Some interesting information regarding rental vs lease of car in Europe. I need a car for 29 days--pick up and return CDG-Paris. In the past, I had leased from Peugot or Renault.

In checking with my credit card company, I found out the following: My card covers physical damage and/or theft of the vehicle up to $50,000 for rental of 31 days or less. This is worldwide coverage--includes Eastern bloc countries.

I must make reservation with my credit card and pay final bill with same.

Rental for 29 days will cost $876 vs lease cost of $1,363. Quite a savings!!

Check with your card company to see what coverage they afford.

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover

Hi J,

Which rental firm and which lease firm are you comparing?

What car(s)?

When are you going?

Sometimes a lease can be cheaper than a rental.

Some friends leased a car for several weeks in Europe last year. They definitely saved some good money going that route.

I think that there is a big differential between a rental and a lease when renting a small car with standard shift. However, one poster maintained that when renting an automatic, the price evens out. My impression is that the price evens out above 45 days or so. It's the difference between the daily rate of the lease beyond the original 17 days (it used to be $20 per day for a Renault Clio or equivalent Peugeot) and the cost of a rental (which used to be closer to $30 per day). When I looked at leasing this year, I felt that the base rate had increased by a few hundred dollars from previous years, whereas I am still renting from Kemwel at a rate of $31 per day non-inclusive; but I am covered by my credit card.

From the early 90's on we leased (actually a buy back) a car because it saved significant money. This is for a period over 17 days, the minimum, and we usually went for 21/22 days. But for our last trip in 2005 it was much cheaper to rent a car than to do the buy/back deal. The same is true for this summer. The difference for the same model of car came to about $200. I don't see how the program can continue successfully with that difference.

Be sure the rental charge includes all taxes, which the buy-back plans do. Usually insurance isn't the big ticket add-on, it's the tax.

The price I quote includes tax, as it normally does when renting through a broker such as Kemwel or AutoEurope.

The rental is through Europecar and the lease is with Renault. Both quotes are for a Renault Megane. Gas, manual, AC and all taxes and fees included. So the difference apparently is for the insurance coverage.

Not all credit cards afford the coverage I mentioned. One would have to call and check with their company. Any claim would have to be settled with the rental company in Europe--then the claim and particulars submitted to the credit card company back in the States.

Jinx

Oh,yeah--the rental and lease comparisons are for September 8 through October 5.

And in the past, leases were cheaper than rentals for periods of 17 days or longer.

Jinx