Phuile

I have been travelling to the UK every year for the past 5 years.
Every time, I rent a car with Avis and it's been very smooth sailing.
The car is always new (prob 6 months old only) and of good quality.
The service is good etc. I have no problem with them. This year, my
travel agent told me that they are not booking Avis cars and are going
through AutoEurope. But the thing that gets me is that the rate she
provided is $1000 less than Avis.

I live in Canada, and I am going to rent a car for about 2 weeks in
the north of England.

Since I've never heard of AutoEurope, I'd like to know what people
think about them. Why are they so much cheaper? What's the qaulity and
age of their fleet? When I search for AutoEurope, I got stories from
around 2001 which are *not good*.

Can someone give me some idea on this?

Thanks!

-Rog

"phuile" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Since I've never heard of AutoEurope, I'd like to know
> what people think about them. Why are they so much
> cheaper? What's the qaulity and age of their fleet?...

AFAIK, AutoEurope does not have its own fleet, but
is a broker for other rental companies, the quality of
which may vary widely. Whenever I've checked, I've
not found them cheaper than booking online, directly
with a major car rental company like Budget, Thrifty,
National, etc. Yet there are folks who swear by them.

-Dave Smith

phuile wrote:
>
> I have been travelling to the UK every year for the past 5 years.
> Every time, I rent a car with Avis and it's been very smooth sailing.
> The car is always new (prob 6 months old only) and of good quality.
> The service is good etc. I have no problem with them. This year, my
> travel agent told me that they are not booking Avis cars and are going
> through AutoEurope. But the thing that gets me is that the rate she
> provided is $1000 less than Avis.
>
> I live in Canada, and I am going to rent a car for about 2 weeks in
> the north of England.
>
> Since I've never heard of AutoEurope, I'd like to know what people
> think about them. Why are they so much cheaper? What's the qaulity and
> age of their fleet? When I search for AutoEurope, I got stories from
> around 2001 which are *not good*.
>
> Can someone give me some idea on this?

I went on a trip to Europe with four others in 1999 and we booked a car
through AutoEurope. The only problem we had was that we had asked for a car
big enough for four good sized adults and we got one that was clearly
designed for four. The car at had picked up in Hamburg and they met me in
Denmark. It would have been nice if they had refused it and got a larger
one when they picked it up. We made a call to our travel agent who
contacted AutoEurope and they gave us a second car at no extra charge. The
only problem was that it meant double the fuel, double the tolls and
splitting up the group, and trouble in some places to find a second parking
space. There were no extra charges when we turned the cars in.

When I went back in 2001 a different agent booked through Avis. The car
was okay. The problem was the extra $700 tacked onto my credit card the
next month. The no deductible insurance premium that I am pretty sure I
was told would be about $80 was more than $300. I returned it about an hour
later than the time I had picked it up two weeks earlier so I was charged
for an extra at a daily rate. Even though I had stopped for fuel about 25
km from the airport I was charged $75 for fuel.

I was much happier with AutoEurope, which by the way, charged less for a
Mercedes for two weeks than Avis charged for a VW Golf.

Phuile

Interesting ... Thanks for replying ...

The friend I always travel with is someone who is very particular
about things, and we don't like surprises, like what size and quality
of cars and things like that. We like to feel that everything is in
order. As we have been using Avis, we know that they are ok (at least
in the one we use in the UK), and we have no experience with
AutoEurope. That's why we are trying to find out. We would have gone
with Avis right away if not for the fact that price difference is so
great. The $1000 is the oriiginal quoted price - so not including late
charges and anything like that. We are just very curious as to why -
as you don't get something for nothing. But if it all checks out, we
are happy to save 1000 bucks!

I think we just want to know if the cheaper price tag comse with
smaller or lesser quality car (although they are listed under the same
class), or bad customer service etc.

Thanks for the replies and we are happy to hear more about comparison
of the two.

Alan S

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:24:39 -0700, phuile <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Interesting ... Thanks for replying ...
>
>The friend I always travel with is someone who is very particular
>about things, and we don't like surprises, like what size and quality
>of cars and things like that. We like to feel that everything is in
>order. As we have been using Avis, we know that they are ok (at least
>in the one we use in the UK), and we have no experience with
>AutoEurope. That's why we are trying to find out. We would have gone
>with Avis right away if not for the fact that price difference is so
>great. The $1000 is the oriiginal quoted price - so not including late
>charges and anything like that. We are just very curious as to why -
>as you don't get something for nothing. But if it all checks out, we
>are happy to save 1000 bucks!
>
>I think we just want to know if the cheaper price tag comse with
>smaller or lesser quality car (although they are listed under the same
>class), or bad customer service etc.
>
>Thanks for the replies and we are happy to hear more about comparison
>of the two.

You said " But the thing that gets me is that the rate she
provided is $1000 less than Avis."

I think you'd better have a chat with your agent about past
prices.

I took a guess at your car level and timing and did a quick
check on the net for Avis UK http://www.avis.co.uk/ and
National UK http://www.nationalcar.co.uk/. Based on two
weeks in late September you can rent a Ford Mondeo, mid-size
car, for about GBP400 or US$800, total for the two weeks,
plus any insurance or other extras. That was actually
cheaper than the http://www.autoeurope.com/ price - although
that may vary at different times with different cars.

The past Avis price must have been horrendous. Or were you
renting a Mercedes limo?


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/
latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest

-Dave Smith

Alan S wrote:
>ou
> cheaper than the http://www.autoeurope.com/ price - although
> that may vary at different times with different cars.
>
> The past Avis price must have been horrendous. Or were you
> renting a Mercedes limo?


Prices vary a lot depending on where you pick up the car. In the case of
the trip where we used AutoEurope, we had considered flying to various
European cities, picking up the car and returning to Paris. We ended up
picking up the car in Hamburg because it was the cheapest. The cost of
renting a (small) Mercedes for two weeks and returning it to Paris was
$1,000 (Cdn) from Hamburg, $1600 from Paris, $2400 from Amsterdam and
$3600 from Copenhagen. That amounts to an astounding price range for the
same car being dropped off at the same departure point.

-Martin

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:30:26 -0400, Dave Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

>Alan S wrote:
>>ou
>> cheaper than the http://www.autoeurope.com/ price - although
>> that may vary at different times with different cars.
>>
>> The past Avis price must have been horrendous. Or were you
>> renting a Mercedes limo?
>
>
>Prices vary a lot depending on where you pick up the car. In the case of
>the trip where we used AutoEurope, we had considered flying to various
>European cities, picking up the car and returning to Paris. We ended up
>picking up the car in Hamburg because it was the cheapest. The cost of
>renting a (small) Mercedes for two weeks and returning it to Paris was
>$1,000 (Cdn) from Hamburg, $1600 from Paris, $2400 from Amsterdam and
>$3600 from Copenhagen. That amounts to an astounding price range for the
>same car being dropped off at the same departure point.

It's in proportion to the local taxes paid on new cars.
--

Martin

Tim.....

"phuile" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...
>I have been travelling to the UK every year for the past 5 years.
> Every time, I rent a car with Avis and it's been very smooth sailing.
> The car is always new (prob 6 months old only) and of good quality.
> The service is good etc. I have no problem with them. This year, my
> travel agent told me that they are not booking Avis cars and are going
> through AutoEurope. But the thing that gets me is that the rate she
> provided is $1000 less than Avis.
>
> I live in Canada, and I am going to rent a car for about 2 weeks in
> the north of England.
>
> Since I've never heard of AutoEurope, I'd like to know what people
> think about them. Why are they so much cheaper? What's the qaulity and
> age of their fleet? When I search for AutoEurope, I got stories from
> around 2001 which are *not good*.
>
> Can someone give me some idea on this?

One of the problems of buying from consolidators is that
they can insert "not to be taken out of county/state" into the
contract even if the company supplying the car doesn't have
this term. It saves them on the insurance costs.

You have to be very careful to look out for this if it is
important.

tim

-Dave Smith

Martin wrote:
>
> >Prices vary a lot depending on where you pick up the car. In the case of
> >the trip where we used AutoEurope, we had considered flying to various
> >European cities, picking up the car and returning to Paris. We ended up
> >picking up the car in Hamburg because it was the cheapest. The cost of
> >renting a (small) Mercedes for two weeks and returning it to Paris was
> >$1,000 (Cdn) from Hamburg, $1600 from Paris, $2400 from Amsterdam and
> >$3600 from Copenhagen. That amounts to an astounding price range for the
> >same car being dropped off at the same departure point.
>
> It's in proportion to the local taxes paid on new cars.


I understand that in Denmark the tax on new cars is a whomping 180%. As on
Danish friend told me, you pay for three cars but you only get one. That is
the reason that when I go to Denmark I fly to Hamburg and rent a car
there. It is about 3 hours of travel time with the driving and ferry and
roughly $80 each way for the ferry, and it is still an enormous amount of
money saved.

-Martin

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:53:30 -0400, Dave Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

>Martin wrote:
>>
>> >Prices vary a lot depending on where you pick up the car. In the case of
>> >the trip where we used AutoEurope, we had considered flying to various
>> >European cities, picking up the car and returning to Paris. We ended up
>> >picking up the car in Hamburg because it was the cheapest. The cost of
>> >renting a (small) Mercedes for two weeks and returning it to Paris was
>> >$1,000 (Cdn) from Hamburg, $1600 from Paris, $2400 from Amsterdam and
>> >$3600 from Copenhagen. That amounts to an astounding price range for the
>> >same car being dropped off at the same departure point.
>>
>> It's in proportion to the local taxes paid on new cars.
>
>
>I understand that in Denmark the tax on new cars is a whomping 180%.
http://www.skovgaard.org/europe/denmark.htm#tax
( if I was Danish I would emigrate)

plus VAT on top of the taxed price like in the Netherlands.

It's 56% in the Netherlands.
--

Martin

-Mimi

"phuile" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...
>I have been travelling to the UK every year for the past 5 years.
> Every time, I rent a car with Avis and it's been very smooth sailing.
> The car is always new (prob 6 months old only) and of good quality.
> The service is good etc. I have no problem with them. This year, my
> travel agent told me that they are not booking Avis cars and are going
> through AutoEurope. But the thing that gets me is that the rate she
> provided is $1000 less than Avis.
>
> I live in Canada, and I am going to rent a car for about 2 weeks in
> the north of England.
>
> Since I've never heard of AutoEurope, I'd like to know what people
> think about them. Why are they so much cheaper? What's the qaulity and
> age of their fleet? When I search for AutoEurope, I got stories from
> around 2001 which are *not good*.
>

AutoEurope is everybody's favorite on Fodor's European talk site:
www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

Almost universally recommended. They're supposed to match any quotes lower
than their own.

Marianne

Poldy

In article <[email protected]>,
Alan S <[email protected]> wrote:

> I think you'd better have a chat with your agent about past
> prices.
>
> I took a guess at your car level and timing and did a quick
> check on the net for Avis UK http://www.avis.co.uk/ and
> National UK http://www.nationalcar.co.uk/. Based on two
> weeks in late September you can rent a Ford Mondeo, mid-size
> car, for about GBP400 or US$800, total for the two weeks,
> plus any insurance or other extras. That was actually
> cheaper than the http://www.autoeurope.com/ price - although
> that may vary at different times with different cars.
>
> The past Avis price must have been horrendous. Or were you
> renting a Mercedes limo?
>

It pays to prebook. I've rented from Avis and Kemwel, which appears to
be a part of AutoEurope. The agency was actually Europcar.


But I've also heard that if you're on those reward programs with the US
car rental agencies, you can get much better pricing.

So I will look into that next time.