Car rental in another language

We just rented with Enterprise in April in France. We didn’t have a rental contract in French, as what we signed was in English. They emailed it to us after we signed, upon check in (the days of papers to hold are no more.) The two gentlemen at the counter where we picked up the car spoke English, as did everyone at our drop off location.

Not only that, we arrived in need of finding urgent but not emergency medical attention, and they helped us figure out where to go for nearby attention. So you won’t hear anything negative from us.

I will also add, because it’s been a hot button on this forum for do we or do we not need an International Drivers Permit. They did in fact ask to see it.

@ Allan

My sons leased two Citroens for 5 weeks April/May. Initial contract/offer (which I read) was made and signed in Australia and in English, acceptance was signed in France. At pick up from Rome airport, final documentation was in English. Regardless of where or what language the contract was enacted under, laws of France apply. Similar principles will apply to rentals.

You could/should ask for an advance documentation of the contract from the rental organisation. Just for solace.

The main thing to note is that the legal jurisdiction in determining application/disputes of the contract is the laws of France. If you wish, a google will give you a simple explanation of the difference. Civil Law versus the common law that you and I live under.
Unless you wish to understand French Juris, the initial language is not all that important in the event of a problem.

Like most contracts/legal stuff, unless you have a LLB or LLM, one should offer a silent prayer and hope for the best.

Regards Ron

If you can cancel the Avis booking and use AutoEurope instead you might want to consider doing so. AutoEurope is just a broker and may even offer an Avis car, but by renting thru them you've got someone to call if they tell you at the counter that you need to accept add-on insurance and some misc charges, or no car. In the past we've rented from them in France and the only charge not included from our last voucher was "Road Fee of approx. EUR 3.24 (incl VAT) per day, maximum charge of approximately EUR 32.40 per 30 day rental period" which they disclosed on the voucher.

Hmmmm, I haven’t ever rented in France but my contracts have all been in English.

LOL, people actually read through the entire contract at the counter before they sign?

Did you read the Terms of Service before you posted on this site?

To be honest, as long as you understand the basics, the things you are concerned about, you will be fine in 99.999 percent of the cases.

The first time we rented in Europe, we booked directly thru Europcar and picked up in Colmar and returned in Tours. We did not have any issues. Every subsequent rental, including multiple trips to both France, Spain and Portugal and Sicily, and our upcoming trip to northern Italy, we've booked thru Autoeurope. A few times the car was from Avis, most often its thru Europcar. I have always compared prices between Autoeurope and booking directly and also I've looked at booking thru Costco. The price has always been better thru Autoeurope. We only had one slightly bad experience renting a car in Europe, and there the fault was a local Europcar office in Lisbon, and Autoeurope was there to help and advocate for us.

I like that I can call Autoeurope on the phone and speak to someone based in the U.S. A representative helped me with Sicily when we only wanted to book for part of the trip and it was tricky to find a company that had offices in both a pick up and drop off city. They also helped me find an economical solution for a post COVID trip when rates were sky high.

We had a tricky situation once where I had rented thru Autoeurope for a oneway rental from Sevilla to Granada. My husband's driver's license would expire midtrip and there was an issue renewing it in time because of an issue with state delays in the issuance of a real ID. We needed to change drivers and technically, that would require a new rental and the rate was going to be much higher. Autoeurope didn't have to, but they worked with the rental office to get the name changed on the rental agreement.

I also like that I can easily cancel and rebook if (and they often do) prices drop.

I don't believe we've ever encountered a difficulty with a language barrier, and as much as I try for every trip, I'm pretty much a failure at learning new languages.

On one of our trips, we did pick up in Bordeaux at the train station and the company was Avis (although I booked thru Autoeurope) We returned to the same location. There was no issue with the rental.

We always have an IDP. I always print off the entire rental agreement, that we get in advance from Autoeurope (always in English). I always print out the section of my credit card documentation which documents and explains the collision damage waiver coverage.

I've rented cars quite frequently, both in the U.S. and Mexico and in Europe. There is much variability in the type of service between rental car offices even within the same company. I've been often less than thrilled with Dollar, yet, in Honolulu, I always rent from Dollar because their service has been excellent. I've had mediocre and positive experiences with Hertz and Avis. Interestingly, in the U.S. the only company that I am consistently happy with is Enterprise. However, Enterprise rates can be quite high.

As an aside, lately I've become concerned about the number of 1st time posters that post with negative comments OR positive comments about some tour guide or driver. I used to really trust information on the forum. Lately, I give the most stock to those names I'm familiar with that I know give honest and fair advice. With AI and folks that have learned to game reviews, I think everyone should be very careful with the advice they choose to take.

Allan, you shouldn't have any problems.

I rented from Avis in Münster, Germany in 2022 and had no problems. The contract was in English, and the agent spoke English very well. I also rented from Avis in Munich back in 2010 and same thing. All communications (including emails) were in English, and all contracts. And the same thing when i rented from Avis in Valladolid, Spain back in 2006—everything was in English. FWIW, I still have all those emails and documents (I save stuff like that). :-)

Even back in 1999, I rented a car through AutoEurope (can't remember with who) in France, and again, the contract was in English and there were no problems.

If you can cancel the Avis booking and use AutoEurope instead you might want to consider doing so.

i agree. AutoEurope gives you an extra layer of protection that can come in handy. I've never needed to use it, but it's nice to know it's there. Plus you might get a better deal that way. I had originally booked directly with Europcar this year when I was in England (for the first rental car), but then a few months later, checked AutoEurope prices, and found I could save around $200 by booking through AutoEurope. So I cancelled the first booking and booked with AE.

Thanks for the answers with your experiences. I'm surprised for the love for AutoEurope. I have never used it before but I find the insurance details frustratingly vague as compared to the black and white details provided on the Avis website. That's the primary reason I chose to go directly with Avis, plus when I booked it was the cheaper option.

" Rebooking at a lower rate is much more involved with AutoEurope than it is directly from the rental agency"

I have not found this to be the case at all. I've had rentals that I've rebooked 5-8 times. All you do is use the reservation #, go onto the website and cancel the reservation and make a new one. The last few times, my recollection is that I've not cancelled, but modified. It takes me minutes. I've also cancelled a booking about 1.5 weeks in advance because I cancelled a trip during COVID, and the refund was practically instant. Honestly, it couldn't be simpler.

I'm not sure of the "cult following" comment. Everyone has their preferences. With the number of forum people that use Autoeurope, if there were issues, there would be many, many complaint posts.

I really love getting the rental agreement all prior to the trip. I would be uncomfortable booking with a U.S. based rental company that is just affiliated with the Europe company. If there is a problem, after the rental, you are dealing with a company based in Europe and speaking a foreign language. If I didn't want to book with Autoeurope, I would not go through the U.S. affiliate. I'd probably book directly with Europcar or similar.

A few times forum folks have said that they get better rates outside of Autoeurope, but when I've asked for details, I've not found a lower rate. I usually book well in advance and then watch the rates. Timing can be everything and location matters, too. If people are looking last minute, the rates between companies could vary a lot. Believe me, I shop around, and if I could get a lower rate from a reputable company, I'd book that, instead. In fact, for a rental car in New Zealand, we checked Autoeurope and spoke with them on the phone and ended up booking another company.

Even though the name is the same, these foreign rental companies are not the same company as their US affiliates. They have a relationship but it's not the same as renting from a US location. A company in a European country's primary customer is other Europeans, not US tourists. The laws and customs (and language), especially for insurance, are different in every country and the whole credit card coverage thing is a US credit card perk not common in other countries. So it's not business as usual to rent a car abroad.

Tom, you make a good point about the cancellation for Autoeurope. While its rare that a person would cancel within the 48 hour period, I imagine this would be an issue when a traveler's plane is cancelled or delayed, not an uncommon situation. I typically structure my trips so that I'm not renting a car for an entire trip so its less likely to happen to me, but still a possibility.