Best Car Rental Company in Italy?

I usually go through AutoEurope.com (a consolidator) or their affiliate www.kemwel.com (whichever is cheaper on the dates I need, but both work the same way, since they are part of the same corporate group).

When you use the above consolidators, their best deals are invariably with Europcar or Hertz, especially when you select the zero deductible insurance option (which I always get for piece of mind, since it's only a handful of extra euro a day).

Europcar (a French multinational) is the largest operator with the most offices in Italy, but Hertz is a close second, therefore I go with either one, whichever is cheaper on the dates I need. Avis-Budget is usually more expensive, at least for the dates I needed, for whatever reason. I've rented from them only once.

I've never used Rhodium, which is a new brand of Goldcar, a Spanish rental company (GoldCar has an awful reputation). Besides I feel more comfortable with the aforementioned companies, that have been around forever. I remember Europcar, Avis, Hertz being present in Florence since I was a kid (and I'm no spring chicken).

I mostly use Avis but have used Hertz as well.

Avoid Goldcar, Maggiore, Firefly and Locauto. These are horrible companies.

donna

I am surprised to read that Donna thinks Maggiore is a horrible company. Our experience in Sicily with Maggiore was excellent.

Yes, me and my parents have booked through Hertz and Avis several times. No problems.

We have used Hertz with no problem.

Currently booked through Hertz, based on price, reputation and office availability with my schedule.

Would consider Avis-Budget (same company, same cars, same service, sometime different prices) and Europcar.

Note, you will likely pay extra fees with everyone for airport drop off (I don't understand why) and maybe pickup. At least that's my discovery.

We have done the exact route you plan to do...picked up at Hertz near the Florence train station, traveled to Tuscany for a few days and returned the car at FCO airport. We got the full CDW. It was all seamless, no issue. Because we had the CDW returning the car was a breeze. Just be prepared to pay the airport convenience charge in cash when you return the vehicle.

We have done the exact route you plan to do...picked up at Hertz near the Florence train station, traveled to Tuscany for a few days and returned the car at FCO airport. We got the full CDW. It was all seamless, no issue. Because we had the CDW returning the car was a breeze. Just be prepared to pay the airport convenience charge in cash when you return the vehicle.

We used autoeurope.com years ago and did not have any problem. Also, we used Hertz without any issues. The last time we used a car (5/2015) we rented from Avis as they were having a big promotion. We were going to rent an SUV at Orvieto and I had all the confirmations, etc. I even emailed them 1 month prior to the vacation just to verify the address, etc. Then I emailed them 3 weeks later or 1 week prior to the vacation, just to see if I could change the time of pickup. I had all these issues with the website, so I called and was pleasantly informed that the Avis location in Orvieto had closed! No one had emailed me any notice, etc. So then I was stuck trying to get a car for 6 adults 1 week before the vacation. It was awful, but Hertz got us 2 cars at the airport and everything was fine! Please pay attention to the parking situation, know what the colored lines mean and take photos of the cars prior to leaving. Have fun

Has anyone had experience with Sixt (booked thru CheapTickets.com) or RyanAir (car coming from Maggiore)? Not feeling good about my 2 rentals with either of them.
Thanks

Ssebast... Sixt is good, but book directly with them, I would not book with a third party like cheap tickets.

Op... Like Roberto I use Kimwel or Autoeurope. Have used both Europcar and hertz multiple times.

Jessica... Have never paid airport drop off in cash, it's always been included with the reservation

Europcar, Hertz or Avis are the 3 top rated rental car companies for Italy.
In my opinion there is some risk using anyone outside of the top 3 ; not that it might not work out great and save some money.

You mention AutoEurope but they are only a consolidator that books these 3 companies I mentioned as well as other brands. If you are buying the optional insurance it usually works out cheaper to use a website like AutoEurope rather than book through the rental car company directly.

Used Sixt several times, both in Europe and US and have no cause to complain. I even like them. Keep in mind that except at airports, you are renting from a licensee, and if some of them choose to be unscrupulous, that's life. Can happen with any of them, Hertz, Avis, Maggiore.

By the way, if you are AAA members, Hertz has an additional discount. We used Hertz for Florence-Orvieto in May, no problems.

I've never used Maggiore, but Avis-Budget bought them out over a year ago. Not that it means anything. Many offices are franchise licensees who do what they want.

www.gemut.com for car rentals.