car rental in France

When you compare the cost of leasing vs renting, remember that the lease price includes full, no-deductible insurance coverage. You also get free 24/7 roadside assistance. I've leased from Renault 4 times and would do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I'd do it even if it were a bit more expensive than a rental, just for the peace of mind.

You should check Hertz.com or AutoEurope.com to compare prices for the same time period. I was looking at Renault's leasing program the other day, and it didn't appear to be any great deal to me. You'd just need to compare apples and apples online. And by the way: If you're staying in Paris for a few days, don't pickup you car until you leave. Autos in big European cities are expensive to park and a pain to deal with. Paris can also be a very frustrating city to drive in.

We have rented Renault in Europe before. France was a van and Germany a station wagon type. They are not a high end car like BMW or Mercades, but they are not the cheap car of the US. Got good gas mile, and the van was a diesel, very quiet and efficiant. The van was 6 pasenger, but limited on luggage, luckily we all did the Rick Steves packing and could fit it all in, barely. The Station wagon was great for four, I thought the back seat was not too comfortable and low.

We've leased from Renault three times and always been very satisfied. The company is actually called TT and also handles Peugeot leases. Once when the windshield was hit by a rock, the replacement was fast and easy for us even though we were in a rural area with few garages. All was fully covered with almost no paperwork. A Dacia is an Eastern European brand, probably now under the Renault umbrella. I saw them on their lease program website for the first time last year. For comparison, we've also rented cars through Autoeurope many, many times over the years and have been mostly satisfied. Insurance coverage is slightly different with a rental (windshields are not covered), no matter what level you purchase. You'd need to read the fine print. I wouldn't try to sway you one way or the other claiming one system is better; it's whatever suits you for this particular trip.

We have leased from both Renault and Peugeot and been very satisfied with both. We will be doing it again this year. As for cost, as has been said the lease car comes insured to the hilt and there is no extra fee for additional drivers if they are family members. Also there are no pick up or drop off fees anywhere in France. As for using credit card insurance on a rental car, if you do have a claim be prepared for a lengthy claims process, rental car companies make big money on insurance and they don't really like being cut out of the deal and have been known to really drag things out before taking the last charge off your card. When you lease a car, it is built for your order and that is what you will get, brand spanking new and never smoked in, you will not hear gee whiz we don't have what you reserved but here's something else. (That is exactly what happened to me in 2006, the last time I rented a car in Europe). When you return it they don't care how little fuel is in it, they just want the car back so they can sell it and make their money.

Dacia is a Romanian car line owned by Renault. There is a decent Wiki page about the Duster at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_Duster

Just a quick warning about the Duster. I've just seen where the UK organisation similar to Consumer Reports, Which?, has issued a "Don't Buy" on it because of safety concerns. I can write more when I get off this iPhone. EDIT: The concerns in the report were very few airbags, including none to the side, and poor protection to front in a crash. I'd never tried to make a contribution here with my i4s and Chrome but gosh is it difficult, both to get logged on and to get the post to work. I won't try that again...

We've rented through autoeurope several time and have never had a problem.

The lease #'s have never worked for me. In my experience, usually Sixt has the best deal. I put the American Express premium insurance on for $25 to cover CDW. We prefer a comfortable, reliable car so go with the vehicle class that includes the Toyota Corolla or higher depending upon the rate.