View Full Version : Renting a car in Germany
Having wheels makes for a full FKK experience. Reports about good deals and warnings about rip-offs should be gathered in a dedicated thread.
BadinSweet
03-27-18, 02:45
I find Hertz at FRA location to be very honest and no scam. Good thing about Hertz is you can use any coupon code and they will accept it.
Be aware of the possibility of scams if you don't have a 100% full tank on redelivery, and not just 85-90%. I was tried getting charged for over half a tank at 3.50 e per liter by hertz in Germany. Hertz in Austria told me they were not legally allowed to charge extra for the tank unless they had a deposit on it prior to when I was handed the keys. Much higher integrity I must say although the internet site never mentioned the extra deposit. Maybe they had my history with Hertz, LOL. I did get a settlement with the German Hertz scam in the end. Refunding me about 50% of what they originally charged for the missing fuel.
Normally Europcar or others are cheaper, but Hertz have been very competitive on pricing this year so far.
Get yourself some excess insurance from an independent company, it should cost a small amount per day. It saved my ass on one trip when something hit my car while driving along the autobahn and left a 6 inch scratch. Eurocar car rental charged me over 800 which the insurance paid me back.
I made a booking through Check24 showing, among other things, the insurance package below. It covers everything beside luggage. But how can I be sure that the firm with which I enter the contract (Europcar) will adhere to these clauses? I subsequently got a voucher but on it I don't see theses insurances black and white, just "Vollkasko" which means all-inclusive.
HungryStud101
03-27-18, 05:16
Renting a car in Germany / Europe is very different from renting in North America.
Make sure you check the car over and if you see anything you call one of the car rental employees over. They put a sticker on a scratch on a bumper prior to leaving the lot. When you turn it in they will give the car the once over again. Very different than the 100's of cars I rented in the USA. And much more expensive for this POS roller skate with a clutch.
The big thing last year was I got flashed twice and tickets were sent to my office. Avis charged a fee. I had a few issues with the damn car and the rental process to begin with so I complained to Avis and they did nothing. So I called the travel agency my company uses and guess what? The fees were removed and I did not pay the tickets. I just go back last week. Let us see how many times I was flashed. Hopefully I wasn't. It is a huge issue there these days. Money hungry bastards.
As for driving in Europe: Yes it is great to get to out of the way clubs but two of the three I went to this time were very convenient by rail. So I used the trains the first part of the trip and I drove the 2nd. I got to say, I like the trains.
Just a couple of added points.
It is essential to take photos before picking up the car and after dropping off, including of the mileometer and the fuel gauge. It helps if you are seen by the staff to be doing so.
It is a normal part of the hire agreement that you pay a fee, maybe 25 euros average, to the car hire company for passing on to the Police your name and address if the car is caught speeding. If you got the charges removed by your agent you did very well HungryStud101.
I have had several run ins with car hire companies and found that the only thing they responded to was threats of complaints to the European Trading Standards Agency (not sure if US citizens, or UK citizens post Brexit will have this option :( ). Last time I got 1000 euro refund when a company claimed it had to repair a car and in fact quite clearly had no intention of doing so (I caused a minor scratch which was within the company's declared de minimis size), being unable to produce invoices for work done.
No one company is reliably honest. I have had excellent service and appalling service with companies: even paying for a premium company does not guarantee good service.
I keep an extra credit card for the sole purpose of vacationing. After my bimonthly holidays, I always report the card lost so I cannot be automatically charged. Europcar sent me an invoice once but when I called to see what it was about, they just cancelled the charges. Point is, when you make them take an extra step to contact you before trying to scam you, you can usually avoid these false charges.
I now discover that crossing borders is something that should be cleared beforehand and that companies can charge an additional 5 euros / day for it. I never thought this would apply to countries like Austria, Holland etc.
Ggekko2009
03-27-18, 15:41
In case you do not know this already, speed limit is 50 km / h by default if there is no speed limit sign posted anywhere. I made that mistake once and got flagged down by the police. Luckily I was not too much above the unposted speed limit, and the fine came out to 20 Euros. The police was even adamant that they can only accept credit card payment, and the fine had to be paid right on the spot..
At least this is cheaper than getting caught by the speeding camera. If you are to drive around the city of Darmstadt, be careful as the area has several speeding cameras. You will be charged at least 25 Euros by the car rental company when authorities make inquiries, and then you still need to pay the fine.
Regardless, if you are touring FKKs, renting a car is a must, since it is a huge hassle and in some places not possible to get there with public transportation.
Triptogamont
03-27-18, 20:16
Apologies for the short novel, but I had some issues with rental agencies last year.
In June, I rented a car in Amsterdam (Hertz), drove all over NRW. Returned the car, no problems at all. That got me hooked on renting a car for ease of hitting out-of-the-way clubs.
In November, I rented a car in Frankfurt from Europcar. Drove to all sorts of places within 1-2 hours of Frankfurt. Hit Dietzenbach 5-6 times. Returned the car, no problems at all, or so I thought. A couple months later, I got a bill in the mail from Europcar, saying I owed them for 2 extra days. They wanted something like 50 Euro. I found their website and dug around until I found a customer support email address. I sent them an email with my rental number, customer number, invoice number, etc. I told them I had paid in full when I dropped off the car and didn't think I owed them anything at all. I got an immediate email response saying someone would contact me within four hours. About a MONTH later, I got another email saying they were looking into the matter. A couple of weeks after that, they sent me a check! It was for something like 20 Euro. No explanation, no nothing. I cashed the check. I have not heard anything since.
In December, I rented a car from Hertz in Amsterdam again. Drove to Frankfurt and spent around 5 days at Dietz. Drove back to NRW and hit several clubs there. Drove back to Amsterdam and returned the car, no problem at all. Or so I thought. About a month later, a charge for around $40 appeared on my credit card from them. I called them up, and they said it "was probably a service fee" if I got a ticket or something. I told them I would not pay for anything unless they could definitively tell me what it was. They could not. So I called my credit card company to dispute the charge. A couple of weeks later, THREE more charges, all for around $40 showed up on my credit card bill. I called my credit card company to dispute those charges as well. I ended up on a 3-way call with Hertz and my bank. Hertz could not specifically say what the charges were for, but they guessed they were service fees for when a foreign country asks them for contact information for tickets. But Hertz could not show me a rental agreement (or anything that I had signed) that said I was responsible for service fees in case of tickets. My bank removed all four charges. Meanwhile, I did get two tickets. One near Koln and one near Utrecht. I am definitely responsible for those. But apparently, you can dispute those fees if they are not in the rental agreement you signed.
So, I think my next TriptoFKKLand, I will probably go to Frankfurt and use the S-Bahn to get to Dietz. Eventually, I'll probably rent a car in Germany again, but when I do, I'll probably drive like an ancient lady with cataracts. Look for me doing 50 kph in the far right lane!
HungryStud101
03-27-18, 21:28
Ahh yes Triptogamont, it is the mystery charges which up 2-3 months after you turn the car in. I suspect I got mine on my way to Oase last year. I was fucked over on that trip by everyone. I really enjoyed the high speed trains this year. I drove a lot less this year and I incorporated trains as much as possible. I have my fingers crossed but if I get charged I will call my agency and fight this BS once again. What a racket. It is about making money and not about safety.
It seems like they started with the extra charge for speeding last year. I have had 3 speeding fines in Germany, but only on the last one did they charge me 27 euro. I believe I used europcar in all 3 situations.
Takedown: my credit card bank now charges about 12 e for sending me a card replacement in case the date has not run out. I tried that tactic not long ago. I suppose some other credit cards don't have the same charge, but I like the bonus points. These things are annoying.
Indeed watching the speedometer is becoming increasingly important in Germany, and using the cruisecontrol. There was a new camera appearing on A3 last fall for example too. In Austria between Salzburg and Villach it is far worse though. Must have been around 15 cameras. Usually near or inside tunnels.
Wondering about whether the renting company charges both the ticket + overhead charges to the credit card or just the overheads. Do the police get paid from the credit card or are you supposed to get the ticket through the post and pay it separately?
Wondering about whether the renting company charges both the ticket + overhead charges to the credit card or just the overheads. Do the police get paid from the credit card or are you supposed to get the ticket through the post and pay it separately?In my experience the company charges the "admin" fee only. In 80% of cases there is no subsequent ticket issued by the Police. My experience is limited as I don't often get flashed.
Responsibility for thevadmin charge is a specific part of car hire agreements in all the hires I have made.
Ahh yes Triptogamont, it is the mystery charges which up 2-3 months after you turn the car in. I suspect I got mine on my way to Oase last year. I was fucked over on that trip by everyone. I really enjoyed the high speed trains this year. I drove a lot less this year and I incorporated trains as much as possible. I have my fingers crossed but if I get charged I will call my agency and fight this BS once again. What a racket. It is about making money and not about safety.That's why I didn't use car hire on my last trip. After my last car hire I saw every (and I mean every) person (apart from me) returning a car being charged for damage. The cars were being checked twice by two different people, even checking under the car with their hands.They wiped all dust off the car so they could inspect better. It was like a crime scene investigation
Question. Why when you pick the car up is it low level lighting but bright high level lighting in the return area?
Ggekko2009
03-28-18, 11:38
Wondering about whether the renting company charges both the ticket + overhead charges to the credit card or just the overheads. Do the police get paid from the credit card or are you supposed to get the ticket through the post and pay it separately?Just the admin fee to the rental company. You will get a letter from the city sent to your address overseas asking you to pay the fine. You would then have to wire that fine to them. These German cities as far as I know have no way to pay the fine online with a credit card. In the end, the bank wire fee is even more than the actual ticket fine itself. These are for speeding tickets sent to you. If you are caught by the police, you are required to pay on the spot via credit card, no cash accepted. Makes sense since this prevents police corruption.
Triptogamont
03-28-18, 12:35
Responsibility for thevadmin charge is a specific part of car hire agreements in all the hires I have made.I assumed that would be the case, but I disputed anyway. They were unable to show it in the actual rental agreement I signed, so I won the dispute. Lucky maybe.
BigBuddy69
03-28-18, 12:42
I was flashed three times and I received one letter from the rental company and another one from the city of Dusseldorf.
As for the damages on the car, it happened once and it was really a case of damage during the rental. The insurance of my credit card took care of it.
I assumed that would be the case, but I disputed anyway. They were unable to show it in the actual rental agreement I signed, so I won the dispute. Lucky maybe.In my agreements it was clearly written out. But you are right, dispute any charge by a hire company.
BadinSweet
03-29-18, 02:05
Wondering about whether the renting company charges both the ticket + overhead charges to the credit card or just the overheads. Do the police get paid from the credit card or are you supposed to get the ticket through the post and pay it separately?I must have gotten close to 10 speeding tickets and parking tickets combined, from driving in Darmstadt and FRA-DUS route. I have never received any letters from the cities. Only 25 E admin fee from Hertz.
Since this is related to car rental, which app do you guys use to warn you about the speed camera? I literally had to mark them on my google map so I know the location. Would be nice to have something that can warn us.
I must have gotten close to 10 speeding tickets and parking tickets combined, from driving in Darmstadt and FRA-DUS route. I have never received any letters from the cities. Only 25 E admin fee from Hertz.
Since this is related to car rental, which app do you guys use to warn you about the speed camera? I literally had to mark them on my google map so I know the location. Would be nice to have something that can warn us.Waze has all of the control devices on that route. Once it did miss one flash in the city of Dusseldorf though.
UltraHappy
03-29-18, 03:32
Received tons of admin charges for speeding tickets (this is the fee for the rental company having to fill out the form that says who was driving the rental car when the speeding ticket violation occurred). Only the city of Darmstadt actually followed up with me to make me pay their speeding ticket. None of the other cities ever followed up with me.
I've rented a ton from both Sixt and Enterprise in Germany. I've had good experiences with both. Neither one has ever tried to charge me for damage. Generally, Sixt and Enterprise are known to be reasonable and not make stuff up unlike some of the other rental companies in Germany (for example, many bad reports about Dollar / National in Germany -- not in other countries as different ownership but particularly in Germany).
BigBuddy69
03-29-18, 05:44
I must have gotten close to 10 speeding tickets and parking tickets combined, from driving in Darmstadt and FRA-DUS route. I have never received any letters from the cities. Only 25 E admin fee from Hertz.
Since this is related to car rental, which app do you guys use to warn you about the speed camera? I literally had to mark them on my google map so I know the location. Would be nice to have something that can warn us.Waze and camsam PLUS work fine.
My worst experience was with Enterprise. They ignored me until I threatened legal action. Then they folded.
I must have gotten close to 10 speeding tickets and parking tickets combined, from driving in Darmstadt and FRA-DUS route. I have never received any letters from the cities. Only 25 E admin fee from Hertz.
Since this is related to car rental, which app do you guys use to warn you about the speed camera? I literally had to mark them on my google map so I know the location. Would be nice to have something that can warn us.I use Waze on my smartphone. It's a pretty good app that gives users the ability to update events, dangerous situations, police and traffic cameras.
HungryStud101
03-29-18, 15:25
I was listening to Clark W. Howard last night and he was talking about damage charges from car rental companies. He said that you should take photos of the car upon return and keep those photos up to 6 months after. Clark said he is aware of one case where a car company came after a renter for damage after 6-months. By that time I am telling them to fuck off. He also said that some car companies are better than others about damage claims. I am going to check Consumer Reports and see if I can find anything but like Optimist said I turn a car in and it is like techs at a crime scene. Very different from my rental experiences in the USA.
I know one thing: I'll never pay any flash fine. Stop taking in so many indigents from the Middle East and you won't have the need to steal so much from citizens.
Do you guys book ahead of time or just go to the counter after landing? There's also the question of whether to deal with the provider direct or book through intermediaries. It quickly becomes a potential legal tangle, with 1) a booking site 2) a "broker", different from the booking site and 3) the provider, like Hertz, Europcar etc.
At Optimist: I was tempted by Enterprise. They have one of the more ok booking website.
I would book ahead of time. Esp. At times when there is shortage to be expected. E. G. Friday afternoon, if some trains run late, the rentals may run dry.
Do you guys book ahead of time or just go to the counter after landing? There's also the question of whether to deal with the provider direct or book through intermediaries. It quickly becomes a potential legal tangle, with 1) a booking site 2) a "broker", different from the booking site and 3) the provider, like Hertz, Europcar etc.
At Optimist: I was tempted by Enterprise. They have one of the more ok booking website.
Ggekko2009
03-29-18, 16:17
Do you guys book ahead of time or just go to the counter after landing? There's also the question of whether to deal with the provider direct or book through intermediaries. It quickly becomes a potential legal tangle, with 1) a booking site 2) a "broker", different from the booking site and 3) the provider, like Hertz, Europcar etc.
At Optimist: I was tempted by Enterprise. They have one of the more ok booking website.Better to book ahead of time directly from their website or apps, since it is also cheaper that way. So far I have used Avis and Enterprise when traveling in Europe. You can opt out from insurance when booking online. I do not buy insurance since my credit card company already covers it as primary insurance. There was one time when I was stuck in Dusseldorf due to a freak snowstorm and had to re-rent the car from Avis from the counter. I can't do it from the app since it was last minute, and there was no car available. The counter lady told me that I have to pay for the insurance with no choice to opt-out. At that point, I was not going to argue since they were quickly running out of cars at the airport.
Anyway, in short, book ahead of time. It will save you money if you use coupon or corporate rate.
BadinSweet
03-29-18, 22:55
Thanks guys. I didn't know waze alert you about speeding and red light camera in Germany. I thought I read somewhere that Germany won't allow app with this feature. So, I never bother using waze in Germany.
Thanks guys. I didn't know waze alert you about speeding and red light camera in Germany. I thought I read somewhere that Germany won't allow app with this feature. So, I never bother using waze in Germany.I think what is banned in Germany are devices that detect cameras in real time (by detecting the radiation emitted by the radar / camera). Waze is only a databank.
I am renting a car in Germany for 3 days in April. First time in Germany for me. I am a veteran in renting cars in the USA and Canada. I usually get the insurance that is through AMEX (side note they paid a $3000 claim for me when I damaged a car in Canada). In doing my research I am renting from SIXT and I am taking their LDW with zero excess which includes tires and windows coverage. The way I read the rental site my car rental rate includes liability. This should cover me for any claims, right? Please let me know if my logic is flawed.
As far as speed cameras go, I will go slow, like an old lady, and hope for the best.
Just be sure to check for scratches every time when you get the key. In average I find about 4 scratches not accounted for when getting the key. That is over about 10 car rents. So 40 ish scratches. That is a lot! And take pictures with your cellphone of the scratches too with dates on when you took the photo.
Ggekko2009
03-31-18, 13:16
I am renting a car in Germany for 3 days in April. First time in Germany for me. I am a veteran in renting cars in the USA and Canada. I usually get the insurance that is through AMEX (side note they paid a $3000 claim for me when I damaged a car in Canada). In doing my research I am renting from SIXT and I am taking their LDW with zero excess which includes tires and windows coverage. The way I read the rental site my car rental rate includes liability. This should cover me for any claims, right? Please let me know if my logic is flawed.
As far as speed cameras go, I will go slow, like an old lady, and hope for the best.A few tips. More likely than not, you are getting a stick shift from all car rentals in Germany. You can ask for automatic by paying extras, but their inventory is very limited. Everyone in Europe seems to drive manual. If you get a stick shift, note that different brands have different implementations of their reverse gear. I have to go through several trial and error. For VW, you have to push the stick down to shift to reverse. For other brands, you have to pull the stick up via a small lid just below the knob to shift to reverse. Trust me, try to figure out how to do your reverse before driving out of the lot, since you can still ask questions from the car attendants.
Also, look for scratches everywhere no matter how minute. Many times, I have to tell them about all these scratches up-front so that they can make notes in the system.
Ask for diesel if you can, since diesel is more fuel efficient and cheaper compared to gasoline.
If you don't see any speed limit sign within the city, the speed limit is 50 km / h. Unlike the US, don't go above the limit even by 1 km / h. On their Autobahn, don't believe the myths. There are still speed limit in most places, but at stretches of Autobahn where there is no speed limit, there will be a sign that says so. You will know that sign. Also, don't drive like a dick by hogging the left lane. No matter how fast you drive, stay on the right lane. You should only use the left lane to pass.
Finally, the word "Ausfahrt" on the sign along the Autobahn means Exit. I always like to joke that it is not the direction to a place called Ausfahrt.
BigBuddy69
03-31-18, 13:46
Actually the way the reverse gear works is written on the shifting lever. I'm used to drive "non automatic" cars so for me it's good to have mostly those type of cars. Diesel is only interesting if you intend to drive long distances, gasoline cars are cheaper to rent. I never had problems with scratches on the car but maybe the rental companies are scamming only overseas drivers. I use a Visa Premier to rent the car so the insurance will take care of any damages. I always rent simple cars, the bigger I had was a Ford Focus. For the speed limits as I told before, CamSamPLUS and Waze work fine.
FlAdventurer
03-31-18, 13:52
Hertz at the Frankfurt airport is notorius for scamming renters. They house the rental cars in a very dark area and you turn in to a well lit area. When I turned in my car last year, there were 3-4 cars being processed at the same time, all with damage. I asked for a supervisor but all were too busy to see me.
Luckily, AE paid for the $800 in repairs to the wheels, but I am pretty sure that damage was there when I rented it. Always take pictures and note any damage not on the rental agreement.
Hertz has forever lost my business in Frankfurt.
A few tips. More likely than not, you are getting a stick shift from all car rentals in Germany. You can ask for automatic by paying extras, but their inventory is very limited. Everyone in Europe seems to drive manual. If you get a stick shift, note that different brands have different implementations of their reverse gear. I have to go through several trial and error. For VW, you have to push the stick down to shift to reverse. For other brands, you have to pull the stick up via a small lid just below the knob to shift to reverse. Trust me, try to figure out how to do your reverse before driving out of the lot, since you can still ask questions from the car attendants.
Also, look for scratches everywhere no matter how minute. Many times, I have to tell them about all these scratches up-front so that they can make notes in the system.
Ask for diesel if you can, since diesel is more fuel efficient and cheaper compared to gasoline.
If you don't see any speed limit sign within the city, the speed limit is 50 km / h. Unlike the US, don't go above the limit even by 1 km / h. On their Autobahn, don't believe the myths. There are still speed limit in most places, but at stretches of Autobahn where there is no speed limit, there will be a sign that says so. You will know that sign. Also, don't drive like a dick by hogging the left lane. No matter how fast you drive, stay on the right lane. You should only use the left lane to pass.
Finally, the word "Ausfahrt" on the sign along the Autobahn means Exit. I always like to joke that it is not the direction to a place called Ausfahrt.
Noodlesnick
03-31-18, 14:30
Hertz at the Frankfurt airport is notorius for scamming renters. They house the rental cars in a very dark area and you turn in to a well lit area. When I turned in my car last year, there were 3-4 cars being processed at the same time, all with damage. I asked for a supervisor but all were too busy to see me.
Luckily, AE paid for the $800 in repairs to the wheels, but I am pretty sure that damage was there when I rented it. Always take pictures and note any damage not on the rental agreement.
Hertz has forever lost my business in Frankfurt.Same experience with Avis too recently. I waited 15 minutes while the attendant scrutinised until he found an almost imperceptible dent. I made a formal complaint to Avis and on Trusted Reviews and they replied to say they would look into it. Haven not (so far) been charged.
Rogue Nation
03-31-18, 22:15
If you don't see any speed limit sign within the city, the speed limit is 50 km / h. Unlike the US, don't go above the limit even by 1 km / h.It is safe to go 10% above speed limit as the meter is showing a slightly higher speed than your real speed. Plus the tolerance of you get controlled by police.
Smoke Light
04-01-18, 05:01
Before leaving the parking lot, I also recommend opening the trunk and checking the completeness of the spare tire assembly with the wheel, the wrench, and the jack. Hasn't happened to me, but I've heard some people were charged for a missing spare tire when returning the car.
It is safe to go 10% above speed limit as the meter is showing a slightly higher speed than your real speed. Plus the tolerance of you get controlled by police.It's not safe to assume this. I understand that there is no leeway given. Speeding is speeding and no allowances given.
Citizen Kane
04-02-18, 12:04
Best.
Thread.
Ever.
It's not safe to assume this. I understand that there is no leeway given. Speeding is speeding and no allowances given.On a speeding ticket I remember reading something like "10 km / h above limit including tolerance". There was no mention of how high the tolerance was. It may just have been some rounding down.
Rogue Nation
04-02-18, 13:01
It's not safe to assume this. I understand that there is no leeway given. Speeding is speeding and no allowances given.It is. But probably a non German citizen will know better than me, having a driving license for 25+ years.
BadinSweet
04-02-18, 23:48
Hertz at the Frankfurt airport is notorius for scamming renters. They house the rental cars in a very dark area and you turn in to a well lit area. When I turned in my car last year, there were 3-4 cars being processed at the same time, all with damage. I asked for a supervisor but all were too busy to see me.
Luckily, AE paid for the $800 in repairs to the wheels, but I am pretty sure that damage was there when I rented it. Always take pictures and note any damage not on the rental agreement.
Hertz has forever lost my business in Frankfurt.I have rented at least 30-50+ times in FRA and have never been charged anything. Maybe because I am Gold or President status I get different treatment but I doubt that is the case. I normally find the return guy at terminal 1 to be less picky. They just walk around and send me out of the way. They guys in Terminal 2 check a little more throughly but not like crime scene inspection like other places. So, if I have time to spare, I will normally return at terminal 1 eventhough my flight is out of terminal 2.
From my experience, I have never been charged anything fraudulent or anything questionable by a Frankfurt rental company. All charges have been legit speeding admin fees. My rentals from Dusseldorf and Dortmund have however produced at least a half dozen non speeding charges.
Ggekko2009
04-03-18, 14:41
From my experience, I have never been charged anything fraudulent or anything questionable by a Frankfurt rental company. All charges have been legit speeding admin fees. My rentals from Dusseldorf and Dortmund have however produced at least a half dozen non speeding charges.Same here with me but keeping my fingers crossed, and I can always fall back on my credit card company should there be any charge dispute. Is it also possible that these rental companies differentiate between their loyalty reward and / or corporate members vs just regular consumer? They might find the latter juicier targets for such scams, since they don't need them as repeat customers.
Citizen Kane
04-03-18, 19:41
On a speeding ticket I remember reading something like "10 km / h above limit including tolerance". There was no mention of how high the tolerance was. It may just have been some rounding down.It's Germany so I imagine the tolerance is zero or possibly lower.
The 10% was referred to on the few tickets I have received.It is the official procedure so is strictly followed.
Separate issue. I have noticed some companies now do not cover for breakdown unless you take this out as an extra (typically around 6 euros a day). Another way to bump up the price from a low headline figure
Just hop on the bus, Gus. Don't need to discuss much. Drop off the key, Lee. And set yourself free. I'm doing a trip now and am going to hook up with a friend and we looked at renting cars, which we don't normally do. The more we looked into it, the more it started to lose appeal. And that was before I read this thread about imaginary microscratches and lingering traffic tickets. We might, possibly, maybe, perhaps, do some one-day rentals to go to some places we might not otherwise get to, such as certain FKKs. Maybe. But if we do, we are going to document, document, document. Although, renting Germany seemed like less of a PITA than renting in France, Italy, and a couple of other countries we looked at.
Great point about checking the spare tire and jack. I hired a driver in Belize and I checked the tires and the brakes and a bunch of shit but I did not check to see if he had a spare tire, and he got a flat and stranded us in the middle of nowhere when I had a boat to catch. It worked out okay for me, not so much for him, but I will always check that now. In Germany you have to have triangles or road flares, and also a first aid kit, or at least that was the case when I took their test back in 2004.
Rogue Nation
04-03-18, 20:48
It's Germany so I imagine the tolerance is zero or possibly lower.Imagining doesn't get us anywhere. I posted before that there is a tolerance. And there is. It is about 3%. Actually it is 3 km / h if you're driving less than 100 km / h. If you are driving more thatn 100 km / h, it is 3%. Rounded up to the next full km.
https://www.bussgeldkatalog-mpu.de/bussgeld/bussgeldkatalog/toleranzabzug-geschwindigkeit.php
Plus the speed shown in your car is always higher than your actual speed, never lower. By law it is allowed to show 114 km / h max when driving 100 km / h.
My post re breakdown cover needs updating. The company is responsible for any breakdown due to mechanical failure. This means the extra they are selling only covers driver induced need for roadside assistance (for example, losing the keys, running out of fuel, draining the battery by leaving lights on).
Christian G
04-03-18, 21:40
On a speeding ticket I remember reading something like "10 km / h above limit including tolerance". There was no mention of how high the tolerance was. It may just have been some rounding down.No 10 km / h tolerance on a speeding ticket in my experience. Once I was fined for driving at 86 km / h where the limit was of 80 km / h.
It's Germany so I imagine the tolerance is zero or possibly lower.
No 10 km / h tolerance on a speeding ticket in my experience. Once I was fined for driving at 86 km / h where the limit was of 80 km / h.There absolutely is, the ticket explicitly mentions it.
Just hop on the bus, Gus. Don't need to discuss much. Drop off the key, Lee. And set yourself free. I'm doing a trip now and am going to hook up with a friend and we looked at renting cars, which we don't normally do. The more we looked into it, the more it started to lose appeal. And that was before I read this thread about imaginary microscratches and lingering traffic tickets. We might, possibly, maybe, perhaps, do some one-day rentals to go to some places we might not otherwise get to, such as certain FKKs. Maybe. But if we do, we are going to document, document, document. Although, renting Germany seemed like less of a PITA than renting in France, Italy, and a couple of other countries we looked at.
Great point about checking the spare tire and jack. I hired a driver in Belize and I checked the tires and the brakes and a bunch of shit but I did not check to see if he had a spare tire, and he got a flat and stranded us in the middle of nowhere when I had a boat to catch. It worked out okay for me, not so much for him, but I will always check that now. In Germany you have to have triangles or road flares, and also a first aid kit, or at least that was the case when I took their test back in 2004.The posts here are stories of relatively rare instances. I have rented dozens of times in Europe. Most of the charges were my fault for speeding. The freedom of having a car plus the relatively cheap rates in Germany makes having a car a no brainer. The only time not having a car is a better option is for trips less than three days or if you only plan on visiting 1 or 2 clubs and nothing else outside of clubs.
It is safe to go 10% above speed limit as the meter is showing a slightly higher speed than your real speed. Plus the tolerance of you get controlled by police.I believe this differs from brand to brand. Toyota is well known to have a speedometer lying excessively much for example. And there is a 2 or 3 km / h margin of error on these cameras also.
Rogue Nation
04-05-18, 08:10
No 10 km / h tolerance on a speeding ticket in my experience. Once I was fined for driving at 86 km / h where the limit was of 80 km / h.There is a tolerance. The 86 km / h are the measured speed minus the tolerance of 3 km / h. So yes, you will be fined when the speed minus tolerance is above speed limit. If your measured speed had been 83 km / h. No fine.
Do any of you guys have experience whether in case of damage the car rental company automatically settles direct with the insurance (say full-coverage without deductible) or whether they charge you and it's then up to you to chase the refund with the insurance company. I now have a car from Europcar and there are small bumps I couldn't see because the car was not clean on that side. If they'd purposefully left some dirt to hide the bumps they couldn't have done a better job of it. I saw some dents and complained to the guy on duty but just my luck, these dents were duly listed in the contract. The guy bit my head off saying it was pointless for me to complain about things that were properly registered in the contract. This unsettled me and I dropped my guard and rode off (to Oase).
I have the fullest coverage ("premium Schutzpaket") so it it the least unfavorable situation insurance-wise. My nightmare however is having to fight a battle with an insurance company from where I'll be in 4 months time (Thailand).
I wonder whether the business model of those crooks is not having 5 consecutive customers pay for the same dents/bumps. We should put up a website with the number plates and what we were required to pay for. As soon as two of us can confirm they were made to pay for the same thing we go to court.
Member #4581
04-29-18, 19:45
I had this experience multiple times. Every time I rent a car in EU, they concoct some scratch, bump, dent, something else. And charge me. A few times, I returned the car early in the morning and there was no attendant to receive it, I dropped the car off in the lot and the keys in the box, and magically there is a $1500 charge on my credit card.
Worst of all, these guys take forever to return calls, emails, etc. You call them up and ask why was I charged, they give a curt reply and put the phone down. Who do I complain to? No one is picking up the phone. You can dispute the charge w / the credit card company but that hardly helps.
To me, Eu car rental firms are total rip-off masters. The same Hertz and Avis and Alamo which have never charged a single time in the US charge me more than 50%of the time on EU rentals.
I always purchase damage insurance from the OtA be it Priceline or Expedia, and they always pay up. So, the way it worked is, the rental firm charges me and the insurance (which I bought through my OTA) refunded. Takes a couple of months at least. If you buy insurance with Hertz or the other car rental guys, I guess it is covered right then and there and they will not charge your credit card, but I think their premiums are usually higher than what I paid purchasing through OTA.
Obviously, many credit cards cover this sort of thing, but I am risk averse and I would rather pay up and purchase it explicitly and have the peace of mind.
Never rented in Asia. If EU is this much of a rip off, I would not dare to do it in Asia.
Christian G
04-29-18, 20:16
Perhaps I was lucky but I rented the car in Germany 8/9 times, few times in Weeze I dropped the car in the lot without attendant, and I never had any problem nor "strange" charge on my credit card. I have always rented the car through the Ryanair website during the flight reservation.
Anyway for my next month trip (the first since Oct. 2016) I found the price in Cologne Airport quite more expensive compared to last time. Checked also the price for my trip in Frankfurt this summer, and the price for rent a car in Frankfurt Int. Airport are much cheaper compared to Cologne Airport.
... I think their premiums are usually higher than what I paid purchasing through OTA.
Obviously, many credit cards cover this sort of thing, but I am risk averse and I would rather pay up and purchase it explicitly and have the peace of mind.
I'm paying 330 euros for 20 days full-coverage. That's 40% of the rental price proper. But I'm now glad I did (too soon to tell however). Europcar seemed glad to sell me the coverage. Maybe they are glad to finally have a customer who buys full-coverage so that they can have the car put right at the expense of the insurance (and the insured customer).
This is all a pain in the neck and threatens to severely reduce the attraction of Europe as a mongering field for me. If I am to get overcharged each time with cars I'll be better off putting the money into tickets to the Cameroons. In fact I would already be doing so if I hadn't family to visit in Europe.
I guess in the US a car is considered a consumer good and wear an tear normal. This is how it should be. Why would a car have to be returned 100% outwardly intact after having been driven 10000 miles? That's absurd! I for one wouldn't mind driving a rental car full of scratches. When will a car rental company with no paintwork pretense be set up ("Scratchy Rent-a-Car" would sound good).
... Anyway for my next month trip (the first since Oct. 2016) I found the price in Cologne Airport quite more expensive compared to last time. Checked also the price for my trip in Frankfurt this summer, and the price for rent a car in Frankfurt Int. Airport are much cheaper compared to Cologne Airport.I also had Cologne in sight as a possible landing point in Germany. It would actually suit me better than Frankfurt. But the car rental prices were 20% higher. I found this surprising considering Cologne should be a less expensive place than Frankfurt overall.
Member #4581
04-29-18, 22:54
XXL - you have a good point about expectation of a rental car to be dinged up and with a lot of wear and tear.
Don't they auction them off after just a few years and for a low price at that?
Anyway, $1500 for a small scratch, even if it was genuinely my fault, would be preposterous. 10 to 15 such scratches covers the full price of a new car. In the photo they mailed me, the scratch seems a cm or perhaps 15 mm at most. I don't know where these guys get these cars repaired after such scratches and why it costs that much. I had my personal cars fixed in the US after dents and other probelms, and they cost far far less. Most of the time, the actual cost to fix the dent is less than even the $500 deductible I carry, and hence I ended up paying for it and not really using my insurance. Yet, these Eu rental car scammers charge so much for a damage that appears much smaller.
People say, but why don't you take photos of the whole car and protect yourself. Sometimes, there is an attendant when you take it out/sometimes there is not, and yes if there is an obvious big dent or scratch I will note it down and inform the rental company. But most of the time, you are jet lagged after a long flight and more time in the line at the rental counter; and perhaps you want to go to the hotel, take a shower and eat and fuck some girls at the clubs. Anyway, doing such an inch by inch microexamination is not the first thing on my mind.
And if there is no attendant when you return, and then charge you subsequently wtf am I supposed to do? That happened 3 fucking times to me.
Triptogamont
04-30-18, 03:41
And if there is no attendant when you return, and then charge you subsequently wtf am I supposed to do? That happened 3 fucking times to me.I've heard if you fight it, they will drop the charges. They just want a fast score. If you start causing them problems, they will most likely just forget about it. Dispute it with your CC company and have them fight for you, too.
Good luck!
I'm paying 330 euros for 20 days full-coverage. That's 40% of the rental price proper. But I'm now glad I did (too soon to tell however). Europcar seemed glad to sell me the coverage. Maybe they are glad to finally have a customer who buys full-coverage so that they can have the car put right at the expense of the insurance (and the insured customer).
This is all a pain in the neck and threatens to severely reduce the attraction of Europe as a mongering field for me. If I am to get overcharged each time with cars I'll be better off putting the money into tickets to the Cameroons. In fact I would already be doing so if I hadn't family to visit in Europe.
I guess in the US a car is considered a consumer good and wear an tear normal. This is how it should be. Why would a car have to be returned 100% outwardly intact after having been driven 10000 miles? That's absurd! I for one wouldn't mind driving a rental car full of scratches. When will a car rental company with no paintwork pretense be set up ("Scratchy Rent-a-Car" would sound good).
I also had Cologne in sight as a possible landing point in Germany. It would actually suit me better than Frankfurt. But the car rental prices were 20% higher. I found this surprising considering Cologne should be a less expensive place than Frankfurt overall.20% higher for the car price, charged once per day by comparison to the difference in price for ladies for equal service on three or four sessions per day.
BigBuddy69
05-10-18, 07:59
That's really strange. I always take the cheapest car with companies like Buchbinder, Global-rent, etc. And I was never scammed. The only time when they found some scratches on the car was my fault, I parked near the entrance of a cycling lane and my car was probably scratched by a cyclist. My CC company took care of it. Most of the time when I give the car back, the attendant makes a quick check and says that everything is good.
Maybe being an american tourist in a European rental car company is the same as being an Asian tourist in a Frankfurt FKK?
I have been using Avis and Hertz when I have rented cars in Germany. Never any problems with Avis. Hertz on the other side, Rip off.
I've been a passenger with various ISGers over the years at speeds of around 200 kph. I wonder is there some service where I could hire someone to bring me for a high speed blast in their Porsche etc?? Where they do the driving and I'm just a passenger.
I do drive at home but I'm not interested in renting a car in Germany since I often end up in a swingers club in the evening and like to have a few beers.
Been watching a lot of high speed autobahn vids on youtube lately.
https://www.motion-drive-rental.com/Rent-sports-cars/
I've been a passenger with various ISGers over the years at speeds of around 200 kph..Great memories! ;)
I have been renting cars for over 20 years in Germany and this location has to be the worst experience I have ever had.
This station would not rent me the car because I had not purchased a local SIM for my cell phone. At least that was the official line I was given. To begin with I stood in line for over 30 min to get service. During the interrogation I was informed that even the booking agents grandmother has a phone number in Germany and that me not having one was not acceptable. I replied I had not needed one here since I was only here for the weekend. That was enough to further escalate the matter to the upper management who then proceeded to cancel my reservation. Frustrated I went to a SIM shop and purchased a $35.00 Euro SIM to try and book with Alamo or Enterprise Car Rental. I stood in line once again for 40 min listening to the overworked agent blab on with the customer in front of me. When my turn came up I presented my new phone number to the agent and she then called the upper management again and told me to step aside and wait while the upper manager calls even higher up. What the hell is going on now. , was my first response.
Finally 20 min later the agent informs me that they have decided to not rent any cars to me. I really did not know what to say. Clearly the SIM thing was a stall tactic. The absolutely only reason I came here is because I was offered unlimited mileage. . No one else was refused service while I was in line. What I did not understand is why they do not have the courtesy to come out and say that we do not cater to your kind rather then jerk me around. All I can say is there seems to be some kind of phobia in play here. Very strange to experience this at an International airport, especially in Germany.
To make matter worst, the manager at this office started contacting the neighbour rental agency after the refusal and had them reject me. She got as far as AVIS and Europcar. I stood in line at Avis watching this manager talking to the Avis agents while keeping her back to me. Clearly they were talking about me as the agents were sneaking glances at me during the conversation. Sure enough when I approached the Avis desk I hardly had my request for a car made when the Avis agent immediately cut me off and stated no cars were available. I pointed to the sign behind him that stated otherwise. But he said no and that I should have booked weeks ago. What I think he meant, after his paranoid conversation with Enterprise, is that he too do not wish to cater to my kind. I started this process at 3:30 and it was now 8:00 pm All this precious vacation time wasted due to the misplaced paranoid of this office manager. Disgusted and frustrated I left and went to my first choice SIXT. They had absolutely no problem renting the exact vehicle I wanted all within 5 min from start to finish. I was in the vehicle within 15 min. Now that is service!
Needless to say this is my first and last time I rent from Enterprise or Alamo Dusseldorf. Life and vacation time are just too precious for this kind of garbage. What is more weird is that I have rented from Enterprise before and the agent had all of my data on file. Enterprise wasted my precious vacation time and for that I will never forget it.
Ggekko2009
05-20-18, 18:53
I have been renting cars for over 20 years in Germany and this location has to be the worst experience I have ever had.
This station would not rent me the car because I had not purchased a local SIM for my cell phone. At least that was the official line I was given. To begin with I stood in line for over 30 min to get service. During the interrogation I was informed that even the booking agents grandmother has a phone number in Germany and that me not having one was not acceptable. I replied I had not needed one here since I was only here for the weekend. That was enough to further escalate the matter to the upper management who then proceeded to cancel my reservation. Frustrated I went to a SIM shop and purchased a $35.00 Euro SIM to try and book with Alamo or Enterprise Car Rental. I stood in line once again for 40 min listening to the overworked agent blab on with the customer in front of me. When my turn came up I presented my new phone number to the agent and she then called the upper management again and told me to step aside and wait while the upper manager calls even higher up. What the hell is going on now. , was my first response.
Finally 20 min later the agent informs me that they have decided to not rent any cars to me. I really did not know what to say. Clearly the SIM thing was a stall tactic. The absolutely only reason I came here is because I was offered unlimited mileage. . No one else was refused service while I was in line. What I did not understand is why they do not have the courtesy to come out and say that we do not cater to your kind rather then jerk me around. All I can say is there seems to be some kind of phobia in play here. Very strange to experience this at an International airport, especially in Germany.
To make matter worst, the manager at this office started contacting the neighbour rental agency after the refusal and had them reject me. She got as far as AVIS and Europcar. I stood in line at Avis watching this manager talking to the Avis agents while keeping her back to me. Clearly they were talking about me as the agents were sneaking glances at me during the conversation. Sure enough when I approached the Avis desk I hardly had my request for a car made when the Avis agent immediately cut me off and stated no cars were available. I pointed to the sign behind him that stated otherwise. But he said no and that I should have booked weeks ago. What I think he meant, after his paranoid conversation with Enterprise, is that he too do not wish to cater to my kind. I started this process at 3:30 and it was now 8:00 pm All this precious vacation time wasted due to the misplaced paranoid of this office manager. Disgusted and frustrated I left and went to my first choice SIXT. They had absolutely no problem renting the exact vehicle I wanted all within 5 min from start to finish. I was in the vehicle within 15 min. Now that is service!
Needless to say this is my first and last time I rent from Enterprise or Alamo Dusseldorf. Life and vacation time are just too precious for this kind of garbage. What is more weird is that I have rented from Enterprise before and the agent had all of my data on file. Enterprise wasted my precious vacation time and for that I will never forget it.This is the first time I read about such experience and I think this is seriously f#cked up. I usually rent my car either with Enterprise or Avis all the time from Düsseldorf Airport, and it has always been a smooth process for me. The only thing Enterprise would ask me if I plan to drive anywhere outside Germany, since they do add 5 euros per day surcharge for what I think is additional insurance.
Did you reserve your car online via their website or third party? I would be curious to know the actual reason for denying you a car.
This is the first time I read about such experience and I think this is seriously f#cked up. I usually rent my car either with Enterprise or Avis all the time from Dsseldorf Airport, and it has always been a smooth process for me. The only thing Enterprise would ask me if I plan to drive anywhere outside Germany, since they do add 5 euros per day surcharge for what I think is additional insurance.
Did you reserve your car online via their website or third party? I would be curious to know the actual reason for denying you a car.I booked the car with Alamo online as they showed an unlimited mileage. They told me to pick it up at the Enterprise Booth. I have absolutely no idea what spooked them other then she kept telling me the car I had picked on was a very powerful car. What the hell that has to do with Enterprise when I am supposedly renting from Alamo is still beyond me. All I can say is the woman was stuck on the SIM thing and not having one seems to have spooked her. What really pissed me off was the clear intent of the place to try to ban me from renting from the neighbors. I sent this review to Enterprise and Alamo to have them tell me WTF happened and it has now been over several months and after the initial "We are investigating" have not heard from them. Me and my Euros are going to SIXT as they have been the best and the fastest to get me on my way without any drama. The funny thing is SIXT never asked me for my SIM even though by now I had one. Personally I think I will be renting from FRA from now on as there staff seem to be a lot more professional and give unlimited mileage to boot instead of the 750 at DUS. Just as a side note after exhausting AVIS at DUS I skipped Europcar as I saw the ***** from Enterprise whispering and tried Hertz. Going to Hertz directly to the desk I was offered cars that were at least 50% higher then same ones online. I asked what gives and the agent tells me that the walk in traffic is much higher then the same vehicle online as the Agent has to make some money for her time. So I said how long would it take if I went over to the internet right now and booked it online. Shockingly she tells me it would take 5 to 7 hours! It was now 7:00 pm and I certainly was not interested in spending my precious time on this BS. So I went over back to my fav and asked the same question and SIXT tells me about 30 min. I am not kidding you when I say the second I hit enter on the Internet Terminal I was told by SIXT my car would be ready for pickup in 5 min. Now that is service!
Ggekko2009
05-20-18, 20:40
I booked the car with Alamo online as they showed an unlimited mileage. They told me to pick it up at the Enterprise Booth. I have absolutely no idea what spooked them other then she kept telling me the car I had picked on was a very powerful car. What the hell that has to do with Enterprise when I am supposedly renting from Alamo is still beyond me. All I can say is the woman was stuck on the SIM thing and not having one seems to have spooked her. What really pissed me off was the clear intent of the place to try to ban me from renting from the neighbors. I sent this review to Enterprise and Alamo to have them tell me WTF happened and it has now been over several months and after the initial "We are investigating" have not heard from them. Me and my Euros are going to SIXT as they have been the best and the fastest to get me on my way without any drama. The funny thing is SIXT never asked me for my SIM even though by now I had one. Personally I think I will be renting from FRA from now on as there staff seem to be a lot more professional and give unlimited mileage to boot instead of the 750 at DUS. Just as a side note after exhausting AVIS at DUS I skipped Europcar as I saw the ***** from Enterprise whispering and tried Hertz. Going to Hertz directly to the desk I was offered cars that were at least 50% higher then same ones online. I asked what gives and the agent tells me that the walk in traffic is much higher then the same vehicle online as the Agent has to make some money for her time. So I said how long would it take if I went over to the internet right now and booked it online. Shockingly she tells me it would take 5 to 7 hours! It was now 7:00 pm and I certainly was not interested in spending my precious time on this BS. So I went over back to my fav and asked the same question and SIXT tells me about 30 min. I am not kidding you when I say the second I hit enter on the Internet Terminal I was told by SIXT my car would be ready for pickup in 5 min. Now that is service!Alamo and Enterprise are the same company, except they cater to different customers in the US market. I would avoid walking up to them to rent a car without reservation online. They seriously upcharge you if you do even with a corporate rate. One time I had no choice but to do so given my flight was canceled due to a snowstorm, and they also forced you to buy insurance with no option to opt out. At least when booking online, I have the option to refuse these insurance. I don't think SIXT has any US presence, but might give them a try the next time I am over there.
Also, these Sim card argument is complete BS. If I experienced what you had experienced, I would be sure to use all the German swear words that I have picked up on them. The Germans had no qualms in expressing their feelings, why shouldn't I not do the same, LOL. Anyway, I would usually just give them my US number whenever they ask. Besides they already have all my data profile in their system.
My forthcoming booking is with SIXT. It's says "long term rate" for 43 days but the included mileage is onle 107 km / day. Extra mileage is 0. 23/ km.
I returned my previous rental car to Europcar last week. No issue raised upon return but of course I guess they don't hit you with the charge until weeks later so it's wait and see. In fact I scratched the wheel-rim so they would have grounds for charging me (or the insurance).
Sixt is a German company, Europcar a French one but still conducting everything in English.
What pisses me off is having to pay so much more just for automatic transmission.
Manual transmission should be outlawed worldwide. It constitutes a security risk.
Great memories! ;)Yes good times. Do you still come to Germany for sex?
I view it as the opposite. Thieves often do not know how or are not smart enough to drive a stick and like you prefer automatics. If you do not want your car stolen, get a manual transmission. Thieves often give up and abandon the car when they realize they do not know how to shift the transmission. I know a Millenial or two who cannot learn to drive a stick. Can only drive automatics.
My forthcoming booking is with SIXT. It's says "long term rate" for 43 days but the included mileage is onle 107 km / day. Extra mileage is 0. 23/ km.
I returned my previous rental car to Europcar last week. No issue raised upon return but of course I guess they don't hit you with the charge until weeks later so it's wait and see. In fact I scratched the wheel-rim so they would have grounds for charging me (or the insurance).
Sixt is a German company, Europcar a French one but still conducting everything in English.
What pisses me off is having to pay so much more just for automatic transmission.
Manual transmission should be outlawed worldwide. It constitutes a security risk.
I view it as the opposite. Thieves often do not know how or are not smart enough to drive a stick and like you prefer automatics.Most cars in Europe are manual as the insurance is higher on automatics, manuals get a better mpg and drivers who get licensed to drive only automatics pay a lot more in insurance too. I don't see any pro or con security wise re the transmission.
Most cars in Europe are manual as the insurance is higher on automatics, manuals get a better mpg and drivers who get licensed to drive only automatics pay a lot more in insurance too. I don't see any pro or con security wise re the transmission.If you muddle you gears at a crossing or while overtaking at high speed your vehicle will suddenly decelerate or even come to a standstill. Plus, shifting gear and declutching taps mental and physical resources that are better employed minding 1) the brakes 2) the wheel.
UltraHappy
05-22-18, 00:49
I view it as the opposite. Thieves often do not know how or are not smart enough to drive a stick and like you prefer automatics. If you do not want your car stolen, get a manual transmission. Thieves often give up and abandon the car when they realize they do not know how to shift the transmission. I know a Millenial or two who cannot learn to drive a stick. Can only drive automatics.Or just rent the VW Polo. No thief will bother trying to steal that crappy little compact car.
Smoke Light
05-25-18, 11:21
Hello dear colleagues,
I am currently in Dusseldorf. Staying in a one bedroom apartment, I hooked up with a girl who just came back from Romania. Before she had a chance to go back to work to her club, I came to see her at her place where she lives with her girlfriend. She liked what we did and agreed to move in into my place for a few days. Gentleman, life is good. Among other things we bought her some lingerie. Having sex in front of the wardrobe mirror by the bed is awesome. After a day of fun in the city I fuck and lick her before she has a chance to shower. A big turn on for both of us. Sex in the morning, more sex before we go out, and a lot more at night is a bliss. Among other things we bought her some lingerie. I currently live in a dream.
However, back to the point: what could possibly go wrong in such otherwise ideal circumstances? This fucking Opel SUV. At low speed or when I stop it turns on a sound reminding a knife scratching on a plate. It does it at every stop in front of any red light signal. Front sensor radar has really long range, perhaps more than 7 meters. It turns on when the car is in neutral or slows down to a stop, or just starting to move at the speed lower than 10 km / HR.
I went through every damn option of Opel's fucked up computer and turned off all imaginable features. Doesn't help! The sound is always there. I have a wish to look at the face of the individual who made such horrific design and smack them. I am ready to go to a hardware store, pick up a hammer and smash this ridiculous radar to make it stop.
Another annoying thing about this ultra-modern SUV is that it has no CD player. I suggest nowadays you bring a USB thumb drive with your favorite music to play in the car.
A few months ago was my first time in Germany, rented a car from SIXT at Munich airport. In doing my research I read the horror stories of people being charged for small scratches etc. I decided to buy the SIXT insurance with no deductible, I usually do not buy insurance, renting in the USA just use my AMEX that charges me $17 for insurance and that is fine they paid a claim I had with no problem. The insurance almost doubled the price of the car. I am thinking on my upcoming trip to buy the SIXT insurance that comes with about an 1100 euro deductible but is about $6 a day instead of $30. I could come up with the 1100 euro if I damaged a car but do not want to be completely without insurance or pay $30+ a day for it. I will be renting a Mercedes which costs more than $50,000 and the AMEX ins does not cover $50,000 + cars. Does anyone have a better idea?
PussyLiccker
06-06-18, 19:41
I guess I'm lucky. Never been charged for small scratches. Recently rented with Europcar, and was great(I always had good experience with Europcar, SIXT as well, but don't rent from them much). No deposit required even with a 3rd party broker involved.
One time, a checker let something go that he noticed. I guess lucky. I notice that they hardly check the car in detail
My experience maybe different, and I've rented over several years
I guess I'm lucky. Never been charged for small scratches. Recently rented with Europcar, and was great(I always had good experience with Europcar, SIXT as well, but don't rent from them much). No deposit required even with a 3rd party broker involved.
One time, a checker let something go that he noticed. I guess lucky. I notice that they hardly check the car in detail
My experience maybe different, and I've rented over several yearsWhen I rent in Frankfurt it's pretty much always Interrent, which is part of Europecar. Never had any issues and they seem to only check the gas level when I return the car. Typically I pay 15 euros a day or less.
Ggekko2009
06-06-18, 20:39
So let's say that I use my credit card to pay and that card provides me coverage for primary insurance, and not secondary insurance, then what is the benefit of buying car insurance from the car rental company?
Should the car rental company charge damages like scratches etc to your credit card, can't we just get the card company to dispute that on our behalf? They provide primary insurance coverage after all. Am I missing anything here?
PussyLiccker
06-08-18, 12:21
Should the car rental company charge damages like scratches etc to your credit card, can't we just get the card company to dispute that on our behalf? They provide primary insurance coverage after all. Am I missing anything here?You just file a claim(with the credit card company) and provide all the evidance (all the paperwork provided by the rental company for the damages) and they will reimburse you of how much you paid for the damages.
The deposit the rental companies require is for incase you damage the car if you refuse THEIR insurance.
Manual transmission should be outlawed worldwide. It constitutes a security risk.Let's agree to disagree. I prefer manual since it let's me stay awake. With automatic I just fall asleep.
Can anyone tell me the best way to pay a camera speeding ticket I got in the Stuttgart area? I got flashed on my trip in April twice, once in Stuttgart and once in Ulm, and got 225 Euro charges from Sixt a month ago. In the mail last night I got a letter in German for the Stuttgart ticket it appears they are charging me 15 Euros (58 kph in a 50 zone). As luck would have it, I will be in Stuttgart next week (FKK addict after 1 time, I also am doing some autobahning and tourist stuff) there is an address at the bottom of pg 1 that when I put in google maps tells me it is a government building. Can I go there and pay the ticket? It is about 10 km from my hotel. I also see on the internet you can go into any bank and pay? Is this right, and what are the charges for this service?
UltraHappy
06-16-18, 13:31
Even easier: On the ticket, you will find the police bank account's IBAN number. You just need to make a payment to that bank account using your ticket number as the reference number for the payment. To make a payment to a German IBAN account, you can use Transferwise (https://transferwise.com/us/ - also available as an app for your phone), which will charge you something like $3 for the international transfer / currency conversion. Very easy.
Just make sure you are paying the correct amount (usually there is a discount if you pay in the first 10 days but it goes up after the first 10 days) and make sure you use the correct reference number so your ticket shows as paid. If you wait too long to pay the ticket, you may not be able to pay the ticket in this fashion as jurisdiction for the ticket will pass to a different office. You can call the phone number on the ticket to double-check you are paying correctly.
Do not pay by doing a wire transfer to the IBAN number as the normal bank wire transfer fee that banks charge will exceed your ticket amount ($25-$35 usually).
Can anyone tell me the best way to pay a camera speeding ticket I got in the Stuttgart area? I got flashed on my trip in April twice, once in Stuttgart and once in Ulm, and got 225 Euro charges from Sixt a month ago. In the mail last night I got a letter in German for the Stuttgart ticket it appears they are charging me 15 Euros (58 kph in a 50 zone). As luck would have it, I will be in Stuttgart next week (FKK addict after 1 time, I also am doing some autobahning and tourist stuff) there is an address at the bottom of pg 1 that when I put in google maps tells me it is a government building. Can I go there and pay the ticket? It is about 10 km from my hotel. I also see on the internet you can go into any bank and pay? Is this right, and what are the charges for this service?
Smoke Light
06-17-18, 20:59
Two weeks after renting a car from Europcar at Frankfurt airport a letter from Europcar Services Unipessoal LDA arrives. The return address is in Portugal. Contains an invoice in the amount of 48.23 EURO. The "Your Rental" section specifies "14 days charged" which is the entire rental period. Then it contains Vehicle category "IDMR" and "Carbon foot print 124 g / km CO2", according to.
http://www.acriss.org/pdfs/sellingguide.pdf
"IDMR" means Intermediate /4-5 Door / Manual Unspecified Drive / Unspecified Fuel with Air Conditioning. It was Opel Grandland X, not a diesel, was a regular gas car.
Then "Your Costs" literally: Surcharges 23.50 percent 172.46 Euro price, amount 40.53 Euro, tax 19%, total price including tax 48.23 Euro.
The next line says "value added Tax 19%" and "Pay to Europcar Autovermietung GMBH", company address in Hamburg Germany, and Commerzbank IBAN.
Wonder if anybody had similar invoices in the mail. I plan to pay this nonsense. I have previously reserved another Europcar rental in August from the same location. Any ideas WTF is this and why?
Warsteiner
06-18-18, 17:54
Two weeks after renting a car from Europcar at Frankfurt airport a letter from Europcar Services Unipessoal LDA arrives. The return address is in Portugal. Contains an invoice in the amount of 48.23 EURO. The "Your Rental" section specifies "14 days charged" which is the entire rental period. Then it contains Vehicle category "IDMR" and "Carbon foot print 124 g / km CO2", according to.
http://www.acriss.org/pdfs/sellingguide.pdf
"IDMR" means Intermediate /4-5 Door / Manual Unspecified Drive / Unspecified Fuel with Air Conditioning. It was Opel Grandland X, not a diesel, was a regular gas car.
Then "Your Costs" literally: Surcharges 23.50 percent 172.46 Euro price, amount 40.53 Euro, tax 19%, total price including tax 48.23 Euro.
The next line says "value added Tax 19%" and "Pay to Europcar Autovermietung GMBH", company address in Hamburg Germany, and Commerzbank IBAN.
Wonder if anybody had similar invoices in the mail. I plan to pay this nonsense. I have previously reserved another Europcar rental in August from the same location. Any ideas WTF is this and why?Airport surchage, additional mileage? Ring them up and check if you want to be sure, especially if you are planning to get another rental from them in August.
Two weeks after renting a car from Europcar at Frankfurt airport a letter from Europcar Services Unipessoal LDA arrives. The return address is in Portugal. Contains an invoice in the amount of 48.23 EURO. The "Your Rental" section specifies "14 days charged" which is the entire rental period. Then it contains Vehicle category "IDMR" and "Carbon foot print 124 g / km CO2", according to.
http://www.acriss.org/pdfs/sellingguide.pdf
"IDMR" means Intermediate /4-5 Door / Manual Unspecified Drive / Unspecified Fuel with Air Conditioning. It was Opel Grandland X, not a diesel, was a regular gas car.
Then "Your Costs" literally: Surcharges 23.50 percent 172.46 Euro price, amount 40.53 Euro, tax 19%, total price including tax 48.23 Euro.
The next line says "value added Tax 19%" and "Pay to Europcar Autovermietung GMBH", company address in Hamburg Germany, and Commerzbank IBAN.
Wonder if anybody had similar invoices in the mail. I plan to pay this nonsense. I have previously reserved another Europcar rental in August from the same location. Any ideas WTF is this and why?I think what they call "airport surcharge" is not really a surcharge. You will get the same "surcharge" whether you book from the airport or from a place in town. This is what the price included last time I booked with them:
"Price includes.
Unlimited mileage.
AIRPORT SURCHARGE.
Winter Equipment (WIN) (WIN).
Licenses & Fees (LAF) (LAF).
VAT (See full T&Cs)".
If you read their conditions you find a definition: "Premium Location / Airport / Railway Service Charge: an additional charge which applies at certain central-city, airport, or railway locations".
https://www.europcar.com/terms-and-conditions/online-booking
I ran a simulation for a booking from Frankfurt Central Station and it showed the same surcharge as from the airport. I have no idea where you would have to book to avoid that surcharge since all car rental subsidiaries will be at "premium locations", as opposed to in the middle of nowhere, although there may be cases in some countries other than Germany where the location is not premium owing to very low local taxes. I surmise this is something they emphasize in their invoice for bookkeeping/tax reasons. All the same, some elaboration on their part about this would not be amiss.
Maybe avoidance of such a surcharge is the loophole some 3rd party brokers use to be able to broker cars from major firms like Europcar at discouted prices.
P.S. I just checked my provisional invoice for the car I am now renting from SIXT (Frankfurt Airport) and it has a "Standortzuschlag" of 21.5%. "Standort" mean location and "Zuschlag" means additional charge.
Smoke Light
06-18-18, 18:21
Airport surchage, additional mileage? Ring them up and check if you want to be sure, especially if you are planning to get another rental from them in August.Was reserved through expedia, normally always good rates. Mileage unlimited. Why any surcharges wouldn't be already included? I think I'll just pay and bring the letter with me when I am back in Frankfurt at the end of July to get the answers. Thanks for you replies, XXL and Warsteiner!
Jimmy Boy 99
06-18-18, 18:37
Snip. I ran a simulation for a booking from Frankfurt Central Station and it showed the same surcharge as from the airport. I have no idea where you would have to book to avoid that surcharge since all car rental subsidiaries will be at "premium locations" (as opposed to "in the middle of nowhere"). I surmise this is something they emphasize in their invoice for bookkeeping/tax reasons. Snip.There is a 19% tax for airport rentals, as well as railway stations apparently. However, if you rent at other city locations, the tax does not apply. I have rented several times from the Hertz office on Camberger Strasse and the Sixt office at Zeil 5 without that tax.
Can anyone tell me the best way to pay a camera speeding ticket I got in the Stuttgart area? I got flashed on my trip in April twice, once in Stuttgart and once in Ulm, and got 225 Euro charges from Sixt a month ago. In the mail last night I got a letter in German for the Stuttgart ticket it appears they are charging me 15 Euros (58 kph in a 50 zone). As luck would have it, I will be in Stuttgart next week (FKK addict after 1 time, I also am doing some autobahning and tourist stuff) there is an address at the bottom of pg 1 that when I put in google maps tells me it is a government building. Can I go there and pay the ticket? It is about 10 km from my hotel. I also see on the internet you can go into any bank and pay? Is this right, and what are the charges for this service?It would be about time car rentals in Germany got their act in order and introduced a system where fines can be paid straight from your credit card. Rental firms will not hesitate to charge hundreds or even thousands of euros from your credit card weeks later for "scratches" but they can't be bothered to settle a twenty-euro fine to the police. This is infuriating.
To pay directly I would go to a "Postbank" which you will find most post offices.
There is a 19% tax for airport rentals, as well as railway stations apparently. However, if you rent at other city locations, the tax does not apply. I have rented several times from the Hertz office on Camberger Strasse and the Sixt office at Zeil 5 without that tax.The thing is I was not sure the overall price was lower than you would have paid renting from the airport. However you're right, I've just ran a simulation for an automatic transmission car, same car same period (from August 14th till September 25th). It's 27.39 euros per day if you rent from Zeil 5 and 33.28 if you rent from the airport. Same car of course. I logged onto a VPN for the 2nd quote, just in case. Note that not all non-railway non-airport locations waive the surcharge (there's a heated debate about this on German forums). It would be interesting to collect data about Frankfurt locations that qualify for this waiver. The Zeil station comes up as "Frankfurt a.M Zentrum-Zeil". The closest S-Bahn is Konstablerwache, but that's also the S-Bahn close to Breiter Gasse! One thing that can be different when renting from town locations is opening times.
Note that the quotes I got had the same typical Sixt crappy free kms (104/day).
UltraHappy
06-19-18, 02:20
I think what they call "airport surcharge" is not really a surcharge. You will get the same "surcharge" whether you book from the airport or from a place in town. This is what the price included last time I booked with them:
In Frankfurt, both the airport location and the central train station (Hauptbahnhof) are considered premium locations. If you rent from any other location, including the Bad Homburg location, you will not receive this premium location surcharge.
But, to take advantage of the lower prices available at a location like the Bad Homburg location, you would normally have to buy train tickets to get out there. If you run the math on getting out to the other locations (for example, getting to the Bad Homburg station), you'll end up paying about the premium location surcharge in train ticket fees to get out there to rent your car and back again after dropping your car off. So, Sixt has essentially carefully calculated their premium location fee, taking into account the average cost to get to one of the outlying rental locations and back.
In effect, if you're flying into town for a short trip, it's usually advisable to pay the premium location fee. The only time it makes sense to rent from an outlying Sixt branch is if you are staying for a longer trip, for example, two weeks. In this case, Sixt charges a lower premium location fee, but it's still cheaper to rent from an outlying branch -- you just have to deal with the hassle of taking the train there and back.
Smoke Light
06-19-18, 13:35
I truly appreciate everybody's comments on the subject of what appears to be the airport surcharge, or the premium location surcharge. However, since the car was reserved via expedia at that specific location months in advance, I consider this to be a scam, which benefits both expedia as it gets more business for its "low rate" and the rental company, who rips you off in the aftermath.
Next time I'll reserve directly through the rental company, not Expedia. Which brings back the question of who's better, more honest, less expensive, etc. My order of preference to date was Europcar, Enterprise, Hertz. I may try the Enterprise next time, never had any issues with them in the past.
Another important issue is privacy. I am NOT advertising to my wife any travel arrangements I make in Germany. Likewise, a letter in a mailbox from a car rental overseas is NOT a welcome addition to what she already knows about my modus operandi.
UltraHappy
06-20-18, 02:26
Next time I'll reserve directly through the rental company, not Expedia. Which brings back the question of who's better, more honest, less expensive, etc. My order of preference to date was Europcar, Enterprise, Hertz. I may try the Enterprise next time, never had any issues with them in the past.
I stick to Sixt and Enterprise, whichever is cheapest. Usually, Sixt is cheaper, but occasionally Enterprise wins out. When checking on prices with Enterprise, you have to check the Enterprise prices when booking through Kayak, because a Kayak-booked Enterprise car is often cheaper than a car booked directly through Enterprise. I have rented a lot from both Sixt and Enterprise in Germany and never had a problem with either of them.
I've found the other rental companies to be substantially more expensive (or have a bad reputation).
Another important issue is privacy. I am NOT advertising to my wife any travel arrangements I make in Germany. Likewise, a letter in a mailbox from a car rental overseas is NOT a welcome addition to what she already knows about my modus operandi.You should consider giving your friend's mailing address as your residential address, so that the tickets get mailed to your friend. Just FYI, with Sixt, you can access the details of all of your past tickets through your online account anyways.
Usually, most German cities won't bother to even send you the ticket, but occasionally, some cities do send on speeding tickets, in which case, your friend would have to make sure that he gave you that ticket quickly, so you can pay the discounted fine if you pay within the early, short deadline.
In Germany two middlemen, check24.de and billiger-mietwagen.de, are very popular and get good marks from consumer organisations. I once tried out ckeck24 and I now have them on my black list. What happened was that I got a very good deal, 30% cheaper than what I got booking direct. But when I read in the small print of the vehicle provider it said that if I wanted to cross borders it had to be cleared in advance. I wrote to ckeck24 about this and got an automated reply that they would get back to me within 2 days. Getting no answer 4 or 5 days later, I had no alternative but to cancel. I got another nice mail stating no worry the cancellation was free of charge etc. Only the amount had already been booked from my credit card. I should've got that amount back within days but, surprise, 2 weeks later the money had still not be credited back. I called my bank to effect the charge back.
Another scary thing is you deal with a broker you have at least 3 parties: the broker, the insurance, and the vehicle provider. Each of these parties have their own small print. In case something goes wrong, that's a tangle and my fear is that they probably send you automated replies until you take a lawyer. It's difficult to know as it is to whom to complain when you're dealing with the firm direct, let alone with middlemen all over the place. I the case of check24 I couldn't even get a timely reply from the broker when I asked whether I would be allowed to take the car into puny Benelux!
I might give billiger-mietwagen a try for August though because I rent for long periods and the prices I'm paying renting direct are too high. When you rent direct it's difficult to get unlimited mileage included. Sixt in particular has a very low mileage included (104 km / day).
I returned a car booked direct from Europcar in May with some scratches on the wheel rim. I had full waiver insurance and was not too worried about this but what happened is they didn't check and I've got no news from them so far. So the issues of minor damage goes both ways. Sometimes they will try to get you for ridiculously small scratches, sometimes they will overlook more substantial damage. Go figure.
Neurosynth
06-20-18, 10:04
Sometimes while I'm in Germany I VPN back to the US and reserve the car from the US site. It's sometimes cheaper that way.
Smoke Light
06-21-18, 02:23
Sometimes while I'm in Germany I VPN back to the US and reserve the car from the US site. It's sometimes cheaper that way.Slightly off top, but which VPN provider is good? I have seen a very long list of comparisons between hundreds of VPN companies, and it's hard to decide. Obviously, my primary VPN need is in US, which becomes more and more of a police state as the days pass.
I booked through billiger-mietwagen.de. On the booking form I was asked if I intended to cross borders. The site accepted my booking pending feedback with the car supplier as to border crossing. The go-ahead for border crossing came three days later. This is something you should bear in mind if you plan to cross eg into the Netherlands. There's a one-time border crossing fee. This is to be reminded at pick-up when you sign the actual paper contract.
Apparently the chain of brokers / suppliers went as thus: billiger-mietwagen --->rentalcars.com ---> Global rent ---> Buchbinder, the latter being the car owner. The insurance voucher was from an insurer in Malta. Total price 1199 euros for 43 days, or 28 euros / day, automatic transmission, all mileage included, full damage and theft waiver. Had I been ok with a shift gear I could have saved 5 euros a day on this price.
The pick-up place was Ferdinand-Happ-Strasse in Frankfurt, near Ostbahnhof. The car was a Skoda which you can consider the low-cost version of a VW Golf. A simple car with an interesting feature, namely both a USB and an SD slot. Many cars only have USB or USB + CD (obsolete these days). Radio is crap and listening to my own downloaded stuff is a must during the long hours on the Autobahn.
A rather good-looking female employee jotted down the existing scratches. The car already had quite a few, all the better I thought, the more scratched a car was already, the less conspicuous would be any scratches of my own doing. The radio antenna was also chewed, no big deal. The one thing I was not enthusiastic about was the "SK" number plate (Slovakia). I didn't know car rentals in Germany were allowed to rent out non-German cars. Lucky I was not planning to do things like drink and drive since there was nothing like an Eastern Europe number plate to worsen the odds of getting waved down at police road-blocks.
Off to FKK Oase. Barely driven 20 kilometers (entering Burgholzhausen), tire pressure alert! U-turn and back to Ferdinand-Happ-Strasse where they told me there was nothing wrong with the tires, just the sensors being oversensitive etc. Some fuddling with the electronics. Then back to Oase with the pressure alert off. I believed the story about the misbehaving pressure sensors since the BMW I had rented from Sixt in June had also got me in a sweat with a spurious tire pressure alert. As it turned out everything would be all right on that count from then on. Another thing however: when I inquired about the whereabouts of the car instruction manual, I was shown one in Slovak. That's all they had so that's why it was not in the car. I found this negligent. Surely in such a case a firm could be bothered to print something in German from the web. There were no further mishaps except the next regular servicing was due in 1900 kilometers and I was to drive nearly 6000. When I returned the car they told me this was common and nothing to worry about. Good to know but maybe they should be more proactive in servicing a car they were about to rent long term.
All in all everything went well and I would not hesitate to rent again through billiger-mietwagen. Sure Buchbinder at Ferdinand-Happ-Strasse was not as glamourous as Sixt at Frankfurt airport but this was a business lower down the food-chain with prices to match.
I deleted the previous poster's post by mistake intending to click the "edit" button on my own post. An undo button for such cases would not be amiss. But since it was about VPNs it may be of interest to mention that I am using SurfEasy. I subscribed to SurfEasy when Opera VPN ceased to exist as a free VPN and the non-free Surfeasy took over. It connects to the Netherlands unless you specify another country. One subscription entitles you to protect 5 devices.
This is in my opinion pretty expensive. Have you tried websites like langzeitkracher?
Total price 1199 euros for 43 days, or 28 euros / day, automatic transmission, all mileage included, full damage and theft waiver. ,,,,
... about VPNs it may be of interest to mention that I am using SurfEasy. I subscribed to SurfEasy when Opera VPN ceased to exist as a free VPN and the non-free Surfeasy took over. It connects to the Netherlands unless you specify another country. One subscription entitles you to protect 5 devices.
This is in my opinion pretty expensive. Have you tried websites like langzeitkracher?I just had a look. Their prices look very good but pay attention to the free mileage. Something like 3700 km for 28 days. If you commute between clubs within the same area (eg Hessen) it may be sufficient, otherwise they screw you over with the extra kilometers. Also, the prices quoted on their 1st page are without insurance package for sure. Have you rented with them? If I'm under 30 euros per day with unlimited or ample mileage and full insurance I regard it as a cheap. There's the added complication that many renters refuse durations of more than one month,. Therefore the 28 days prices here: https://langzeitkracher.de
Admittedly, I haven't rented with them. If you are not in a rush, you get solid long-term rentals with Volkswagen Financial Services (and sure other similar types). I got a large VW Multivan, automatic, 2500 km incl, plus full insurance, for under 1300. And I did this just 1 year ago.
I just had a look. Their prices look very good but pay attention to the free mileage. Something like 3700 km for 28 days. If you commute between clubs within the same area (eg Hessen) it may be sufficient, otherwise they screw you over with the extra kilometers. Also, the prices quoted on their 1st page are without insurance package for sure. Have you rented with them? If I'm under 30 euros per day with unlimited or ample mileage and full insurance I regard it as a cheap. There's the added complication that many renters refuse durations of more than one month,. Therefore the 28 days prices here: https://langzeitkracher.de
I just had a look. Their prices look very good but pay attention to the free mileage. Something like 3700 km for 28 days. If you commute between clubs within the same area (eg Hessen) it may be sufficient, otherwise they screw you over with the extra kilometers. Also, the prices quoted on their 1st page are without insurance package for sure. Have you rented with them? If I'm under 30 euros per day with unlimited or ample mileage and full insurance I regard it as a cheap. There's the added complication that many renters refuse durations of more than one month,. Therefore the 28 days prices here: https://langzeitkracher.deI get good deals with Europacar, less than 30 per day with insurance and 5 k km per month, but I'm a platinum platinum platinum member with them.
Got a scammy practice to report. I booked a cheap rental with Dollar / Thrifty rental, 2 weeks $279. I go to the counter to pick up the car and they informed me that it was mandatory to purchase their overpriced insurance (I usually just use my own.). That almost tripled the rental price to $700!
Luckily I was able to jump on Kayak and found a standard size 2 week rental for $325 at Alamo.
PussyLiccker
10-30-18, 07:23
Avoid Threfty / Dollar like a plague in De. I got suckered into their rate one time and they told me I needes to show proof of my credit card insurance. Bullshit! Other rentals don't pull this bullshit.
Got a scammy practice to report. I booked a cheap rental with Dollar / Thrifty rental, 2 weeks $279. I go to the counter to pick up the car and they informed me that it was mandatory to purchase their overpriced insurance (I usually just use my own.). That almost tripled the rental price to $700!
Luckily I was able to jump on Kayak and found a standard size 2 week rental for $325 at Alamo.Normally they could require you to buy a partial waiver insurance but if they wanted you to buy the full-waiver package they were overstepping.
HungryStud101
10-30-18, 14:24
Be aware of the possibility of scams if you don't have a 100% full tank on redelivery, and not just 85-90%. I was tried getting charged for over half a tank at 3.50 e per liter by hertz in Germany. Hertz in Austria told me they were not legally allowed to charge extra for the tank unless they had a deposit on it prior to when I was handed the keys. Much higher integrity I must say although the internet site never mentioned the extra deposit. Maybe they had my history with Hertz, LOL. I did get a settlement with the German Hertz scam in the end. Refunding me about 50% of what they originally charged for the missing fuel.
I just got nailed by this rip-off. I didn't realize that if the tank is not 100% full upon return Avis will charge you as if the tank was empty. I have to admit that I am lax on this one because in the USA, the company I work for has a deal with Avis that they will refill the tank at the market price. This deal does not apparently extend to DE. I am looking at my Avis receipt and it says the following:
Fuel out 8/8.
Fuel in 6/8.
Fuel SVC option 79.27 Euro.
This is a rip-off and even though it is not out of my pocket I am going to make a phone call today. For my second rental later that week, I made sure I didn't make this mistake.
Top off that tank.
I never got ripped off with tanking because I am carefull to plan a tank stop close to returning the car. It is a hassle though because you want the tanking to be as close as possible to the end line while not leaving it for when it's too late. Sometimes you need to waste time retracing your steps because a tanking station proves elusive (like the one very close to Frankfurt airport). Luckily you can drive 15 km on a full tank until any consumption shows on the dashboard. I'd say on the last day tanking is more of a sress than returning the car.
PussyLiccker
10-31-18, 17:13
You know they are going to charge a premium if you don't bring it back full as agreed. There's gas station near or in the airport, and just top it off there.
When I was in Vienna recently my rental tank meter didn't deviate at all even when I was on my way back to return the rental. Still topped it off.
HungryStud101
11-01-18, 03:10
You know they are going to charge a premium if you don't bring it back full as agreed. There's gas station near or in the airport, and just top it off there.
.No I didn't know. (1) The company I work for has a corporate agreement with Avis that apparently does not extend to Germany I got used to never topping the tank off and (2) even though they charge a premium for filling the tank, it should not be a flat fee. I makes no difference if the tank is 7/8th full or you push the car in because you ran out of gas. Now that's a rip off.
So you are correct. Top it off regardless. That's the lesson here.
No I didn't know. (1) The company I work for has a corporate agreement with Avis that apparently does not extend to Germany I got used to never topping the tank off and (2) even though they charge a premium for filling the tank, it should not be a flat fee. I makes no difference if the tank is 7/8th full or you push the car in because you ran out of gas. Now that's a rip off.
So you are correct. Top it off regardless. That's the lesson here.The first lesson is to read what you sign. Different countries, different rules.
PussyLiccker
11-01-18, 03:32
The first lesson is to read what you sign. Different countries, different rules.Important thing to read is the terms. The amount of freeze on the credit card for denying their insurance (which you will get back if the car is in the condition they deem no cosmetic issue, in which over the years I found the checkers to be very fair), the premium location tax for airports and train stations (that's something you'd see on the terms, but not in the rate that they will charge at the desk).
If you get the car dinged up, you are covered up to the amount stated on the credit card information packet (if your card provides insurance). That $1k+ freeze on your credit card is for their insurance since you didn't purchase the insurance they offered. It's reasonable since you can get it dinged up, and they want to be assured that they can charge your for the likely damages. I had a situation one time, and I had no issue with Visa paying out the claim.
I can share the details on what Thrify / Dollar did. On their terms, they wrote that I need to provide proof of insurance for my card or I will need to deposit a large sum (I think I recall it being 1200 or 1500 Euros). If you don't have the credit left over for this large deposit, they will give you an alternative option of much greater rate for the rental without being obligated to provide that large sum for insurance. This is how they play the game. I did something similar to Takedown when I was put into the same situation, I just walked over to other rental agencies until I found the rate that was reasonable.
The thing is, other car rental agencies has no such requirement (requirement to show proof of insurance provided by my card). Thrifty/Dollar just drafted up their terms in such a manner for you to be obligated to such term.
Recently, I have rented also in Austria, and I always thought I needed an international driver's permit that you get at AAA. This wasn't the case with 2 rentals so far. Based on what I read around, if the license is in English, it's not necessary. Even my latest rental, the agency provided information on what I need to show at the desk, and international permit wasn't one of them.
PussyLiccker
11-01-18, 04:02
No I didn't know. (1) The company I work for has a corporate agreement with Avis that apparently does not extend to Germany I got used to never topping the tank off and (2) even though they charge a premium for filling the tank, it should not be a flat fee. I makes no difference if the tank is 7/8th full or you push the car in because you ran out of gas. Now that's a rip off.
So you are correct. Top it off regardless. That's the lesson here.I've been in situations with two options, bring it back filled or pay for the full thank and not worry about topping it off for the return for convenience. Them topping it off is more than what it would cost if you fill it yourself, so either you pay for the premium for convenience or not. But, it's all written there with other details to look out for like unlimited mileage or they will provide the amount of km you are limited to for the rental and the amount per km they will charge there after the limit. Once you read the various offers and terms several times with several rentals under your belt, you get an idea of what to look out for.
Interesting thing is, unlimited mileage is common in certain airports than others. Hamburg for example, limited mileage is common.
Makes sense a corporate agreement would go with an agreement like that.
I too got a slovakian plated car on my last trip, of course I didn't ask for it and I even tried, unsuccessfully, to get a different car. I paid the lowest price of my very brief renting history, 12,4 E / day.
I wonder:
I paid so little because it was Slovakia plated?
In case of fines, will it be easier for me to get away with them? A german friend thinks yes.
Does anybody know if in Germany is legal to place radars in the garden of normal houses instead of putting them on the street or just besides? There must not be compulsorily a warning before them? I have seen a few.
I'd appreciate a response from experts like you. Thanks in advance to who will answer.
I wonder:
Does anybody know if in Germany is legal to place radars in the garden of normal houses instead of putting them on the street or just besides? There must not be compulsorily a warning before them? I have seen a few.
I'd appreciate a response from experts like you. Thanks in advance to who will answer.No compulsory warning in Germany. Radars here are as sneaky as they can get. I've always thought the warnings you see at some spots on the motorway may even warn about non-existent radars. A "Radarkontrolle" warning is less costly to operate and maintain as real radars.
I've had no speeding tickets since I reside outside Europe. Before that I got 2 or 3 a year. Driving smaller cars may have an impact, otherwise I guess they think it's too much trouble to send the ticket to Asia.
I actually stopped getting speeding fines 2 yrs ago, just before I would loose my drivers license. The tool that helped me was: Blitzer. De pro -.
Note, this tool is illegal to operate when you don't have a passenger with you. So when caught, make sure you switch it off. On the other hand, the police so far that pulled me aside (twice in the past 5 yrs), never seemed to express any interest in which apps I was using.
No compulsory warning in Germany. Radars here are as sneaky as they can get. I've always thought the warnings you see at some spots on the motorway may even warn about non-existent radars. A "Radarkontrolle" warning is less costly to operate and maintain as real radars.
I've had no speeding tickets since I reside outside Europe. Before that I got 2 or 3 a year. Driving smaller cars may have an impact, otherwise I guess they think it's too much trouble to send the ticket to Asia.
PussyLiccker
11-01-18, 19:01
I actually stopped getting speeding fines 2 yrs ago, just before I would loose my drivers license. The tool that helped me was: Blitzer. De pro -.
Note, this tool is illegal to operate when you don't have a passenger with you. So when caught, make sure you switch it off. On the other hand, the police so far that pulled me aside (twice in the past 5 yrs), never seemed to express any interest in which apps I was using.Anybody know how it's figured out locations of cameras? Yes, German traffic austhorities are sneaky. They hide the cameras can show randomely, like the speed limit sign north of Fra.
I have a TomTom app and I was curious how they get information on where the cameras are at? Do people report it?
PussyLiccker
11-02-18, 00:25
I too got a slovakian plated car on my last trip, of course I didn't ask for it and I even tried, unsuccessfully, to get a different car. I paid the lowest price of my very brief renting history, 12,4 E / day.
I wonder:
I paid so little because it was Slovakia plated?
In case of fines, will it be easier for me to get away with them? A german friend thinks yes.
Does anybody know if in Germany is legal to place radars in the garden of normal houses instead of putting them on the street or just besides? There must not be compulsorily a warning before them? I have seen a few.
I'd appreciate a response from experts like you. Thanks in advance to who will answer.If the rental is registered with the rental agency, the agency will get the ticket and must pay the fine. Fine is not that much, but rental agencies slap their administrative fee that increases it 3 or 4 fold for you.
I don't know where they are legally allowed to put cameras, but they are sneaky, just google for images of what objects they hide cameras in.
I can only speak from experience where I saw cameras and they were usually in main roads (I know this since mainstream clubs are usually not near home neighborhood, with exceptions like Bernds) or highways. I've seen several of them East of Duss where you drive around main roads for the small clubs and crap load of day traffic. Also near Sharks before you take a left on Otto-Rohm Stasse.
I have been through neighborhoods, but can't recall cameras in those roads, the the main roads or hways.
Yes, it is essentially crowd-sourced. Even local radio often reports it. Funnily this is not illegal.
Anybody know how it's figured out locations of cameras? Yes, German traffic austhorities are sneaky. They hide the cameras can show randomely, like the speed limit sign north of Fra.
I have a TomTom app and I was curious how they get information on where the cameras are at? Do people report it?
To say it all, my concern is that I got a flash on my face at about 55 Km / h when limit was 30. Two tripods (but why 2?) one beside the other near the fence of a garden of a private house along the road.
I thought they will have to send the fine somewhere in Bratislava, which will have to send it to the rental company which will have to send it to me. Long process, timely, could go lost in the meantime. I know that fines taken abroad have a difficult path to follow, even worse if Eastern Europe is involved.
Also, I once received a "normal" letter (I didn't have to sign with mailman) from a rental company asking me 23 euros for letting me know that I had got a fine in Germany. It didn't say where, when, why, just that. I didn't fork out the 23 E and I never received anything anymore by anyone. It was about 1,5 year ago. Am I wrong if I think that I got away with it?
2 - sometimes even 4 - to catch two-lane traffic. And the latest models can catch 4 at the same time on all (2 or even 3 lanes).
Cross-border speeding tickets cost much more! So congrats to that. It will often take much longer. In the end they will get you, no matter what.
Re. Your speeding notice from the rental. Try renting one more time and see what happens. You might be in for a surprise.
To say it all, my concern is that I got a flash on my face at about 55 Km / h when limit was 30. Two tripods (but why 2?) one beside the other near the fence of a garden of a private house along the road.
I thought they will have to send the fine somewhere in Bratislava, which will have to send it to the rental company which will have to send it to me. Long process, timely, could go lost in the meantime. I know that fines taken abroad have a difficult path to follow, even worse if Eastern Europe is involved.
Also, I once received a "normal" letter (I didn't have to sign with mailman) from a rental company asking me 23 euros for letting me know that I had got a fine in Germany. It didn't say where, when, why, just that. I didn't fork out the 23 E and I never received anything anymore by anyone. It was about 1,5 year ago. Am I wrong if I think that I got away with it?
Smoke Light
11-03-18, 18:41
I rented from Europcar in August, was caught by radar driving 38 km / h in Bonn on a street with 30 km / h speed limit. I did not see camera flash, so I had no knowledge of this until 15 Euro fine came in the mail in mid-October. Interestingly, the letter came from the city of Bonn, not from Europcar. It included the name of the person who made the processing and their email, also a pic of me in the driving seat. I paid by Transferwise to the IBAN provided in the letter. Transferwise is really good because it has a field for email notification to other party and a field for reference number, like invoice number.
Re. Your speeding notice from the rental. Try renting one more time and see what happens. You might be in for a surprise.Have paid zero tickets in 4 years of consistently renting. I most often report my credit card lost so the rental companies were not able to charge the admin fee. No problems renting so far, so far.
Oh except Switzerland. They sent me a notice from the embassy closest to my home city in the US. I've also heard of Italy sending the fine to a private collection company. Nothing yet in Germany though.
Banana Boi
11-08-18, 06:42
Great thread! Thanks XXL.
I stick to Sixt and Enterprise, whichever is cheapest. Usually, Sixt is cheaper, but occasionally Enterprise wins out. When checking on prices with Enterprise, you have to check the Enterprise prices when booking through Kayak, because a Kayak-booked Enterprise car is often cheaper than a car booked directly through Enterprise. I have rented a lot from both Sixt and Enterprise in Germany and never had a problem with either of them.
I've found the other rental companies to be substantially more expensive (or have a bad reputation).My sentiments exactly. I rented from Enterprise at first since I was a Enterprise VIP member in America. When I found out my status was worthless in Germany I switched to SixT and never looked back. When I was going to Germany 6 x per year I became a SixT VIP. It was great. Always free upgrades and I mean real upgrades like an upgrade to a M3 for free when all I wanted was a low end Audi. I didn't go for it because no chance my Amex covers enough if I were to total the M3. I've never had any issues with SixT but last year my buddy did which I will write about in a separate post.
Can anyone tell me the best way to pay a camera speeding ticket I got Re. Speeding tickets I have had many and always received the Admin fee from SixT. That part was paid through my CC. Didn't realize I could dispute that charge if it wasn't in my contract. Will check upon my next speeding ticket. However, I have yet to actually pay any ticket over the $25 Admin fee. I had one ticket where I kept getting payment reminders in the mail. I finally emailed the city (saying I would gladly pay the ticket but since all the correspondence was in German I would need them to translate it for me. I waited for a translation on how to pay but instead got a very polite email advising I did not have to pay the ticket.
There is a 19% tax for airport rentals, as well as railway stations apparently. However, if you rent at other city locations, the tax does not apply. I try not renting from the airport when possible and if I am staying more than a couple of weeks. Worth it to take a taxi to the nearest rental car company location. For SixT there is the Maritim Hotel right at the Dusseldorf airport. For FRA there is one a short taxi ride away at NH Niederrad. Saves a lot of cash not renting at the airport. One issue is there is not a 24 hour drop off at these locations and returning a rental car and leaving it unattended when an ofiice is closed is never a good idea.
My forthcoming booking is with SIXT. It's says "long term rate" for 43 days but the included mileage is onle 107 km / day. Extra mileage is 0. 23/ km.SixT does not have unlimited kms if your rental is over 30 days. Best way to get unlimited kms is to have broken down your 43 day rental to 2 separate shorter rentals under 30 days each. You don't save by renting over 30 days from my experience.
I believe this differs from brand to brand. Toyota is well known to have a speedometer lying excessively much for example. And there is a 2 or 3 km / h margin of error on these cameras also.I use my GPS rather than the car speedometer to indicate how fast I am really driving. Always a few kph difference between the GPS and the car speedometers. Am I wrong in doing so?
Banana Boi
11-08-18, 06:48
Let's hope none of us ever need this insurance but the reason I just read this entire thread was to answer a question regarding liability, not CDW / LDW. I believe one person asked but I didn't see a reply. Now that I live in Thailand I do not have my own personal automobile insurance. On my personal automobile insurance back home I had an endorsement that would extend coverage if I were to injure or kill a person while operating a rental vehicle. I know companies like SixT have liability insurance but my question is, is it sufficient coverage if I were sued by an individual involved in a motor vehicle accident that were my fault?
I had a similar story about renting a car in Germany. I used to rent a car every time I went there. Then one day, the rental company sent me a letter, requesting 500 Euros for supposedly damage I did to their rental car. This was total BS, as whatever dammage was there from normal wear and tear. After multiple exchanges of letters, I did not go anywhere with these folks, and they kept insisting that I pay the 500 Euros. Luckily, someone in this forum suggested I check with the credit card I used to pay for the rental. It was said that Amex was best with resolving these disputes. I checked and sure enough, I had paid with an Amex card. They told me to just send them all the letter exchanges I've done so far and they would take over. After a month or so, I received a letter from them advising me that my issue was resolved and closed. What a relief. I also learned that Amex offers a comprehensive rental insurance for dirt cheap. I have been using it ever since.
I had a similar story about renting a car in Germany. I used to rent a car every time I went there. Then one day, the rental company sent me a letter, requesting 500 Euros for supposedly damage I did to their rental car. This was total BS, as whatever dammage was there from normal wear and tear. After multiple exchanges of letters, I did not go anywhere with these folks, and they kept insisting that I pay the 500 Euros. Luckily, someone in this forum suggested I check with the credit card I used to pay for the rental. It was said that Amex was best with resolving these disputes. I checked and sure enough, I had paid with an Amex card. They told me to just send them all the letter exchanges I've done so far and they would take over. After a month or so, I received a letter from them advising me that my issue was resolved and closed. What a relief. I also learned that Amex offers a comprehensive rental insurance for dirt cheap. I have been using it ever since.Could this be the reason many car rentals in Germany do not accept Amex cards?
Amex cards are in general not well adopted in Germany.
Could this be the reason many car rentals in Germany do not accept Amex cards?
Anybody know how it's figured out locations of cameras? Yes, German traffic austhorities are sneaky. They hide the cameras can show randomely, like the speed limit sign north of Fra.
I have a TomTom app and I was curious how they get information on where the cameras are at? Do people report it?I have Waze on my phone, friends of mine have a Coyote device. Both have options to report police, cameras, heavy traffic and different types of hazards. These reports are then immediately available to other users of the network.
BigBuddy69
11-13-18, 09:23
Camsam plus works fine and it's cheap. It can run while a real navigation app is running.
Smoke Light
11-19-18, 15:46
Got BMW 2 er gran tourer from Eropcar. After driving at 180-200 km / h on A 57 the car computer said check your tire pressure, which I did next day when tires were cold at the gas station, the pressure was below normal. Probably not important unless you want to drive fast on the autobahns.
PussyLiccker
11-25-18, 11:34
The cute German lady upgraded me from an automatic to stick, but she gave me a crossover hybrid SUV, a Fiat 500X. This thing eats gas. Usually my fill for an economy class is 50-55 Euros and this one was like 80 Euros per tank. Bigger tank obviously.
For Hungrystud. I saw a sign at the rental agency of pricing if you don't bring the tank filled. It was like 4. Something Euros per liter and there was a price above 1. Somthing, thinking either normal price or if you have them fill it. When you have them fill it, I believe they charge the full tank even if you have fuel left over.
I notice per liter prices are more expensive at autobahn rest stop gas stations compared to in town gas stations. Same goes for ATM. Banks gives best rate.
If you got a weighty car, of course Diesel is most efficient.
Let's hope none of us ever need this insurance but the reason I just read this entire thread was to answer a question regarding liability, not CDW / LDW. I believe one person asked but I didn't see a reply. Now that I live in Thailand I do not have my own personal automobile insurance. On my personal automobile insurance back home I had an endorsement that would extend coverage if I were to injure or kill a person while operating a rental vehicle. I know companies like SixT have liability insurance but my question is, is it sufficient coverage if I were sued by an individual involved in a motor vehicle accident that were my fault?By law, most (if not all) European rental companies are required to provide liability insurance. If it is required, I am sure it is sufficient!
Could this be the reason many car rentals in Germany do not accept Amex cards?I always use my Amex card for car rentals in Germany without any issues.
The cute German lady upgraded me from an automatic to stick, but she gave me a crossover hybrid SUV, a Fiat 500X. This thing eats gas. Usually my fill for an economy class is 50-55 Euros and this one was like 80 Euros per tank. Bigger tank obviously.
For Hungrystud. I saw a sign at the rental agency of pricing if you don't bring the tank filled. It was like 4. Something Euros per liter and there was a price above 1. Somthing, thinking either normal price or if you have them fill it. When you have them fill it, I believe they charge the full tank even if you have fuel left over.
I notice per liter prices are more expensive at autobahn rest stop gas stations compared to in town gas stations. Same goes for ATM. Banks gives best rate.
If you got a weighty car, of course Diesel is most efficient.Fuel prices are very high in Germany at the moment, probably the biggest reason for the difference.
Following up my post of last month, to my surprise today I found in my mail box (I didn't sign anything!) a letter from the rental company of my last trip. It is in german (how can they be so stupid?). A friend translated what I guessed: they ask 23,80 euros as a fee for giving my name to authorities. Outrageous shameful amount!
There is also an IBAN (which means they won't charge my credit card?) and they want me to pay in 30 days from... I don't even know what and didn't even bother to translate. I mean, in my country any notice would work from the day I officially received the letter, which would be evident by my signature to mailman or at post office. Otherwise one may not even know what's the matter, because he might have not received the letter... It should be obvious that one can't be charged for something he's not even aware of... Or it could happen like the letter of last year which I received muuuch later than 30 days after getting the flash by the radar (I never received the real fine anyway). How could I be held responsible/guilty for being late in payment if I got that notice months later?
I would say in this letter it's not even written what could happen if I didn't pay this fee or I if paid it but not in time.
A fee which I would more properly call "theft", because it is not a fee! It could make sense to pay a fine, but not such a robbery.
As far as I am concerned, I didn't sign anything = I didn't receive anything = I have nothing to pay. And ok, I won't hire cars anymore from that company in order to avoid troubles
Having over a dozen unpaid tickets from the numerous car hires in Germany, I have yet to have any issues renting from those companies afterward.
In addition, I had a situation where Hessen authorities had to check my background, the unpaid tickets did not show up. This applies in Germany, not so much in Switzerland and Italy.
Following up my post of last month, to my surprise today I found in my mail box (I didn't sign anything!) a letter from the rental company of my last trip. It is in german (how can they be so stupid?). A friend translated what I guessed: they ask 23,80 euros as a fee for giving my name to authorities. Outrageous shameful amount!
There is also an IBAN (which means they won't charge my credit card?) and they want me to pay in 30 days from... I don't even know what and didn't even bother to translate. I mean, in my country any notice would work from the day I officially received the letter, which would be evident by my signature to mailman or at post office. Otherwise one may not even know what's the matter, because he might have not received the letter... It should be obvious that one can't be charged for something he's not even aware of... Or it could happen like the letter of last year which I received muuuch later than 30 days after getting the flash by the radar (I never received the real fine anyway). How could I be held responsible/guilty for being late in payment if I got that notice months later?.
Having over a dozen unpaid tickets from the numerous car hires in Germany, I have yet to have any issues renting from those companies afterward.
In addition, I had a situation where Hessen authorities had to check my background, the unpaid tickets did not show up. This applies in Germany, not so much in Switzerland and Italy.I have also a lot of unpaid tickets. No problem renting again.
So authorities checked you up and no problem. That's good. I'm always a little bit scared of that when I visit Germany. Always hope there will be no raids when I visit clubs. But the police probably can see it.
Latest update: today I found in my mail box, again I signed nothing, the fine from Germany. They specify they deducted something, but not how much, from my speed due to radar allowance, and say I was "speeding" at 50 (LOL or sob?) where limit was 30.
It is in my language, but in case of reply they ask me to write in german on the attached form. It is written so nicely, full of details and explainations, with a close up photo of me driving (I look gorgeous, LOL!). The name of my city is wrong by more than half of the letters and even longer as well but the postal code must have taken the envelope to the right place. And they call me something like "dear kind mrs"... I love this tender and funny letter with the beautiful photocopied pic of the stunning driver, I'm going to treasure it and even pay the fine. But not the car rental fee!
ExpatLover
01-23-19, 06:44
Following up my post of last month, to my surprise today I found in my mail box (I didn't sign anything!) a letter from the rental company of my last trip. It is in german (how can they be so stupid?). A friend translated what I guessed: they ask 23,80 euros as a fee for giving my name to authorities. Outrageous shameful amount!
There is also an IBAN (which means they won't charge my credit card?) and they want me to pay in 30 days from... I don't even know what and didn't even bother to translate. I mean, in my country any notice would work from the day I officially received the letter, which would be evident by my signature to mailman or at post office. Otherwise one may not even know what's the matter, because he might have not received the letter... It should be obvious that one can't be charged for something he's not even aware of... Or it could happen like the letter of last year which I received muuuch later than 30 days after getting the flash by the radar (I never received the real fine anyway). How could I be held responsible/guilty for being late in payment if I got that notice months later?.I also got probably around 10 fines over the years, never more than 15 euros, I friend told be it is better to pay them the risk to be banned from entering Germany is very low but still exists. Compare to France the fines are very cheap.
I highly suggest you pass on Europcar if renting at Dusseldorf Airport. I've returned cars there twice and twice I've been assessed damage. After more than 380 days of renting from Europcar with only have damage once and now twice in 2 months, both times under questionable circumstances. Once the door was marked as scratched during checkout but on return he noted a 5 mm dent in the same door where the scratch was. On the other, he stated no problem with the car and after I walked away and was inside the secure area of the terminal I received an e-mail saying there was a chip in the windshield. My next visit I will select a different company to rent from.
Triptogamont
06-12-19, 16:21
Was driving on the highway in NRW and a seagull (I think) flew in front of me, exploding against the grill. White feathers everywhere! Scared me half to death. Luckily, no other cars were around, because I am sure I swerved into every lane. I pulled over and a thousand feathers were stuck in the grill. I pulled a lot of them out, but had to get going again to return my car. The girl at the return looked at the grill and then at me with raised eyebrows. I explained what happened, but there was no damage to the vehicle, so no harm done. Except to the bird.
So, another thing to look out for while driving in Germany!
Chongmai. For what it is worth I had a 3 cm scratch caused by me and Hertz did not charge me.
Companies do change their attitudes. I used to use Enterprise who were lenient until a year ago, when they even confessed they were losing money so we're trying to be very strict and charge for any conceivable scratch.Luckily, I had no scratches
I always take photos on pick up and drop off.
Ludacris775
06-20-19, 15:12
Wondering if it is just better to take the train instead of renting cars to go from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf to Frankfurt to Zurich and back? Have any of you done this?
I am reading this thread and weighing the pros and cons of doing this vs renting a car.
This is my first European mongering trip.
Smoke Light
06-21-19, 04:33
Wondering if it is just better to take the train instead of renting cars to go from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf to Frankfurt to Zurich and back? Have any of you done this?
I am reading this thread and weighing the pros and cons of doing this vs renting a car.
This is my first European mongering trip.While train has obvious advantage, I would still chose a rental car for flexibility.
Trains aren't cheap, so no advantage in pricing if you driving a manual transmission car. Automatic transmission probably more expensive than a train, but I am only guessing.
It's summer and sometimes long distance IC / ICE trains don't have proper air conditioning. It really sucks if you have a seat reserved in a specific train car with such problem. I consider AC in my car really important for any long distance travel.
I would advise driving no more than 600 km in one day. Otherwise it's too tiring in heavy traffic, construction zones, slower areas close to country borders, etc.
Why drive all the way back to Amsterdam? Waste of gas and money. If you make Zurich your last stop, return the rental car there and either fly or take the train back.
LaBambaBoy
06-21-19, 16:46
Wondering if it is just better to take the train instead of renting cars to go from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf to Frankfurt to Zurich and back? Have any of you done this?
I am reading this thread and weighing the pros and cons of doing this vs renting a car.
This is my first European mongering trip.Man,
I always like to have a car for the flexibility, but that's a pretty long way you are thinking about driving. I considered Frankfurt to Zurich, but since I rent cheap tiny cars, it was not going to be very comfortable.
And if you rent a big car, then you have to park it. Lots and spaces in Germany can be very tiny, and roads will squeeze you.
If you can drive stick, you can rent a little car really damn cheap, but it isn't going to be pleasant for a 6 hour drive or anything. And stay out of the left lane, unless you rent something with serious muscle.
Also look into *flying. Frankfurt to Zurich is really cheap, IIRC.
Wondering if it is just better to take the train instead of renting cars to go from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf to Frankfurt to Zurich and back? Have any of you done this?
I am reading this thread and weighing the pros and cons of doing this vs renting a car.
This is my first European mongering trip.Driving here is not like driving along the Florida turnpike where you could just as well sleep at the wheel. You should plan to drive no more than 400 km on a single day. For example drive from Frankfurt to Stuttgart and spend the night in Stuttgart with a visit of FKK Paradise. Or drive from Frankfurt to NRW with a stop at Finca Erotica along the way. If you must drive to Zurich (not recommended), spend one night in Stuttgart and another one in Munich / Augsburg (FKK Colosseum / Laufhaus Vitalia in Munich).
Traffic jams can easily turn what should be a comfortable 3-hour drive into a 6-hour hell. Switzerland is one of the least car-friendly countries in the world.
Returning a rental in Zurich can carry an extortionate one-way fee. If you want to visit Globe why not book a flight from Amsterdam then back to Frankfurt where you pick up the car?
Don't labour under the delusion that you can have great sex only at GT, Oase or Globe because they're the clubs reputedly "with most stunners".
Smoke Light
06-21-19, 21:47
Traffic jams can easily turn what should be a comfortable 3-hour drive into a 6-hour hell.So true! I actually had physical pain in my left hip pushing the clutch 2+ hrs in a miserable traffic jam on A3 between Frankfurt and Munchen last summer. The autobahn was flooded by campers and RVs from Holland on their way to Salzburg / Austrian Alps and beyond.
Switzerland is one of the least car-friendly countries in the world.Good to know, XXL. Someone mentioned police hostility. I've never driven to Switzerland, could you provide some specifics? Thanks!
.....
Good to know, XXL. Someone mentioned police hostility. I've never driven to Switzerland, could you provide some specifics? Thanks!I think parking opportunities in cities are kept artificially scarce and expensive as a policy to force people onto public transport. I remember a tv documentary about how in Zurich even bankers preferred used public transport rather than their own company cars.
Traffic jams can easily turn what should be a comfortable 3-hour drive into a 6-hour hell.Agree. Traffic can be horrible, given the amount of road construction, long haul trucks, and in the summer RV campers. Additionally, accidents also happen. Often the result of impatient drivers that execute risky maneuvers to pass said slow vehicles on the autobahn, which frustratingly is usually two or three lanes. But back to main point, on the drive from Frankfurt to Zurich, one would pass some of the worst traffic hotspots on the German autobahn (#2, #4, and #7). It might be advisable to say visit a Frankfurt club and leave at 21:00, then check into Stuttgart hotel at 23:00. Next day attend Stuttgart club until 21:00 then make the drive towards Zurich.
http://inrix.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/INRIX_Europes-Traffic_Hotspots_Research_FINAL_lo_res.pdf
I think parking opportunities in cities are kept artificially scarce and expensive as a policy to force people onto public transport. I remember a tv documentary about how in Zurich even bankers preferred used public transport rather than their own company cars.NYC and London are considerably more expensive. Zurich's parking prices are partly attributed to higher average wages of Zurich's residents. https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2017/05/the-most-expensive-city-for-parking-is-no-surprise.html.
I guess when you say parking spaces artificially scarce, you mean that Zurich is much smaller and less bustling and congested than NYC and London.
If renting a car, a satnav or other device with live traffic is essential. Having live traffic has meant that I have not got stuck in any one jam for more than fifteen minutes. In some areas jams of an hour or more are commonplace.
And also, it is a good idea to try to time journeys to avoid going round major cities in the busiest times (08.00 to 09.00 and 16.00 to 18.30 is my guess).
Good luck.
Ludacris775
06-27-19, 17:22
Driving here is not like driving along the Florida turnpike where you could just as well sleep at the wheel. You should plan to drive no more than 400 km on a single day. For example drive from Frankfurt to Stuttgart and spend the night in Stuttgart with a visit of FKK Paradise. Or drive from Frankfurt to NRW with a stop at Finca Erotica along the way. If you must drive to Zurich (not recommended), spend one night in Stuttgart and another one in Munich / Augsburg (FKK Colosseum / Laufhaus Vitalia in Munich).
Traffic jams can easily turn what should be a comfortable 3-hour drive into a 6-hour hell. Switzerland is one of the least car-friendly countries in the world.
Returning a rental in Zurich can carry an extortionate one-way fee. If you want to visit Globe why not book a flight from Amsterdam then back to Frankfurt where you pick up the car?
Don't labour under the delusion that you can have great sex only at GT, Oase or Globe because they're the clubs reputedly "with most stunners".All this info was really helpful guys. I'm going to renege on driving to Zurich for sure. If I go to Zurich, I will probably fly. I think I'm going to skip Globe all together this time and just focus on the Dutch and German scenes. I'm definitely going to check out the Amsterdam red light district on my first free day, and then after that probably head to Bruggen and Dusseldorf, then Friedrdorf and Frankfurt all by car.
I will be carpooling with some other mongers I have met through my Nevada mongering on my roadtrip from Amsterdam to the German houses, then driving back on my own.
....a satnav or other device with live traffic is essential. Having live traffic has meant that I have not got stuck in any one jam for more than fifteen minutes.Agree 100%.
Good Friday, I was travelling from Cologne to Bamberg and the A3 around Wurzburg had a 90 minute delay. Google maps sent me off the autobahn onto major and minor roads until I ended up on the A70, I ended up losing only 30 minutes.
If renting a car, a satnav or other device with live traffic is essential. Having live traffic has meant that I have not got stuck in any one jam for more than fifteen minutes. In some areas jams of an hour or more are commonplace.
And also, it is a good idea to try to time journeys to avoid going round major cities in the busiest times (08.00 to 09.00 and 16.00 to 18.30 is my guess).
Good luck.Nothing beats Google Maps on your iphone or android. GPS is a complete waste of money.
The rental car I drove this month had neither a yellow vest nor a warning triangle inside. Those items are mandatory as well as a first-aid kit. There are so many things to pay attention to when you pick up a car it's difficult for one's mind not to be overloaded.
Regarding satnav, I was lucky enough for my latest 2 rentals to be equipped with a satnav, which I wasn't charged for since I had not booked one. Yes Google is the best but what about the cost of data? If used offline it has no realtime traffic update. Attaching the smartphone for proper viewing is not easy. How long before the smartphone runs out of power? Nothing like a big-screen onboard satnav.
Very difficult to work with this editor. This time it tricked me into deleting my own post. Anyway here it is again.
Last time Interrent at Terminal 2 in Frankfurt sent me on my way with a car I discovered later contained no yellow vest and no warning triangle.
This time I checked many things except the mileage. I discovered too late 280 km had already been "driven" when I picked-up the car. I have 4000 km free for 20 days, so that may turn out to be sufficient but I resent being cheated like this.
Last time a Russian guy who had returned a car was complaining at front desk and I chukled when they dismissed him with "sorry we speak no Russian" and "you have to pay Sir". Now in retrospect I sympathize with the Russian guy. He was probably being scammed.
Those Interrent employees go through the paper work at baffling speed. They answer your questions before you have time to phrase them. Efficient they may seem but there's more to it than efficiency. During the whole quick "efficient" process they never look you in the eyes. People who never look you in the eyes are either out to kill you or to scam you.
Area where your rental car is parked is very dark. Area where customers return the car like a supernova. A well-known trick, here caricaturally obvious.
In the future I'll stick to the rental at Ferdinand-Happ-Str. All cars in outside parking, no light issue. They inspect the car with you before you sign.
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