Scottish Elises

Anybody out there know where i can get a good deal on hiring a car in Germany please?

Cheers

Tony

I hire cars at Munich airport and use Auto Europe or Car hire 3000. Both give better rates than I get from the bigger companies even with corporate discount etc. They are both agents, but normally it is coming from one of the recognised companies like Avis, hertz, europcar etc. I use these companies because they offer snowtyre inclusive deals which are much cheaper than paying the additional at the airport. Their rates for normal tyres would still be much better than going direct.

For Munich auto europe usually give you a car from europcar or avis while carhire 3000 normally provide something from Thrifty. The Thrifty outfit is a shambles and they are about 10mins from the airport, but the cars are very good and you almost always get something better than your paying for.

Also worth trying holiday autos.

In Germany it is not illegal to drive with normal tyres but it is a requirement to have the correct tyres for the conditions. In Austria it is a legal requirement to have winter tyres at this time of year. Car hire companies will often use this to confuse people either to take tyres they don't necessarily need or to take a car that doesn't have winter tyres when they should have them. Hire companies charge 20-25 euros a day for winter tyres if they are not inclusive in the price.

The carhire agents also try to make a few extra quid selling additional CDW insurance. The CDW non protected value has double in the last couple of years and is now typically 700euro's. I hire about 4 weeks a year and take out a specific policy for the year. I think it was £52 for the year, which is less than 1 weeks CDW protection from a car hire company.

Prices have gone up a lot in the last year, but these 3 companies seem to be the best. You can also normally cancel and get a full refund if you don't like the details of the deal ie when you see where the car is supplied from or who is supplying..

Hope that helps Kerry

Hi Tony, another vote for carhire 3000.

Best price when shopping around, and in my experience, always thru a known company.