Mileage Limit in Car Rental in Turkey: Limited or Unlimited?
When renting a car, the most overlooked issue — but the one that causes the biggest surprise bill at the end of the holiday — is the mileage limit. Customers lured by a low daily price can face 1,000–3,000 TL in excess-km fees at vehicle handover. In this guide we explain how the mileage-limit system works, when unlimited km is worth it, and how you should decide based on Turkey's real distances.
How Does the Mileage Limit Work?
At Turkish rental companies, the mileage limit is usually applied in two ways:
- Daily limit: 200–300 km/day (most commonly 250 km/day)
- Monthly limit: 3,000–5,000 km/month
- Total limit: rental period × daily limit
When you exceed the limit, a fee of between 1 and 3 TL is charged for each extra kilometre. On premium vehicles this can rise to 5 TL. On a 7-day rental, a 500 km overrun is on average a 1,000 TL extra bill.
Unlimited Mileage
The unlimited-mileage package adds about 10–20% premium to the daily price. It is definitely worth it in the following cases:
- When a long intercity route is planned
- When several cities will be visited
- When day trips will be made in holiday regions
- When the rental period is longer than 7 days
Short In-City Use
If you will use the car only within a city such as Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir, a limit of 150–200 km/day is sufficient. Average daily in-city use is between 50 and 100 km. In this case it is not sensible to pay a premium for unlimited mileage.
For Those Planning Long Routes
Rule of thumb: if you will exceed 300 km a day, definitely take unlimited mileage. Do the maths in advance:
- Get your route's total km from Google Maps
- Divide by the number of rental days
- If it is over 200, compare the excess-km fee with the unlimited package
Turkey's Distances — Practical Examples
- Istanbul — Ankara: 450 km (round trip 900 km)
- Sabiha Gökçen — Antalya: 700 km (round trip 1,400 km)
- Ankara — Cappadocia: 280 km (round trip 560 km)
- Istanbul — Bodrum: 800 km (round trip 1,600 km)
- Izmir — Pamukkale: 250 km (round trip 500 km)
- Istanbul — Trabzon: 1,050 km (round trip 2,100 km)
A 5-day Istanbul — Cappadocia — Istanbul holiday is over 1,000 km on the main route alone. A package with a 250 km/day limit is not enough on this route.
The km Filter on RentaCarSAW
When searching for a vehicle on the RentaCarSAW platform, you can use the "Unlimited km" filter to show only packages with no limit. Next to each vehicle, the daily km limit, excess-km fee and unlimited-km surcharge are shown transparently. For a route-specific km calculation, contact us: +90 850 304 94 30 or WhatsApp +90 544 581 94 30.
