stormyhd

I am spending 5 days in the Lecce area in March. It seems that that car rentals are high with limited miles. Who has the best deal with unlimited miles?
Thanks
Gail

rex

You've inquired at www.autoeurope.com - - or no?

Best wishes,

Rex

rex

p.s. - - you could get no better advice than to learn a manual transmission car before you go. A sympathetic friend can teach you in a single afternoon.

Believe this like the fact that the sun comes up in the east - - any car rental company that "promises" you an automatic transmission vehicle - - will occasionally shrug their shoulders at some customers and say "Sorry - - zis is all vee have"... and they will not be lying. Things happen; customers fail to bring cars back on time; cars need to go to the shop; they may have requested one from an nearby bigger city, but it didn't arrive.

You can protect yourself from tears and hysteria in their parking lot, trying to figure out what the hell are you going to do.

It's a skill to be learned that will serve you well for life.

And save you hundreds of dollars on one single rental, in Europe.

Lumpy1

Automatics go for about 20% higher than shift trannys. And like the poster says, not always available even with a reservation.
Also Gemutlichkeit magazine does rentals and most of the time is cheaper than AE and they broker thru them.

http://gemut.com/index.asp

Zakochaney

Heed the advice from the earlier post - learn how to drive a standard transmission. Most Europeans drive only good old stick shift - learn at home, then you will always have a car waiting for you

Sampaguita

Its hard to find car with automatic gears in Italy, apparently they are made only in limited quantity for disabled people (or so they tell me). But many rental agencies do offer Mercedes with auto, if you don't mind to pay a bit extra (sometimes if you are lucky you get upgraded) and Avis does have 4 door Smart cars which are quite cute and have a combo manual/auto shift.

AP6380

Rent.it & thrifty.it has always been cheaper for me.

stormyhd

Thanks for the help. I know I should learn. I ride a Harley so I don't think I will have that much of a problem.
Gail

ira

Hi S,

Also try www.novarentacar.com

tcreath

I agree with the above. Some friends of mine reserved an automatic in Italy a few years back, but when they got there the agency only had manuals. Fortunately they knew how to drive manual; otherwise it would have been a disaster. I would hate for that to happen to anyone else.

Tracy

Powell

We use automatic cars. We use Autoeurope because they arrange rentals with all the leasing firms and have access to many lessors should the one they get for you not have an automatic on hand.

If you want a compact car be sure to so specify. You will get a confirmation. If you do not specify the leasing companies frequently wheel out huge SUV's that are automatics but useless in rural areas and villages. Autoeurope has competitive rates.

Anthony

Mimar

If you don't know how to drive a standard transmission, Italy is not the place to start. It's not all that easy, and you will have the distractions of Italian drivers, strange traffic signs, trying to find your way, etc.

If you pick up your car in a larger city or busy airport, you will have a better chance of getting the automatic. Nobody I know has gotten an stick when they reserved an automatic, but I can see this happening in some small town.

tcreath

Mimar, my friends were in Rome picking up their car when it happened to them, so it doesn't only happen in small towns.

I don't want to discourage the op, but I thought I would share the experience. If you must rent an automatic, I too would recommend contacting Autoeurope.com. They have great customer service. If there is a problem, just call and they will do their best to fix the situation.

Tracy

sbsjsf

We rented an automatic from Hertz through AAA and were very pleased with the rate. We ended up with a Ford Fiesta--nothing at all like the Ford Fiestas in the US from 20 yrs ago. It was a very comfortable compact (not a subcompact).

mikemo

Learn to drive a 5/6 spd Man Trans car: it will change your "bad" driving habits.
M

RufusTFirefly

Not sure about learning to drive a manual transmission solving bad driving habits. Many drivers of manual transmission vehicles are terrible at it (and end up getting worse gas mileage than if they had an AT), and others seem to think they are driving in a Formula 1 race. It really depends on the individual.

I drove manual transmission cars for 3 decades--finally went to automatic and I'll never go back. Again, it all depends on the individual.

Amart

Because no car rental companies were open on Sunday near Bologna we rented a tiny automatic at the Airport from Thrifty--reserved ahead of time. It was cheap and we had great service. Check them out for your area.

JennaJ

We just kept checking the sites every few days until we got the price we were willing to pay. We got a great deal on a small Mercedes SUV through Nova. Better priced than autoeurope