Grandpride doesn't have a car rental counter at KLIA yet. A Grandpride store at the airport is coming soon, but until it opens, a self-drive car from us after a flight comes to you in one of three ways: we bring it to the airport, you collect it at our showroom in Petaling Jaya, or a driver takes you into town and the car is delivered the next morning. Whether we can hand a car over at the terminal is CHECK: can Grandpride deliver a self-drive car to KLIA Terminal 1 or 2, and is the airport charged at the RM 100 Klang Valley rate or by quote.
If you need to drive off the minute you clear customs and none of that suits, the arrival hall at Terminal 1 has several rental company counters, and they are the simpler choice for that one situation.
Check your terminal first
KLIA has two terminals. Terminal 1 handles Malaysia Airlines and most full-service airlines. Terminal 2, still called klia2 on plenty of signs and old bookings, handles AirAsia and the other low-cost carriers. They are about 2 km apart and you can't walk between them, so the car has to be waiting at the terminal you land at.
When you book anything airport-related, send us three things on WhatsApp: the terminal, the flight number and the scheduled landing time. Our guide to KLIA2 transfers explains how the two terminals connect if you're unsure which one you're using.
Landing in daylight and driving straight off
Airport delivery is the obvious choice here, if it's available for your dates. The airport is in Sepang, roughly 50 to 60 km by road from our Section 13 showroom, so it sits well outside the free delivery radius of 10 km. Delivery elsewhere in the Klang Valley costs RM 100 and anything beyond is quoted, so ask for the airport price before you count on it.
A few things are different when your first drive starts at an airport:
- You'll be on an expressway within minutes, on cashless tolls. Add the Touch 'n Go card when you book and load what you expect to use, anywhere from RM 50 to RM 500. Our guide to mileage and the toll card explains how the card works.
- The car is handed over at an airport kerb or car park, which is a hurried place to inspect it. Take the photos anyway. The pickup checklist takes about ten minutes.
- Only the named renter may drive. If two of you plan to share the wheel after a long flight, you can't.
Landing late, or after a long-haul flight
This is the version we'd suggest. Book a chauffeur for the airport leg, sleep, and have the self-drive car delivered to your hotel the next day.
A Grandpride chauffeur meets you at arrivals at Terminal 1 or 2, tracks your flight if you add the flight number, and holds a nameboard if you ask. Airport transfers are a flat fare for trips under 80 km, the same day or night: RM 300 in a seven-seat Toyota Vellfire, which takes three large suitcases. Online chauffeur bookings need at least two days' notice, so book it when you book your flight, through the chauffeur booking page. Our late-night KLIA arrival guide covers what to expect at that hour.
Then the self-drive car comes to your hotel. Delivery is free within 10 km of the showroom and RM 100 elsewhere in the Klang Valley. Car rental delivery in the Klang Valley explains how the handover at a hotel works.
You also save a day's rental on a car that would otherwise spend its first night in a hotel car park.
Collecting from Petaling Jaya instead
You can pick the car up at the showroom: Lot 5A, Jalan 13/2, Section 13, Petaling Jaya. It's open 9 am to 9 pm Monday to Saturday and 10 am to 8 pm on Sundays, so a morning landing works and a midnight one doesn't. Someone else can collect the car for you if you add their details when you book, though they can't then drive it for you.
Returning the car before your flight out
Whether a car can be dropped at the airport is CHECK: can a self-drive rental be returned at KLIA Terminal 1 or 2, and at what fee. If it can't, there are two clean ways to do it:
- Return the car in PJ or have it collected from your hotel the evening before, then take a chauffeur to the airport at the flat fare.
- Return it in PJ the same morning and go on from there, leaving plenty of margin. Our guide on how early to leave for KLIA has the timings.
Either way, bring the fuel back to the level it was at collection. Filling up on the way to a flight is easy to forget, so do it the night before.
Which car for an airport run
Luggage decides this more than anything. Two people with two cases fit almost any car in the fleet. A family with four large suitcases needs an SUV or an MPV: the Volvo XC90 at RM 1,400 a day is a sensible size, and the SUV list has the rest.
Mind the mileage too. Every rental includes 120 km a day, and a round trip between PJ and KLIA is roughly 100 to 120 km on its own. If the airport run and a day of driving fall on the same day, add the +50 km or +100 km package when you book, or unlimited, which costs less per kilometre than paying for the extra afterwards.
