AutoEurope or EuropCar?
 

Whenever we rent with AutoEurope in Nice we get the car from EuropCar. The EuropCar web site seems to offer a wider range of vehicles directly; is there any reason not to rent directly from that company?

I am looking into renting a car at the nice airport at the end of june and this rental company seems to be about $100 less.
holidayautos.com

Strongly recommend you rent from AVIS at the Nice airport.

I rent from EuropCar directly frequent for business travel. Always been perfectly fine. They are a major, well respected car rental co.

I would go with whichever co gives you the best total price.

Susana, I looked at holidayautos and they have good rates but it seems you have to book and pay immediately. I have to read the fine print to find out what is the fee for change or maybe cancellation.

Has anyone had a problem renting directly from EuropCar? Its office is just around the corner from our hotel, and we're used to dealing with that company through AutoEurope.

Europcar works fine, but if you are from the States, you will not be able to opt out on the insurance, which is mandatory for EU residents. Booking with Auto Europe, you can decline the insurance since your Visa, MC or Amex card provides the primary insurance.

I rented cars from AutoEurope twice in the past 2 years. Fodor's folks had suggested this company and I did check othere before I booked.

The first time was from Nice. It was wild. Our flight was delayed and that caused quite a jam up in getting the car since there were so many others arriving at the same time. The car, price, drop off in Avignon was fine. Although finding the AutoEurope car lot in Avignon took a few go rounds the TGV train station. Highly recommend getting a turbo diesel. Great mileage even though it's more $ per gallon.

The 2nd time was last month in Chambery. First off...I booked through AutoEurope, but there's NO, I repeat NO, AutoEurope office there. It's Europecar. Boy, was that confusing until we finally figured it out. Also we paid extra $ for insurance because we weren't sure if the credit card had that protection. Not smart on our part to not check before we left. Otherwise our car was great. And again, a turbo diesel.

Every now and then I look at the Europcar site to compare the rates they are offering to the rate I am paying for the same Europcar vehicles on the AutoEurope site. In fact, I just looked right this moment and saw that there is exactly 1.44€ difference between the 2 websites for a 3-day rental -- EXCEPT AutoEurope gives unlimited mileage and Europcar has a limit of 250km a day.

autoeurope.com is a broker. They don't rent their own cars. They get discounts from major car rental companies (like EuropCar or Avis or National) because of the volume of cars they rent for these companies. If some company gives you a better price than on the autoeurope.com website, call their toll free number and they will usually beat that price. And if something goes wrong with the rental, they will help you straighten things out.

What Rufus said. We have rented from AutoEurope and gotten EuropCar most often, and one time, got Avis. They will almmost always match or better any other quote you get. Usually when you rent onsite in France, it is many $$ more than if you reserved in the States.

Ditto rufus,

Also see www.kemwel.com, www.gemut.com and www.novacarhire.com.

Also check rates at the international sites at www.autoeurope.com.

Sometimes booking through www.autoeurope.fr can be cheaper than through the US site.

((I))

Kemwel and AE are actually affiliates. I have even changed a booking from AE to Kemwel with a AE rep directly when one was less expensive.

The EuropCar site offers an Alfa-Romeo, which the AutoEurope site does not. The AutoEurope.fr site offers only two car models. It's a mystery.

I just booked one with Kemwel. Compared to Autoeurope they seemed like a better deal. Most important the deductible on their insurances was Zero compared to US$700 when booked through AutoEurope. Also Kemwel seemed to be booking Hertz cars, while AE booked Europecar (if that matters).

One of the major differences between booking through AutoEurope (a USA Broker), and directly from Europcar (a Europe auto rental firm) is customer service. If you rent directly from EuropCar & have a problem (like they charge you for a gas fill-up or CDW which you did not purchase), you will have to resolve this with the office in France. I have done this a few times & got nowhere - I finally just gave up (my wife speaks almost perfect French). On the other hand, if you have a problem & rent through AutoEurope, they will deal with EuropCar themselves. I've had several problems where EuropCar did a major screw-up in final billing, and AutoEurope ALWAYS managed to resolve things in my favor. The last two times, they gave up dealing with Auropcar & paid me the bugus charge out of their own pockets - even though it was not their problem. By the way, the most recent problem was messed up by Avis in Nice. Once, EuropCar billed us for CDW when we didn't purchase it, and they also processed someone else's return papers against our rental contract.

Stu Dudley

<i>The EuropCar site offers an Alfa-Romeo, which the AutoEurope site does not. The AutoEurope.fr site offers only two car models. It's a mystery.</i>

A couple of weeks ago for a rental in Strasbourg, I clicked on 'Peugeot 207' for my AutoEurope rental, and Europcar gave me an Alfa instead, and a very nice one at that. When I returned it in Paris, the local staff who know me quite well said 'Wow, you lucked out on this one!'

Thanks, Stu--that was what I was concerned about. But my husband really wants that Alfa!

The Kemwel site seems to offer the same car line-up as AutoEurope. I'll keep looking.

Stu,

Would you kindly send me your itinerary for the Nice hinterland? We missed that area in 2006 when my knee went out and hope to try again in December.

I'm at

[email protected]

&quot;The EuropCar site offers an Alfa-Romeo, which the AutoEurope site does not. The AutoEurope.fr site offers only two car models. It's a mystery.&quot;

Car rental companies offer all sorts of cars. What you actually get when you go to pick up a car might be something totally different.

I know, but at least the Alfa is listed in the site's fleet.

We regularly use https://www.economycarrentals.com who are brokers, they let you know within a day whether a car will be available with one of their suppliers and so far there always has been.

A major plus point is that their rates already include items such as collision damage waiver and two drivers, which many companies charge extra for.

Do not expect any customer service from EuropCar. I rented and paid in full through Expedia. Car was in good condition. When I returned the car, I asked the staff to check that the returned car had no damage, and the lazy staff just sat there and refused to do so. Then when I insisted, he did a cursory check, and just said it was OK, without giving me any document to show that I returned the car in good condition. A few weeks later when I got my credit card statement, EuropCar charged an amount to my credit card. When I wrote in to query, they said that all enquiries must be directed through Expedia who will then conact Europcar,even though it was Europcar which chaged me, not Expedia. It is a terrible company. Do not be tempted by their rates even though they may be lower than other companies! You end up paying MORE.

welcome to Fodors AdrianneY -- somehow you dug up this eight year old thread. But w/ the slim chance you will come back and read any responses . . .

>><i>When I wrote in to query, they said that all enquiries must be directed through Expedia who will then conact Europcar,even though it was Europcar which chaged me, not Expedia. </i><<

Yes --they were right. When you book through a third party you have to deal w/ the third party. Which is why it is often a bad idea.

Too bad you didn't find Fodors first - maybe someone would have persuaded you to book otherwise.

Until you find out exactly what the charges were, any conclusion about the company through which the rental was made would be pointless. European rentals are rarely, if ever, paid in full before pickup. You could have been charged for an additional driver, an airport or train station pickup, road tax, an environmental fee (if your car had automatic transmission), or any number of other legitimate charges which are only charged at drop off.

At a minimum, Europcar should be able to explain the charges if they indeed came directly from Europcar. You might attempt anew to have them detailed.

You can always contest the additional fees with your credit card company.