Autoeurope?

[tupperstamper]

Auto Europe? Anyone rented a car through Autoeurope? I'm looking for opinions.

 

Lisa

[Sauer-kraut]

5 hours ago, tupperstamper said:

Auto Europe? Anyone rented a car through Autoeurope? I'm looking for opinions.

 

Lisa

I was looking at them the other day for a land trip.  They are a broker for several rental agents.   There are varied reviews, it seems if you are not delayed picking up the car the transaction goes smoothly, if late by 2 hours or more you lose your booking and non-refundable payment.  In theory you'll be double paying, first to Eurocar and then again to the rental company to get a car because you violated the terms and conditions.

[John Bull]

Hi Lisa,

 

Yes, we've rented thro AutoEurope. 

They're a broker, not a rental company, and (perhaps because we have no loyalty bonuses etc) we find that prices from brokers can be massively lower than renting direct.   

We've also rented thro rentalcars.com and others.

 

Never a problem with AutoEurope or the others, apart from an Avis car via British Airways - long story short, on arrival Avis charged us the one-way fee SF to NOLA and other extras despite our showing documentation from BA that those things were included, bought & paid-for together with our air tickets. Took months to get the charges deleted from our credit card, so never again with BA or Avis. That said, of course there'll be folk who swear by Avis.

 

I'd pay more attention to the rental companies than the brokers, that's where you'll find bigger potential problems.

And check not only the headline price but also things like

- Nowadays we rent from "on-airport" operators. "off-airport" has meant second-rate operators and waits for transportation

- I believe that Americans can use their personal car insurance to cover rental cars in the US (?),  but I'm not so sure that they can in Europe

- CDW excess (usually around €1000 to €1500). Such a joy to rent with zero excess included in the headline price as we've done in the States with Alamo (also thro a broker), especially since existing damage can't always be spotted on rainy forecourts or in very poorly-lit multi-storey parking lots.

- And even tho we have an annual rental excess policy thro a third party we don't want that policy to be tested or for them to be ripped-off, so we carefully check the car over at pick-up, photograph, get the rep's signature on the document for every extra bit of damage that we see. And vac. and often run the car thro a wash before returning it, and again photographing it and wherever possible getting the rep's signature that all's well - tho that's not possible with out-of-hours returns etc.

- If CDW zero excess isn't included, many offer it for outrageous premiums, often higher than the basic rental charge. So sort it before you travel.

- check for mandatory extras like fees for "premium location",  local taxes, road-toll go-boxes, etc. though they're often difficult to find even via big international renters' head offices. 

- fuel policy full-to-full, or same point on the gauge. "Full-to-empty" means outlandish price per gallon, often for more gals than the tank can even hold, and who dares to risk running out of fuel in order to return the car empty ! 

- check for over-age or under-age or recently acquired driving licence charges, excesses or conditions.

-  don't be bullied into extras like breakdown insurance, which isn't your problem.

- if you're renting for about a week or more, buy a GPS from a store at home or in your destination or rely on your I-Phone or whatever. Daily GPS rentals (and child seats etc) work out ridiculously expensive. (more than once we've declined to rent a GPS only to find that the in-car GPS hasn't been disabled )

 

Some European countries including Spain, Italy & Germany now require that foreign nationals have an international driving permit.

 

Short question, long answer - many of which you're already aware of .

Essentially, fully read the terms & conditions.

But we've rented many times without a problem other than the BA / Avis nonsense, and that's down to being as aware as possible. And the good fortune of no accidental damage.

And this isn't specific to Europe -we've found that it all applies to renting in the US as well.. In fact the hard-sell is far worse in the US.

 

JB 

[wowzz]

As has been said, Autoeurope are just a broker,  so any reviews for them are meaningless. What you need to read are the reviews for the actual companies they use. 

As with airlines, the preferred choice is to always book direct with the actual company involved, rather than a middle man.  When travelling in Europe we  book with smaller companies,  not normally  used by the brokers, so as to avoid the upselling on collection, and the scams involving small scratches that are invisible to the naked eye. Goldcar are the most complained about car hire company in Europe,  so avoid them at all costs.

If the OP tells us where he is planning to collect the car,  we may be able to give more advice. However,  in general, having a car is more of a hindrance  than a help when visiting the UK, unless you are really wanting to go off the beaten track.

 

[tupperstamper]

We want to pick up a car in Southampton after our cruise to drive to Cornwall for a few days. Then Cambridge for 1 night Turn the car in and take the train back to London.

[Sauer-kraut]

13 hours ago, tupperstamper said:

We want to pick up a car in Southampton after our cruise to drive to Cornwall for a few days. Then Cambridge for 1 night Turn the car in and take the train back to London.

I have used 121 car hire in England.  We landed at one airport and left it in another with no hassle.  You might want to look at their website to see what they offer.  It is also a broker, maybe the prices are better?  Can you drive manual shift? It will make booking a lot easier.