Bordeaux Train Station car rental-who has largest selection

From what I've read on other posts, dealing with a US-based company like Hertz or Avis won't help, since they keep their US and European arms separate. On the other hand, AutoEurope and Kemwel are both US-based, and in my limited experience are very helpful as intermediaries.

Ronnie, Have you considered phoning or even emailing the different agencies and asking them how they will meet your unusual requests for an automatic convertible? If you speak to them you may get a feeling of how responsive they may be.

You might want to check out both Sixt (http://www.sixt.com/) and Europcar (https://www.europcar.com/), both of which have fleets at the Bordeaux train station. You can get an automatic with either with advance notice, but I don't know about a convertible. There are classes of vehicles that are automatics, but I don't know if there are any convertible classes.

I think I am giving up on the automatic convertable--too limited and too expensive. I am afraid of contracting with a European car rental agency/broker like AutoEurope or Europcar. If there are problems it would be easier I think to deal with a US based company. I was still wondering what company has the biggest venue thus selection at the Bordeaux train station.

auto europe agency is next door by the train station. i rented once there and it was really good. i was on a budget so i booked the smallest stick shift on line but when i showed up they said they didn't have the small car i wanted and instead gave me a nice wagon for the same price. it was a stick shift and you have to push down and pull to get into reverse. i drove all over to sarlet and then up to normandy and eventually finished in CDG in paris. was a great ride and can recommend it.

Between now and your travels you would be well advised to learn how to drive a stick shift. Even though you might be able to reserve an automatic, you will have to take what's available. That means a stick shift since automatics are rare and what few they might have might well be taken by others before you arrive. Raising a ruckus at the rental counter won't magically produce an automatic. Learning a stick shift now might prevent a disaster for you and your companions.

I don't think advising someone that the best thing to do is to learn to drive a stick is very worthwhile advice. If an adult is asking for advice about getting an automatic, it's likely that they've never learned to drive a stick shift, and probably won't. The only time I've ever driven a stick shift was for 2 weeks 30 years ago, and I just never felt comfortable driving it. On the other hand, in 25+ years of renting cars in France, I've always gotten an automatic when I've reserved one.

Thanks for all your advice. My husband can drive a stick but I wanted to help out with the driving. I think I would be a danger to the French if I tried to drive a stick. I guess it would be best to phone the different agencies and see who sounds most confident in giving us an automatic-don't know if there is recourse if there is not one when we arrive. I am going to Bordeaux so that there would be more rental choices rather than getting closer to Sarlat. But if I chose the wrong agency this is a problem.

Ronnie, I've rented an automatic at the Bordeaux airport from Europcar to pick up on March 16. I've found that airports have much larger fleets than train stations, and getting to the Bordeaux airport by tram is quite easy.

I agree that the airports have the largest selection of rental cars. I guess if there is no automatic at the train station as promised I could take the tram to the airport but would like to avoid that as we are seniors and hard for us to get around. It seems that Europcar has the largest fleet there but not sure.