car rental France
Apr 15th, 2003, 12:23 PM
#1
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car rental France
Could someone tell me the average cost to rent a car for a week. I would unfortunately need a car with automatic transmission, and to be able to pick it up in one place (Paris) and drop it off at another place (Toulon).<BR>Thanks.
Apr 15th, 2003, 12:40 PM
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If I were you, I'd go to a couple of the discount car rental websites like http://rentacar-europe.com/ and autoeurope.com and see what they charge. What someone paid last year or even last month might not bear a relationship to what the cost will be when you are going.
Apr 15th, 2003, 12:46 PM
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Also call Avis, or go to Avis.com. I just rented a car for a week in Tours, and they were less expensive than AutoEurope, and had more convenient pick-up places. They don't seem to charge any more to leave off in another city in France. They are cheaper to book on the internet than by phone, but charge more if you make any changes. I did, but just cancelled and re-booked to avoid the extra charges. Automatics are more difficult to book, so book it early. I just got a stick, as I don't mind driving that.
Apr 15th, 2003, 01:40 PM
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My husband and I were in France for five weeks last summer. I can advise you who not to use..Hertz. We got royally screwed. Have you considered renting your car outside of Paris? Maybe you could take a train to your destination and rent a car there,to avoid driving in Paris. The driving in France is really pretty easy, except in Paris.
Apr 15th, 2003, 02:55 PM
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Totally agree with above poster concerning renting a car from Hertz--we too had an absolutely horrible experience with them. (Luckily we put it on American Express and were reimbursed the money). We've had good experiences with Avis and lots of people in Fodors seem to like autoeurope.<BR><BR>Have a great trip.
Apr 15th, 2003, 03:37 PM
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I have done some research on this matter and found that National Car rental will rent an economy automatic for about 200 euros per week. I don't know about dropping off charges in Toulon but am renting from Gare du Nord and returning there for a good price. They are the only company that I found that doesn't make you get larger than a midsize to have an automatic. Avis used to but they don't anymore.
Apr 16th, 2003, 06:11 AM
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Just rented a mid-size, automatic from AutoEurope for use in France in July. For a 15 day period cost came to $77 a day, all costs included (CDW waived). I did get %5 for AAA membership and they are also having a 5% sale right now. <BR>Autoeurope confirmed,that we require, automatic on my confirmation . If you can use a straight stick cost would probably be a good deal less.
Apr 16th, 2003, 03:01 PM
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We have used Nova car rental out of northern Ireland for our last 3 trips (2 of them to France) and we have picked up and dropped off in different places. We always rent a small manual transmission, but Nova has consistently beat AutoEurope, and their service is good too.
Apr 22nd, 2003, 06:53 AM
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We rented an automatic car last week in Lyon at the Part-Dieu train station (with drop-off in Lyon) through National/Citer (though reserved through Nova on-line)for about $300 inclusive for a week. No problems at all. We had a brand new Citroen C3 with CD player, etc...
May 2nd, 2003, 01:13 PM
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I have rented in Ireland and Italy in the past and am also now in the process of renting for southern France. Of the US names, I find Alamo surprisingly has a more extensive European network for being a relatively budget brand name in the US. Avis is a good comprehensive benchmark and w/ promotions or mileage may be worth doing. Europcar has a lot of coverage, may be more or less expensive depending on location. Likewise German company Sixt. Here in the UK market b/c people here travel so much in Continental Europe there are a number of very competitive budget brands such as holidayautos.co.uk and easycar.co.uk Also try opodo.co.uk.
I have found that one needs to pay a huge premium for automatic transmission, because such cars are a small percentage of cars (probably just for the rental market for US visitors), so you have to move up several cost categories and make sure to book well in advance to ensure availability at your particular destination. The cheapest advertised prices are often not unlike US price levels, maybe equiv to $200 a week, $30 a day. But automatic transmission and separate drop off get you into $500+ a week.
I have found that one needs to pay a huge premium for automatic transmission, because such cars are a small percentage of cars (probably just for the rental market for US visitors), so you have to move up several cost categories and make sure to book well in advance to ensure availability at your particular destination. The cheapest advertised prices are often not unlike US price levels, maybe equiv to $200 a week, $30 a day. But automatic transmission and separate drop off get you into $500+ a week.
