Germany- car rentals

Generally, reserve in advance for the best deals. Autoeurope and Gemut normally get good marks; I've seen some nasty board comments about Thrifty, Budget, and Hertz. My experiences with Autoeurope and Avis were positive. You pay hugely to leave a car outside the country you rent in, generally nothing extra to leave it within the country at a different station, though generally there are fees for picking up at airports and rail stations that you don't pay when you pick up at a city office. I've generally found more advantages and more enjoyment on my train trips around Germany, and these trips have been cheaper than my car trips as well. Gas is around $8/gallon. Trains go nearly everywhere - there are around 5,500 stations in this country - and they are normally comfortable, frequent and efficient. Regional daypasses offer a VERY cheap way to get around with some measure of spontaneity. I don't think I'll ever drive again until I'm too feeble to carry my own bags and hop on a train - it's just too enjoyable to relax, chat with others without the distraction of driving, read a book, or have a sandwich and a beer while someone else does all the driving, and to not worry about navigating or door dings or parking/road signage in a different language. I don't know where you're going or the reasons you're most interested in a car, but in general, Germany is one of the best places in the world to get on a train. I've done a short report on my 2011 train trip around southern Germany which may interest you: http://www.bensbauernhof.com/russ2011.htm

The cheapest unleaded fuel currently runs at €1.70/L. In US terms, that comes out to about $8.57/gallon. I'm not sure the exact price of diesel, but I think it runs in the neighborhood of €1.43/L.

Hi Merideth. Definitely reserve in advance. I've rented from both Avis and Hertz several times in Europe and had good experience. Try their web sites and plug in your dates and cities. Enjoy your trip!

BTW, if you do decide to rent the car, try to reserve a diesel. Not only is the fuel cheaper, but the increased efficiency is considerable. Unlike the dirty, slow diesels of yesteryear, modern turbo diesel engines perform comparably to their gasoline counterparts.

Also be aware that car rentals have mostly manuals, not automatics. If you require automatic, you will want to book as far in advance as you can. You'll also pay a premium for automatic.

Meredith, I have rented from Avis & Hertz numerous times w/o any issues. I would suggest the rental brokers previously mentioned to compare costs. If you have American Express then may I suggest that you get their auto rental coverage. I would also recommend a GPS unless your co-pilot is very good at map reading. Street signs are street signs. If you have to look for Karlstrasse then it is Karlstrasse that you look for. You do not have to know how to pronounce a sign to read it so do not worry about getting around. I admit that I am a driver so I would encourage you to rent if that is your desire.

We have rented through Gemut.com (http://www.gemut.com/) twice so far and have had excellent service with them. Their website provides great information on renting cars and driving, especially in Germany. Last year we picked up the car near Stuttgart on June 15, not at the airport or train station, drove the Alps (southern Germany to Berchtesgaden, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France) and returned the car to Loerrach, Germany (just over the border from Basel) on June 27. We got a 4-door manual with AC. We paid in advance on 5/5/11. The cost was $427. I thought that was very reasonable. There was no extra charge for dropping it off at a different city in Germany. This year we made our reservations even sooner (February 14) for a VW Golf or similar 4 door manual with AC. We pick it up in Reims on June 12 and return it in Aix-en-Provence on June 26. This year's cost is $320, all paid in full in advance. There was no extra charge for dropping it off at a different city in France. I called the guys at Gemut.com to make the reservation because they can sometimes see deals that we can't see online with any vendors. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with them.

Thanks to all for the rental info! Still working on itinerary but will check the companies suggested.

Check online for prices with AutoEurope and Kemwell. Like Gemut, these companies are rental car brokers and arrange for your rental with companies such as Avis, Hertz and Europcar. Picking up the car at the airport or train station generally is more expensive. However, dropping off at the airport is not. Try a few different scenarios online. Also, sometimes you get an automatic upgrade to the next class. I always arrange for my rental by calling the agency because there is often other unadvertised specials. Also, some of these companies allow for cancellation up to the time of rental--others do not. Ask for this policy when you talk to them. Have a great trip!

This Board's endless fascination and oft-repeated bum scoop about AutoEurope, Gemut, and Kemmel is beyond me. They're consolidators, nothing more. They say they'll match a price, but it's not always matching for the car you want, especially if it's one at the bottom of the line. And why match - - why not beat? If you have to go to a second source to get the same thing, why bother? The bottom line is that, if you have a problem on the road, the consolidators are out of the picutre - - you have to deal with who ever actually rented the car. Whoppee on an up-grade - - those suckers just burn more gas. Gemut is especially vexing since it's a multi-step process to see what they'll do. If you use something like kayak, you're done with the whole process in five minutes - - plus kayak will spit out AE if they're in the running. What really irks me about Gemut is their handy-dandy info pages on car renting scoope. If I find one error in something, I tend to blow the whole thing off. Example, their info on airport vs off-airport rentals. I just checked what I knew to be true - - in Paris, for example, the rental cost from anybody on kayak is exactly the same at the airport as it is at the train stations as it is anywhere else in town. That's not true in every country, but an error is an error, is an error. Why somebody needs a hand-holder for something as simple as renting a car just doesn't make sense. Now for the truth about matching. If you rent a car from somebody and they don't have what you want when you show up, walk over to the competitor's counter and ask them to match or beat it - - it works every time. And as for Sixt, they quit getting my business several years ago - - I've got no beefs with anybody else. Somebody else may have more experience than I, but my tail sits in a rental car somewhere in the world six months out of the year.