buying or renting a car in france

You might look into leasing rather than renting. Buying isn't very feasible. What would you do about licensing it? Insurance? Getting rid of it at the end of your trip?

You could also consider treating yourself to a new car and taking European delivery of it! The three companies I know of that do this (I'm sure there are others as well) are Mercedes, BMW and Volvo; obviously you'd have to pick up in Germany or Sweden. I'm sure there are Italian car companies (maybe French as well, Renault?) that do this as well. These companies manufacture cars specifically for pick up in Europe that also meet the requirements for automobiles in your home country. You pick up the car at the factory showroom, drive it around Europe for a while and then ship it home. It ends up being the same or, sometimes, a little cheaper than buying the same car at home. It's a fun alternative to leasing - buying a car in Europe and then unloading it at the end, would be a headache for many reasons.
If you want to lease while you're there, here's the Renault website for that car company. Autoeurope also does long term rentals that can sometimes be a good deal.

My brother and sil bought a Volvo through the program Anita mentions, which they were able to pick up in Germany. I'm pretty sure they said that the price was not more than if they had bought it in the U.S. They also got free plane tickets as part of the deal. (I don't know if it was for both of them or just one.) Of course, you have to be in the market for a new car for that option to be worthwhile.

I've done a lease through AutoEurope. It was a good experience and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

I've looked into the European delivery of a new car. If you are in the market for a car, it could be a good option. One thing to note - they provide the insurance for you to drive in Europe before having the car shipped home only for a specific period of time. I don't know how long, so let's say 2-3 weeks. You should then have the ability to extend the insurance yourself.

As for which is better, renting or leasing, you would have to do a comparison and figure it out yourself. With leasing, insurance is included and there are no extra costs. The insurance covers all drivers that are related to each other. You are able to select the exact car you want, and it's new. Pick up and drop off in France is included. To pick up or drop off outside of France you will pay an additional fee. When you rent, you can never be sure exactly what you get and what condition it will be in, there's often an additional charge for extra drivers, you will pay extra for road taxes, etc. If you rent in one country and drop off in another you will pay an extra drop off charge. It is likely to be more than the extra fee you incur with a lease.

Unless you really want to buy a new car, do the lease. It is a brand new car insured to the hilt that anyone in your family over the age of 18 can drive. AutoFrance does the Peugeot program and renaultusa does the Renault program. We have done five leases and all have been excellent experiences. One caution: If you need an automatic transmission move on it tomorrow. Automatics are on short allotments. Don't worry about the exact dates and locations for the lease, you can change them for free up to three times within 30 days of the scheduled pick up date. If you decide to cancel the whole thing more than 30 days ahead of schedule you will still only lose $50. The nice part about the lease is that the car will be exactly as described in your contract and the cost will be exactly as stated in your contract.

Rentals will nickel and dime you to death with insurance and extra driver fees plus there is no guarantee that the car you get will be what you reserved. I learned that the hard way after ignoring a good friend's advice to lease.