Renting a car in Germany

[Lefeu]

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.

[Banana Boi]

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?

[Banana Boi]

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?

[Takedown]

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.

[Takedown]

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.

[Smoke Light]

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.

[Kuni042]

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?

[EastGoing]

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?

[Kuni042]

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?

[PussyLiccker]

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.

[PussyLiccker]

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?

[Kuni042]

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.

[XXL]

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.

[EastGoing]

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.

[PussyLiccker]

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.