dutyfree

I am trying to put together a last minute driving trip to Sicily with my daughter next week.

I am getting very confused with the various extras that are now added to your rental requests.Does anyone have thoughts on "no excess insurance" OR excess insurance refunded policies? Which should I be choosing?
I am running into alot of difficulty finding an automatic rental for our time period which is about 10/12 days and am wondering what size would you recommend for Sicily and its small roads for two persons with several pieces of luggage? I was also thinking that something that has a real trunk might be more safe in regards to putting the luggage while sightseeing.
What rental car agencies have you used in Sicily and have you run into any type of problems with them? I am leaning towards Avis and Autoeurope.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

bon_voyage

I used Autoeurope UK which offered much better rates than Autoeurope US when I booked last spring. They are apparently side by side in the office in Maine but that took some doing to figure out. When you call the U.S. Autoeurope number, say "I'd like to pay in pounds" and you'll get transferred to the UK division. I got the maximum, no worry coverage. Like you, we wanted an automatic and the pickings were slim for something that would hold a family of four with luggage. We went from Taormina to Siracusa/Ortigia, Modica, and Selinunte, and dropped the car off at the Palermo airport. On the Tripadvisor site we were warned not to leave the car with luggage in it. There was no other way to see Agrigento and so we took a chance which worked out ok. Where are you planning to go? The freeways are four lanes and easy to drive, at least by our SoCal standards. The cities and towns vary.

dutyfree

Bon voyage-very interesting about the US and UK rates as my daughter lives in the UK and was getting a better price than I was in US dollars on the Autoeurope website.We found the same to be true on the Avis website too.
Do you remember what you rented and did you go for the extra GPS being sent to you? Thanks for your help!

bon_voyage

Dutyfree, we rented an Audi wagon which just fit all our luggage but which I would think would be overkill for two. It was great on the open road but a nailbiter on some of the narrow streets in towns. I had an inch to spare on each side of the car in the alleyway to drop off the luggage at the Casa Talía in Modica, and getting the car turned around in the little courtyard became the stuff of travel legend. I would get the smallest car that you would feel safe driving.
I rented the GPS from Autoeurope because I was told the car wouldn't have a navigation system. In fact, it came with a very spiffy 3-D system that was very helpful, and I'd recommend some kind of navigation system. My sons played around with the rented GPS but never could get it to speak English. One of the agents in Sicily told me that all of their cars (I believe Europcar is the local agency)are less than a year old.

dutyfree

Bon voyage-how did you get Autoeurope to have you pay in pounds but send you the GPS system to your house in the states?

bon_voyage

The GPS rental came from Autoeurope US. One hand didn't seem to mind what the other hand was doing. If someone mentioned that I was renting from AE UK, I just said yes.

Michael

I used http://www.economycarrentals.com/ and the CDW had no excess. I've used them in Turkey for a one way rental, and in Sicily returning the car to the original rental agency. Economy Rentals was cheaper than Autoeurope whose rental included a deductible (excess). On the other hand, Autoeurope has been cheaper for me in France than Economy Rentals, perhaps because I can then carry the CDW on my Visa card with Autoeurope but not with Economy Rentals.

ekscrunchy

Try AutoEurope.it--check prices there and then call AutoEurope in the US and ask them to match the price.

and

Sicily by Car, which is one of the vendors for AutoEurope.

Did you see:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...c-question.cfm

franco

As a side note on which car to choose, where do you want to go in Sicily? The utmost west apart (and excluding Erice in that part of the island), I can't imagine driving in Sicily with an automatic - for those (mostly winding and mountainous) roads, a gear stick seems indispensable. So there's certainly a reason why it's so difficult to find an automatic... it's simply not reasonable to use it there.

sicilyguide

Try to rent with Maggiore. I always use this car rental company when I am there and never really thought that I was being ripped off.