Car rental in
Malaysia
Places to start your journey in Malaysia
Discover Malaysia
Car Rental in Malaysia with SIXT
Malaysia splits across two land masses, and a rental car is how you cover either one properly. SIXT Malaysia has branches at six airports: Kuala Lumpur International, Penang International, Senai in Johor, Subang Skypark, Kuantan on the east coast and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. City pickups follow the same spread, around Selangor and Petaling Jaya, Johor Bahru, Penang, Kuantan and Kota Kinabalu.
Three categories handle most Malaysian itineraries:
- Compacts: the right size for Kuala Lumpur multi-storey car parks and the narrow streets of George Town.
- SUVs: ground clearance and grip for the climb to Genting Highlands and for the rural roads of Sabah.
- MPVs: seven or eight seats for family travel, with boot space that survives a week of luggage.
Our Malaysian fleet is premium throughout. Child seats, boosters, extra drivers and navigation can all go on at the booking stage, and the reservation is yours to manage afterwards in the SIXT app. Book your car rental in Malaysia online in a few minutes.
Driving in Malaysia: Tolls, Traffic and Local Rules
Malaysia drives on the left with metric signage, and the expressway network is among the better ones in the region. Before you set off in your car rental in Malaysia, these are the details visitors most often get caught out by.
Tolls and expressways
- Almost every expressway is tolled, including the PLUS route that runs the length of the peninsula from Johor to the Thai border.
- Tolls are cashless. Payment is by Touch 'n Go card or RFID tag, both read at the barrier. Ask at the branch how your vehicle is set up before your first toll plaza.
- Federal roads run parallel to most tolled routes. They are free, slower and go through the towns, which is sometimes the more interesting way to cover a stretch of the country.
Traffic and conditions
- Limits sit at 110 km/h on the expressways, 90 km/h on federal roads and 60 km/h through towns, with cameras along the main corridors.
- Motorcycles filter between lanes constantly and in large numbers. Mirror checks before every lane change matter more here than in most places.
- Klang Valley rush hour runs long in both directions. Leaving Kuala Lumpur before mid-morning or after early evening saves real time.
- Sudden heavy rain is normal rather than exceptional. Visibility drops fast and standing water builds in the outside lane.
- Petrol is sold as RON95 and RON97. Stations are frequent on the expressways and scarcer on rural east-coast and Borneo routes, so fill up before long empty stretches.
At the counter
- You must be 21 or over to take any vehicle class here, with two years of licence history behind you.
- Licences: if yours is written in a non-Roman script, bring an International Driving Permit alongside it. Drivers from countries outside the Geneva and Vienna conventions need a certified English translation for anything under a month, or a permit for longer hires.
- Cards: bring a major credit card issued to whoever is driving. Debit, prepaid, cash and cheques are all declined at the desk, and a deposit is blocked on the card until the vehicle comes back.
- The car stays in Malaysia. Cross-border rentals into Singapore or Thailand are not permitted, and rental vehicles may not be taken on ferries. Plan island trips around that: Penang is reached by bridge, Langkawi is not.
- One-way rentals between SIXT branches inside Malaysia can be arranged, subject to the tariff you book.
Day Trips and Long Drives in Malaysia
Distances in Peninsular Malaysia are modest by regional standards, which makes it practical to rent a car in Malaysia and build the itinerary yourself.
- Ipoh and Kuala Kangsar, Perak. Roughly two hours away north of Kuala Lumpur on the PLUS route, Ipoh's old town and limestone cave temples make an easy overnight, with the royal town of Kuala Kangsar another 45 minutes on.
- Melaka and Port Dickson. Around two hours away to the south and around 90 minutes away to the southwest respectively, and often combined into a single coastal loop.
- The east coast from Kuantan. Cherating, Kemaman and the road north towards Terengganu run alongside long, quiet beaches. The monsoon runs from roughly November to February, so check conditions first.
- Taman Negara. The Kuala Tahan approach through Jerantut is around three and a half hours away from Kuala Lumpur and puts you at the edge of a rainforest that has stood for well over 100 million years.
- Sabah from Kota Kinabalu. The climb to Kundasang and the Mount Kinabalu foothills is roughly two hours away, past Nabalu market and the roadside views Borneo is known for.
Pick up at the airport you fly into, drop off at another SIXT branch in Malaysia if the route suits, and reserve online before you travel.
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What our customers are saying
*Our Customer Excitement Score is based on a survey sent to all customers who booked in Malaysia. The score is an average of all customer responses.
