Environmental emissions stickers on rental cars in Italy?

This subject will be a non-issue if you rent a car in Italy. The cars are properly licensed. And if I pickup a rental car in Florence, all I want to know is how to E35/A1 and avoid the city. But if you keep your eyes open, you can see the ZTL signs. If I was going into Rome, it'd be on the train. The big cities' parking is very expensive, and I try to turn in my rental car immediately to avoid those charges.
If I need a car later, I'll make another car rental reservation.

I might be wrong, but I think you may be confusing the German Umwelt sticker with Italian ZTLs. You need a green environmental sticker to drive into many German cities. These are applied when the car is initially registered, so any rental car from Germany should already have the proper sticker affixed. My understandig of ZTLs is that they have less to do with emission control than traffic control. No matter the emission grade of the vehicle, I believe you need to pre-register the car to obtain permission to drive within a particular ZTL. If I'm wrong, perhaps those who know more about driving in Italy can weigh in.

Tom is correct. The previous post did not address the question and neglects the possibility that two short-term rental may cost more than one of a longer term even if parking is factored in.

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I think I should try to more clearly explain the exact situation that I'm asking about. I definitely do not plan to drive into any big cities. I'll get around Rome using public transit and then rent a car from the airport. I will be visiting Naples, but I will leave my car at a hotel in Pompei (near the excavation) and take a train into Naples. I will be visiting Florence, but my current plan is to park near the edge of the metro area and take the tram into central Florence. The biggest / most built-up places where I do plan on driving are near the airport in Fiumicino, in Ostia to get to Ostia Antica, and in Pompei to get to and from my hotel near the ruins. I've created a map of the Florence area, showing the tram line, the parking lot near the end of the tram line, and the city limits of Scandicci, which is the municipality around the end of the tram line. My Florence transit and parking plans. I got my information about "low emission zones" from www.lowemissionzones.eu. On their page about Scandicci, it says their low emission zone "covers the whole municipality" except for certain sections, it is in force from 8:30-12:30 and 14:30-18:30, and the minimum standards for cars are "Petrol cars Euro 2" and "Diesel cars Euro 4". My initial question was: do rental cars in Italy have the necessary sticker to indicate their Euro emission rating? And now I'm wondering: Is there anything else with the Zona Traffico Limitato that I need to know about? It's very possible that I'm confused about the situation in Italy or have bad information.

You've stumbled onto something that doesn't apply and are trying to link it to ZTLs. There is no way that a rental vehicle will be ten years old (or whatever) so that it doesn't meet the standards. Emissions are thus a non-issue due to year of manufacture. Others can rattle on about the ZTLs. I just drive in and out of the cities and avoid them.

I just got an email response from the Avis Italy customer service. They say that all cars will have this sticker and, if one does not, it is a problem that can be addressed by the rental location.

Don, the ZTLs have nothing to do with a sticker on your car. To be able to drive in one, your license plate has to be registered with the police department. Cameras take pictures of your license plates and not of any stickers on your window

The reason many Italian-plated cars have these sticker is mundane and simple: people sometimes rent cars and drive them to Germany and get stickers there. Since the German Umwelt stickers don't expire and cost cheap, it is usually just normal courtesy you leave them there instead of removing. Ditto for vignettes for Switzerland, often found on Italian cars rented in Northern Italy. Emission-based ZTLs do not rely on stickers of any sort, and they are not relevant for rental car drivers.

You do know that the tram doesn't go into the old centre of Florence right? It only goes as far as SMN. Have you driven around Naples before? I have. I love it. My wife was hiding under the seat screaming. Never again, she says. Parking around Pompei is not the most salubrious area in the world. Take it steady and avoid the potholes and piles of rubbish. You most definitely don't need a car to get to Ostia Antica. The train station is practically across the street from one entrance. I've done it. Easy. Commuter train from station Ostiense near Piramide. I agree that you must be confusing the green Umweltplakette with the ZTL. Simple advice - avoid any temptation to go into ZTLs for any reason unless they are not active. Umweltplakette or not you will quickly - or slowly - get poorer by a lot.

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. It is very helpful to get advice from more experienced and knowledgeable travellers. It does seem like the place of my main concern, the Florence suburb of Scandicci, has environmental restrictions on cars and I had confused that with the concept of ZTL in Italy. Based on some of the replies here and the response I got from Avis Italy customer service, I don't think I need to worry about the environmental/emissions restrictions for Scandicci. Your replies about ZTLs have confirmed my strategy of completely avoiding going anywhere near the centre of large cities. I won't be driving to the the centres of Florence or Naples or Rome - I'll commute in by tram or regional train. I'll also be as careful as I can and watch for ZTLs even in smaller towns. Nigel, I know that I can get to Ostia from Rome easily by train. My trip will basically be 4 days in Rome without a car and then, after getting a car at the airport, 4 days in Italy with a car. I know I could get to Naples and Florence from Rome by train, but I also want to visit some smaller places like Ortona, Cassino, Tarquinia, and Cerveteri, and also meander through the countryside, so I decided to travel by car for that part of my trip. Ideally, I'd prefer to visit Ostia by train during the Rome part of my trip but, unfortunately, that just doesn't fit with the rest of my plans, so I'll be visiting it in the afternoon of my last full day in Italy, before I fly out the next morning. I do realize that the tram in Florence only goes as far as the main train station. I think it is about a 15-minute walk from there to the old parts of Florence that I want to visit. I don't mind the walk. Your description of Pompei matches what I've read. I found a hotel with private, secure parking in Pompei. I'll try to dodge the potholes on the way in. Thanks.