Reliable Car Rental Companies? Specifically Sixt...

I generally use www.autoeurope.com, a consolidator/broker that works with the major companies (Avis Budget, Hertz, Europcar, also Sixt). They get you contracts with those companies at a discount and provide great service. Sixt is a major worldwide company based in Europe (Germany) and is generally reliable. It operates in the US as well.

Thanks for the info, Robert. Would you recommend that I cancel my booking with Sixt, for a company through autoeurope.com? Have you had much experience with companies switching your reservation on you?

Sixt is quite reliable and typically has "premium" vehicles. My experience booking automatics with them (in France, not Italy), is that you occasionally end up with fancy sedans even when you booked a compact, because automatic transmissions are more common on higher-end cars.
I do not see how changing companies will increase your chances.

We have used Sixt for years both in France (where we live) and in Italy (where my husband is from). They’ve always been fine for us — my husband insists on only renting from them — but of course whether that translates into trusting that any given outlet will definitely have an automatic for you is not knowable.

Sixt is one of the better companies, though sometimes on the expensive side. While pre-pandemic, Avis had promo literature that stated it had the largest automatic transmission fleet in Italy, that doesn't predict the future well.
Look at the Italy fleet of the different companies to get an idea. This is Avis Italy - https://www.avis.com/en/cars/vehicles/it which shows many manuals but with Economy and Compact Elite categories with auto as well as auto in the larger cars.
This is Sixt Italy which seems to have a lot and even has a toggle view for automatics - https://www.sixt.com/#/fleet/selectcar/IT?auto=true

Autoeurope is a good broker, but they rely on the rental companies for fleet information, so garbage in, garbage out..

Sixt is very reputable - it has been renting cars since 1912. They entered the U.S. market only in the last few years, but we’ve used them in Europe many times. We haven’t made the reservation yet, but we’re looking at a rental in South Africa this May, and Sixt appears to be the best option there, price and what they include. They will give you the type of car that you booked - won’t switch you to a manual shift, if that’s not what you ordered. Worse case scenario, you might get a diesel instead of gasoline car, or vice versa, but even that probably wouldn’t happen. As noted above, there’s a (slight) chance they would “upgrade” you to a premium car, for the same price you booked. You might be in a BMW, but if that’s not the category you booked, that’s still a long shot. We’ve stuck with smaller cars, better mileage, easier to fit in small parking spaces.

At least for South Africa, Sixt offers unlimited mileage, as opposed to other companies with mileage limits, who charge 12 to 16 cents a mile if you go over their limit. That can add up. Once in Italy, we got off the plane and headed to the Europcar rental desk (Europcar is another major company, that we’ve used many times), while the rest of the passengers, who all seemed to be speaking German, went to Sixt. They got checked out before we did. Sixt runs a professional company, though it would be nice to get a human being when you need to talk to someone.

Sad to say, there is never a guarantee in Europe that you will not get a stick. It's just the norm over there. If you really can't drive one, you could be in for a world of hurt. Rental companies don't reserve you a specific car, they reserve you a CLASS of similar cars. Plus, you are limited to what is on the lot when you get there. There are serious inventory problems around the world for rental cars, so choices are going to be even more limited.

I rented three cars last summer, all in Italy, and had no problem getting an automatic car like I had reserved. My first car was with Sixt (Pisa to Rome) and I had no problems, other than the smallest automatic car you could reserve in Pisa was a small SUV. The customer service and vehicle itself were great. I would definitely rent with Sixt again, although in all the places I'm visiting this summer, their prices are way higher than other companies. My bigger concern now when I pick a rental company is reading reviews on Google, and of course, overall price.

I used gemut.com, which is a reliable travel agent to handle my car rentals. They provide 24-hour customer phone service (in English, of course) to help resolve any problems. Go to this website to take a look at the general rules of renting a car in the EU.

Sixt is a big company and your experience will depend on your actual rental location. Many of these are franchises and therefore may set their own rules.

I have never rented from Sixt, but have done a lot of reading on various agencies. Sixt's rep really is location dependent. I have rented from Europcar, Enterprise, and smaller local players. Had good stories and nightmares.

We had an initial positive experience with SIXT in Paris. We were upgraded to a BMW, and the car and service were great.
Then literally four months later, they posted a $500+ charge to our credit card with no notice. It took much research before they responded that they had found previously unnoticed damage. No detail, just “the contract you signed let’s us do this.” We did no damage. They checked the car when we returned it. Surely others have rented it in the 4 months. How does one dispute?!

AUTOEUROPE. They are based in Maine, USA so they can talk to you and help you decide. I've used them 3 times and always had great customer service.