I am trying to decide on a rental car and need some advice. There are four adults travelling together. We will be taking a mini road trip during our visit and need to find a vehicle that will be easy to handle yet still fit all of us and our 4 LARGE suitcases fairly comfortably. None of our trips on the road will be more than an hour and a half. Also, despite being able to drive a manual transmission, we would prefer an automatic. I am aware these cost more (completely opposite in the US :-))
Posted by
Lake Forest, CA, USA
1633 posts
Where are you picking up and dropping off the car? I use AutoEurope or Kemwel for my rentals. You can check their prices online. Depending on where you are picking up your car, an automatic may, or may not, be available.
Is it possible to reduce your luggage to one carry-on each or one carry-on and one large case per couple?
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6713 posts
We've had good experiences with Auto Europe. I agree that an automatic makes driving easier in the UK, lets you focus on left-side driving without worrying about shifting. The Auto Europe people (based in US) can be helpful about what size car you'll need and how to make sure it's an automatic. "Easy to handle" is relative of course. Given your numbers and bags you'll be in a big honker.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
My personal experience is that you will want to make a special effort to get an automatic. Checking the box on the online rental booking is not sufficient, apparently because the rental car companies there are set up with the assumption that all renters will make do with a manual shift.
What I've done is follow up with a phone call to the rental company the week before, I call the UK rental car company and I emphasize that I really do need an automatic. The usual response is: "Oh, ok."
And then you should get one (if you're lucky).
If you don't do something to get their attention, it's likely there won't be an automatic available in the rental lot. And I was very glad to have an automatic.
Posted by
Anna Texas, USA
145 posts
With four adults and four large suitcases you will probably need some kind of van. I don't know if vans come with a standard shift or not. If the drivers are used to standard shifts it is not too bad. I have used the standard shifts the last three times with no problem. If you have a gps that is set up for Europe (including UK) I would take it and pre load my destinations. To rent one it is about $10.00+ a day. A gps to me was very useful. That was the most helpful thing to me. You can get in to a problem in the countryside since some of the routes take you the shortest route, which might seem like cow trails. Also watch your speed. They have roving vans that check for speed.
Thanks- Bill
Posted by
OP
Orlando, FL USA
3 posts
We will be picking up and dropping off from Heathrow. I'm not sure if we can consolidate our luggage as we will be in the UK for two weeks in October. It will all come down to how we can pack once it gets closer.
In the past we've never had an issue getting an automatic, but I will certainly make contact with our rental agency before we go.
Thank you all for your responses. This has been very informative.