Low Emission Zones in Paris, Strasbourg, etc require Critical Air Stickers 1,2,3 on windshield

Did you call Avis to ask? Since this is a new car, the temporary could be in the glove compartment.
When we bought a new Renault Clio recently, this was handled by the dealer. It’s probably registered somewhere.

Here’s where you can see if your car still requires one: https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/certificat/demande/fr/vehicules

This is not just a French thing. Germany has their own system, and requires a different sticker. If you rent a car in one country, but drive to another, you will not have the required sticker. This means you cannot park in certain cities. This is the intention of the sticker, I believe. To make a car a less desirable form of transportation.

I came across this while researching a 3 week road trip in 2023 that started in Germany and went thru Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France and back to Germany. It is not the rental car company’s responsibility to teach renters the laws, the rules of the road, when vignettes are required, etc. By renting a car, you take on the responsibility for learning all these things. And it is getting to be more and more complicated. Thankfully most of Europe is covered by excellent public transportation, so easy options exist.

The LEZ’s may be new to you, but they were introduced back in 2017 already. It’s the responsibility of the driver of the car, not the owner, to know about all the driving rules, speed limits etc.

You can order your sticker here; https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/

Make sure to carefully keep the confirmation that you ordered the sticker. Until the actual sticker arrives, this can be used as proof that you ordered the sticker. Should you receive a ticket, you can use the confirmation to fight the ticket.

I think some of you are missing the point. If one rents a car it is true that the driver is responsible for driving legally however it is also the responsibility of the rental agency to provide a STREET LEGAL VEHICLE just as it is the responsibility of the car dealer to sell you a street legal vehicle. The proper licensing and documentation of the car is expected when a car is rented and if one rents a car at CDG airport it can be expected that the renter will drive the car into the Paris emission zone (which actually may surround CDG; I don't know.) The fact that this issue has not been addressed by AutoEurope or Avis is a black mark on them. An important focus of the tourist industry is to demystify traveling in a foreign country and to leave out such an important detail is really incomprehensible.

After talking my Strasbourg hotel front desk I think I figured why this issue is feebly handled by the rental agencies; it's not being enforced. One of the desk clerks said, "I drive in Strasbourg everyday and I DON'T HAVE A STICKER." That's not to say that I'm going to drive my car in Strasbourg because as a tourist I am going out of my way to stay out of trouble especially when it comes to traffic tickets. The rental agencies use processing a ticket as a way to make money; many times, they charge more that the fine.

Another interesting fact pointed out by the hotel staff is that the fine for not having a sticker is 30 Euros while the fine for having a sticker but being in the emission control area with the wrong emission number is 90 Euros. Go figure...

The proper licensing and documentation of the car is expected when a car is rented

It’s your responsibility. The hire company doesn’t know where you are going.

I spoken in many post both in the France and Germany Forums about the Crit'Air and Umweltplakette requirements.

But they are only required in certain areas, not a national requirement.

Where was the car rented?

I have also spoken many times about the Belgian registration requirement as well as those in England.

You need to know those laws, just as much as knowing about the ZTL in Italy and the requirements for the IDP in France, Germany, Austria, Italy, etc.

Not the rental's job to tell you the laws.

regarding the title of the thread,

Low Emission Zones in Paris, Strasbourg, etc require Critical Air Stickers 1,2,3 on windshield

your car only requires one sticker, based on the emissions of that model. Mine for example is a yellow 2 sticker. You also only need one German sticker, mine is a green 4 sticker.

I would absolutely expect a car hired in France to display the crit’air sticker, as without it you are renting a car that you cannot drive into many areas that you may need to visit.

This is not something that travellers can organise themselves in advance or on arrival.

I agree with wcp3 that it should be furnished in the country in which the car is registered, the same as license plates. If a renter chooses to take a car across a border that requires a different sticker, then it becomes the renter’s responsibility be in compliance.

My guess is that the OP’s car is in compliance but for some reason the sticker isn’t visible.

Add Belgium to the list, they have their own Green Zones, including Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent.

I agree that if you rent a car, certainly from a Paris location, that it should have the sticker, maybe even anywhere in France, however, do not expect that a car rented in France will have German or Belgian stickers.

Last month we were going to be in Alsace. When planning the trip, we ran into the crit'air issue. We were landing in Frankfurt and renting the car there. Then after 2 days in Trier, the plan was to enter France and tour around a variety of places, Strasbourg among them. At that point in my planning, I ran into the crit'air requirement. There seems to be no way for a renter to acquire the sticker, given that you don't own the vehicle and won't have it's registration info until you pick it up. After much Internet searching, I found a suggestion to park in Kehl just across the border in Germany and take transit into the city, so that was our plan.

The trip unfortunately had to be cancelled because my mother-in-law entered hospice care and passed away but we're hoping to reschedule for next year.

I prefer using trains and buses when in Europe and I looked into it for this trip, but the schedules to get to some of the small places just didn't work, so we planned to drive.

Another option is to avoid peak times, eg in Paris the restriction only applies from 8am-8pm Monday-Friday.