bogatrod 11, 262 Keflavik, about a 10-minute drive from Keflavik Airport, with a free shuttle running both ways. The motorhome operation is staffed 08:00–18:00 every day, and handover is an in-person walkthrough — not a self-service key box. Pickup outside those hours is not available; if you land late, you'll collect the vehicle the following morning.

Late drop-off can sometimes be arranged in advance, but it requires buying Zero Insurance plus an out-of-hours return fee. A one-way rental (dropping off at a different location than pickup) costs EUR 50.

Every rental includes CDW, third-party liability, and theft protection, plus unlimited mileage and 24/7 roadside assistance. The lowered basic excess (self-risk) still isn't zero — it is roughly ISK 500,000 on motorhomes and ISK 360,000 on the 4x4 SUVs; verify the exact figure at booking. You can buy it down with Gold Insurance (around EUR 26/day) or Zero Excess (around EUR 52/day), though those published rates are quoted for the 4x4/luxury/van class rather than the full motorhomes.

Geysir's FAQ states a deposit of ISK 39,000 is required regardless of which insurance tier you pick, and a major credit card (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express) in the main driver's name is mandatory — debit and prepaid cards are not accepted. No insurance tier covers off-road driving or damage from river or water crossings. The minimum driver age for motorhomes and modified 4WD vehicles is 25, and the licence must have been held for at least 12 months.

Prepaid rentals are fully refundable and editable up until midnight of the day that falls 48 hours before your rental starts; after that cut-off there is no refund. Early returns are not cash-refunded — per Geysir's FAQ, unused days convert to a rental voucher valid for 365 days.

Other fees to be aware of: the EUR 50 one-way fee if drop-off differs from pickup, a smoking or heavy-cleaning charge starting around EUR 250, and a late-return charge of up to a full 24-hour rental period if the vehicle comes back an hour or more late. Booking runs on the Caren rental system.

On Trustpilot, Geysir Car Rental holds an “Average” TrustScore of 3.2 out of 5 from 36 reviews, and the distribution is strikingly bimodal: 50% one-star (18 reviews) and 33% five-star (12 reviews), with almost nothing in between. Detractors cluster around cars delivered with dashboard warning lights (especially tire-pressure) and high mileage, disputed damage or “scam”-framed charges at drop-off, unresponsive phone and email support, and poorly communicated airport-shuttle logistics. Fans consistently cite fast, staffed pickups, clean and near-new vehicles, and transparent pricing with no hidden fees, and several are repeat or local customers. Geysir has replied to 100% of negative reviews (though it typically takes over a month), attributing the recurring tire-pressure warnings to Iceland’s winter and studded-tire conditions rather than a fault. Recent volume is low (3 reviews in the last 12 months), so the score leans on older experiences.

Reddit has effectively nothing to say about Geysir Car Rental: targeted searches across r/VisitingIceland, r/Iceland and site:reddit.com surfaced no indexable threads naming the company, so we can’t cite a single Reddit voice. The substantive traveler discussion instead lives on TripAdvisor’s Iceland and Reykjavik forums, where sentiment is sharply polarized. The loudest posts are damage-and-insurance horror stories — most consistently around wind-blown gravel and sandstorm damage that renters say was denied despite buying gravel protection, plus high-mileage vehicles and hit-or-miss staff — but a real contingent of repeat customers counters with fast service, flexibility, helpful breakdown support, and even a no-fuss gravel-damage payout. The one point nearly everyone agrees on is to photograph the entire car at pickup and return and to confirm exactly what your gravel/sand-and-ash insurance actually covers before driving off.

Geysir’s reviews split across two names. The geysir.is car-rental brand carries a polarized 3.2/5 Trustpilot from a small sample, while the campers are operated under a separate “Motorhome” brand that is reviewed apart from the wider car-rental business and generally rates higher. A single blended “Geysir” score can therefore mislead a camper booking — weigh the camper-brand and traveler-forum reviews alongside the headline number, and photo-document the vehicle at pickup and return.