rent or lease car in France

It's very easy and the advantage is not only a price break, but also very complete insurance is included. It's hard to run the numbers because when you rent there are always local charges added on, while what you pay for the lease is the final price--no add ons.

The company handling the cars is TT but you lease through other companies: Renault USA (my preferred), Autoeurope (Peugeot), or other dealers. I just happen to prefer some models of Renault because I could get a 5-speend instead of a 6=speed. Others will prefer Peugeot. I've never leased a Citroen.

I do have to say that the one time I leased a Peugeot through Autoeurope, the drop off conveyed to me on paper was incorrect. We eventually got it straightened out but nothing like this happened with Renault USA. I wasn't the only person because another person who had leased his car via an Italian company was at the incorrect address with me trying to figure out what to do. Poor communication and organization between TT, Peugeot and their agencies that time. The bottom line was I should have looked on line the night before returning the car to verify the address rather than rely on what Autoeurope had given me because they had put the correct information on the Peugeot website.

In Paris you can pick the cars up at either airport or a TT agency at Porte Maillot.

I've rented dozens of times in France, but leased only once. It was something like 3 1/2 weeks, which at the time made sense economically. In your case, for 4-5 weeks, leasing will most likely make sense. The one hitch is that there are far fewer locations for picking up a leased car.

There have been dozens of threads on this forum regarding this subject. Do a search on 'leasing a car in France' and you'll get many many you can read with lots of good information.

I leased on a 6-week visit before we moved here, and it was as easy as could be. A brand new car to my specifications, no stale smoke smell, and insurance that covered everything.

Very convenient and very easy.

I'd recommend it to anyone on an extended visit.

I also went through Renault. We got a Megane Berline. It was a pretty good car, in my opinion.

I've leased and rented. Leasing worked really well when I needed a 7 passenger car (about right for 2 adults and three kids). I find rental prices start cheap for tiny, manual transmission, cars but go up drastically when you want something more than a compact.

Nowadays I travel alone and renting is better for the base model. You can also play around with your rental reservations and save money by turning them in when you are staying in a city, where parking is expensive and driving is less convenient than public transport. You can also turn them in and pick up a new one if you will drop in a different country than you picked it up.

The other thing that makes me lean toward renting now is a great CDW program through Amex when renting. When you lease full CDW is included in the price, you don't have a choice.