Having never rented a car in Europe during June, I was surprised to receive quotes for US$800+ for 10 days of rental. Is this typical for that time of year for an economy rental? If not, does anyone have recommendations for good sources of inexpensive rentals?

Thanks for any feedback!

Which big Mercedes is this? Seriously, it sounds high to me. Where are you getting this quote from? Have you eliminated unnecessary insurance covered by your credit card? Is there some major fee for drop off somewhere?

Who quoted you this? Was it an automatic? A "high-end" automatic?

I just plugged in arbitrary dates, Jun 7-17 on autoeurope.com and got three different midsize models including a Passat, for 535-580 (this reflects the book online discount of 10%, I think).

Maybe also check out www.its-cars-hotels.com

Best wishes,

Rex

Glad to know that it does sound high to others ... bit of sticker shock. Unfortunately, it's a bit later in June and one of the quotes was from AutoEurope for $800-something. Yep, it's automatic. Will check into paring down the insurance to see if that helps. Thanks for the suggestion, Rex, will check out the site.

I booked this just last week: Jun1-8,04
Intermediate(VW Passat)/4 dr/manual/air
$297.23
Rate includes VAT,airport tax,liability insurance,fire insurance and unlimited mileage
This was through www.gemut.com
Their website lists a Audi A4 for $269.00 if your looking for somethng a little more upscale.

Or you can call direct to Andrew Bestor @ 1-800-521-6722x1 He'll give you all the info you need on CDW etc.
Good Luck

A German railpass for 10 days of unlimited travel costs $400, $315 each if you have a companion (twinpass): no $6/gal gas, no tolls, no insurance, no traffic. You probably would need fewer than 10 travel days for a 10-day trip. I can't begin toimagine why a car would cost that much money.

One simple word did the explanation -- AUTOMATIC!!!

i used gemut in november for two different rentals and was delighted with both andrew's service and with the price...they both ended up being hertz rentals...
andrew is great to talk to and gave good suggestions....we had ford mondeo's and they were perfect for 4 people...one had gps which was great once we got it to speak english...

ditch the automatic to save tons of money and use your credit card to waive the insurance...if you do not have one that does this, get one....you will save tons of money this way

You can also save money by renting a car in the city instead of the airport. You might consider a combination rail/drive pass.

It could be a thrill of your life to get into a big, heavy German car and let it loose on the autobahn. I wouldn't want to do it in a sub-compact though.

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I'm researching more. Patrick, yes, I know ... never learned manual. Oddly, the manual car prices were high, too.