Rental vs. Leasing

I have always simply rented cars personally, but here is the article on leasing options: Leasing, Buying, and Car-Sharing in Europe by Rick Steves | ricksteves.com https://shar.es/16YI7m via @sharethis

Autoeurope.com and a rental car aggregator site like kayak.com is what I would use to get quotes on a rental options vs. leasing.

Last time I rented in France I used Europcar though a prepaid rental on autoeurope.com. I just did a search for 4-weeks in April 2016 on Autoeurope.com picking up at Paris airport - CDG and it came up with $385.27 from Dollar rental car, so that might be hard to beat with a lease. It's a compact, which is my favorite blend of size and space for one or two people.

The 4-week rate with all the extra insurance is $619.57. If you want an automatic, it jumps to $573.91 w/o extra insurance and $931.32 with the extra coverage.

We have done both. If you are traveling by car for more than three weeks they say it's best to lease. We were going to be in Europe for a month, so we leased. We went through Europcar. They were very nice and helpful, and we got just what we ordered, and it was a new car. No problems and saved quite a bit. Do in advance, as there is paperwork. You might also check with Renault.

Have a great trip.

Devra

The rule-of-thumb that leasing begins to pay after 3 weeks is not always true. We've checked it a couple of times; and in those cases, renting was actually significantly cheaper. As others have said, it's easy to compare, using Kemwel or Autoeurope sites. Don't forget that when you lease, insurance is included in the price. I seem to remember that there is a time frame for setting up a lease.

Don't forget that all car insurance and roadside assistance is covered in your lease--while this is usually tacked on to car rentals. Whey you compare rates, you need to factor this in. In most cases, leasing is cheaper.

We've rented many times via Auto Europe and leased several times via Renault USA and Auto Europe (Peugeot leases). They both come from the same company, TT. Nearly everything is covered when you lease, but not so when renting, even with the most inclusive insurance. We had a cracked windshield replaced on our leased vehicle and never saw a bill. As for final cost, local costs need to be added to the rental rates shown on line: second driver, local taxes, road taxes, raising the final rental rate quite a bit.

Eleven years ago I ignored a friend's advice to lease and rented instead. I never will maje that mistake again. When you lease, you will ...

1. Get the car you reserved, not whatever they have on the lot when you get there.
2. The car will be brand new, never smoked in etc.
3. There will be NO added fees to what you have already paid. And any licensed driver in your family over the age of 18 can drive the car without paying $10 per day extra.
4. The car is absolutely insured to the hilt including glass damage as Bets mentioned above.
5. While it is delivered with very little fuel in it, you can return it the same way.

If you need an automatic you should reserve as soon as possible since automatics are on allocation in Europe. I have used both Auto France (Peugeot) and Renault USA (Renault) and been thoroughly satisfied. I just took a look for this fall, and Auto France looks to be a bit cheaper.

We like to pick up and drop off at CDG. The TT car operation is not that easy to find when returning the car so be sure to save the location as home on the GPS if you do go through CDG. Also don't forget, yo now need an IDP in France.

I've rented and leased. I would say the biggest differences are:

1. CDW is included in the leasing price. Last time I rented. There was a great deal on CDW from American Express (Costco card) so that wasn't as much of a money saver as it might be otherwise.
2. With leasing you pick the exact car rather than class of car.
3. Since you are in France, there are no pick up/drop off charges on either end. I found lease drop off charges to be cheaper than rentals (but that may have just been because of the specific details).
4. Rental cars seem to be cheaper if you only need a basic economy model car. As you get larger or nicer vehicles, rental prices increase pretty drastically. I found leases compared favorably when I was traveling as a family in a seven passenger vehicle while rentals were the better deal for a couple in a compact.

If you lease, the companies are (or at least were when I leased) Renault and Peugeot. We ended up leasing from Renault, only because the car that fit our needs best was from them. I had no complaints at all with the car. My only complaint was dropping in Rome where the agent neglected to show up. He was an hour late, and then only because the rental agents helped track him down. (That's Italy in a nutshell, you either laugh about it or you won't like Italy.)

During our time in France in 2012 we rented from Hertz. Remember that Chase Visa (our Marriott Visa card) provides foreign car rental insurance coverage.

Thanks for the information everyone. We are using a credit card that covers foreign rental cars. I like the idea that both of us could drive the leased cars without paying extra. Can you pick up and drop off a leased car in smaller towns? We want to pick up in Avignon near the TGV and then drop off towards the end either near Bayeux or we could drive in closer to Paris.

Pick up and drop off are very restricted, mainly to a few airports. You can see the few pick up and drop off sites if you go to their websites, renaultusa or autoeurope, and start a dummy booking. In Paris it's only the two airports and one place in the 16th arrondisement.

I've done both. I prefer to lease because I know exactly what I'm getting. Last June I picked up in Rome and dropped off at CDG. This last trip there were four of us traveling heavy so I wanted to be sure all of our luggage would fit. The lease people had programmed the CDG drop off location in the GPS when I picked up the car which was a big help.