envoyage

In the past several years, for a long period of more than 3 weeks i have leased a car in France,got a New car, unlimited mileage and best Insurance coverage. Last year a disapointment , I paid leasing and got a what they call Long term rental- I did not get any problems with the car, but I figured I paid more than I would have paid renting it, according to the Euro numbers I was given at the airport desk.
Anyway, my questions: which would be best for 18 days Leasing or Renting? what company you find best deals and also good Insurance coverage! Leasing it's unlimited mileage and maximum Insurance coverage as well as car garantie.
This year we won't travel much it's mostly to visit relatives & friends locally around 1 hour drive from Nantes airport where we plan to pick up the car.
All suggestions will be read , THANK YOU

gracejoan3

I have used Kemwel lease/buyback previously. All was great.

I recently checked with them for a planned Brittany trip. picking and returning to Rennes. Kemwel and Auto Europe are supposedly the same caompany now. I did pull it up via Kemwel. Automatic lease/buyback was less expensive for same period of time as Auto Europe rental (withd CDW, of couse). Advantages with lease buyback are several...100% covred, in every way, new car..great personal service. That is the way I will go...

Michael

I just looked into leasing and rental prices yesterday. A lease for 33 days comes to $1200+ (Renault or Peugeot), while a basic rental comes to $904. If asking for a 33 day straight rental, it is only $830 with Kemwel, but the maximum time for a rental using the Visa card for the CDW is 31 days. A two day rental from Kemwel costs $124 and a 31 day rental $780, hence $904 for the cheapest rental I found. I think that leasing turns out to cost the same or less than a rental if done for a period of 50+ days.

It is true that I am looking at the smallest rental which may be smaller than the smallest lease, but we do not need a bigger car.

gracejoan3

I think you always have some exposure, whether taking the CDW or using your VISA for it.

jrjcolllins

Call your Visa regarding what to do after their 31 day limit on insurance. My Visa said that two contracts could be written, the second one for the additional days, and it would not involve changing the car.

Michael

jrjcolllins,

I know that Visa would accept two contracts, which is why I investigated that option, or renting for a week and then 26 days, etc. But will keeping the same car reduce the two days' rental rate? I guess that I will have to call Kemwel.

gracejoan,

I had no exposure. Visa paid for the damages I incurred on my car (a smashed side-mirror housing and a deeply scratched side). To my knowledge, all rentals already have liability coverage for what you might do to another car.

KathyWood

When you rent a car through AutoEurope or Kemwel, there are always extra charges paid locally that are not reflected in the original contract price. I'm not sure if you've considered that in your numbers...

Kathy

Michael

I have not paid extra charges except for a VAT and airport charge in Glasgow, which is why I normally do not pick up a car at an airport. I know for sure that I did not pay anything extra in Nice last year.

StuDudley

I paid no extra for a car last year either. I picked it up at the Nantes train station, & dropped it off at the Rennes train station. Another that I picked up at the Nice airport had the airport charge.

When we rent for more than 31 days, we do the car exchange also. Twice we've retained the same car & twice we got a different car. I always use two different cards. When I read the fine print about the 31 days CDW max, it says "intended" usage. So if I rent it for 40 days & crash on day 1 - I am not covered because my rental contract was for 40 days. I'm worried that if I do 2 twenty day rentals with the same card, the issuer might involk this "intended" thing.

Stu Dudley

Michael

Stu,

I called Visa about the issue of rentals that extended beyond the 31 days, and the person on the phone assured me that as long as there were two contracts (one for two days and one for 31), Visa would honor the coverage. But you might want to check yourself.

One correction: My original post compared rentals to leases. For the lease, I assumed a diesel, which is more expensive than a gasoline car.

StuDudley

Michael - just got back from dinner in The City (Garibaldi) - so I'm a little tipsy.

Did you really call Visa, or the issuer of your Visa credit card? As you probably know, my wife worked for Visa for a long time. Although she was not in "that" area of the business, she doesn't think Visa really manages the insurance stuff - it's the issuer of the card.

I'll call our card issuer on Monday & see if I get the same advice from them. Thanks for the info. If I get the same story from my issuer, I think that will simplify things a tad.

Thanks

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

>> I assumed a diesel, which is more expensive than a gasoline car.>>

Really - I had not even thought of that. Diesel cars get better mileage and diesel is less expensive than normal gas. Perhaps the rental companies are charging more for diesels so they profit from the lower operating cost.

Didn't even occur to me - thanks for the heads-up.

Stu Dudley

Michael

The higher cost is in leasing, not in rental. When renting, I have never been able to specify or be guaranteed a diesel, but have often been given one.

gracejoan3

I will be doing a lease byback(Kemwel) in Brittany..pick up and return Rennes. The cost is $1372 for an A/C, automatic Peugeot 207..a rental for same period for an A/C, automatic Golf VW is $1511, plus it says road and registration fees and possible road and airport txes when picked up.This is for the all inclusive price. The lease buyback includes everything 100%..specialized treatment and service etc. I thought it was very good the last time I did it, and I will be doing it again..this is for a month.

Michael

Maybe automatics are that much more expensive when rented so that the price differential disappears. I never looked into it since I prefer standard shift.

jrjcolllins

I just found out that if you have an American Express card and sign up for their premium car rental protection at $24.95 per rental, the insurance protection is good for up to 42 days internationally. It includes full coverage with no deductible. First, you enroll in their premium car rental protection.
Then when you pay for your car rental, you use your American Express card. To sign up, go to www.americanerxpress.com/pcrprew. It sounds too good to be true, but I just phoned them to verify.

jrjcolllins

I just clicked on the address in my post above and it pulled up the wrong page. But if you type in that address yourself, it will give you the correct page.

jelane

It is time for me to book our rental car for our trip to France in June, we will have it for fifteen days. We have always before just called Hertz or Avis in the states and ordered the car, when we retrieved it at the train station we purchased the full coverage. Is there a more practical way of doing this rental. I am going to check out the american express site, thanks the information.

jrjcolllins

Just wanted to mention, too, that it doesn't cover cars in Italy, Israel, New Zealand, Ireland, or Australia.

envoyage

My first post was about 18 days in Nantes France- but this post has changed to other needs from others and did not really respond to mine unfortunately except 2 responses! I will check with Kemwell....
soooooooooooo here it is again:
my questions: which would be best for 18 days Leasing or Renting? what company you find best deals and also good Insurance coverage! Leasing it's unlimited mileage and maximum Insurance coverage as well as car garantie.
This year we won't travel much it's mostly to visit relatives & friends locally around 1 hour drive from Nantes airport where we plan to pick up the car.