kerouac

I had a flat tire less than 2km away from Strasbourg airport, where I had picked up the car. Naturally, it suddenly began to pour rain as I changed the tire.

traveller1959

With our family of six (including two kids and two seniors) we booked a 7-seater-minivan with Sixt at Naples airport. On arrival, they gave us a 5-seater. When we complained, they offered us to give us two 5-seaters (not much help with two seniors and two kids). We insisted in getting a 7-seater as booked (and paid).

We waited two hours and got a 12-seater truck. We had much fun driving this car one week along the Amalfi coast. We had even more fun at gas stations.

Same happened one year later at Malaga airport.

We learned: you don't get what you booked.

LoveItaly

Snorklesue, your experience reminds me of the time..

We had drive from Naples across Southern Italy to Bari. It was so hot and humid and the countryside was so dry. We arrived at the outskirts of Bari and we didn't have a clue how to find the hotel our hotel in Naples had reserved for us (we had failed to get the information) so..

My husband saw a cafe off to the side of the road with a few elderly Italian fellows sitting at a table playing cards. He parked on a gravel area across the street and walked over to them to ask if anyone knew how to get to the hotel. The four fellows (like your story) got into quite an arguement about where the hotel was located. Loud voices, arms and hands flying this way and that. Suddenly a younger fellow came out of the cafe and rather pulled my husband into the cafe.

I was sitting in the car in the horrible heat. I waited and waited and waited. I almost got heatstroke. But I knew not to cross the street and go into the cafe as this was obviously a "mens only place". About thirty minutes later my husband exited the cafe, crossed the street and said "OK, I know how to get to the hotel!" By this time I needed the ER at the local hospital, lol. It turned out the fellows bought my husband some wine as they continued to "discuss" how he should drive to the hotel.

My husband had "forgotten" about me sitting in the hot and miserable weather inside the car as he was having so much fun. I was not pleased!

But like many other frustrations in life, within a week I was chuckling about the incident.

stanleys

We rent the same make car that we drive at home. That eliminates those problems of figuring things out.

coxbox

ah so many with so little time!

The two that stand out were one in Madrid where we COULD NOT figure out how to get back to the rental garage.. We had maps.. We could see it.. but with the one ways.. AND the Round about a HUGE one.. we just could not get there. We started thinking of putting me in a taxi and gary following. We finally made it after a very illegal u-turn.. we were sweating and laughing.. changed in the garage and then had dinner at the Ritz!

ok the other not so funny. 8 of us ..two cars.. actually all on time to do our day trip in Italy.. but the attendant put the wrong gas in our car(diesel etc).. had to drain it the whole bit.. he was SOOOO sorry.. it took a few hours bummer..

artlover

We've rented cars several times in Europe, but have had only one bad experience--renting with Hertz in France. A nightmare!

caroltis

Well, I'm getting two things out of these posts...ideas as to what "could" happen and that way I can be better prepared for glitches with rental cars but most of all I am getting a lot of comic relief from all of your experiences...these are so enjoyable to read!

susanna

Well, the cars have been fine, it was the driver in our cases.

Parked the car in Cortona in front of the hotel, which they said was fine for dropping off luggage, we weren't all the way into the hotel when a car side swiped our car and took off the side view mirror. We eventually found duct tape and put it back on, but not before I did the pantomime in the hardware store for "duck" scotch!

Pulled out of the drive way from a rental house in Cortona (another trip) plowed right into an old man in his car. He said we were like a wolf coming after him.

Sicily: unfortunately the streets are so narrow we kind of got stuck between two walls, had to either go forward or back up, scrapping the sides...went forward, scraped the sides, only to find out that now we have to drive down 3 big stairs or back up...down the stairs we go, just like in the movies, only blew out one tire on the stoop at the bottom with the nona sitting there shelling peas, I can only imagine what she said in Italian.

Siracusa: TOWED

Normandy: DH brings an expired license, they won't give us the car...we are so screwed....eventually I talk them into it, but not before we have to buy the whole car for 14, 000 euros. This was the only time we didn't have anything happen to the exterior of the car!

I always buy the insurance, I have never paid anything extra for all these incidents, love autoeurope! I take that back, I did have to pay for the tire.(?)

caroltis

Susanna - your experiences are enough to discourage everyone from renting a car! I have to admit that we have found ourselves in similar predicaments where streets were so narrow we had to pull in sideview mirrors and then only had a couple of inches clearance on either side of the car...and it was a compact. And the looks the Italians can give you are priceless - their expressions say it all...it's just those Crazy Americans! You and your husband must be easy going, take it as it comes type people - I applaud you and thanks so much for sharing.

Coxbox: One of the two cars we had last year was deisel and I wondered what would have to be done if we mistakenly put in regular gas. What happens if you don't realize what you have done...is the effect immediate?

And hopefully this post informs everyone to pay close attention to the "ring" on the shifter - it drove us crazy the first time we encountered this feature...it seems to be quite common on their vehicles.

StCirq

Oh yes, the effect of putting in the wrong fuel is immediate. Fumes, billowing smoke, car dies within a few hundred feet. I don't recommend it.

coxbox

We heard it was not immediate but would soon stop.With of course ruining the engine even further.

It was an unfortunate start.. How many times can you get 8 people out the door on time!

Dukey

"Any experiences out there that might help prepare me in the event we have less than smooth sailing?'

Quite frankly, allow your companion to do all the driving and worrying which is what i suspect you've done in the past, right?

cmeyer54

How well to you speak Italian? We rented a car from hertz in Venice last september and began our drive to Cortina on a Saturday afternoon. Just past a tollbooth on the autostrade, "the car,she is kaput". nothing worked, it would not shift into gear, etc. Hertz had an emergency line with english speaking personnel (to a limited extent). they sent a flatbed tow truck, the car was hoisted (after close to 2 hours sitting on the side of the road), we were loaded into the truck cab and drove off to a small chainlink fenced in auto wreck yard in the hills. The car was dropped off, so were we (again, left standing on the side of the road with the dogs behind the fence going crazy) and were told to wait for a taxi. one eventually showed up and drove us back to venice to get another car. I kept hearing the theme from Deliverance in my head the entire time. Hertz was good but it was really convoluted and at times, scary. we did get a credit on our rental car.

Reisender

Our story now seems somewhat funny when we look back at it but at the time is was downright scary. It was November of 2000. We had flown into Paris, picked up our car, drove to Bruges for a couple of days and then were on our way to Normandy. We had puttered along all day, stopping to sight see, etc, etc. and darkness had fallen, with a very heavy rain. We were driving south on the extremely busy divided A28 highway in France, which has loads of large truck (think American semi kind of trucks) traffic. As we came upon a slower car I pulled over to pass and just I came even with the car I spotted a large rock (like a landscape stone) in the lane, which must have fallen off one of the trucks. There was no way I could miss it and the left front tire hit it (I thought only the left front).

I commented to my wife that I hoped that it did not puncture the tire when suddenly thump - thump - thump. A flat! I managed to get over to the right shoulder and got out in the pouring rain and BOTH tires on the left side were flat. We had no cell phone with us and so all we could do was turn on the flashers and wait. The time passed and the trucks roared by within inches of our car. Finally, a fire truck stopped and the fire men (I still have no idea why they were driving around on the A28)and I were able to, with finger pointing and my broken French, determine they needed to call the Hertz emergency number. They then just up and left and we were not sure if they were going to call or not. Finally a policeman stopped, the same routine of pointing etc, and he took the Hertz number and also left. After about another hour or so a driver and tow truck showed up, loaded the car on the flat bed, put my wife and I in his truck and drove us to some little village that had truly three houses and his garage, where we were able to call Hertz again. Since the shop did not have tires that fit the car Hertz agreed to send a taxi for us, took us to Abbeville (the nearest town of any size), put us up in a hotel with breakfast, and then a taxi to the local Hertz office for a new car. Hertz did this all at their expense, even though I had not purchased any insurance from them. I was quite surprised by that. At any rate, by 10 that morning we were on our way and the rest of the trip was perfect. Hertz also gained one loyal customer based on the treatment the gave us, and I also learned to NEVER EVER travel without a cell phone!

designatedplanner

In July/August 2006, we had trouble with the Alamo rental from Gard de Nord in Paris. We dropped the car off at CDG and it was before anyone was there to check the car. The rep inside the airport assured us everything would be fine. A few weeks later we got a letter from them telling us our credit card had been charged 800 euros for damage to the car (which we had not done) and they accused us of not reporting an accident. Since we had not met with an accident, we couldn't very well report one, could we? Could never reach a real person at their location, had to involve Alamo head office and do everything via e-mail. I found out it is better to use your credit card insurance than to get the rental car company's collision damage insurance. Lesson learned, never drop off a car without a rep signing off on it and always use your credit card insurance. After making a big stink with Alamo, their head office stepped in and the charge was reversed, but it was a 3 week nightmare until then.

caroltis

Dukey: My husband does the navigating and I do the driving...works out best that way. He has literally no patience behind the wheel but is really good at deciphering road maps. Except for last year when as we were approaching the outskirts of Florence on our way to the house we rented outside of Montepulciano...I told him what ever he did, just keep me from getting into the center of Florence. I had had that experience once before when traveling with a friend and it was a nightmare. So at one point my husband said go left and as I'm veering off left - he says oh no, I'm sorry, you needed to keep straight. Well...I wound up in downtown Florence at about 4:30 in the afternoon and it was indeed hectic. Was a bit stressful but we made it to the other side of town with no mishaps. Amazing how the Italians do not pay much attention to lanes on the streets and how street signs rarely seem to correspond to what we're looking at on our maps. Oh well...memories, aren't they great!

cmeyer, reisender, designated planner: your accounts are amusing, helpful, and a little scary I must say!!

kerouac

Keep in mind that Alamo doesn't really exist in France. It is just a sub-section of National in this country.

vickmey

We rented a Mercedes (courtesy upgrade) from Europe Car in Munich and took it to Italy in August of '07. We were driving Bolzano to Munich. We were to train from there to Frankfurt, then fly home. It was a major German/Italian Holiday (Ascension of Mary) and we were aware of it. Thought it was a good day to drive since so many things would be closed.
We had a blowout on the freeway. There was just enough room to pull onto the shoulder and climb out on the passenger side. Oops, diged the door on the guardrail. We quickly unloaded luggage from a family of four onto the narrow freeway shoulder behind the vehicle only to find ....no spare tire! We got no answer at the roadside assistance number on our rental agreement. Of course the offices were all closed too. We were able to call a 911-equivalent number (learn what this is when you get there!) from our cell and they came with a truck. We used our Spanish, english and limited Italian with the men who said almost nothing in reply. Their truck had flashers set up to keep us safe there until a tow truck (which they called for us) could arrive.
My sister called family in the states who looked up the national number for Europe Car in Seattle. They told me I had no authority to have the car towed(we were already in transit at that point) or to replace the tire. She told us we were supplied with a patch kit and roadside assistance. We had more than one converstation and eventually lost contact. The cracked windshield suffered on the shoulder of the freeway would also not be covered.
We were towed to the nearest town (and were pulled up to the toll window to pay the freeway toll) where we had to await a shop opening the following morning. We had a train to catch that same day to the Frankfurt airport.
At the Munich office we were told that Mercedes has there own roadside assistance, and therefore purposefully supplied no spare. Their records showed that Seattle had called Mercedes on our behalf. We never saw or heard from them.
My suggestions:
1. Know several emergency numbers for the different countries and rental companies involved.
2. Test with your cell that your phone is able to connect with the numbers.
3. What is the policy in the event your car is disabled? They would not allow us to leave it at the nearest Europe Car in Italy. It was our responsibility to return it to Germany.
4. Keep in mind a Holiday in Europe is not anything like in the US. They know how to really shut down and take a day off!
5. Check for the spare.

Oh my, I haven't told that story for a long time. I am sure there is more I have mercifully forgotten and you will be spared hearing. I have often wanted to share it with the travel board folks....thanks for asking!

caroltis

Vicmey: Egads...that is indeed a lesson for us all. Being prepared with several emergency numbers as well as checking for the spare...who would have thought they would purposefully NOT put in a spare.

Dayle

Susana,

You gave me a REALLY big laugh! I'm just envisoning Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther movies....I can't believe you drove down the stairs!!