car travel in Europe
 

Myself and two other friends will be travelling for 21 days on continental Europe. We're planning on travelling by car. I'm wondering if anyone has any good suggestions as far as whether to rent a car or buy one from a company that then buys it back at the end of your journey.

I think the leasing option you're talking about is done in france through Peugot or Renault. Other posters claim renting in Germany from AutoEurope.com or Kemwell (both brokers) is just as good. If you do a text search here for car AND leasing you'll bring up previous threads on this topic. I think a lot depends on where you're starting, so you may want to post that for others to offer help. Good luck!

Oh, you're just talking about renting a car from a car dealer instead of a car rental (leasing) company. Dealers in the U.S. rent their cars, but they are not competetive with the likes of Avis and Budget.

Hi, if you do decide to rent a car you may want to check with the credit card you will book with, some cards have a limit on the number of days you can book at any one time because of the insurance liabilities I think. Just wanted to pass this along. Have a wonderful time.
Susan

Yes, it is a great deal if you start in France. You can get the deal in other major cities, but the drop charge may negate the savings. I have done it twice. It is a new car, of your choosing within the brand, and includes all the insurance and road service. I would start in Paris or Nice, and hit the best of France, Switzerland, and Italy and return it in France. In 21 days that is more than enough travel.

One big advantage of the leasing (really, buy-back) programs through Renault and Peugeot is that 100% of all insurance is covered. No CDW hijacking or fearmongering by the counter person. What a relief!

Try www.renaultusa.com for all the details.

Check the prices carefully. Leasing is simpler because everything is included, but it might not be cheaper. The longer you rent, the cheaper it is. Diesel is also cheaper if you do a lot of mileage, but diesels are usually not available as automatics. If there is something wrong with the car, you cannot turn it in for another one. You do not pay for the repairs, but you lose the time it takes to do them. If Paris is the beginning or end of the trip, make sure that the lease agreement starts on the day you plan to leave Paris and/or on the day you arrive in Paris. Having a car in Paris itself is a waste of time. If you plan 4 days in Paris, you are down to a 17 day lease, which is the minimum available. Renting might be the way to go.

groovyjoe
I agree with the others who recommend the lease option. I leased a car from Renault last yearand ordered the smallest car available. Apparently they were out of that model so they gave me a double upgrade to a more expensive model at no extra cost. It is worth the peace of mind to know you have full coverage and no hidden charges. I rented a car from another company two years ago and was unpleasantly surprised with all the unexpected charges that appeared on my credit card billing.
Enjoy your trip
Don

We're leaning towards the rental option, however the talk of hidden fees worries us. Can you elaborate on what kind of hidden fees we should possibly expect. Thank you.
Groovy

We rented from Nova rentacar (a broker like autoeurope.com) last year in Germany. There were no hidden fees. We paid exactly what was shown on the website when we made our reservation. There is a deductable on the insurance--you can pay extra to reduce the deductable if you want to. We didn't and had no problems. The car was a new Opel Vectra station wagon from Alamo.

http://rentacar-europe.com/