car rental rates Rome?

Also try Europebycar. I was checking rates a while back and I recall their being less than Autoeurope. I believe both Autoeurope and Europebycar quote an all-in price (i.e. includes all insurance). Be sure to consider that when comparing prices to Budget.

Jean...$486 for a week sounds high although we've not rented in Italy recently. When we did, we used Europcar (directly) with pick up in Rome (not at the airport) with no difficulty. I think it will be worth your while to keep checking.

Thanks...I've checked both these sites, & they're still more expensive than Budget (by at least $200...unless I'm missing something). I forgot to mention that I need an intermediate size car (4 ppl), which upped the price. I guess the obvious answer to why the prices look so high if you haven't been there in 2 or 3 yrs is that the dollar is 30% weaker! Yikes!

Check carjet.co.uk...a broker with whom we've had good success.

I am renting in early April with Hertz. Picking up and dropping off in Arezzo. One week 252 euro. You may if Rome airport is expensive you may want to train to another area and then rent.

Jean, Bill has a great point. Where are you picking up your car?

Go to the Autoeurope.com web site and check out the prices at the various pickup locations. If you pick up a car at the airport you will pay 10 to 30% more.

We also found that different city locations had different prices...use your fingers and do some exploring.

We rented our car at the Bourghesee car rental site. We got great rates, and it was very easy getting out of the city from there.

Do not rent without getting a GPS; or do like we did; buy a GPS here, learn how to use it, then take it to Europe with you. The GPS will make all the difference in the world!

Thanks, guys....I'm still checking...& have tried putting in a city location for pickup (Rome); & autoeurope is indeed a little cheaper in town than the airport. However, I'm still not finding anything as cheap as Budget for an intermediate (Ford Focus C-Max, I think it is) for $486. There are 7 of us, so we'll need 2 cars...& leaving from Rome, I don't think we'd save money renting elsewhere if we had to buy 7 train tickets to the other location. Thanks for the continuing suggestions. While on the subject of rentals, I've read some horror stories about additional charges after the fact for nonexistent damage to the car, etc. Has anyone had experience with this? Any particular companies guilty of this?

here's who I usually check - prices always differ, so there's not one that's ALWAYS the cheapest:

Argus Car Hire
Auto Europe
Car Hire 4 Less
Holiday Autos
Kemwel Drive Europe
Nova Car Hire
SIXTI

Recently, I've had good luck with Argus and Holiday Autos (consolidators - the car rental co. was thrifty and budget at the Rome airport)
Nicole