SUV Car Rental in France

This is a common topic on the forum. I suggest searching for "car break-ins." It's nothing specific to France and mainly common sense. The bottom line is that thieves exist and no one can predict if you will be their victim. Keep your passport, phone and credit cards with you, and that way, if your luggage is stolen, you can replace whatever is taken because it's just "stuff." Enjoy your trip.

From pictures, it looks as though the 2008 has a removeable rigid shelf.

Just for the record, I once had a rental in Europe where the contract had, pre-entered, an (accurate) comment, "Luggage cover missing." Can you drive a standard transmission, if that happens to be what you get? Since cars in Europe tend to be smaller than in the US, I don't see how you can guarantee a trunk unless you pick a luxury car like a Mercedes or a BMW, which is kind of a thief-magnet, isn't it? I have found that a smaller car is much easier to get through medieval streets (with arches and sharp corners) and into parking garages with smaller stalls and narrower ramps than we demand for our Carrie Mathison armored vehicles here in the US.

Is there a specific reason why two people need an SUV? It can be quite hard to completely hide enough luggage, even if the cover is present, as it usually is. Some people would say that a stretched-out luggage cover is a giveaway, but I haven't "rolled the dice" enough to have a serious opinion. I did have my car broken into in NYC, and all they got was my roll of quarters from the armrest console. They graciously broke the inexpensive vent-window.

Any time I’ve rented a hatch-back, there always was a cover for the rear storage compartment. I love driving but no way would I want to attempt navigating some roads in France with a vehicle as large as a Ford Explorer. It would have problems on narrow village streets and trying to find a large enough parking space - even in parking garages. Seriously consider getting a smaller SUV.

EDIT: This might be ok to use on your trip as it is smaller than a Ford Escape and much smaller than the Explorer!

I, too, would also question the advisability of choosing an SUV (of any kind - I drive a so-called "compact SUV" every day, and it's not what any honest person would call "compact" - just in comparison to other more beastly vehicles). For just two people, I'd consider a smaller car, but that's not the focus of your question. Your question is about break-ins, generally, and is a common subject here (yes, do a search).

As someone who often drives rental cars when visiting Europe, the "break-in" question is one I struggle with often. I also typically travel with some moderately expensive camera gear and a few other electronic items which thieves would love to steal and I'd rather not lose. I've concluded that one just needs to take the best steps one can (detailed in a hundred earlier threads on break-ins), then accept and live with the risk of break-ins.

Of course I try not to leave anything in the car that I don't want to lose, but there are times it can't be helped, you do what you can to strike a reasonable balance between paranoia, convenience, and balancing risks versus comfort. That means I'm often lugging a small but somewhat heavy day pack (the one with the goodies), if we are out between accommodations and my car needs to be parked for a while. There are no perfect solutions, and I remind myself that my (and my spouse's) cars are broken into regularly when parked in front of our house in a so-called "nice" Seattle neighborhood (the thieves here are generally kind enough to use electronic gizmos to unlock the car doors, European thieves just break glass). You do the best you can, and live with the level of risk that you can accept (or else you make different choices).

New for my next trip to southern Italy: a portable electronic car alarm. I'm not sure if this latest addition to my counter-measures/theft deterrents will turn out to be at all effective, or useless and of more of an annoyance - I just bought the thing and have yet to test it (they're typically sold for motorcycles or bicycles). I do believe that the (expensive) permanently-mounted car alarm I have in my "compact SUV" parked out front has been helpful deterring thieves here at home (ever since I had it installed a couple years ago, my spouse's car is broken into twice as often as mine has...if nothing else the blinking blue light on the dash probably has encouraged the dirt-bags to move on to a softer target.) I'm wondering to what extent - if any - a similar but portable device might have a similar effect on some casual thieves in Italy - we will see about that.

Bottom line: I think you need to just take the steps you can to reasonably reduce your risk, and then live with the risk that's left. Keeping bags and other things out of sight is all well and good, so do what you can, but that's no guarantee.

For a month, you should see what a lease will cost compared to a rental. This is because you get a brand new out of the factory car with all parts intact, including a luggage cover if that’s standard equipment. You also get full insurance and exactly the car you choose, no substitutes in the same category. AutoEurope dot com has both rental and leased cars. You can compare there.

We are renting a compact SUV (it states a Peugeot 2008 or similar) which is like a Ford Explorer.

Is that an accurate comparison? The Peugeot is classified as a sub-compact crossover SUV.

Peugeot 2008: length 163.7" curb weight: 2,304 lbs

Ford Explorer: length 198.7" curb weight 4,788 lbs.

We rented a Peugeot 2008 this past fall. I find it's similar to a Subaru Outback, definitely not a Ford Explorer (I've owned both.) There is a cover for the back but it's not a trunk. For context, ours was a manual transmission though I'm not sure if there's any difference between an automatic or manual.

FYI, half the cars sold in France nowadays are SUVs, mostly owned by people in the areas outside cities. However, I have a Renault Clio hybrid, automatic transmission, a smaller car especially by US standards, but with a powerful engine, a trunk, and I’m very pleased with it. I gave up my SUV when I left the US.

This is all to say that if you are concerned about exposed luggage, other car models are available. One other thing you should know is that our parking spaces are tiny inside garages. Many times the best way to park is backing in.

Last spring we had a few requests like a gps in our rental car, so when we picked it up outside of Paris, they were so proud to show us that they upgraded us to a beautiful BMW; the model escapes me but it was one of their bigger models. Being from So Cal driving a big car doesn't faze me, but we barely made it in and out of parking garages; or fitting into parking spaces. In one little town, I'm pretty sure we were parked 80% on the sidewalk. But, the trunk space was awesome. So there was that!