Car Rental Car ideas with a Trunk

Shelly I think you should be looking at the car rental sites to see what they offer first, they often have makes of cars we are do not see here, and most have trunks or covers for storage area its rather standard .

Any intermediate sedan or station wagon will do the trick for you.

Just remember to never leave anything in the car cabin itself. And do not park, put things in the trunk, then walk off. Theives hanging out in towns or parking lots are watching for just that.

Thank you. Pat, I had gone on the website and there is a very LONG list of cars. I was googling everyone and trying to find one with a trunk and thought I'd post it instead. I know not to put the items in the back and then walk away but they will be in there and if there is a trunk and the suitcases are already there then they are covered.
What I was hoping for specific cars that people have rented over in Germany with a Trunk. They I've got something to go on. Anyone?

Shelley... can't help on the 'exact car' but I will say that after renting many times in Europe there are usually no guarantees that even if you are told you can have a certain car, it is often not there. A few times I had specifically requested 4 door and after arriving was given a 2 door. Usually they will correct it, if they have a car available, but sometimes not.

It's a good idea to have a trunk although I don't think the Romantic Road is one of the areas to be most concerned. A lot of cars that don't have a trunk will have a cover to pull over the luggage area - which may work fine. Rental companies won't guarantee a trunk in advance. The best you can do is rent a class that is likely to have a trunk. When you get there and they assign your car, see if it fits your needs. If it doesn't, because of lack of trunk, AC, standard shift, or any other reason, go back to the rental counter and tell them the problem. Almost 100 percent of the time they can and will accommodate your need (especially if you're at a larger car rental agency). Our last rental we wanted a standard transmission with a diesel engine (they get amazing gas mileage). The first car was standard gas, so we went back and asked for a diesel. They charged us an extra 5 euro for the diesel but it was worth it; we saved way more than that over the next few weeks of driving.

The only way to know that you are going to get a specific model car is to do a lease plan, in which case you will get exactly what you reserved. Rental companies always show a certain model accompanied by,"or similar". Unfortunately your plans don't fit with a lease plan. If you are traveling with two carry-ons, you should not have any problems with a car that is larger than what they call a compact in Europe and even some of the compacts have very good sized trunks. The Peugeot lease site is about the only one I know of that tells how many suit cases of what size the car will take. The problem with just looking at the measured trunk volume is that the way the space is configured may or may not let your suitcases fit. Definitely stick with a reputable rental company and stand your ground if they don't have what you reserved. In 2006 Hertz had to give us a free upgrade from a gasoline compact to a diesel mid size over the issue of an automatic transmission ...they didn't like it but they did it. While they did what they were supposed to do, we have always leased since then.

Shelley, which car rental company are you renting from? Avis, Hertz, Sixt and Europcar all have got BMW 3-series sedans... or Audi A4 sedans... or Mercedes C-Class sedans... Passat or Skoda Superb sedans (the latter one has got the largest trunk of all). Only if you rent "Compact" you'll most likely end up with a hatch or wagon as that's just what the majority of poeple over here prefer in that category.

You're spinning your wheels for no reason. Even the smallest, cheapest mini/economy/shrimpo hatchback will have a cover over the luggage area so that there's no way you can see in there when it's closed. In the absolute worst case, it will hold a couple of carry ons and a couple of smaller things, a grocery sack, some jackets, a pocketbook, etc. Every once in a great, great while, these covers disappear for some reason. If that's the case, ask for a different car.

Thanks all. I think the cover would work too. so, we shouldn't worry as much along the Romantic Road? Pretty safe that way? We were thinking of checking out Gemut.com Have read some good reviews and had a referral by a fellow Rick Steves follower, that seemed to like them a lot.

Hi Shelley, We have used Andy @Gemut twice and were very happy with the rates and service. We got the vehicle we requested, diesel, manual Ford Focus wagon. Very fuel efficient. You probably don't need as large a vehicle, we were 4 adults each with a carry-on. They were very easy to deal with and since they're in Oregon there's very little time difference for you to call them and ask any questions that you may have. Hope that this helps you.

Do make sure your suitcases are well hidden. Unfortunately when my family traveled we made the big mistake of taking 2 suitcases and one carry on for each of us. That was for four adults. We rented a van in Denmark, which of course was much smaller than what we have in Canada, even if it says it seats 7. After a week of lugging all the suitcases up to the hostel rooms we thought we could just leave the suitcases in the vehicle and take up only what we needed for the night. It was a very quiet area we were in. Four big suitcases, one carry on and the cell phone supplied by the rental company was stolen after they smashed the windows. We did not know until the hostel owners were contacted by the police the next morning. They found our luggage, after the thieves broke into an ice cream store with an alarm, on the beach, open in the rain with only my son's t shirts, runners, shorts, the gifts we were taking to our relatives wrapped in the husbands underwear and socks,and the power plug converters missing. The rental company arranged to have a local garage come pick up the van and replace the broken windows. He also drove us to the police station to pick up the luggage. The hostel gave us tokens to use their washing machine and dryer for all our clothes. Every thing was done quickly with a lot of apologizes that something like this had happened in their town. The rental company also arranged to have us get another cell phone. We paid no deductible or additional money. Always have name tags on and in your luggage. The police just used our name tag to contact the accommodations in the area.

Honestly we got a Audi A3 from Sixt. It was a little two door sporty car. (I don't know what class but it was one of the smaller ones) It was perfect. It was small and with the narrow streets in Europe anything bigger would have not been good. Most of our hotels were on narrow streets and the GPS got us off onto some really narrow roads. It had a little trunk, but fit both our bags and had some room left over. That is just my two cents. Have a great trip!