Car Rental for France

Richard:

Try Renault Eurodrive (just google that). This is the lease/buyback program. You must rent for at least 17 days but it is an absolute bargain. You can book it directly with Renault.

You get a brand new car.

There are no hidden fees or charges - insurance is included.

We have done this twice and recommended to anyone looking for a long term car rental in France. Once we had a Twingo (tiny - but fine for two) and the other time we had a Kangoo (we had the kids with us on that trip - this vehicle was perfect for us).

And, in answer to your other question - get a diesel. They cost a tad more to lease/buyback but the fuel is cheaper and you get better mileage. Have fun.

Go diesel. Cheaper, gets great mileage, and unless you want to drag race, the performance is great.

I did the same thing Jon did, but through Autoeurope. The lease is for a minimum of 17 days. You can check it out at autoeurope.com.

I use kayak.com and take whatever's cheaper on the bottom line. I do it this way for a month at a whack three times a year.

I've explored lease-back a bunch of times and never found it to be less expensive. Admittedly, I take the smallest thing I can find and don't fiddle with the rental company's cdw.

Diesel's better, but again I shoot for the bottom line. Last week gas was maybe a dime more per liter than diesel. The most I ever drove in a month was 4500 miles (miserable). Using rough numbers of four liters/gallon and forty/mpg (either fuel), that's less than fifty bucks difference for the whole deal. I don't recall what I had that time, but those numbers would have amounted to something less than two bucks per day.

Some will encourage getting something large enough to hide the luggage, The back seat of my car looks like the Beverly Hillbilles live in it. I do try to remember to toss the GPS on the floor at night, but have forgotten many times and even left it on and glowing once or twice. Never a problem.

If Paris is on the agenda, try not to have the car there. It makes absolute no sense to drive around town and parking, even outside the Peripherique, will stiff you about twenty-five euros per day.

The great thing about the Renault Eurodrive program is not only the full insurance coverage, but the 24/7 free roadside assistance.

If your trip is 17 days or longer, I'd definitely look into it.

It sounds like the Renault lease program and the Peugeot lease program through Auto Europe are primarily the same thing. If you are interested in doing a lease I would recommend looking at both of them to see where you get the best deal.

I've booked a Peugot through the lease-buy back program for my trip this coming September, and one of the things I liked about it was that you get the car you want rather than what they have left on the lot when you get there. A real advantage if you have specific needs for a car. I also like the all inclusive price, including all insurance. The cost for the 35 days we'll have the car is considerably less than what a rental would be. I checked out both Renault & Peugot & settled on the Peugot.