Sputnik Car Hire - Lilongwe, Malawi

Chose Sputnik for car rental in October 2014 in Malawi. We were met at Lilongwe airport and our car was waiting outside. The car was in OK shape, but it did have a couple of small cracks in the windscreen. It had also done over 120,000km. We were apprehensive at first but it didn't let us down once, even with us driving over 1,200km including on dirt roads. We chose a non-4x4 as it was the dry season and it was fine. We were stopped by the police a few times, they wanted to check different things each time: driving license, tax details on the windscreen, hazard triangle and fire extinguisher. We had all of these included and I'd recommend checking before you drive off that you have them too. We paid a deposit of $300 when we picked up the car, and the balance when we returned it. We had no issues on return, they did a quick check of the car and drove off. We oped to pay an extra $80 for fully comprehensive insurance, and the rate we paid included unlimited mileage. Overall a very good experience we would recommend, although it would be worth contacting your lodging in Malawi also to see if they can get you a cheaper car hire.