Rental Car Agency

There's nothing wrong with Sixt, but the price split seems too broad. In Germany there's a premium for airport/station pick-up, and it's hefty. Maybe Sixt isn't exactly at the station and you have to go somewhere else. Also, carry each comparison as far as you can before committing - - you need to make sure all taxes, fees, etc are included in the bottom line.

Before you commit to anything check with Andy at www.gemut.com. They are a US based company that guarantees the lowest rate.

If cost is a concern, consider trains. 4-5 people - assuming here that's what the Mini-van is for - can travel on daypassess for 29€/day total in Bavaria (Munich, Füssen, and west to around Ulm or Memmingen) and in Baden-Württemberg (home state of the Black Forest.) And train travel is completely free - yes, FREE - within the Black Forest, providing you stay in a smaller village. Read up here: http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany/laender-ticket.shtml http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/konus

Sixt is market leader in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Nobody has a larger and more dense network of stations than Sixt. Their service is excellent and if in the course of a day you realize you don't like your car you can just exchange it at the next best station.
The airport handling charge is 19% which goes on top of your total rental price. So it's worth taking a taxi from the airport to the next off-airport location. You can return, however, at an airport at no additional fee.

The only caveat with Sixt is that, sometimes, their cars come with mileage restrictions (like 300km/day). Double-check that. Part of Helpline will try to lure you to rail, as if they were representatives of Deutsche Bahn. Don't pay attention to their doomsday tales about Germany highways. Just double, triple check everything to make sure you are comparing apples-to-apples when it comes to rental car quotes.

"Don't pay attention to their doomsday tales about Germany highways." If you're referencing my post, Andre, well, I mentioned only cost, not doom or safety concerns. German highways are very well maintained and provide relatively safe driving conditions, I believe. Still, Germany loses around 4,000 people in motoring accidents every year. But my point was that a VW Touran for a couple of weeks is going to run close to $1,000 for a manual with insurance, and hundreds more for an automatic, before you toss in fuel at $8/gal., parking fees, deductibles for door dings, etc. Sue's MUC-Munich, Munich-Füssen, Füssen-BF route doesn't appear to require a car, and with 4-5 people it could be accomplished for a grand total of around 120€.

Sixt does have an agency in the Munich Hauptbahnhof. Before I moved here, I used them a few times. No problems most of the time, but once... the automatic transmission model I had reserved was not available, and they had nothing else available in automatic. Otherwise, I was happy with their service. The dreaded "foreign drop off fee" you always hear about on this helpline was only about €100.

Don't pay attention to their doomsday tales about Germany highways Makes no sausages to me which way they go, train, car or camel. I will continue to warn people of the consequences of Autobahn driving. I do plenty of driving in Germany (much of the rest of western Europe, too), and I recognize how difficult and frustrating it can be at roadworks, commuting traffic, and trucks; and the inevitable stau. I have no relationship with European railways.

We rented from Sixt a couple of years ago w/o any problems. Rented at a Munich city location since we were returning to Munich for a couple of days stay at end of your journey so we saveed some dollars by not renting at the airport. Traveled to Salzburg and through Bavaria. Good deal esp. when we got a BMW for the same price as another model we thought we were getting. Dave

Thanks to all of your replies-great information. I appreciate all the input and am taking all the information into consideration. I have never used this blog before but will use it in the future. I did not realize there were so many considerate and informatative travellers out there and ready to share their expereinces. Thanks again.