winnick

We are planning a trip to Dordogne next year for 3 weeks. Is it cheaper to rent or lease a car for that time frame?

Also, which month is better in terms of weather, June or September? We were thinking of either month.

michele_d

Hi winnick,
We did the Peugeot buy back last year for 8 weeks and it was very easy and cheaper for our needs. You can get on the sites and compare prices for your itinerary for both the buy back car and the car rental.

This is the buyback site http://www.autoeurope.com/buyback.cfm

and this is the rental site http://www.autoeurope.com/carsplash.cfm

Michele

Sarastro

If you use the free CDW coverage offered by your bank card and assuming the coverage on your card covers 3 weeks (this varies by card so you will need to check) I have never seen a lease program that was cheaper than a rental through Autoeurope.

Of course you will want to make your own determination but a quick check at Autoeurope of the cost differential between a Peugot 308 for a 3 week rental and a 3 week lease for the same vehicle shows the rental at basic rates was about one third the cost of the lease.

StCirq

Agree that a rental for 3 weeks is likely to be cheaper than a lease. I would go in September, but June, especially the early part, is also nice.

Jeff801

It may be that your price decision will depend on the type of car you want. We just treated ourselves to three weeks in France in convertible, and the cost was substantially less for a lease buy-back.

Incidentally, when our flight from London to Geneva was delayed, I called the Peugeot Open Europe desk and was assured by the women I spoke to that she would wait beyond closing time for us to arrive. She did just that, even on a Sunday evening.

Michael

It depends on what you are willing to drive. A standard shift Peugeot 206 cost us $731 (Spring prices?) for 30 days through Kemwel, using our credit card to cover the CDW. If you look at leasing, I believe that it starts around $950 for 17 days.

winnick

Thanks for your replies and great info. We want an automatic which is what we had this past year in Provence renting from Auto Europe.

CJT0427

One advantage for the lease-buy-back program is that you can pick your car & that is what you will get. When you rent, you get whatever they have on the lot that's an "equivalent" to what you thought you reserved. This can be an issue if you have special needs, ie., an automatic, or in our case, we need a car with a large enough trunk to handle my mom's walker as well as our luggage. I've ordered a Peugot 5008 through AutoEurope's lease-buy-back program for 35 days for our trip this coming September and found it to be considerably less expensive than a comparable rental. The lease-buy-back cost is all-inclusive, including insurance without deductible -- no added costs once we get there. There is some initial paperwork to complete prior to arrival, but other than that it works pretty much the same way as renting for pick-up & drop-off.

Sarastro

The dynamic of this question just changed by your insistence upon an automobile with an automatic transmission. If you want to be guaranteed a car like this, you may want to seriously consider the lease, even if it costs more.

As a rule, the French prefer cars with manual transmissions and as you migrate from the large tourist rental pickup locations (CDG or ORY for example) your chances of actually receiving the car you ordered are reduced. Few rental cars having automatic transmissions are actually stocked by rental companies. At a smaller location (Avignon or Aix-en-Provence for example) all it takes is an accident or an extension by the previous renter and your promised auto transmission model is no longer available, regardless of what your reservation may indicate.

If an automatic transmission is really that important to you, leasing will preclude any unknowns or disappointment.

winnick

Thanks, good info. We are planning to arrive in either Bordeaux or Toulouse. Do you think it will be a problem getting an automatic in either of these locations? We didn't have an issue in Avignon. An automatic is what we prefer but I've driven manual transmissions in the past.

Christina

I've rented A/T cars in France 3 times and never had a single problem getting one in places like Marseille and Montpellier, etc.

Paul_M

It makes sense to lease for longer than 3 weeks. Actually, the longer the cheaper.
I often get good deals by looking at limited time offers those buy back programs have, I just checked with Renault USA now it looks like you can get a car for $24 a day after you pay the base price. Theses guys are preferred for US travelers.

The buy back programs are all-inclusive and have no age restrictions. So if you are 18 years old and have bad parking skills, that's OK, as everything is covered and zero-deductible fully comprehensive insurance will take care of everything.

The credit car insurance (that you only get with rentals), in case of an accident, actually ends up charging your credit card for all the damages first and when you come back from the trip you have to deal with the credit card company to have the charges removed, so it’s kind of a hassle if you ask me.

Also if you consider driving across Europe, with a lease you get unlimited mileage unlike with rentals. And last but not least, with a lease you always get a brand new car so don't confuse rental with a lease because it's kind of a big deal.

Almost forgot, consider the pick-up and drop-off locations if you are planning to make a one-way trip from say France to Italy. If there are available drop-off locations (Renault Eurodrive has 40 across Europe) different locations may charge you extra transport fee.

Michael

Paul_M,

Leasing is OK if you are willing to pay $1907 (from the Renault site for a Mégane) instead of $1329 (from the Autoeurope site for a Mégane) for a 21 day rental. Unlimited mileage and no deductible on the rental too.

It pays to compare.

Paul_M

That's true only for short-term rentals. If you rent that same car for 6 weeks the price will double unlike with a lease where you'll be paying a much smaller daily fee.

Although I rent cars for short term, for longer terms I prefer to lease because there are all these additional fees associated with rentals like: taxes, options like GPS cost extra, age limitations, no same model guarantee, all the paperwork and registration at the pickup, and last but not least the rental car is not new.

In my opinion the best way of putting this is with RenaultUSA leases you get a lot of perks, no taxes, no headache and no extra fees upon arrival, kind of like at all inclusive resorts where people pay a little extra in the beginning but in the end get a lot more and save as well.

Verdict: You save with a lease when leasing for 3 weeks or more.

Michael

I was only referring to the period given: <i>It makes sense to lease for longer than 3 weeks</i>. The break even point is about 50 days. And this is for automatics. I am renting two cars from June 2 to July 10 because I am exceeding the 30 day maximum per rental on my credit card for it to carry the CDW, and the total rental will come to less than $1000 including the added fees for train station pick-up, road tax, etc. But it is the smallest standard shift available. The smallest lease costs more than $1000 for the first 17 days because the insurance, registration and other fees are front-loaded on that part of the lease.


It is necessary to always compare.

StCirq

Why do people keep topping ancient threads?