Car rental in Europe (insurance, etc.)

[Otter74]

I'm going to be in France next week (I'm missing LeMans, dammit, and I might regret it a bit) and renting a car. I have never rented a car in Europe before, as whenever I travel there I get around by train, except for a trip to Poland during which I drove my girlfriend's uncle's car.

Pretty sure plenty of you have done this.

I know that my own auto policy does not provide any coverage like it does when I rent a car in the US. My credit card (Capital One Venture) does have a collision damage waiver coverage benefit.

What kind of coverage should I get, and what should I pass on, when I pick up the car? Is the CDW coverage on my CC going to do me any real good in the event that I would need it?

Anything else I might not be thinking of (not necessarily insurance related) that would be useful to know?

I'll probably end up getting some C-segment hatch.

[MBAtarga]

Will be in Italy in September. Interested in this as well.

[Craig T]

Renting a car and driving in Europe is no different to renting a car here. If you've checked your U.S. policy and it does not cover overseas rentals, then call your credit card to confirm what it covers. American Express is very good about collision coverage on overseas rentals. If you're not covered by the aforementioned, pay the extra five or six Euros per day for peace of mind.

I rent a car in Europe at least two to three times per year, sometimes for a month. The only issues I've had is getting keyed once at the Spa F1 race and in Monaco some kid sprayed "YANK" on the hood with orange paint.

[Charles Freeborn]

Talk to your own insurance agent before you go and get whatever paperwork you could possibly need. The French are crazy about paperwork....they love it....
Another suggestion I've got is to take your own GPS and put all your important addresses in it before you leave. If you speak / understand any French at all set the language to French. In English it will mangle the street names so badly you won't recognize them when you see them.
The street names change every block in towns and between roundabouts (which are about every 1/4 mile outside of towns) so that throws a wrench in the works every few minutes. And DON'T stop going into a roundabout. If you miss your exit go 'round again... Beautiful country, great people, outstanding wine... have fun!

[Otter74]

Charles,

Thanks. What paperwork might I need from my agent, given that my own insurance doesn't provide me any coverage? Are they likely to want to see proof of US insurance for some reason? Would my normal wallet card be enough? Do I need one of those International Driving Permit things? (I'm not sure what the point of that thing is, as all that does is translate stuff into other languages.)

As for navigating, the A20 will get me most of the way to my destination and I've got Michelin maps of the country and the Dordogne and my girlfriend as a navigator. I'll use my iPhone for GPS if I need it.

Originally Posted by Charles Freeborn

Talk to your own insurance agent before you go and get whatever paperwork you could possibly need. The French are crazy about paperwork....they love it....
Another suggestion I've got is to take your own GPS and put all your important addresses in it before you leave. If you speak / understand any French at all set the language to French. In English it will mangle the street names so badly you won't recognize them when you see them.
The street names change every block in towns and between roundabouts (which are about every 1/4 mile outside of towns) so that throws a wrench in the works every few minutes. And DON'T stop going into a roundabout. If you miss your exit go 'round again... Beautiful country, great people, outstanding wine... have fun!

[petrolhead611]

Suggest you look into easyCar.They provide zero excess, it full coverage insurance at significantly more reasonable prices than the regular car rental firms and the cars are good ones.I just paid about $70 all in for renting a Fiat Panda with climate control 4 days in Spain.Watch out for the different refuelling policies of the hire firms too.Reccommend selecting full to full, otherwise you pay a ridiculous amount for the rental company to refill the tank after you turn the car in.

[Charles Freeborn]

If your insurance won't cover, then that's of no use. Ask the rental car company, here in english if possible. Otherwise there are stand alone services like easycar. My insurance (State Farm) covered us, so I didn't have to go that route. I didn't bother with a international permit - not really useful.
As for nav, trust me, the person reading the map won't see a thing other than the map. The iPhone will cut out at just the wrong moment... Take a gps and thank me later.
-C

[petrolhead611]

Easy car is a rental broker, the head office is in London UK so they do speak English.They subcontract the actual rental to firms like Interrent and Europcar.You have to leave a credit card swipe at the car hire desk when you collect the car and if you damage the vehicle you are initially charged up to about €950 dependent on the scale of the damage which you then claim back in full from easyCar.

[Otter74]

Just checked and an international permit isn't needed in France. Just called my CC provider and they have CDW coverage and it sounds like that may cover most of my needs.

Good point on the navigation. I also print out my route (destination is a house in the middle of the country, not the easiest thing to find) and directions beforehand (I'm old school!) My honey is a good navigator, though. I'm not used to GPS.

[Embraer]

I rented a car here for Le Mans. Got a Ford kuga. Tons of fun. Diesel, manual tranny. It's a crossover. Cost $180 from enterprise at cdg airport for the week. My amex insurance is good enough. I didn't need an Intl license...my Indiana license was fine.

Oh yeah, and if you don't rent a bare bones car, it'll almost surely have satnav built in

[Otter74]

Oh, yeah - I forget that new cars have nav. My newest car is 13 years old. Kuga is the US Escape, with different powertrains. I've heard they're good.

That is a fair bit less than the rates I've been seeing looking online from here.

Sorry I'm missing LeMans!

Originally Posted by Embraer

I rented a car here for Le Mans. Got a Ford kuga. Tons of fun. Diesel, manual tranny. It's a crossover. Cost $180 from enterprise at cdg airport for the week. My amex insurance is good enough. I didn't need an Intl license...my Indiana license was fine.

Oh yeah, and if you don't rent a bare bones car, it'll almost surely have satnav built in

[bleucamaro]

I had great luck with Sixt. they have good (interesting) cars, at good prices. In France or Italy, get the extra insurance. They are used to dealing with Americans. I really liked them because there were no restrictions on driving to other countries within western Europe, and no mileage restrictions. I put 1800 miles on a Mercedes C-class diesel wagon. They offered me a GL (the big one) Mercedes for the same price. I declined because of city driving and cost of fuel.

Also, when making your reservation, spend some time on their website, because cost does very by where you pick up and drop off the car. Airports and main train hubs were more expensive than going to a branch office that you might have to take a street car to within a couple blocks.

Have fun over there.

(edit: this was in 2013 and the car came with GPS. If you're nice to them, they'll change the language settings to English.)

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by Otter74

Oh, yeah - I forget that new cars have nav. My newest car is 13 years old. Kuga is the US Escape, with different powertrains. I've heard they're good.

That is a fair bit less than the rates I've been seeing looking online from here.

Sorry I'm missing LeMans!

I got that rate when I booked through Expedia. When I booked my plane ticket, it offered me a rental car "add on" for $180

[Neilk]

Last couple of times I rented a car in Europe, the Nav was disabled in the setting menu, so I went in and enabled it. If you want be sly about it, just ask if they can change the display language to English, or in France, look for the gear or whatever icon they have and change the "Langue".

Have a good trip!

[Eric Coffey]

If you rent from one of the bigger US-based companies in the EU (Avis, Hertz, etc.), the additional insurance they offer can be ridiculously expensive (likely dependent on where you are and what car you rent). It's a healthy revenue-stream for them no doubt, and a lot of agents at the counter will try and scare you into purchasing the extra insurance.

Regarding nav, I just use my phone w/ Google maps/navigation, as some (most?) of the on-board car nav systems are a pain to use anyway. Any modern GSM phone should suffice, and you can pick up a pre-paid SIM card (w/ adequate data allowance/coverage) once you hit the ground. YMMV...

[motion]

Just got back from 3 weeks of mostly Italy driving with a compact and a van. Rented from National and Hertz. I bought the extra insurance Expedia offered @ $11 a day, since my AMEX rental car protection plan doesn't cover rentals in Italy.

I use my iPhone with Google maps for Nav. It works great. I have a magnetic mount that clips to car vents, so its plugged in and on the dash. I've even given up bringing the Garmin along as a backup.

[motion]

Also, self serve gas stations in France are credit card w/pin only, which we don't have in the USA (as far as I know). You'll need to stick to stations with attendants, or pay a local with euro to use his card. I've had to do this several times when I couldn't find a full serve station.

[Otter74]

Yeah, thanks for the reminder about PIN-only cards. I was reminded about that today when I tried to buy my train ticket from CPH to the city and had to stand in line because the automated machine wouldn't take my card because it want PIN-only. I will probably get a bunch of Euro from the ATM somewhere to cover this kind of thing. I've got a car reserved at CDG with Sixt. Took the insurance just in case but don't think I'll need it as it seems my CC does the job so will likely cancel before I show up.

[LakeCleElum]

My Europe car Insurance stories:

1) In the Cinque Terre area of Italy.....Some young quy in a Clapped out Alfa comes at me headon on the wrong side of the of a twisty road at about 60. In a split second, I veer right, but not much due to a rock wall there.....Almost miss, but he takes out the whole side of his car on my rear bumper area......Was a Hertz rental with $500 deductible....My credit card and US insurance will cover the deductibe, BUT....When I turn in the car, Hertiz charges me the $500 and sez I'll get it back when they collect from the other driver. I turn in all my paperwork with pictures the other driver, his ID and damage to his car......I hear nothing for months....About 4 months later, I get a credit on my credit card statment from Hertz for $500.......No notification or communication ever.......

Another time, in the Netherlands, I get a flat tire, tire shop sez it can't be repaired and insists I buy a new tire.......I later turn the receipt into Visa and tell them it was a road hazard thing...They send me a check for the full amount, no questions......

Sixt is great if you want something like a big BMW or models that the basic compaines don't have........Most times, I get end up with a turbo Diesel, Manual transmission and Luv the torque for passing on the narrow back roads. I take my own GPS with Europe maps and preload my routes....A GPS with Speed Camera alerts is pretty accurate...Enjoy

[Neilk]

One other thing, if your CC doesn't charge forex fees, make sure to pay in Euros. I unwittingly agreed to having my rental billed in dollars and the bad exchange fee added $10 or so to rental. Not much, but completely unnecessary. Same applies at any other store if they ask.