My friends had a flat tire on their rental car from Europa on Saturday August 15, Ferragosto, a national holiday.. They had a terrible and expensive experience with the flat tire. They had to call a taxi to take them to their villa in Manciano, costing them €300. Then they had to travel back to the town an hour and a half away to get to the repair shop where their rental car was sitting, waiting for them on Monday morning. There are many more details to this story. I cannot relate in this post.
But the question is: what do you Italy experts suggest would have been the best way for my friends to reach this villa in a remote town of Manciano?
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
18261 posts
I’ve been to Manciano more than once, always with a car while (while staying in nearby Saturnia).
A car is the best way to get there and get around, and maybe the only way if one stays at a villa somewhere out of town in the countryside nearby.
I am sure there are buses to Orbetello, Albinia, Saturnia, Scansano, maybe Pitigliano, but bus service in small towns and rural areas is designed for students and commuters, therefore it is infrequent outside of commute hours, and even scant to non existent on Sundays and holidays.
Didn’t they have a spare tire? Even if just a temporary donut wheel, like they use today in cars?
What would be the options for a similarly remote place in the middle of the countryside in rural Georgia? Rural areas tend to be car dependent everywhere.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta
2762 posts
Roberto,
Thank you for your reply. That is my friends’ frustration, no spare or donut tire!! Europa Cars told them they had to bring the car to them in Florence. On Monday they made their way back to the town with the repair shop and the tow truck driver took the car to Europa Cars with my two friends sitting in the rental car atop the tow truck! Can you picture this?
Yes, we are heavily car dependent in Georgia and definitely in Atlanta.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
18261 posts
I’ve never heard of Europa car rental, unless you meant Europcar, which is a major international brand.
I hope they reimbursed the renter for repair and towing costs, although in Europe often you need to have insurance coverage which includes towing costs. The level of customer service you get across the pond is nowhere comparable to what we get in America (which is not always great but overthere is way worse).
Posted by
OP
Atlanta
2762 posts
I’m sorry, I think it was Europcar and, no, they were not reimbursed for any costs. Only one of them had travel insurance, I don’t know what kind, and my other friend who rented the car did not have travel insurance coverage.
Now, my question is: if they were doing this again, should they have taken a train from Florence where they began and ended their trip? If so, a train from Florence to what town near Manciano? Then they could have hired a taxi to their villa or even rented a car from that town to Manciano and their villa?
Thanks for your help, Roberto!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
18261 posts
No they did the right thing. If they departed from Florence the most sensible way was to rent a car in Florence and drive the almost 3 hours to Manciano from there. Alternatively, if they wanted to minimize the drive, they could have taken a train to Grosseto then rent a car in Grosseto and drive to Manciano about one hour away. There are agencies in Grosseto from Enterprise, Avis-Budget, Hertz, but they would be closed on weekends and holidays, therefore it would have been problematic to rent on Ferragosto. A taxi would have been expensive. Grosseto station is one hour away from Manciano so the fare would have been at least 120€ each way. And then what? What are you going to do from a villa in the middle of the Maremma countryside without a car? I know the area is famous for the “Butteri” cowboys but are they going to ride horses around? When you rent a villa or agriturismo in rural Tuscany a rental car is a necessity. What they needed is proper rental car insurance which covered also towing costs. It’s not automatic in Italy. Towing coverage is not included with the rental. Italians can do without because everybody is member of ACI (the Italian equivalent of AAA), but if you are not you must ensure towing costs are covered. The cost of repairs should be reimbursed by Europcar however. I’ve had occasionally had to have the rental car have small repairs (generally some electric or headlamp issue) but they always reimbursed me when I returned the car, including Europcar.
Posted by
7081 posts
It sounds like they just had some bad luck and their rental company contract was not the best. I mostly “self insure” for this kind of thing, so not sure my outcome would have been any better, as I’d rather peel potatoes than read a rental car contract or a credit card travel insurance policy.
Good reminder to check for a spare tire, as I nearly got a flat myself a couple years ago, but we found the auto body shop just in time, and it was all free. Just luck!