Balbir

We are a group of three couples and want to rent an automatic mini van in cardova, granada, saville, area to travel in southern spain for one week during October. We can find standard shift mini van but we need automatic as all but one can only drive standard shift. Can any one help us?

Art

Have you checked with AutoEurope? <BR>Regards, <BR>

John H

Hi, Balbir, <BR> <BR>AutoEurope should definitely be your starting point. Be sure to get international licenses, as Spain is one of the few countries that actually requires that you have one. And, make sure that anyone who will drive the car is signed up as a driver (there may be a small charge for each driver added; I think I paid $15 for an additional driver last year with Auto Europe). <BR> <BR>Happy travels. <BR> <BR>John H

Ed

A caution on the automatic/manual issue. <BR> <BR>There is typically a risk that even with a confirmation for an automatic car one may not be available when you show up. There are relatively few in European fleets. (Perhaps as few as 5%.) <BR> <BR>I would assume that even if you do get a confirmation there might be a risk that one may not be avaialable when you go to pick it up. Shifting is really not difficult. There's no time like the present for folks to learn. <BR> <BR>twenj

StCirq

Ed's right. There are a few things AutoEurope (my preferred provider) doesn't PROMISE. One is, an automatic transmission - depending on where you're renting and availability, the particular supplier just may not have one. Others are roof racks, car seats, and the like. <BR>It's a WHOLE lot cheaper to rent a manual shift - if you have only one person who can't drive a standard shift, I suggest that person take lesson and you rent the manual. Or did I misunderstand your post when you said "all but one can only drive standard shift"? Standard shift to me means manual.

Balbir

Thanks for auto europe. I will try them. I meant that none but only one can drive standard shift, i.e manual. How difficult and tiring is driving in the southern part of Spain. Each one of us can drive 2-300 miles/day in California freeways. But with automatic transmission. Any expert who has an idea of rental cost per day or per week? How expensive is gas?

Balbir

I just wanted to correct e-mail address.

wes fowler

Balbir, <BR>Something to consider when renting a van. A mini-van for six people may not be large enough. Recognize that you have luggage for those six that will take up significant space. Think van, not mini-van.

Alec

At a recent trip to Spain we hired a full-size van for a family of seven - 5 adults and two children. There was just enough luggage space under cover for about 4 people, and other bags had to be left on seats or on the floor. As we weren't touring but staying put, it didn't matter except for trips to and from airport (but was only an hour's drive). It was Peugeot 806, and after a day's driving we had no problem coping with traffic. A couple of times we had to reverse out of narrow lanes in small towns because we were inches away from scraping the paintwork. Europcar, a major operator in Spain, where we hired from, had plenty of full size vans at their huge Barcelona airport lot, but none I could see was automatic. As I am used to manual it didn't mattter. Avis had some Chrysler Voyagers, but again manual only. But since some vans are sold with auto in Spain, I think you can track one down if you persist. We paid around US$450 all-in for a week, booking through a consolidator.

Alec

Most vans run on diesel in Spain. It costs around 117 pts a litre (around US$2.45 per US gallon). Full-size vans (7-8 seaters) do around 30 miles per US gallon and has a range of about 600 miles.