MplsJAC

We are booked to go to Italy and France this month. What car is best to rent to drive through the Alps, Provence, Piedmont and Tuscany that has good gas efficiency and is safe? I see a few Fiat, Ford and Peugeot choices. Is economy class good enough? It will be just the two of us and a couple suitcases. On our route it adds up to 30 hours of driving over 18 days.

Rastaguytoday

Basic questions.

How old are you?
Can you drive a stick shift?
Can your trental car be taken from France to Italy? I've had rentals in France and Switaerland that said all insurance was voided when traveling to Italy.
How large are your suitcases?

Go to a couple of auto rental sites and see what they have and if it will fit. Hertz, for example, has a popup on each auto saying how many people it will fit and how many suitcases.

I would also look to get a diesel auto. Diesel is cheaper in Europe and gas mileage is great.

Here's a tip website http://about-france.com/travel.htm
Also, look at www.viamichelin.vom for roads to travel, toll costs and speed limits.

MplsJAC

Thank you. We are definitely old enough. : ) I don't think we really want to drive a stick but we both can. Right now I have something booked through Hertz. I noticed the company Euro___, I can't remember the name, seems to be cheaper. I don't know anything about it.

As for suitcases, probably 2 large ones. We definitely want a 4 door car. I don't want to be in a super mini car. I won't feel safe.

joannyc

Economy class car won't hold 2 "large" suitcases in the trunk (or the hatch-back with the cover pulled over). If you are stopping anywhere along your travels with your luggage in your car, you don't want one of the suitcases being visible in the back seat.

Automatic transmission will not be gas efficient. Manual transmission is much better.

The company you are thinking of is Europcar. They are a reputable company.

Try looking at kemwel.com and autoeurope.com (they are sister companies and will match any better rate) for better rates.

I always rent through Kemwel and every rental has been with Europcar.

joannyc

Also, picking up in one country and dropping in another country, almost always results in a one-way drop charge.

Picking up at one location in one country and dropping at another location in the same country typically doesn't incur the drop charge.

You may want to consider two rentals... one in France and one in Italy. Dropping in France as close to Italy as you can, then taking a train or bus into Italy and picking up a second rental car.

Or, it may be worth it to you to keep only one rental for the entire trip... depending on the drop fee. You should do the math to see what is acceptable.

And do check the insurance for Italy!

MplsJAC

Thank you. We are picking up the car in Milan and dropping it off in Milan.

Thanks for the tips on manual vs automatic. I didn't think it was that big of a difference in fuel consumption. I'll check out Kemwel.com and Autoeurope.com as well.

Julie

MplsJAC

One last thing, does anyone have a comment on a Fiat vs a Peugeot vs a Ford?

MplsJAC

One last thing, does anyone have a comment on a Fiat vs a Peugeot vs a Ford?

ekscrunchy

I would not count on diesel being much cheaper than regular petrol, as stated by a poster above. I've seen it running about the same as regular on recent trips to Italy. If there is a difference, it will likely be minimal.

hetismij2

Actually modern automatics can in fact be more fuel efficient than a normal gear box, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

As to make of car - there is no guarantee you will get the make of car you reserve - they are only given as an example. You should get one in the size you reserve, but not necessarily the make.
Modern cars are all much of a muchness in the categories you will be considering so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

StCirq

You don't get to choose the exact model of car in most cases, so it really doesn't matter; they just present you with sample scenarios. And often you'll show up and be offered an upgrade to a bigger/better car at no extra cost. So don't think you can choose a particular car - you can't.

kerouac

Although I end up having preferences, every brand of car proposed by the renters is completely reliable. Of course, living in Europe and renting often since I don't own a car, I automatically know how to pick and choose when they rental agent says "do you want a C1, an Aygo or a Twingo?" Since you probably would not know what to answer, stick to questions like "which of those has the most space for baggage?" or "which one is best for driving in the mountains?" The car rental people will tell you such things with no problem.

For France, take a diesel car whenever it is offered. In any case, 80% of the cars in France run on diesel, which is cheaper and gets better mileage. The current difference between regular petrol and diesel in French service stations is about 20 centimes per liter.

As suggested earlier, do not do an international drop-off. There are plenty of places where you can drop a car just before the border, take a train to the other country for 5km, and pick up a different car in the new country.

MplsJAC

Thank you, kerouac, StCirq, hetismij2 and ekscrunchy.

Gordon_R

Read what StCirq wrote - you will get whatever make of car they have available in the category you booked, you cannot reserve a specific model. The cars shown on the hire car company websites are just for illustration.

Tomalesbay

we are presently in Corsica, rented our car through Autoeurope, and used their American website and address.
We paid in $ and found it cheaper all around. Good luck.

simpsonc510

We always rent in Zurich from Avis. We never can pick the car make and model, but we can always select the size/style of car we want. We have had standard and automatic transmissions, and it is easier to drive up and down the hills and streets (and stop on hillsides for a red light) with automatic. DH just commented just last week that he was glad we were in an automatic, as we were stopped on a rather steep hillside for a red light in Zurich. The only make of car we have not been so happy with was called a Skoda. Other than that, the cars have all been quite reliable. We travel to Europe twice a year, and we always rent a car, so lots of experience over 30 years of doing this.

Christina

I've always rented automatics in France and lots of them give very good gas mileage. I never drive hundreds and hundreds of miles, anyway, I probably don't put on more than a couple hundred in a week, at most. But I think gas efficiency just goes with the size, mainly, you can assume a small car will get decent mileage. All the ones I've had in France got good mileage, but I get the smallest automatic available -- I've had a VW Golf, some kind of Alfa Romeo (which I really liked, it didn't have a clutch but you had to shift gears yourself, but that was easy to drive, sort of a half automatic), and a Mercedes. I really liked that Mercedes, not sure I've seen one in the US, it was a compact economy size Mercedes, sort of a hatchback type car. This was it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_A-Class

loved it, got it from Europcar in Marseille.