Excellent Service. Good Value. Highly Recommended.
Would recommend Nico Nico Car Rental, especially for foreigners because of their excellent service.
This is the first time I am renting a car from Nico Nico.
Reservation
My reservation was done via Rakuten Japan which was accepted by Nico without any issue.
Cost
We got a good promotion from Nico, which included CDW and NOC insurance. For 7 days rental, we paid around JPY 25,000 in total.
Website
Nico has an excellent English website with a lot of useful information.
Instructions, with videos, showing where to wait for the pickup shuttle bus at different airports etc.
Helpful FAQ section.
There is also a LiveChat function which is helpful to point you to the relevant information and answer some questions.
Car
We were given a newish Mitsubishi Mirage. Distance travelled was just over 21,000km.
The car interior was very clean. The exterior had some minor scratches and dents that were pointed out to us.
The brakes worked well and the wipers were effective.
Service
After reservation, I posted some questions in English on Nico's website and received answers promptly on email.
The service staff at Haneda Airport were friendly and helpful. Some staff can speak some English which is helpful.
Christopher Bondonaro (from MIC Co Ltd) also provided very prompt response to my queries regarding shuttle pick up at Haneda.
We appreciate it that the English speaking staff were assigned to attend to our reservation.
Shuttle Bus
On arrival, I sent a request for pickup using a link. We received a response in 10 minutes via email, and the shuttle bus arrived in another 15 mins.
The shuttle bus is operated by Sun Parking, and is deployed on request by Nico Nico ie it does not run on any fixed schedule.
It takes about 15 mins from Haneda Airport to Nico Nico office to pick up the car.
Suggestions
I would like to make some suggestions, which would be beneficial to first-time foreign customers (like me) :
1) update ETC card rental locations to include Haneda
The FAQ section and LiveChat staff did not show that ETC card rental was available from Haneda Airport.
2) provide the link to send request for airport shuttle bus in the FAQ
It was confusing whether customers should call or email in advance to book the shuttle bus.
Not all visitors have a phone to make local calls but the airport has free wifi which can be used to submit request using the link.
I suggest to advise customers to either call (if they can) or use the link to request once they arrive at the pick up point, and advise customer that the shuttle is only deployed on request & will arrive in 15 minutes.
https://niconicorentacar.jp/pick-up-request/
3) clarify whether cash is also accepted or all payments must be using Credit Card only.
I think Customers will appreciate having the option to pay using Cash or Credit Card. Limiting to Credit Card payment (as stated in the FAQ) may turn some customers away.
Also clarify what items can use Credit Card eg Rental Fee, ETC Card Rental, Insurance Fee, ETC Toll Charges ?
4) at Haneda International Terminal pick up point, provide some signs at the waiting area to show Sun Parking / Nico Nico. This would let customers know they are at the correct location.
Currently, there are signs for Toyota, Times Car rental etc
In sum, they provided excellent service and value. We will definitely use them again. Highly recommended.
Some photos from our trip.
https://i.imgur.com/DJSTfbl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9DAvcQu.jpg