Can you hire a car in the UK and drive it in Europe?
Discussion
You may have seen my previous post about a topgear style road trip.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Well after some thinking we decided to do it round Europe instead. We are planning to go down through to south france, then across to Turin and on to Stelvio pass. We are going to follow the road up through Switzerland and into Germany going through the black forest and returning to the UK going north through Germany and west Netherlands and France.
Instead of the original plan of buying cars and selling them afterwards, is it possible to hire a car (Large estate or something of the sort) and use it round Europe for the week, as it may be cheaper and will be more reliable than a cheap banger.
Checking on AVIS and Europcar it appears to be for a single countries only.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Well after some thinking we decided to do it round Europe instead. We are planning to go down through to south france, then across to Turin and on to Stelvio pass. We are going to follow the road up through Switzerland and into Germany going through the black forest and returning to the UK going north through Germany and west Netherlands and France.
Instead of the original plan of buying cars and selling them afterwards, is it possible to hire a car (Large estate or something of the sort) and use it round Europe for the week, as it may be cheaper and will be more reliable than a cheap banger.
Checking on AVIS and Europcar it appears to be for a single countries only.
Its usually something they'll need to arrange seperately (and costs as a result), but some companies do offer it, although I don't remember seeing any that would factor it into their online pricing so you'd probably need to get the phone out.
Kinda loses the 'feel' of your original plan going for a rental though, doesn't it?
Kinda loses the 'feel' of your original plan going for a rental though, doesn't it?
Edited by ImpossiblyDaft on Saturday 16th March 22:44
ImpossiblyDaft said:
Kinda loses the 'feel' of your original plan going for a rental though, doesn't it?
You are right, its not quite the same, but if its going to save us lots of £££ then it may be worth while. I'm finding it difficult to secure insurance for 3 people in one car for a week.Edited by ImpossiblyDaft on Saturday 16th March 22:44
Years ago I had a similar need for hiring a car.
I found it was cheaper and easier to cross to Calais as a foot passenger and then pick up a rental there.
By a similar token you might find it cheaper to fly or train it nearer to the fun part. The distance means fuel and tolls quickly add up.
I found it was cheaper and easier to cross to Calais as a foot passenger and then pick up a rental there.
By a similar token you might find it cheaper to fly or train it nearer to the fun part. The distance means fuel and tolls quickly add up.
For insurance, the thing to do is to buy a 10 or 12 month policy and cancel it - just be really clear on the T&Cs of refunds with that particular insurer as it varies.
I really ought to know more about the details of hire cars as I looked into this a couple of weeks ago, but I never bothered to call anyone to price it up. Sorry
Double checking the places I looked AVIS and Kendall Cars are two options that offer it, but AVIS' website is the only one with a price - "This costs from £86.25 on top of the rental price although it does increase with the length of rental"
I really ought to know more about the details of hire cars as I looked into this a couple of weeks ago, but I never bothered to call anyone to price it up. Sorry
Double checking the places I looked AVIS and Kendall Cars are two options that offer it, but AVIS' website is the only one with a price - "This costs from £86.25 on top of the rental price although it does increase with the length of rental"
Most of the big boys let you do it as long as its not a prestige car.
I should know, I run the Cannonball Run Europe, all our staff cars including the one I drive are rented in the UK and clock up 3000 miles (most policies are unlimited mileage too!) in the 6 days & 9 different countries we're away! Some will let you take into Slovenia and not Slovakia or Croatia and not Poland but as a rule most will have no problem with the majority of Western Europe.
In 2012 we hired from a small local van rental company that rented us 3 Golf TDi's for the week. Great cars, great economy & quick enough even when being thrashed all day around The Hungaroring!
I should know, I run the Cannonball Run Europe, all our staff cars including the one I drive are rented in the UK and clock up 3000 miles (most policies are unlimited mileage too!) in the 6 days & 9 different countries we're away! Some will let you take into Slovenia and not Slovakia or Croatia and not Poland but as a rule most will have no problem with the majority of Western Europe.
In 2012 we hired from a small local van rental company that rented us 3 Golf TDi's for the week. Great cars, great economy & quick enough even when being thrashed all day around The Hungaroring!
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