Hi all,
We will be renting a vehicle for two days (paying for three because of small town location) in Umbria, picking up in Perugia. We are staying in Bevagna however must drop off the car back in Perugia as it was the absolute best price I could find. For the three days Kemwell is quoting me $251.73. Is this a good price? I have absolutely no idea what to expect to rent a car in Italy, especially having just rented one in Baltimore for $200.00 for a whole week. Also we are renting a car in Sicily for six days and Kemwell has quoted me $584.00. In both cases this is for an Alpha Romero 159 wagon as we are four adults with luggage, etc.
Thanks for your help!

You might want to check rates on www.kayak.com to get quotes and comparisons on rental cars.

Why don't you compare the prices you have received from Kemwell with Autoeurope (or other companies) to see if you can do any better. The mandatory theft insurance in Italy does add to the price so you can't compare a rental car price in Italy with that of Baltimore. Also it's often more expensive to rent a car for less than 5 days.

Only you can do the comparison since only you know the options on your rental car, i.e., time of year, if you are taking the CDW, how many drivers and any other option that is offered.

Also check with AutoEurope - many Fodorites, including me, speak very highly of the company and their rates.

The Sicily sounds generally correct - I just checked prices on an 8-day rental of a smaller car, and it was a little bit less than what you were quoted.

crckwc1-thanks, I didn't think of that and will certainly check it out.
adrienne-I did check with autoeurope as well and they were considerably higher at $358.09 and $704.61 respectively. Yes, the required theft insurance really adds to the cost. Hopefully there won't be any hidden costs added on as well.
Lexma90-I started with autoeurope actually and then read something about trying kemwell so I did. They do offer better pricing then autoeurope does for the same type of vehicle.

You'll often find a 7 day rental will cost the same as the 3 day rental.

For that car the prices are typical.

Take a look at the rates for a Fiat Croma. We just rented one for 8 days in Italy (last week.) Very, very comfortable for 4 adults with luggage. Terrific gas mileage (stick/diesel) - the gauge never seemed to move.

kybourbon-Yes it is definitely more costly than here with all of the requirements. But the freedom of driving around Umbria and Sicily (Yikes!) is well worth it. P.S. reading another thread about 10 days in Italy with a carryon-I had to laugh when I read your comment about Prell shampoo because I used that shampoo my whole growing up years...awhile back
bobthenavigator-thanks I sure appreciate your input!
MarcelWasRight-So you were totally comfortable in the Fiat Croma, huh? I will check rates to see what kind of savings we might gain.-Thank You!

Yes, I think it is a good price. I'm renting a compact car from Kemwel for 4 days picking up in Florence and dropping in Sorrento for $282.62. Make sure you pick up at city locations (not the airport) for cheaper rentals in Europe (and the US!).

AutoEurope and Kemwel are actually the same company, but it's worth trying AutoEurope anyway because you might get a lower quote. Also, go to the European AutoEurope websites and check there. If, for example, you rent through the UK site or French site, you might get a lower price. Once it comes to going through with the transaction they won't care what your actual country of origin is.

This may not matter in your situation, but one year, I got quotes from AutoEurope and someone else (don't remember who). The someone else's price was better, but I preferred AutoEurope's rental agency's hours that they were open for when we picked up the car. When I asked, AutoEurope agreed to meet the other place's price. And I prefer AutoEurope because they've treated us so well - easy to reach at all hours, helpful when I had a flat tire in the Czech Republic, easy to change dropoff times and locations on various trips.

AutoEurope will usually meet a competitor's price. Once Kemwell quoted a little lower and AutoEurope met it without a fuss. Apparently they are the same company.

We rented through Kemwel for pick-up/return at FCO. When we reserved during the first week in June Autoeurope was pricing cars with and without a hefty deductible and did not appear to have a cancelation penalty. The Kemwel rate was quoted with a zero deductible and the rate was the same as the Autoeurope rate with the deductible. But the Kemwel had to be canceled two days prior to the pick-up time for refund. Since it was rather unlikely that both couples sharing the car would need to cancel we opted for the Kemwel rate.

And yes it was completely fine for 4 and we agreed that it made us look forward to Fiat coming to the USA market. Each of us had a large rolling duffel, and reasonably sized bags for the overhead and underseat areas to stow. BTW - other friends needing a 6 passenger rented the Fiat Ulysse and liked it. But storage was very tight for six+ bags.

We are going to Italy in July and rented a mini van for 3 weeks---we checked with many cos. and found Kemwell was the best price! I am surprised to hear they are the same co.---they wanted much more for the same car!

sorry--I left out----- the same co as autoeurope.

OK. I wrote about this on my trip report last year. We reserved a car for about 10 days with pick up and drop off at the Rome airport. I priced the car through AutoEurope and Hertz. Then I went to the Hertz.it site and rented it for substantially less than both AutoEurope rate and Hert.com rate. Hertz.it is in Italian. But I compared the rental agreement with the Hertz.com agreement (English, of course) and they were the same. So if you want to fuss with working your way through the Italian rental agreement, you may well save some money. We certainly did

MarcelWasRight-thanks for letting me know that you were indeed very comfortable in the Fiat. I will research a bit more today to see what I come up with.
astuart-Knowing that Autoeurope and Kemwell are the same company, I was surprised to find such a difference in pricing. Kemwell mentioned that they had a price guarantee and would match any lower price I found.
MartaD-I find it interesting that you screen name in Italian (martedi)means "Tuesday"! I will try to muddle my way through the Italian site today and see what I can decipher. I know that ekscrunchy found big differences in pricing between the US and European sites.