Hi
Apologies if this topic was asked recently. I tried searching the topic but found it quite difficult to navigate the website using my iPhone.
We (my wife, our 12 year-old & I) are planning to drive between Cinque Terre & Rome, visiting the hill towns in Tuscany. As we are unfamiliar with the terrain, we are a little concern that the Fiat Panda we're eyeing may be a little under-powered.
Any advice on what type of car to rent?
Thanks!
I usually will avoid the smallest size of car--going up a notch. My last car rented for Tuscany was a Ford Fiesta, and it was a good size for two people.
And yes, most rental cars are somewhat underpowered by U.S. standards. But they'll get you where you want to go with good fuel mileage. Gasoline is still very expensive in Europe and fuel mileage does still matter.
The Fiat Panda is quite a common car in Italy. I think the issue will not be the power, but the size. Two adults and a child will have luggage that might not fit a Panda's boot.
David's advice is sound, go up the tree, a Ford Fiesta, Fiat Punto, Opel Corsa etc. These will have larger boots. As for the power, these cars may be under powered, but they are designed for European roads and European speed limits.
Hello MC & David
Thanks for your advice.
I have not seen a Panda in SE Asia. So I don't have the slightest clue what it is like. I've had experience with cars struggling up a hill (along i17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff & over Arthur's Pass in Inverness) though.
Will seriously go one up to Economy.
Many thanks
Other issues to consider:
Space in medieval towns (archways, corners, etc.)
Parking garage spaces and corridors smaller than at home.
Limited on-street parking
Zona Limita historic zones with prohibited driving
Price of gasoline
Standard transmissions predominate
Luggage visible under windowshade luggage cover?
Size of luggage pieces
Insurance
Multiple driver charges
Nightmare driving in cities like Rome
Local Roads or highways expected?
I really like renting Diesels with standard transmissions in Europe. Diesel engines in Europe aren't noisy or stinky at all; they get amazing mileage. It's a shame they aren't sold here exactly the same way - I'd buy one.
Standard transmissions will get you better performance from your relatively small engine, plus still more kilometers per liter.
I normally get the smallest acceptable car. I only pack a carry-on but want a trunk in Italy, car prowling is rampant. You really don't want anything visible that can be had by breaking a window.
If you park in La Spezia and take the train into Cinque Terre, you will notice broken glass sparkling all over the train station parking lot. I parked across the street from one of the gates to the Naval Station (about a mile from the train station). It was free and safe.
The Panda is very small and cannot load big luggage, let alone big luggage for three persons.
Apart from this it should be adequate. You will find difficult to believe, but a Panda 4 x 4 (four driving wheels) is often the preferred car of people who live in the country and have to drive very difficult roads - even better than a jeep, it can get you anywhere.
Go to www.autoeurope.com or www.kemwel.com. Two consolidators part of the same corporate group. They generally get better prices than directly through the rental companies. Most of their contracts are with Europcar, Hertz, Avis, Budget.
Enter your dates of travel, select the full no deductible insurance and compare prices.
The Panda is usually a bit cheaper in the economy category, but when I travel just with my wife I always select a car, still in the Economy category, that is slightly more expensive. As mentioned above the Panda has a small trunk (boot) and I doubt you would get the 4-wheel-drive Panda 4x4 withTurboDiesel TwinAir technology which delivers a nice torque at 85 Hp.
When we have 3 adults traveling together, I always get a car in the higher "compact" category. Last summer in this category I got at Fiat500-L Diesel, which is very spacious, has acceptable power and a has a large trunk, and still I was able to get 20 km/liter (48 mpg). In previous years I got other models, such as the Grande Punto, which was equally spacious with plenty of trunk space.
The difference between economy (Panda) and economy (other models) is minimal. Upgrading to a compact (I recommend it for 3 people with luggage) will not break the bank either.
To give an idea this is a Fiat Panda, and the almost the first thing shown is the boot.
The jump in basic boot space between the Panda sized car and the next up is about a quarter to a third, going up from 220 litres or thereabouts to 300 litres give or take.
Depending on the suitcase that can be one or two extra suitcases. A roll on cabin suitcase seems to be about 20 litres.
MC, your clip is of a Fiesta.
Nigel, I believe my computer hates me. Yes that was a Ford Fiesta, I was looking for a Fiesta for comparison, this is a Fiat Panda.
Honest.
Thank you all for the help and assistance.
The videos on YouTube were really helpful (I should have thought of that). My wife heard a little too much of the narrow, windy roads in Europe, and was not too convinced with the Fiat 500L in the Economy selection on AutoEurope.com.
One way or the other, the Panda is probably not going to make it.
Thank you all once again for your very generous contributions. They are all very much appreciated.
the other thing is you can never be certain of receiving a particular model when you go to pick up your car. Heck, you can't even really be sure of them having the class you've reserved (although that's less frequent).
Just a reminder to focus on the class of vehicle rather than the particular model.
Recommend that you really go Italian and rent an Alfa! Turbo diesel 6 speed manual and you'll have a blast.
But whatever you rent, please have a GPS, NOT CELL PHONE BASED, with you. It will make for a more enjoyable trip. And congratulations on deciding to drive! So many folks wimp out on driving in Europe.
Thank you Kim & gtocquigny for your advice.
We have a Garmin GPS which we will be bringing. I just hope that the GPS maps for Italy we have is good enough. We also bought the latest paper Michelin map for Tuscany. We should be ok (keeping our fingers crossed).
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be getting an Alfa (though that would have been a blast!).
Thank you again.
My wife and I used the Garmin Italy map on our trip a year ago May and found it to be very accurate. The only thing to be careful of is every once in awhile it would want to route you down a cow path as a short cut to save 10 feet of driving.
My wife and I used the Garmin Italy map on our trip a year ago May and found it to be very accurate. The only thing to be careful of is every once in awhile it would want to route you down a cow path as a short cut to save 10 feet of driving.
Whats wrong with a cell phone based GPS like Sygic? Works offline with no data connection required and is cheaper than buying a separate GPS unit. I have used it all over Western Europe.
We had the Fiat 500L on our trip through France, Spain and Portugal last fall. If you have carry-on bags there should be enough covered storage behind the rear seats for the three of you. Brought my Garmin with Euro maps from home and it worked as well as I needed it to.
Thanks Mike for your advice.
We have booked a car in the class size of a Fiat Punto. Hopefully, that would be ok.
Now I just hope that the maps from OpenStreetmap works.
