Car rental company recommendations

After several rentals in France, our best experiences have been with Hertz and with Europcar, renting directly from the companies, not from a third-party consolidator like AutoEurope. We picked up once at Hertz in Avignon, and turned it back in in Avignon - fabulous experience. A later trip, renting from Europcar, we turned the car in in Nice, but pop picked up in Lyon. I don’t recall whether there was any extra fee for turning the car in at a different place than where it was picked up. On other trips in France, we’ve also rented directly from either companiey, and go with whomever has the best price for the location(s).

I can’t personally guarantee the toll station situation on any French highway at the moment, but in the past, there was always a lane for cash and/or credit cards - just had to look for the appropriate icon sign before pulling into that lane.

Are there any toll roads in Provence and South of France that are transponder only or can I pay by tapping a credit card or with cash? I am specifically asking about the toll roads one takes from Avignon to Nice (A8 and perhaps A7)?

All toll roads in that area still have toll barriers where you pay by card, or cash in the lanes with a green arrow.

We had three recent rentals booked through Autoeurope. The first one was Europcar, the other two were with Avis. We had zero problems with any of these rentals. We always buy zero deductible insurance. All three cars were returned to a different location but always in the same country. The fee for returning the car to a different location was in the $50-$75 range. Three advantages we have found with using Autoeurope: if you are 70 or older, you know that the rental agency is Ok with your age. If you have a rental problem, especially if you don't speak the country's language, you have access to an English speaker who can help you. Finally, if you asked for the car to have a GPS, it will definitely HAVE a GPS - not always the case when we rented directly with Hertz.

When we rented in Avignon we went with auto Europe who booked us with National

Personally, I would only use Hertz if you have no other options, but that’s because in the United States I get pathetically bad service. Maybe it’s better in Europe

Thanks everyone for your responses. Very useful.

@Cynthia, where did you pickup and drop off your 3 recent rentals, if you remember?

Yes, the reason I am using Auto Europe is to have someone who speaks English in my corner if and when trouble arises with the rental.

Fortunately, I haven't had bad experience with Hertz or Avis in the US. But they don't inspect dings and such as thoroughly in the US as they do elsewhere.

We just had a very good experience with Europcar thru AutoEurope.
Picked up and dropped off at Nice airport.
We always get full coverage, no deductible. When we drop the car we just walk away

We drove to/ from Nice to all over Provence. All toll roads had tap and pay

If you don’t believe Hertz is inspecting cars as carefully in the United States as they are in Europe, you haven’t read some of the other postd. they’re actually using the computer scanning to make sure that you get charged for every single penny they can get away with.

But of course, the last car Hertz tried to give me
had been beat to death with a baseball bat and smelled like an ashtray. They were shocked someone who was a member of their presidential elite level refused to take the trashed car

My favorite actually was the national return in France. I went to them and said somebody backed into me, etc. they looked at me and said you may have missed this but we didn’t. It was already on your car when you picked it up. I just sat there and laughed

Pam:
Rental one: Geneva airport French side ( very useful since we also wanted to visit Switzerland) ---- Sarlat
Rental two: Venice airport ------ Florence airport This one Autoeurope saved the vacation for us, since DH's driver's license was stolen the day before
Rental three: Toulouse airport ----- Rennes airport

I think rental companies give you a better price if you return the car at a major airport or train station - no proof, just my theory
Avis seems to have a better reputation in France than some of the other companies. Hertz worked fine for us in Norway and the UK but they ripped us off in Ireland. I believe they are all local franchises and not connected with USA Hertz.

I always use Europcar if available. Backup plan is Sixt. I much prefer dealing directly with the company that has the cars, rather than a packager like AutoEurope.

We have used Enterprise throughout Europe and had very good service. In 2021 we rented from Enterprise in Bordeaux (the Gare) and dropped car off at TGV Gare in Avignon. No problems, no issues for us.

I just want to mention that the New York Times just printed a report on a big rental company's local affiliate's failure to provide the requested paperwork (two: damage repair and loss of use time duration) that a customer needed for their car insurance coverage claim. Naturally, their claim was denied, until the newspaper got involved. This rarely comes up in car rental discussions here.

@Tim, yes, I read that NYT article too. That's why I think going through Auto Europe can help. I came across a thread in a TripAdvisor forum where the poster had totaled their rental car and had trouble getting some paperwork from the rental company and Auto Europe helped them with the process so that they could get the claim processed through their credit card.

Thank you darrenblois, Cynthia, Carol and Kimberly for your feedback on specific rental companies. It will help me with my search for a rental car.

@Carol, it'd be great if an app that utilizes AI and computer recognition is available for car rental customers so thar we can turn the table on Hertz and the like by carefully documenting imperfections before driving off the rental facility Then we can produce that during claims processing if they charge anything that we think is unfair.

I rented from Sixt at least 3 times in France - most were returns to different location than pick up. No problems whatsoever. We picked up once at the Avignon train station - no problems for us but observed a fender bender in the lot. Renter backed into a parked car behind him. I hope he went with the top of the line coverage!
I’ve tapped to pay at many toll roads in France. No problems at all.

Enjoy Provence! I’m dreaming and scheming to make a third trip there next May.