Which car rental company in Italy is the best? Lease or daily rental.

AutoEurope (www.autoeurope.com; 1-800-223-5555). Lease if you need the car for more than 17 days; it's cheaper.

StCirq is 100 % correct. I have done extensive research on car rental in Italy. Where some car rentals seem cheaper, if you look at the fine print and ask them about the insurance coverage (only some insurance coverage is mandatory in Italy, not complete coverage), you'll see that AutoEurope is far cheaper. We were very happy with their service. They use Avis and other major agencies. We thought we would get the worst car since we were going through a consolidator and paying so much less, but we received a brand new Alfa Romeo.

I find it worthwhile to check more than one source. I recommend a quick survey of not only www.autoeurope.com but also<BR><BR>www.its-cars-hotels.com<BR>www.kemwel.com<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>www .travelocity.com<BR><BR>and on my latest trip to europe, I git the best deal directly from Avis, when I allowed Continental airlines to connect me with them.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Auto Europe, Auto Europe, and Auto Europe. Other rental companies will quote you a lower rate, but Auto Europe's rate includes aeverything, so there are no nasty surprises when you get to the counter. Also, they have ZERO deductible on the CDW (mandatory in Italy). We had a little accident in Umbria, and no charge ever appeared on our credit card -- EVER. They are the best. If you can find a better rate, they will match it or improve on it.

We rented one from Hertz (an auto Opel Astra 1.6 they gave us, even though we only wanted an Economy) only this mid-Oct (yes, we just got back). It costed us Eur 940 for 14 days, with zero deductible on CDW. Would have been cheaper if we didn't opt for the Super CDW, but we scratched the car in Amalfi , so blessing in disguise?<BR><BR>I've tried AutoEurope on the website, but didn't manage to get a cheaper rate than Hertz, especially for Auto cars. It's even better if you can get a discount plan or corporate rate - i'm not too sure whether AutoEurope offers that.<BR><BR>Search around for the best deals - car rentals is very expensive in Italy. Not to mention petrol.

Another vote from a satisfied customer for AutoEurope. It's my understanding that if you find a lower rate than they quote, they will match it. We used them most recently last spring in Italy and, as others have said, it all went like clockwork. We too had a large scratch on the passenger side of the car when we turned it in, but because we opted for total coverage (no deductible) we incurred no charges.<BR><BR>

Rex- I think Kemwel is owned by Autoeurope.

Thanks, jj (don't know if you are right or wrong, and haven't looked into it further before posting this).<BR><BR>But might it still be that they maintain brand (and operations) independence?<BR><BR>These kinds of business relations are fascinating to me. For example, I am sometimes employed by two different companies, and one owns the other. But they remain fiercely competitive with each other; they share no information between themselves, and bid against each other for the same clients and staff to fill positions.<BR><BR>I find the (social) &quot;science&quot; of economics baffling, and I have no idea if this phenomenon - - economic competition between corporate &quot;siblings&quot; - - is a just a little blip in present-day (academic) thinking on &quot;Western&quot; economics. Or is it a bona fide thing that economist study? Does it occur in &quot;other&quot; political and economic/cultural settings (i.e., Islamic or Asian or indigenous peoples)?<BR><BR>I admit that this discussion is only tangentially related to travel.<BR>

Rex<BR><BR>I would guess that capricious laws with the various political entities, whether it be state-to-state or country-to-country, is the reason for such redundantcies. Sometimes it is easier to register as a &quot;new&quot; company than to jump through various hoops to alter the original business charter.

It seems autoeurope is the one where CDW truly means $0 US deductible. We rented through Avis and were surprised to find we had to pay more money upon picking up our car in Florence so as to have $0 deductible.