RoyalAutotravel — Local services in Almaty

I rented a car from this company in July 2025 for a cross-border trip from Almaty to Bishkek. Some parts of the service were fine, but there were also serious issues that other travellers should be aware of.

Deposit system Only a cash deposit is accepted. You hand over cash at the start, and they promise to return it to your card. However, they cannot do this for UK or US cards, so I had to use Western Union. I live and work in China where WU is not commonly known/used, so this meant I had to spend an hour and a half at a bank trying to receive the transfer. This system is outdated and unnecessarily difficult.

Vehicle condition – ongoing tyre problems I was told the vehicle could handle Altyn Emel. In my opinion, it couldn’t. Two days into the rental (just after Altyn Emel), the front right wheel started showing problems on the tyre pressure monitoring system. Later in Kyrgyzstan, that same wheel suffered two separate punctures, and the TPMS stopped working altogether. I personally paid 4,500 som (25,000 KZT) out of pocket to repair the wheel.

When I returned the car, I accepted responsibility for the wheel because I had indeed had two punctures. At the time, I felt annoyed because I had already fixed the wheel, but I still accepted the charges. However, the next day, once out of Central Asia, I looked at reviews and discovered Sebastian’s review from June 2025 – about the exact same car (same licence plate). He had already been charged for tyre replacements on this vehicle, yet the sidewall bulge and missing bolt on the wheels had not been fixed. In other words, I now believe the car was not handed to me in good faith and that I should not have accepted full responsibility for the wheel.

Traffic incident in Bishkek
I made a driving mistake in Bishkek (crossing a double line without carrying the car’s documents). The car was impounded. I take responsibility for this. The company’s assistants came the next morning and were genuinely helpful at the traffic police department, but after collecting the car they made inappropriate comments such as suggesting I should have bribed the police, and that the car would be removed from their fleet as it has too many problems. Neither left me with confidence in how professional the operation was.

Final bill and deposit deductions
My final bill meant I lost almost half of my deposit. Deductions were:

30,000 KZT: Payment to the assistants (extra day and fuel) 24,400 KZT: Wheel replacement 3,000 KZT: Labour cost for wheel change ~15,000 KZT: Tyre pressure sensor 25,500 KZT: Late return fee

Here’s the problem: I was essentially charged twice for a late return. Once through the official late fee (25,500 KZT) and again through the assistant fee (30,000 KZT). The assistants were always due to collect the car from Bishkek anyway – that was included in the original rental price. The fact they had to come a day later should have been covered by the late return fee, not treated as a separate billable charge. I raised this clearly and asked for the assistant fee to be removed. The company was completely inflexible and unwilling to see my side.

Final reflection
Ultimately, their attitude was: this is the bill and we’re not budging. They know you’re out of the country by the time it’s settled, so what are you going to do about it? Between Sebastian’s earlier experience, the visible tyre issues when I collected the car, and my own punctures, I believe this vehicle should never have been rented out in that condition. Add to that the outdated cash-deposit/Western Union system, double charging of late fees, and inappropriate advice from staff, and I cannot recommend this company in good faith.

Be warned: if something goes wrong, they will not compromise, and you will be powerless because they hold...

I have rented a SUV with this car rental company and I have a double feeling about that (that's why it's only 3 stars). The communication with the owner was a bit difficult because he didn't speak english, but he did his best by using google translate. It was a bit difficult but we both managed to understand each other, and he was patient. I wanted a big SUV as he had in his park, but he gave me a smaller but more recent car (renault duster). This is not what I wanted but I still managed to do whaat There was some issue when came the moment to pay the deposit, as initially he told me that I will use my credit card, which was fine for me, but when we met, then it was only in Cash. Then I preferred to give Euros currency, as if everything is good, then he return me that currency and I can use it in europe, instead of taking off Tenges where I couldn't use them anymore afterwards. He said that he will give me back the 150€ in 2 weeks, but I wouldn't be there, so we agreed on a bank transfer. He has been very polite and gave me his phone for all my trip where I could have internet and can contact him at anytime. He forbade me to drive at 140 km/h as it was the limit on the highway, and limited me at 110 km/h, which was annoying because kazakhstan is a big country. When I went home, I waited 2 weeks, gave him my french bank account (even if I live in Norway), and then I got the bad surprise to 114€... which is a difference of 36€, that's a lot! I complained and he told me that the bank took 22€ as transaction, and there was also another fee for converting from euro to norwegian kroners (while I never asked for that). I told him that I gave him 150€ in cash, and he has to return me that exact money, but he didn't want and said that it's not his fault, while I think it's his responsability, because he refused to give me back the money when I returned the cash. I try to negociate by asking him to send the money to a friend living close by and who will visit me, but he refused, so I have been very disapointed to have lost so much money. Conclusion: I'm honest by saying that the owner is nice, the car was nice, but if you are a foreigner, the language might be an issue and try to find a solution for the deposit if you don't want to...

We had a great experience with Royal Auto. We find renting a car in a country you’ve never been before always a bit risky, so when we do it we search for a company that: 1) offers insurance of the car, 2) includes most of the costs in the rental price, 3) clear communication. Royal Auto checks all of these boxes and we were not disappointed.

Prior to renting the car we contacted Royal Auto over WhatsApp and provided our travel plans. We received advice on which car to rent, and had all our questions answered. Timur was very responsive at all times. The company’s instagram page is also very helpful in providing information on what is and is not included in rental price and why, what you can and cannot expect.

We rented a Mitsubishi Xpander. There were no restrictions on KM, the car was fully insured apart from a 100,000 tenge deductible, all toll roads were paid for. The car was in good condition and clean, with only one very minor issue (we had to manually adjust the mirror). We drove from Almaty - Altyn Emel - Zharkent - Chundzha - Charyn Canyon - Kolsai Lake - Almaty in four days. We initially wanted to include Kaindy lake in our itinerary as well, but that was not allowed with this car. While a sedan could be sufficient for most of this route (apart from Altyn Emel with notoriously uncomfortable dirt roads), road conditions are really bad sometimes (potholes, unpaved detours and bumpy roads). For these stretches we were happy that we were not driving a sedan.

Pick-up and drop-off of the car was easy. The only minor thing is that the contract had a few minor details that did not apply to us (a restriction of 200km a day for example). Even though Timur assured us that these details did not apply to us, and it was no issue at any point during the rental period, you still have to sign it. Other than that, the contract is standard.

We paid for the car by card, and the deposit in cash. Deposit will be returned within two weeks (pending traffic violations). We’re still waiting for this so cannot comment...