We are going to try our first car rental in October by picking up/dropping off at St Pierre des Corps for our visits around Amboise and Chinon. Not that many car rental companies are located at St Pierre des Corps, and I don't want to start off in the heart of Tours. I am nervous about the whole driving experience, but want to give it a try so I'm planning to pay for the additional coverages (CDW, etc) at least this first time.

I know that Avis is a popular choice due to its location next to the TGV station. The full quote for a Renault Clio, incl all the extras, is 339E for 4 days. That is seems steep but it is the best quote over a couple of other 'majors'.

I also got a quote from Novarentacar.com that includes the basic insurance coverages; with the SuperCDW/theft added on, the full quote for same car is 170E. That is a huge difference. (The location is listed as "Tours" but the provider is Europcar, and they have a St Pierre des Corps location).

Does anyone have comments, warnings or praise for Nova Rent-a-car? Thanks if you do!

Hi trav,

NovaRentaCar was recommended several times on this board as a reliable agency.

I am planning on using them on my next trip. Their affiliate in Bordeau (where I will be) is Alamo. They were about 200E less than going with Alamo directly.

This might help you feel better about Europcar.

We used Nova for renting a car in New Zealand last year. This included the logistics of dropping a car on the North Island and picking up a car on the South Island on a Sunday after crossing Cook's Strait by ferry. Everything went according to plan, and the vehicles provided were exactly as promised or better. I would certainly use them again.

We just booked thru Nova for our Spain trip. They used Alamo. No problems at all and much less expensive than going directly thru the original agent.

OOPS,

I meant to give you this link

http://www.europcar.com/insideeuropcar/ourcompany.html

We've had great experiences with Nova, in England in 2001 and Italy in 2002.

Well, alrighty then! I will save a few Euro and go with Nova.. Thank you.

A cautionary tale: We had engine trouble in our rental car in Southern France 2 weeks ago. Naturally, this occurred on a Sunday evening when everything was closed. We had rented through Alamo/National, and their service recovery was fabulous. They dispatched a taxi (where they found one on a Sunday night in Beziers I'll never know) to convey us to Carcassone for the night (100 KM). THen they paid for another taxi to pick up the new vehicle Monday morning. No extra fees were involved and their toll-free assistance number was prompt and courteous. I will always go with the pricier "major" rental agencies in the future, rather than the knock-off companies. For what it's worth,
Erik

Hi ed,

Are you sure that the "knock off" companies would not provide the same service?

I don't mind receiving 'worst case' scenarious, as those will help me make better plans, such as making sure there is a 24-hr support line for the rental agency, and maybe get a couple of taxi phone numbers for the area. I'm thinking Nova will have a support line if they are a large enough agent to cover multiple European countries...

Have rented thru Nova rent a car and plan to do so again if they come in with the lowest cost. Once you pick the car up any problem you may have is thru where you picked the car up i.e. in our case Alamo/National.

Sandy

We had a car accident not far from Leeds on our trip in England, in our car rented from Nova. The very pleasant fellow who hit us loaned us his cell phone, and my sister called the contact number Nova provided, to tell them about the accident. Within an hour, a tow truck arrived, and we rode up front with the driver into the airport at Leeds, where we were given a replacement car and continued on our merry way, hardly missing a beat.

I can't imagine better service. We had waived the CDW and,true to promise, my sister's Visa gold card covered the damage.

I appreciate your responses...

Sounds like you have gotten the replies you needed, but I will add my 2 cents. I have booked with them the last 5 or 6 times, Scotland and France. No problems at all.