Renting a car in Germany

[Chongmal]

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.

[ExpatLover]

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.

[EastGoing]

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!

[Ulver]

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.

[Takedown]

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?.

[EastGoing]

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

[Free Dude]

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.

[Hioctane]

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.

[Hioctane]

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!

[PussyLiccker]

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.

[Smoke Light]

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.

[BigBuddy69]

Camsam plus works fine and it's cheap. It can run while a real navigation app is running.

[Chongmal]

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.

[Kuni042]

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?

[XXL]

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?