Renting a car in France

I used AutoEurope for a trip to Ireland and had no issues. I'm using Europcar this time but it's only because they are in my starting location. It is odd that automatics are relatively hard to get over there.

When you want an automatic I would rent from a large airport or maybe a very large central train station. The contract rarely guarantee an automatic and if they don't have one you are stuck. Most European cars are stick, automatics usually pay higher taxes and are just harder to guarantee. The last time we picked up a car in Rome there was a guy waiting whose automatic had been given to someone else and he was still waiting for one to come in two hours later when we finally got our car and left.

I'd be worried about a smaller city having what you needed. All it takes is for someone to return their automatic late or for someone to give your car to an earlier patron for you to be left without.

Thank you Fast Eddie. Do you have any thoughts on returning car in Nice - rail station or airport - which would be easier?

We have never requested an automatic, but we have rented several times from Autoeurope, and three times in France. Every experience was flawless and exactly as expected. I start with their website and complete the transactions after calling...every agent I have dealt with has been courteous, professional, and helpful. More than once they found a lower rate than I anticipated after my web search. Unlike airfare, which I buy and try never look at again, I track these rentals, and a few times called to seek a lower rate when I came across a new promo or special. Each time it was honored immediately and my rate was reduced. Most recently was France 2016 when the rate dropped twice since I ordered the car. They may have specials or good deals on GPS rental ( done in advance it can be much cheaper than adding it at pick up). I like them.

We have rented from Europcar and had good experiences, but we've never rented an automatic. As one previous poster mentions, you probably have to go to a major airport or city to get one.

On a side note, I hadn't driven a standard in several years, with the exception of my DH's old Mustang or my Dad's POS old Ford Ranger, both of which are really a pain to drive. But the standard we drove in France was a breeze. The newer cars really are easy to drive. So unless both of you just CAN'T drive a standard, your life would be much easier in renting one as opposed to an automatic.

AutoEurope is a consolidator that has contracts with EuropeCar, Hertz, Avis, the European brand of National (Citer) etc. A middleman, but a very useful one if you have any issues. Reps from all the above companies have desks in the AutoEurope main office in Portland, Maine. We've used them for twenty years. It's now the same company as Kemwel. There is also Europe-by-Car and one other US consolidator.

As for guaranteeing an automatic, I have no idea. We've rented and leased only stick shifts.

We've rented from AutoEurope a dozen times over the past twenty years and have been very satisfied. I particularly appreciate being able to easily rebook our reservation when the price decreases. We rented automatics until six years ago when we showed up at the Toulouse airport and the only automatic they had available was a big van - the other automatics were in for repairs. We opted for a small Renault with a manual transmission, were later refunded almost 50% of what we had prepaid and have rented manuals ever since. (That was the trip I dubbed "the vacation in second gear" on the windy roads to Cathar sites.)
I think it will be much easier to return your car at the Nice airport rather than navigating all the one-way streets near the train station.
If you're looking for a nice place to relax at the end of your trip I recommend a very delightful little town just west of Cannes called Mandelieu-La Napoule.

As Janet mentioned, the car rentals at the Narbonne train station will most likely be pretty small outfits and even the possibility of getting an automatic (let alone a guarantee of getting one) is probably not real great. I would try AutoEurope to see what they say. Many people here have used them successfully.

Hi,
My wife can only drive an automatic and we usually rent from EuropCar for that purpose when we share driving time through Europe.
They have a large list of automatic cars to choose from. They are easy to deal with as well. I have never had a problem.
Their website allows you to price out pick ups and drop offs at different locations.... airport, train station or center of town.
Sometimes its cheaper to pick up and drop off in town near your hotel, so review your options.
Enjoy your trip!

I've rented cars in France dozens of times over 30 years, always an automatic. And I've usually used AutoEurope (or their sister company Kemwel). If you try to rent from a smaller city (Narbonne probably qualifies), the "automatic" option will generally produce no results in your search. For that reason I've always picked larger cities, although it seems like more cities have automatics as an option than 10-15 years ago.

Where to return a car in Nice depends on which company you use. If Europcar, I agree that the traffic congestion and 1-way streets make a city return much harder than the airport. However, we've also rented from another company (Avis?) which had an office right next to the train station. If you're going to catch a train, that one is really convenient. A gps should lead you right to it.

I suggest you go to the AutoEurope or Kemwel site. They will show you the options. You can see which companies have returns in which locations. Also, both companies have toll-free numbers that you can call to discuss the availability of automatic. I know someone who was given a panel truck, because it was the only automatic available when she arrived.

We've used AutoEurope for our two rentals and both times the best deal was with Europcar. We had automatics both times (it's been way too many years since hubby drove a standard and I couldn't if my life depended on it). No issues getting an automatic - but we did pick up at larger garages - Paris the first time and the TGV stn in Avignon the second.

If you end up with Europcar, we dropped ours in Nice the second time. I thought I was saving money by deciding to drop it at the location in the downtown (rue gustav V) instead of at the airport, as there is generally a surcharge for picking up/dropping off at airports and large train stns...in this case, it was about $40 to drop at the airport. I should have bitten the bullet and dropped it at the airport - the hassle we had trying to return it to the downtown office - we missed the little road, had to get turned around, finally made it back, only to be told we had to go one street back and drop it at the garage - and of course it was a one way street the wrong way so back out and around again and the traffic was horrendous - I swear it took 45 min from when we initially missed the street to getting the car in the parking garage.

I guess it would depend on where you are leaving from when you are finished in Nice - will you be flying out from the airport or taking the train?

I have rented from both companies but lately prefere Europcar over AutoEurope because of the way they have charged me in the past.
Europcar has also included any additional pickup or drop off fees that we're going to be charged. AutoEurope did not include these fess in their quote; therefore, their proposal looked cheaper until you realized that their we're going to be addition fees, then Europcar was more competitive.
I would rather know the fees up front than be surprised late.

AutoEurope did not include these fess in their quote

On their website they say this:

Please note that prior to submitting your request, the terms & conditions, and local fees have to be accepted to finalize or save the reservation. The terms and conditions explain what applicable fees and taxes are included and excluded from the rate of your one way car rental. Some fees and taxes are paid directly to the rental car company. If you scroll down to the section entitled Rental Does Not Include under the terms and conditions, a bulleted list explains expected domestic or international one way fees for travel between cities or countries.
http://www.autoeurope.com/go/travel-tips/one-way-car-rental/

and on our last rental from them that's exactly how it worked. They listed the extras paid to the car company at the counter: a surcharge for getting the car at a train station, and a local tax for the first few days. No complaints here, everything clearly disclosed

I almost always have a car in Europe so have rented numerous times. I rent directly and do not use a middleman. I go to Priceline and put in my itinerary... choose the cheapest rate for the kind of car I want and reserve it. I will then check back as you do not prepay, and when I find a cheaper rate will make a new reservation and cancel the first. I almost always get it cheaper than my first reservation, or I might change my itinerary a bit, so I do not want to prepay. I had to rent an automatic once (my right arm was in a cast) and had no problem, but it was an airport rental.... more choices. I have rented in Nice at the airport as well as Avignon... both had many choices.

Even tho I used AutoEurope, I still knew there would be extra fees charged by Europcar (EC).

I read the AE fine print...there were fees depending on how many days you rent it and where you pick it up amongst other things - environmental fees, I think maybe an extra fee because we had an automatic. I looked into the fees charged by EC before finalizing which is how I knew we would be charged extra to pick up at the TGV in Avignon, and why I chose to not drop it at the airport in Nice, as I didn't want to incur the extra drop fees. In the end, we paid another (can't remember exactly) 60-70 euro or so on a 9 day rental. 40 of that was for picking up at the TGV.

Even though AutoEurope and Kemwel are now under the same "umbrella," they can still have very different rates. If you want to use them, it pays to check both.

Yes, as said, if you specify that you want an automatic, you will find out if they have them available at the location you selected. If they don't, go for a bigger city or airport. These also have longer hours. If you're renting or returning in a smaller location, beware the shorter hours and lunchtime closing, and plan around these.