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Van rental In Europe (One way) Paris to Rome.

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May 28, 2009
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Van rental In Europe (One way) Paris to Rome.

HI,

would like to pick the collective brains and experiences of the folks on RFD especially when it comes to travel.

Basically trying to a book a van from Paris to Rome (one way) late July to Late August. If flying into Rome and out of Paris is cheaper will consider it.

some of the sites say there is a surcharge, and no unlimited kms.
My question is has anyone done this and who did they go with.

Some sites i have chked
Sixt

Auto Europe

provide unlimited Kms.

The above two seem to be very popular.

TravelSupermarket
looks like a aggregator of various companies and one of the sites is sixt which is the one above


car-rental-europe-402449/ no updates lately
best-website-cheap-car-rentals-1324811/2/

for budget accommodation I am told Ibis is a good site. If you know of other sites pls feel free to help out.

TIA
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Would either the Renault Eurodrive or Peugeot Open Europe programs work for you? (min 21 day rental)
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l69norm wrote: Would either the Renault Eurodrive or Peugeot Open Europe programs work for you? (min 21 day rental)

Thank you.
yes we are going for a month so that would work fine. Would prefer a 9 seater since we are 8 (with kids) as I have seen 9 seat vans on the sites I listed.

I haven't rented in mainland Europe and I am okay with standard which seems to be cheaper. Looks like we would have to get the LDW as credit cards nor present auto insurance wont cover it. any other info we need to be concerned about.

I would prefer to prepay prior to the trip to avoid unwanted upselling at the rental place but will delay a bit hoping for the all mighty
loonie to recover :)
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Hopefully, others will post on their experiences

Eurodrive and Open Europe are short term vehicle leasing programs, not rentals

You short term lease a brand new vehicle directly from the automaker. You return it when you go home. The manufacturer includes $0 deductible insurance and all licensing and fees.

The auto manufacturers are exploiting tax loopholes. Tourists don't pay certain taxes on auto leases. The manufacturers get back very low mileage "used" cars which are exempt from certain "new" car taxes. These "used" cars are then sold to rental fleets.

edit .. Citroen also has the "Euro Pass" leasing program
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l69norm wrote: Hopefully, others will post on their experiences

Eurodrive and Open Europe are short term vehicle leasing programs, not rentals


edit .. Citroen also has the "Euro Pass" leasing program
Awesome Thx.
The Peugeot wont work out for a 9 passenger van since it needs a min of 36 days but the Renault works out fine. It says all inclusive but got to make sure about insurance
I will look into Citroen later today.
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any German cars have similar program? Thanks!
l69norm wrote: Hopefully, others will post on their experiences

Eurodrive and Open Europe are short term vehicle leasing programs, not rentals

You short term lease a brand new vehicle directly from the automaker. You return it when you go home. The manufacturer includes $0 deductible insurance and all licensing and fees.

The auto manufacturers are exploiting tax loopholes. Tourists don't pay certain taxes on auto leases. The manufacturers get back very low mileage "used" cars which are exempt from certain "new" car taxes. These "used" cars are then sold to rental fleets.

edit .. Citroen also has the "Euro Pass" leasing program
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Jan 8, 2009
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everylittlecent wrote: unfortunately I don't know.
I have a Renault booked and its so far worked out cheaper and hassle-free particularly since we are dropping it off at a different country.
If they're as good as Peugeot's similar program (which I expect they are), you'll love it. We've used the Peugeot program twice (once in 2008 for 5 months and in 2012 for 5 weeks). We loved our cars so much we wanted to bring them home and the ease of pick-up and drop-off blew us away :) - have a great time!
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jrbb0309 wrote: If they're as good as Peugeot's similar program (which I expect they are), you'll love it. We've used the Peugeot program twice (once in 2008 for 5 months and in 2012 for 5 weeks). We loved our cars so much we wanted to bring them home and the ease of pick-up and drop-off blew us away :) - have a great time!
good to hear +ve comments. Like I mentioned so far its been very good dealing with the folks. simple things like adding another driver I am told is not needed as long as I am in the vehicle although I will try and add my friends info into the agreement when we land. I sent it to their office in Montreal and that's when they said that its not needed. I contacted Peugeot as well (they work out of the same office ) but they didn't have a 9 passenger van IIRC so went with Renault Trafic Diesel with Manual Tranny.
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everylittlecent wrote: good to hear +ve comments. Like I mentioned so far its been very good dealing with the folks. simple things like adding another driver I am told is not needed as long as I am in the vehicle although I will try and add my friends info into the agreement when we land. I sent it to their office in Montreal and that's when they said that its not needed. I contacted Peugeot as well (they work out of the same office ) but they didn't have a 9 passenger van IIRC so went with Renault Trafic Diesel with Manual Tranny.
I understand that you will be 8 people including kids? Any need car seats?
Reason I bring this up is that we have done extensive travel in Europe and many cruises in the Mediterranean with private tours and the Renault Traffic van is often used as the touring van. When it is configured for 9 (including the driver), there is no room for any luggage (your day bags must be kept on your lap) and it is very cramped with 7 adults. There are 3 rows of 3 seats.
Also, if your intention is to drive and get off he main highways into the smaller villages, the van may not be able to get there. The secondary roads are narrow and in the small villages (and even in some bigger cities) are very narrow (from the middle ages in some cases and and only 2 donkeys wide). Tour vans have routes specifically for them and cannot go into many places. If you don't know where you are going, it can be a very big problem.
Also, parking is a huge problem even for cars, let aloe a big van. Some cities do not allow any parking in or near city centers.
Lastly, the drop off charges can be huge so, maybe a train is an option?
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Thank you Pete_coach
no child seats, early - mid teens

there are two wheelbases for this particular model and we are getting the Long version atleast thats what the document says looks a little larger than a minivan but smaller than a suburban but taller so can pack higher. plan is for 1 suitcase per family and the rest in duffle bags kind of baggage so they can be easily loaded up. No drop off charges or maybe its all included :) but its way cheaper than Autoeurope.
no plans to travel into rural areas just the main places. Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Lucerne and Italy.
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everylittlecent wrote: Thank you Pete_coach
no child seats, early - mid teens

there are two wheelbases for this particular model and we are getting the Long version atleast thats what the document says looks a little larger than a minivan but smaller than a suburban but taller so can pack higher. plan is for 1 suitcase per family and the rest in duffle bags kind of baggage so they can be easily loaded up. No drop off charges or maybe its all included :) but its way cheaper than Autoeurope.
no plans to travel into rural areas just the main places. Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Lucerne and Italy.
No drop off charges, especially between countries, seems odd. Great if it is so but I would check it very closely because in the end, they can just dd to you credit card without telling you. By signing the rental agreement, you authorize them to add charges from damages to drop off to gas and more.
I hope you are right with your dimensions as my experience has not been great. That is a lot of driving. Check insurances, especially in Italy and be prepared for traffic like you have never seen. :) .
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I highly recommend using this company for your rental: http://www.gemut.com/
They are the North American reps for AutoEurope which, based on my research, is the best avenue for car rentals. My brother in law rented a van last year in Italy to fit all of us (not with Autoeurope)... and with full insurance, it was about 1500 EURO for a week! I wasn't in on the booking but I assume he didn't look for a deal. Yowza.

Anyway, I had a long conversation with Bob at Gemut and he answered all the questions I had. For an additional $20 on top of the rental fee, they will be your point of contact, day or nite, if any issues arise. They will also be the liaison if an insurance claim arises. I would also recommend this booklet they have that explains all you need to know about renting/driving in Europe. http://www.gemut.com/car-rentals/free-r ... oklet.html

(I am not affiliated in anyway with Gemut--I just went thru this somewhat stressful task myself and wanted to pass along something I found helpful..)
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Oops. I see I'm responding to an old post! Hopefully the info is useful to someone currently looking to rent a car!
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CanadaSweetheart wrote: Oops. I see I'm responding to an old post! Hopefully the info is useful to someone currently looking to rent a car!
This thread is current. The OP, everylittlecent, is looking for something this year.
I have heard of and looked at Gemut, they are basically a travel agent for Europe (Germany, Switzerland and Austria specialty) but always felt better dealing with AutoEurope direct.
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Pete_Coach,

as mentioned by Jrbb0309 there is no drop off fees since these are lease programs as opposed to Rentals. That's why there is a minimum number of days that you need to rent the vehicle. My pick up and drop off locations are known to the company and I have paid in full (yes there might be other charges like speed cameras that they will charge my card) but this is a fairly straight forward process for non EU residents.
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everylittlecent wrote: Pete_Coach,

as mentioned by Jrbb0309 there is no drop off fees since these are lease programs as opposed to Rentals. That's why there is a minimum number of days that you need to rent the vehicle. My pick up and drop off locations are known to the company and I have paid in full (yes there might be other charges like speed cameras that they will charge my card) but this is a fairly straight forward process for non EU residents.
Perfect, have a great trip.
I did not pay attention to the lease part of your post :(
I am not sure but you may want to ask the company if they require you to have an international drivers license for all potential drivers. Some companies do, in certain countries.
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I thought I would update this thread so folks can take advantage if they intent to do a road trip in Europe.

The lease was as easy as it gets. landed in Paris called the eurodrive ( a few days earlier i had emailed Eurodrive of my flight details) and was picked up within
10 mins and driven about 2 kms to the eurodrive pickup centre. All they wanted was my passport and within a few minutes
given a brand new Renault Trafic (9 passenger Ext wheel base model) with built in GPS which was registered in my name. Diesel 6 speed. I carried my own Garmin GPS with had European maps. ($149 at Gpscity)

we drove around 6k kms in about 4+ weeks with the longest drives being Amsterdam - Berlin and Prague to Zurich. Most of the cities we parked and used public transportation. driving map

We had a flat tire once in Amsterdam parked in front of our hotel. The tire shop where we fixed it said it was slashedAstonished Face
33 Euros to fix it. side trips to Monaco, Pompeii, Pisa, Furka pass which was through the alps and few others.

returned the van in Rome again a few minutes affair. they briefly chk the van over and done. There were over 100 French registered vehicles in the lot and was told they will all be trucked back to France and sold as used vehicles at dealerships.

I enjoyed the hwys (most were 130 except the autobahn Smiling Face With Open Mouth) and general road manners, historical places, architecture and WW2 stuff. Public transportation was good. accommodation and food was good. After Prague everywhere you chk in all passports are scanned or photocopied.

What I didn't like was the lack of washrooms (even paid ones). Even the tourist center in Monaco didn't have one. Crying Face you can have you passport stamped there,
second hand smoke everywhere with a lot of folks puffing away, cities are not as clean mostly due to cars parked which makes it unable to clean, I guess lack of parking which is to be expected and I knew this going in.
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Glad you had a good trip
Tx for updating your OP so other can learn from you experience

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