Traveling through Germany by Car - Rental Car Company Suggestions

Many of the car models offered by Sixt come standard with a GPS. The presence or lack of a GPS usually doesn't affect the cost of the rental, unless you request a GPS for a model that have one built in. Standard versus automatic transmission is usually a more significant price discriminator.

try gemut.com

This is my experience only, so you will need to do your own research: I have been following the prices of Europcar, Sixt and Hertz for a while, and Europcar is usualy cheaper for certain VWs, which I prefer, and Hertz sometimes offers good deals on Fords. Sixt is almost always higher but it offers a large number of BMWs, which a lot of people, obviously, prefer. Avis is also a big player, but the first three companies are supposed to be the big players with the most rental sites, which can be important if you have a breakdown or accident away from the major cities/airports. After seeing a lot of complaints about some budget brands, I stay away from the low end of the market. Gemut and Autoeurope are two consolidators that many people on this site use. I have had good results with Gemut, but will go directly to the company if I see a good price for the car that I want. I rented an Opel once with a built-in GPS, but it was set up for German users and I could not figure it out. I bought a Garmin with US & European maps a couple of years ago and it has paid for itself many times over, for long trips here as well as in Germany.

I rent a heck of a lot of cars in europe. All I've done for years is use kayak.com which, for the smaller ones, beats any of the things I've seen posted here. You'll get jacked all over the place if you don't uncheck the expedia/travelocity/etc boxes.

We have rented from AutoEurope and Kemwel (affiliated with AutoEurope) many times. You can get quotes online. Their prices can vary from from day to day, and week to week. Even if you lock in a car now, you can keep checking for a better price with them and they will adjust the rental agreement. They will also match any other rental company price you get. Some other notes for car rental. Request a diesel. They get a lot better gas mileage and diesel is at every gas station. AutoEurope often includes a GPS, if the rental period is long enough. I would also suggest a good Michelin map which you can purchase on this website through the travel store or at a book store. You could also find one at a gas station in Germany. Using this map, familiarize yourself with their road signs. Renting a car at the airport does add about 20% more to your rental. However, it is easier to drive in/out of the airport. Finding a rental car agency in a downtown city location can be tricky. Check the price difference online. Hope this helps. Most of all, have fun on your trip.

The problem I have with Gemut is that they can't follow simple instructions. Anytime I have them quote on a trip, I ask for WITH CDW, so I can compare it with other quotes I have with CDW. They always ignore my request and give me an artificially low quote without CDW. They tell me to use my credit card coverage. No matter what, that is not the same exposure as having CDW. BTW, the last qoute from them was for the first week of my Romantic Road trip in 2007, pickup in downtown Munich, drop off in Würzburg. They quoted me $272 for a very small car w/o CDW. With ViaMichelin's fuel estimate for that car, the total trip estimate was $345. I actually made the trip for $123 using public transportation. Before you make the knee jerk assumption that you have to have a car, check out the cost with public transportation. I've been traveling in Germany for 10 years now (15½ weeks). I always compare point to point train to a rail pass to a rental car. A car is always 2-3 times as expensive, so I take the train.

We've rented from Auto Europe several times and have been satisfied. Right now they're offering a "free" GPS for rentals of at least a week. They ship the GPS to you and you carry it along to Europe, and then ship it back to them when you return home. They've been easy to deal with and you can make the arrangements over the phone from home if you wish.
Good luck.

http://www.gemut.com/ Check out these folks, they specialize German car rental. We used them during our trip in Germany. I studied long and hard and found this broker to be competitive and very helpful regarding insurance questions.
Good luck

Hi Taylor, We've rented a car through www.gemut.com for our last three trips ('07, '09, '10) starting and ending in Germany. We paid $331.84 for 9 days and that price was for picking up the car at Munich airport. The car turned out to be a new Ford Fiesta (manual trans., 4 door, w/air). We have used Michelin Maps for trips and found them to be very good. For CDW insurance we used our AmEx card and paid for their "Premium Car Rental Protection" (which covers a lot more than just CDW) for $24.99 for the entire rental period. Paul

We've always found the lowest prices for Germany using AutoEurope or Gemut.com. And we DO use our credit card to cover our CDW whenever we rent.

I have used Auto Europe for my European car rentals.
Some of the cars have GPS, and some have an automatic transmission if you need that. They are a consolidator, so you pick what you want. As for insurance, if you are getting travel insurance, you can get a policy that includes insuring a car.

From my own, singular, individual experiences comprising two long driving trips in Germany, France, Austria, and Italy, I would avoid National as a rental company (Autoeurope may still use National); buy CDW rather than use CC coverage (because the CC coverage is an open invitation to the rental company to hit you up for "damages" against the deductible - ask me how I know); bring an English-language GPS or a notebook running Autoroute+a GPS receiver; and (not or) buy at a gas station one of the spiral-bound map books. These are so much easier to use in a car than a giant Michelin fold-out, and offer superb detail. And finally, get a navigator better than mine... ;-)

I have a reservation with Avis, but, after seeing this post, I decided to look at gemut.com. I want to return our car on a Sunday at the airport in Koln; it looks like Saturday and Sunday returns are not available. Is there some reason that wouldn't be obvious to an American for that?

Melody, I would call Gemut Monday Morning and check on that. That does not sound right to me. The airports are usually open and available for drop off on Sundays.

Hi Melody, Must be a mistake. I can't imagine not being able to return a car at the airport on a Sat. or Sun. Take Lane's advice and call to double check on that. Paul

I'm an American living in Europe and take my advice, make sure you can return it on a weekend. For the most part, NOTHING is open on Sundays and Saturdays have short hours for shopping, etc. (10-14:00) Stuttgart is a big airport, but still closes/restricted flights from about 10pm until 6am......I'm in the flight path, I know. It's just the European way, so workers can spend time with families.