Renting a gps from Autoeurope vs. paying at rental car pick up

Do you have one at home? It works there too. You just need to purchase and load European maps. It's cheaper that way. You can buy micro cards with Europen maps on Amazon (Garmin or TomTom ) for under $50.

Also if you have a smart phone you can use Google Maps or any similar app. It uses data so you might need to buy an international data plan from your carrier, or, buy a local SIM card when you are there (in the latter case your phone will have a local French number while you are there).

Either solution will be cheaper than renting a GPS from the rental company or AutoEurope.

Autoeurope rents Garmin Nuvi's, which are very good quality. They will be as good or better than what they will offer at the counter.

I agree with the others here that a smartphone is a much better option. My choice is an iPhone or Android smartphone with Google Maps set up for offline use. I also bring along a Kenu Airframe mount (http://amzn.com/B00D901B4W) and a car charger.

We took advantage of a promotion by Auto Europe and got a free GPS unit with our rental a few years back. It was mailed to us in time to take it to England with us, and on returning we had to mail it back (to Maine, where they're based) within a couple of days. It worked fine, I forget what brand it was but probably Garmin. Slightly less convenient than getting one from the rental company with the car itself, but we couldn't beat the price. So if Auto Europe is offering a substantial saving, I'd say go for it.

Using the GPS on your smartphone would work too, I guess, if you can handle the data charges. I understand these can be astronomic unless you've made some prior arrangement with your carrier -- if that's even possible. (I have a dumb phone and a tablet that relies on wifi, so no ongoing GPS directions.)

When we were in Spain last year we bought local SIM cards for our iPhones and used Google Maps daily, both while we were walking around cities and when we were driving. The amount of data Google Maps used was very small and by the end of the month we were well under the data limit that came with the SIM cards (2GB for each card as I recall).
We purchased an accessory that clipped to the air vent on the dashboard and used this to mount the phone when driving. In fact it was so successful, we took to calling 'her' Googlina, Our Lady of the Dashboard. Her directions were extraordinarily correct even in some very tiny villages in the Alpujarras and in the old part of Granada where the streets are one-way and extremely narrow. The convenience of being able to consult Google Maps while wandering in cities was perhaps one of the best benefits - we could easily find the nearest subway, take a look at what was close by and determine how long it would take us to get to our destination on foot or via transit saving us time and frustration. So much easier than using paper maps while out and about. In our opinion, Google Maps on your smartphone is an invaluable tool while travelling.

Maybe we lucked out, but both our France rentals (one was a VW in 2012 and one was a Citroen last year) had integrated GPS in the car. We used AutoEurope and the rental was with Europcar. So I'm not sure what happens if you rent in advance and the car already had an integrated system. In that way, it may make more sense to wait until you are at the car rental place and see if the car already has a system. It's a crapshoot of course.

If you have a GPS of your own, just buy a european map card for it and be done with it. The advantage to doing it this way is that you already know how to use the unit and are at ease with it. It sure beats sitting in a rental car pick up lot trying to figure out how to use their device with a manual that is probably not printed in English.

Nicole was fortunate to get the gps integrated. Last werk Europecar offered us an "upgrade package" of an automatic with a gps integrated for 14 Euros a day. We needed neither, so said no. This is the first time Europecar has done such a hardsell on us--charging for everything, including one-way rental within France. We paid through Autoeurope.

Back to gps--whatever you use, you should become familiar with, get the language set, etc before hitting the freeway or alleyway in your rental vehicle. So cell phone app or Autoeurope gps, or installing Europe maps into a gps you own is best. We own one we bring with us on every trip.

Bets, did you get charged for a one-way rental by Europcar after already prepaying AutoEurope? That just happened to me last month, and after contacting AutoEurope they immediatley said it was a mistake and credited it back to me. And Europcar at the Bordeaux train station also gave me the hard sell about everything, for the first time ever: "You don't want to pay for a 2d driver? But you could get ill and be unable to drive, and your wife wouldn't be authorized." And: "Don't you want to upgrade the car? It will have more room." Yes, and then I can scrape the buildings in every tiny French village I drive through.

Buy a TomTom on ebay with French maps. You will find one for less than $50. I drove across the country for 3 weeks and it never failed me and I plan on using in the future. I was told by french people that using your phone isn't the best idea. I've never tried.

-Matt

It was the Bordeaux train station where we got the hardsell from the young lady doing the "stare at your eyes" sales tactic. Thanks for letting me know that Autoeurope got that refunded. They are a good company when it comes to avocating for us.

Used gps on Ebay--good idea.

Edit: returning the car today in another city, the clerk insisted a one-way rental charge was standard. Autoeurope will take care of getting it reimbursed.

So people: heads up on this new charge Europcar might slip in.

Bets, I have a feeling that was the same young lady I dealt with.

I've been using my own, regular GPS in Europe for a decade. My current one is a Garmin Nuvi, and I got the updated map set for France on Amazon for about $50. It's very reliable. I already know how to use it, and other than the initial purchase price it doesn't cost you anything. It can sit on your dash and navigate for hous each day, and there won't be a charge for data. I'd use my own and not rent one.

In addition to already knowing how to use it, there's another advantage to using your current phone or GPS device in Europe. You can pre-program in your hotels and other points of interest. This way, you can preview the route before you go, can save lots of time while there (no need to put in addresses - just go to your list), and can figure out potential problems in advance. One that's been mentioned is that towns will often have similar or the same names, and you need to know the postal codes or other distinguishing information to make sure you have the correct one. If you're putting in addresses in advance, you can figure this out before you get stuck, instead of on the way.

I have a Garmin Nuvi that I have used for the last 10 years in Europe and has worked well except for Italy where it had problems in rural areas.
Mike

Hmmmm...we didn't get a hard sell at either Europcar locations...the guy at the Avignon train stn (who sounded Aussie or Kiwi) didn't even make an effort...lol. But it is nice to take your own. We have a Garmin, but I seemed to have bought the model that I couldn't find a compatible 'cheap euro map' for it on eBay (it seems almost every other model out there had a map avail) and the map from a reputable website was almost as much as the GPS itself! ($100).

We did have issues with our first rental GPS set to German when we got in and it took us a while to get it to English (leading to a comedy of errors and us ending up driving thru Paris instead of right out as we had intended) and our second rental, I borrowed my sisters GPS (not knowing our rental would have one). She lives in the uk and the darn GPS (which we hooked up for a lark - that lasted all of ten min) kept trying to tell us to go around roundabouts the 'wrong' (ie...British) way, even tho it was set to driving on the continent! They've driven in France before, so I must have missed something on that darn thing, so we lucked out to have an integrated one.