ekscrunchy

I have always used AutoEurope or Kemwell, brokers located in the USA, when I travel to Spain or Italy. Have never had a problem, even when once, long ago in SW France, the car was rendered kaput due to a certain person not having experience with a manual transmission. (NOT moi, SVP!!) I never book with online, rather, I phone and almost always get better pricing than shown on the websites.

So..now need to rent car for a bit less than one month's time, in southern Italy. (Pick up in Salerno, return at FCO (Roma airport)

I looked online at the AutoEurope, and the Kemwell websites, and was surprised by the high prices for the automatic cars I would like to rent.

I looked at the SIXT website, and the price was almost one thousand USD lower than the one shown on the AE site...yes, almoswt $1,000 less for no deductable, with GPS and all insurances included. (I have yet to phone AutoEurope)

Question: If AE cannot come close to the price offered by SIXT (I used this company a few months go, through AE, and was thrilled by the car and the service from the local agents in southern Spain; mil gracias, Nadine at Jerez airport Sixt locatiion!!) ), do I risk anything by booking directly with SIXT, rather than using AE as a go between?

In case of mishap, is it more difficult to remedy this with a local agency as opposed to going through the US broker???

This is a MEGO topic for me (my eyes glaze over) so please do not ream me for my ignorance.....many thanks to any and all who have experience with this...do the experienced USA travelers who rent autos, advise using brokers, or is it ok to go with the local SIXT outfit, in this case, in Salerno, south of Naples?? Both rentals included unlimited mileage...

natylou

We did not have a good experience with Sixt on our recent trip.
First in Turkiye, where the charges for the car inexplicably rose to double what we had been quoted because they insisted we had to buy the insurance even though I had coverage through cc and private insurance. The car they provided us was barely roadworthy.

Then in Croatia the girl at the service counter gave us an upgraded vehicle without asking us, then made a new invoice that was automatically charged to our cc even though we had prepaid for the rental. The new invoice was double the original.

When we got home and I looked at the cc bills, realized what happened, then I had a flurry of emails with Sixt in order to get my money back. What a hassle!

I won’t rent from them again. But we always have good success with Avis.

balthy

There’s no issue at all with booking direct if it’s significantly cheaper.

But the cost difference seems strange. Is it a true comparison, does the direct Sixt rate inc unlimited mileage, CDW, PAI, local taxes etc, ie is it a fully inclusive rate as the one on AE would be?

And I’ve always found Sixt great but as most rental companies, experience can vary between locations & countries. The situations described above are unusual & the bookings were probably not made thru AE otherwise the poster would have disputed the charges thru AE. And AE prices include all insurances unless you are taking the rental car out if the country, or need to pay locally for various permits, roadside assistance etc.

Rental companies sometimes ask if you want an upgrade, if you answer yes you’ll be invoiced for the difference. I’ve received numerous involuntary upgrades but never been charged.

The above poster must have had a silent transaction if the rental agent upgraded their car without saying anything and the poster didn’t think to ask if there was an additional cost, or when they saw the upgraded vehicle, didn’t go back & ask about potential charges nor did they read the rental contract which would have outlined the additional cost.

ANUJ

If you have a zero deductible/full coverage deal directly with Sixt, I would take it. I am surprised at such a large price differential vs AE, though the car rental experience in Europe post Covid has been abnormal. I had rented directly from Sixt in Strasbourg France few years ago - a stellar experience (terrific upgrade and service) despite a minor mishap where I banged my fender and damaged the number plate. When I returned the car at Lyon, the Sixt person came out to have a quick look, was fully aware of my (direct) full coverage and I was out in a few minutes without any hassles.

starrs

I'm not an expert at all.
I've always rented from Hertz in Europe. I've always been happy with my rental experience.
I know nothing about Sixt but have read some scathing reviews for rentals out of Atlanta and Miami.
My comfort zone is Hertz. Hertz or National domestically. Hertz in Europe.
I've rented almost weekly (corporate) for decades and have never had a problem with Hertz or National and that counts for a lot with me.
I've priced out AE many times. Direct with Hertz in Europe has always been fair or equivalent pricing. Automatics. I've not driven a manual in Europe since 1990. That was the first and last time.

geetika

We’ve rented directly from Sixt in France, Germany, Ireland and Iceland and had excellent service, no complaints whatsoever. But all pre-Covid, the last time was France in 2019. So no recent experience.

Last year we priced Sixt for Greece, but found a local operator much cheaper and went with them.

natylou

I rented directly through Sixt not through AE. The customer service explained that the girl had only been working there a short time and made a mistake. However I had pointed out to her several times that we had a contract and had prepaid, and I didn’t realize she made a new contract until I compared numbers when I had the new contract emailed to me. The new contract charged me the same amount as the old contract but it turned out to be another charge for the same amount. Very confusing.

Also many times the vehicle received does not resemble the model rented. Does this mean every time this happens one should question if this is an upgrade and if there is an up charge? I don’t buy it.

In any case eks make sure what you are quoted by Sixt is exactly the same, apples to oranges. There must be a reason for that huge difference in price.

starrs

For most rental companies, when you book the class you are reserving cites a model but adds "or similar".

There may be up to a dozen model types in that category when you actually arrive.

They sort the available fleet into broad categories.

You have to go to a speciality rental company to rent a particular model car. Those rentals are very expensive.

All of the above is generic in the industry. Not company specific in any way.

natylou

The above poster must have had a silent transaction if the rental agent upgraded their car without saying anything and the poster didn’t think to ask if there was an additional cost, or when they saw the upgraded vehicle, didn’t go back & ask about potential charges nor did they read the rental contract which would have outlined the additional cost.[/QUOTE]

Starrs I was referring to this comment from poster above. We reserved a BMW suv and they gave us a different brand suv. Should I have gone back inside to the desk to ask if it was an upgrade and would I be charged? I have never had that experience before.

Perhaps others have had good experiences in other countries with Sixt. It remains true that as consumers we need to be vigilant with an eye to watching the invoices and reading the fine print with these rental companies.

starrs

"Starrs I was referring to this comment from poster above. We reserved a BMW suv and they gave us a different brand suv. Should I have gone back inside to the desk to ask if it was an upgrade and would I be charged? I have never had that experience before"

I don't know. My only experiences are with Hertz and National and I get free upgrades all of the time. I've been offered an "upgrade" that I didn't want (due to brand of the car). Most of the time I can pick what I want off the aisle I'm directed.

Many years ago (MANY) when reserving a small car I've been asked if I wanted an upgrade to a larger class. When I asked if it were free, the answer was "no". I denied it. A couple of times they offered me the larger car for free. I figured they needed more of the "budget" cars and had enough nicer cars to provide a free upgrade.

I'm not sure I would go back in your case. But then again, I don't know how they can give you an upgrade that's an additional charge without your approval.

Sorry. I'm not much help.

I've not had any high pressure tactics with Hertz or National, but I'm a loyalty member and my info is on file. I'd be wary of Sixt just based on reviews I've read.

progol

I’ve generally used AutoEurope but have definitely had mixed experiences with car rentals in different countries. So I’ve no great experience to share.

We’ve had both good and bad experiences with Hertz (rented through AE) in southern Italy, with a particularly unpleasant experience when we returned a car in Salerno.

But try pricing It though AutoSlash. I used it for the first time in Oregon and rented an Avis car though them at a significant discount. I just tried it now, plugging in Greece, and I got what seemed to be very good rates with Budget, Sixt and Avis. Like starrs, I’d be reluctant to use Sixt since I’ve read many horror stories. Avis had a very similar rate, though. I think it might be worth checking it out.

tracilee

I thought Auto Europe matches competitor prices, have you tried calling them?

I’ve rented through them many times and always been happy. Last June Avis canceled the van we had reserved four days before we were to,pick it up. AE went to bat for us and came through with a van from another agency at a significantly higher price but we paid only the original reservation price. I think we would have been stuck had we not gone through AE.

bilboburgler

Upgrades always sound good, but a larger car is not always better especially parts of Europe with narrow roads. My sister got us oversized Volvo stuck in a town in Sicily as it was just big enough to get into the alley of a road and only just small enough to get out (30 minutes of left hand down a bit).

Do not trust a company that is making a one and only life-time deal with you. I used to run traveling engineering teams all over the world and I introduced some rules. Read the paperwork, Photo the car on pick up, inside and out including speedo with engine running, and again on return. Let the staff see you do it. Don't be in a rush. Test the GPS, you may not be able to make sense of Serbo-Croat.

Christina

I think you should wait to see what autoeurope says. They have a lot of exceptions to their price match claim. they wouldn't do it for me once because I had a AAA discount with Hertz, which works even in Europe. Of course it has to be exact same terms and included fees. I don't see that they even work with Sixt in Salerno.

starrs

All I know is Hertz has never played any games with me. I've only rented in Europe a handful of times but there has never been any shifty stuff.

I DO take photos of rental cars, before and after, and do the walk-around before they do it. Well, not with corporate rentals because I know those are fully insured. I've never had a problem. At all. Nothing. On my last rental in France, I decided to pay $200 at the counter for the super coverage. I knew I'd be driving some narrow roads and I don't get the smallest cars. As I was leaving, there was no walk-around. When I asked about it, I was told "No need to". When I returned, I watched staff do walk-arounds on other cars. I did mine, taking photos. When I was turning in the keys I noticed they left my car alone. No walk-around. For me, that $200 was a very good deal. Evidently I could have returned the car with a bumper dragging the pavement and no one would have said anything.

There WAS one strange thing though. I usually keep a clean car but I did have some paper bags and bottles of water (thanks Hilton) and I left them all in the front passenger floorboard. I was called back and the first guy tried to tell me something but just stopped and called another guy over. I couldn't imagine what was wrong. The second guy said I would have to take the trash out myself. That had never happened to me before. Weekly (in the US) I leave water bottles (Hilton) and maybe something else in the front floorboard. I think I'm being helpful to the guys who have to clean and turn around the car. In France in June, I was told I needed to put the trash in the trashcan. No problem but that certainly was different. First time for that.

The one and only time I rented with a different company - because the rate was SO much lower - was on Kauai. Evidently the entire plane rented from the same company. I think it was Thrifty. We stood in line in the hot sun for what felt like hours. I wasn't a loyalty member for Thrifty and so didn't have a shorter line to go to. I swore I would never do that again. I never have. I can't imagine I saved that much money on that 2 day rental (short stop between islands) and whatever I saved wasn't worth that long wait in the sun. Thank goodness it wasn't 4 in the afternoon when the monsoon style afternoon thunderstorm hits. That was in the 90s and it was the LAST time I rented a car with someone other than Hertz or National. I'll do Enterprise if I have to. Nothing was wrong with the rental itself. Not a slam against Thrifty. There have been reports of hours long waits at Budget at Savannah's airport. How can there be that many people waiting for the same rental company when the other rental counters aren't slammed at all? I think it's a case of "you get what you pay for". Evidently Budget was posting loss leader prices and the real cost was in long waits in line at the counter that lasted 1, 2 or more hours in line.

bilboburgler

Interesting.

Yep the whole clean-up-after yourself thing is an interesting cultural thing. I understand that when the Japanese watch a football match they walk out cleaning up the stadium, while the rest of us slobs leave a mess. Maybe cleaning is better.

starrs

Agree that it's cool = the cleaning of the stadium.

I thought I WAS "cleaning" by collecting the few items I had in one place. That was a new one for me.

progol

A correction - it was Europcar that we had problems with in Salerno, NOT Hertz! We rented through AutoEurope and picked up a car in Bari, dropping it in Salerno. The agent didn't speak English when we picked up the car and, though we did a review of the state of the car, we probably could've been a lot more thorough. When we arrived in Salerno to drop the car, the agent found many small dings and scratches that I doubt we had done, including a hole in the interior seat covering (which we definitely didn't do!). Fortunately the CC covered it, but it was an unpleasant experience with an unfriendly set of agents.

Previously, we had picked up and dropped off at Hertz in Salerno and had absolutely no problems. We had also booked through AE. I'm pretty sure that Hertz wasn't an option otherwise I'd've booked it again as we had good luck with them previously.

starrs

I've rented from Hertz in Ireland, England (driving into Scotland), France, Italy and the Netherlands.
Booked directly with Hertz using my Hertz account and my USAA discount.
(Knock on wood), I've never had a problem of any kind.
On the last rental in France I paid for the super coverage at the counter, because...why not?
If it's not broke, I'm not fixing it.
I'm sure others have rented many times in Europe without any problems. I hope to stay in that happy club. I was a bit nervous leaving the rental car in the designated parking lot in Nice that didn't look very official (after hours return). I took LOTS of photos there. So far, so good.

ekscrunchy

Well, just great! AutoEurope does not match other agency prices. They match only their own website pricing, when you phone them..call center in MoBay Jamaica.

Price is extortionate. Because I need an automatic..three week rental is so much that I am embarassed to even write this...the rental is with EuropCar in Salerno (yes, noted the poor experience mentioned, above).

Close to $4000. AND have to pay $150 euro drop off fee to return at FCO.

I can cancel uup to 48 hours before pickup.