ingridshawn

REceived a great quote from AutoEurope but am now trying to determine if we should just get the car for more time. How bad are the tolls? Also, I heard parking is terrible in Pisa, Lucca and Seina? Is there truth to this

turnercindy

Ann1 states 'For Italy, Auto Europe includes complete coverage for the price.' When I check autoeurope, 'rental does not include insurance coverage for personal injuries to driver or passengers'. This sounds like critical coverage to have. Can anyone clarify? They also state that road tax is not included, which is $2.75 per day. I assume this is mandatory, and will be tacked on?

JImWagner

I've rented from both Avis and Hertz and once from a local dealer in Lucca when we arrived at 13:05 to find the Lucca Hertz dealer closed at 13:00. There were no surprises from the local dealer who charged a simlilar rate to Avis and Hertz. First time I rented I was shocked to find the quote of $240 per week was closer to a thousand by the time I got home but now I pay better attention and am firm in what I want and don't want. Once returned a car late, after closing and they decided I had damaged a tire and not totally filled the tank. Hertz refused to take my side in the matter so I got stuck for $700. Make sure someone is there to take the car!

On another note, in Lucca, the Hertz dealer, perhaps feeling badly about my need to rent another car over the weekend upgraded me to a diesel Peugot which was wonderful. I drove a million km on two tanks of gas. The only downside was when I returned the car in Sienna, they tried to charge me a daily rate instead of the weekly rate because I had picked the care up two days late! They thought I was quite illogical when I protested but we finally worked it out. BTW, I love Italian drivers. They are better than drivers almost anywhere. I live on Maui where the I am now paying $2.97 a gallon for hi-test for a powerful car so $4.00 a litre doesn't sting me as the cars I rent always get better mileage than the cars I own.

pears43

Husband and I just returned from 2 weeks in Italy. We took the train from FCO to Termini, then the #64 bus to Largo Argentina near our hotel--that all worked out well, and we emerged unscathed from the notorious pickpocket express (#64 bus). Spent 5 days in Rome on foot or on buses, then took the train to Lucca for 2 days and then to Cinque Terre for 3 days. One piece of advice if you take trains--take only one carry-on roller bag each. The trains have narrow steep doorways, and hoisting bigger bags up them would have been a real drag. One good piece of advice we got from the folks at EnjoyRome (3 blocks north of Termini)--buy rail tickets in advance. We found there were long lines at Termini when we bought our tickets the day before going up to Lucca, so that was one possible hassle averted. There was a one-day rail strike while we were in CT, which happens ar regular intervals, i understand, but it didn't crimp our style too much. We picked up a car at Hertz in la Spezia, and I would not rent from Hertz again, because it was ridiculously expensive--about $110 per day--and the car they gave us was too big for driving through narrow streets and up narrow winding roads--it was a Ford Focus SUV--small by US standards but big for Italy. I was hesitant to drive into some of the little towns that have steep, narrow streets because I didn't want to get stuck somewhere trying to put the car into first or reverse (it was a stick shift) with no room to maneuver. Next time I'm going to try to get a little Fiat or similar from Autoeurope so I can drive farther up into vertical towns like Todi and not have to walk so far (hubby and I are in our 60s, and while in fairly good shape, would rather have walked down some of these places rather than up, then down).
Since we picked up the car elsewhere we didn't know where to return it at Rome airport--and there are NO SIGNS there telling you where to return rental cars!!!! Finally we managed to find someone who spoke English who told us the rental car return is in parking building C, 4th level. When we complained to Hertz about the lack of signs, they said the airport won't allow them to put one up. We didn't drive in Rome, but elsewhere it was a pleasant experience with usually good roads and clear signs. When we occasionally got lost, people were very helpful and we managed to find everything despite our poor Italian.

mozart

Yes, $4-$5+USD per equivalent gallon of gasoline is accurate. Diesel is less - do not be afraid of renting diesel - European diesel engines are very responsive and efficient.

mikemo

I agree with REX. We have been very satisfied with autoeurope. A MB C180K 6 sp @ FRA was great in the Alps in Sept '02 and we have a "similar" rental in Oporto in July.
I did notice that the choice gets smaller and the cost much higher as pick-up date approaches.
Enjoy!
M

RufusTFirefly

Don't check with just one rental source. No one company has the lowest price, everywhere, every time. Autoeurope and Nova Rentacar are two well-established, reliable companies. Check with both of them as a minimum effort.

Betsy

Patrick, we've always specified a diesel engine through AutoEurope and have not ever paid more for it than a regular car. Our favorite was a VW Golf that got 50 mi/gal (that's right mi/gal, as figured and converted by the family mathematician).

ggnga

I used Nova RentaCar on the last 4 rentals, 3 in France and 1 in Scotland.
I did lots of checking and they had the best rate. Their website is easy to use. My last two rentals the car came from EuropCar. Last week I had a Renault Clio Deisel with AC and it got fabulous mileage. When I checked EuropCar's own website, booking directly with them rather than going through Nova, it would have been almost 100 euros more for the 6 day rental. Nova's prices include collision and theft but with a fairly high deductible. However, for 5 euro per day more for my car class I got the deductible lowered to about 100 euros.