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Car rental in Germany

We are traveling in Germany next month. We will be renting a car for part of the trip.
We have never rented a car in Europe. Any recommendations on a rental car company?
Some sites want partial payment upfront, does anyone have any experience(good or bad) with that?
Any tips regarding car rental in Germany are welcome.

Posted by
6231 posts

I rented a car this year in Germany. I used AutoEurope, which is a car rental broker, and booked it with Avis. I've been renting from AutoEurope since 1996 and have never had any problems and have always gotten decent prices.

They will charge your credit card (I don't think it's the full amount - more like a hold or deposit) but if you do cancel, they refund it. I wound up changing the rental dates before I left, and it was easy to do. The change made it cheaper and AE refunded the difference right away.

Posted by
6231 posts

One other thing to keep in mind is that most rental cars in Europe have manual transmission. If you want an automatic, be prepared to book as early as possible and pay more for the automatic.

Posted by
2300 posts

I’ve used AutoEurope also, and the company was Europcar. Rent the smallest car you can fit your group and luggage into. Some streets are really narrow and parking can be a challenge. I have a rental with AutoEurope (Hertz) reserved for next year. Paid up front, but it’s fully refundable. Got a great deal on a fully insured manual minivan. The automatic was over $1200 more, so if you can drive a stick, you can save a ton.

Posted by
5508 posts

I'm going to France in a month or so. We are renting again from Autoeurope. We've been happy with our rentals with them. This time, I've already cancelled two reservations and rebooked for a lower rate. Super easy.