We are planning a trip to France and we'll be using a car to move around (see "3 weeks trip to France" thread)

What are the pros and cons of renting vs leasing a car (from Renault or Peugeot)?

We understand that leasing implies having a TT license plate, which automatically identifies us as tourists. Would this affect the safety and security of the car and the belongings?

Comments anyone?

jet29

I am certain others will comment about the license plate "identification" issue although I cannot imagine this to be any kind of real problem in France.

A hardly unique recommendation, but one I think bears repeating would be that you rent (or lease) a car felt to be large enough to hold all your luggage in the trunk and out of sight. Temptation is hard for some to resist.

Enjoy your trip.

Renault tends to be cheaper, but Autoeurope might match the price with an equivalent Peugeot that has a bigger engine. We are getting a Peugeot 206 2.0 engine with AC for the same price as a Renault Clio with a 1.6 engine and AC. Mileage is not as good, but that will not make much difference over three weeks of travel. There are few reasons to choose one brand over the other since either car will be brand new and reliability is not an issue. With a buy/sell option, the services provided are the same with both companies--I know because I had to take the car in once with the Peugeot and once with the Clio. The buy/sell option covers everything, but it has a relatively steep cost up front. In other words, you are not paying $22 a day for your first seventeen days, but that might be the cost per day for the car for subsequent days (price per day varies according to the model). For your 21 days, you might want to check if a rental might be a better deal, taking into account possible extra insurance costs and value added tax on the rental. For the buy/sell costs, go to the Renault web site which will give you total costs on the site, whereas Peugeot is a little more coy about giving prices.

Rented a car from Autoeurope last October in Nice. Just checked my pictures and the license plate did NOT start with TT. In fact I believe the first 3 numbers (704) designated the car was registered in Paris.
Anyone know if I am correct?

OOOOOOPS, just reread your post. I rented and did NOT lease so TT may be correct.

Don't worry about the red TT plates. In France, all license plates reflect the department in which you reside. So if you are a Parisian, you are an outsider and a potential victim once you leave the Paris area because your car is clearly identified as a non-local car. I have driven with TT plates quite a few times and never had any problems. On the other hand, I once borrowed a French friend's car to go to Spain and he asked me not to drive in Basque country because the Basque separatists were angry at the French government's cooperation in arresting Spanish separatists in France and were slashing the tires of cars with French plates.

Thank you all for your reply.

Michael,
Thank you for your comments on this thread and all others on this travel site regarding our trip. I now realize that a TT plate only identifies you as a EU non-resident traveling in France and nothing more and in our case probably a code 75. I guess it's the same as a NYC resident with an NY plate travelling down to Florida, being identified as an out-of-state visitor on his way south. I'm becoming overly concerned about safety and security matters, lately!

Thinking further, it's more important to use a car with proper trunk space and able to hide safely our belongings such as, in a sedan (407 or Laguna).

Thank you,

jet29