carbonboy Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) I have a trip to Europe coming up later this year & I'm currently searching around for a rental car. I briefly had an idea of going 'Top Gear USA style' & buying an AE82 FX-GT while I'm there, then reality kicked in. So, seeing as I know bugger-all about European local cars, I thought I'd turn it over to you guys/girls. Please keep in mind my overall budget is not massive, but I don't want to hire something that's worse to drive/slower than my 2AC powered AE80 as I have some pretty epic roads in mind. :wink: Options in my price range are: Fiat Panda 1.2 AC Puegot 107 VW Polo 2 door Opel Corsa 2 door Petrol or TD Audi A1 Alfa Romeo Giulietta VW Golf Ford Ka Ford Fiesta Thoughts? :) Edited April 8, 2012 by carbonboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7shades Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) How long are you going for? If its more than a few weeks there are short-term lease options... http://www.europebycarblog.com/ This is Alex Roy's company. If you don't know who Alex Roy is, you should find out. Edited April 8, 2012 by 7shades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) How long are you going for? If its more than a few weeks there are short-term lease options... http://www.europebycarblog.com/ This is Alex Roy's company. If you don't know who Alex Roy is, you should find out. I should've mentioned that... :blush: Total hire period on mainland Europe is 11 days, I saw a few lease options when searching but didn't think my time period was long enough. Am in Ireland/UK for a few days but one-way trips from UK to mainland Europe are not liked by the rental companies. :) Cheers for that Uncle Shady, looking through his site right now! :y: Edit: If it's the same Alex Roy as the one I saw on Wikipedia, I wonder if he'll let me rent his M5? :hmm: Going to have to email them, they don't like one-way trips with pickup & dropoff in different countries either. :( Edited April 8, 2012 by carbonboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7shades Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 When you're getting quotes, make sure to shop around a few countries. Whilst they may all use the Euro, they still have differing taxes and stuff so you're likely to save money that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) When you're getting quotes, make sure to shop around a few countries. Whilst they may all use the Euro, they still have differing taxes and stuff so you're likely to save money that way. Ah ha...cheeky bastards! Cheers for that tip! :y: Having fun sifting through all the T's & C's, they looove adding on extra charges that's for sure! The 'general' plan is to arrive in Amsterdam from the UK via ferry & pickup the car there. Going go east across Germany to the Czech Republic, then south through Austria & west through Italy, into France. Going to swing past Monacco while I'm there, then back up through Italy & Switzerland back into Germany as my flight's out of Frankfurt. I know it's not a lot of time to see everything that's along the way, but I have specific things in mind. Going to be an awesome road trip nonetheless! Edit: I'm getting myself a digital video camera sometime soon, there will be footage! :D Edited April 8, 2012 by carbonboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7shades Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Germany is *generally* the cheapest country to hire from. I'd suggest not bothering with a car for Amsterdam... (you don't really need one, there are free buses for anything worth seeing that isn't within walking distance) Also, parking is a c*nt and will cost more than the daily rental charge. After that, seeing as you'll be pretty much passing through Frankfurt en route to Prague anyway, I'd suggest just hopping the train from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and making that your start/finish point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7shades Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Oh and some further advice (disclosure: lived in Germany, owned an E34 540i, drove the shit out of that continent) I know you're on a budget... But for the love of all things holy... RENT_SOMETHING_GOOD. Sacrifice some other expense if you have to. Hell, sleep in the damn car a couple of nights. There are these little roadside rest areas all over Europe with showers and toilets. Some even have a nice view to wake up to. Doesn't have to be a supercar... Even a nice 335i or 6 cyl C-Klasse will do. As long as its rwd and not a f*cking Fiat Punto. Believe me, once you hit those glorious, wonderous alpine passes you will lament the fact you're driving a 1 litre snotbox instead of a nicely balanced sedan. It will haunt you forever. Also, motherf*cking Autobahn. Shady out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 I'd suggest not bothering with a car for Amsterdam... (you don't really need one, there are free buses for anything worth seeing that isn't within walking distance) Also, parking is a c*nt and will cost more than the daily rental charge. After that, seeing as you'll be pretty much passing through Frankfurt en route to Prague anyway, I'd suggest just hopping the train from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and making that your start/finish point. That's a good point you make there, sounds like London in terms of parking but unlike London, there's a fair chance I won't be able to drive anyway! :wink: I might just have Frankfurt as the start/finish point of the car hire, will save me the 'one-way fee' & I might be able to get a better car. *Note* Will be avoiding Mercedes Benz, I want a manual. :P Oh and some further advice (disclosure: lived in Germany, owned an E34 540i, drove the shit out of that continent) I know you're on a budget... But for the love of all things holy... RENT_SOMETHING_GOOD. Sacrifice some other expense if you have to. Hell, sleep in the damn car a couple of nights. There are these little roadside rest areas all over Europe with showers and toilets. Some even have a nice view to wake up to. Doesn't have to be a supercar... Even a nice 335i or 6 cyl C-Klasse will do. As long as its rwd and not a f*cking Fiat Punto. Believe me, once you hit those glorious, wonderous alpine passes you will lament the fact you're driving a 1 litre snotbox instead of a nicely balanced sedan. It will haunt you forever. Also, motherf*cking Autobahn. Shady out. Hmm, you make yourself some very good points there, advice noted! My accomodation plans were pretty much using backpackers/camping grounds as it was, on the other hand, this rest area plan does sounds entertaining. "How to travel Europe via public toilets"... :lol: Seriously though, will keep it mind. :yes: Planning on stopping off for a few laps at the Nurburgring, though going to hire a seperate car for that. Car rental places have that higher on their 'DO NOT GO TO' list than Eastern Europe, wonder why... :lol: I discovered that I'm not old enough (need to be 30) to rent something like a Porsche or a BMW M3 there. :( On the upside, powerful RWD cars are not something I'm used to & if I did get one of these, there's a fair chance that there willl be one less sports car, one less tree/steel roadside barrier & one less me in the world. :laff: Was thinking along the lines of Renault Clio Trophy, BMW 1 series etc for this, something quick enough to have some fun in, but not something that I'm highly likely to die in. Now that I think of all the driving I'm going to be doing & something like a Ford Fiesta together, I'm not as excited. Sure, it's a 4 cylinder FWD, something I'm used to & could punt along the alpine passes quite quickly without major mishap. On the hand, struggling to keep speed/banging off the limiter on an Autobarn isn't very appealing. Back to the drawing board, will see what I can come up with. :y: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwarf Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 The train trip from Amsterdam to Frankfurt is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 The train trip from Amsterdam to Frankfurt is beautiful. Train-tripping it is then! :D New options: Volvo C30, BMW 3 Series, BMW Z4 Roadster, Mercedes C180 Auto (Urgh!). I found I can rent a Porsche Cayman, limited to 200kms a day, for nearly $3K. :no2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7shades Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 (edited) 1 series are good fun, but even a 330d will do the job nicely. They're not slow... And will return ludicrously good economy on the highway. As a bonus, you're likely to get a manual. C30's are nice. Diesel especially. Many torks. Z4 is laaaame in base trim, which is what you'll get. The C180's are a slug. Even in manual. As for the DO NOT GO clause... It may be wise to pay attention to it. Czech Republic is *usually* ok, but the Balkans, Ukraine, and Allthestans are out. Which is a shame, 'cos Croatia is stunning (as are the girls... My god, the girls) That said, I did get all my windows smashed out in Prague, but I'm told that had more to do with the Munich plates on the 540. Apparently there's some centuries old lingering hostility there. Edited April 9, 2012 by 7shades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamboo Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Most travel insurance will cover the excess on your car. They covered the 700 euro windscreen i cracked in Ireland. I used worldcare, cheap and easy to deal with. I had to cough up the 2000 euro in the beginning but got it all back. Bamboo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrot Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Seriously, look at your itinerary and think really hard if you really need a car. Trains over there a light years ahead of Australia and you can get virtually anywhere & often. If you do hire a car, make sure you get a GPS with it. Makes things much simpler and you can even have someone speaking in an Australian accent (my kids christened her Karen). Of course you need to inconspicuously hide it when parked...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonboy Posted April 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Z4 is laaaame in base trim, which is what you'll get. The C180's are a slug. Even in manual. As for the DO NOT GO clause... It may be wise to pay attention to it. Czech Republic is *usually* ok, but the Balkans, Ukraine, and Allthestans are out. Which is a shame, 'cos Croatia is stunning (as are the girls... My god, the girls) That said, I did get all my windows smashed out in Prague, but I'm told that had more to do with the Munich plates on the 540. Apparently there's some centuries old lingering hostility there. I'm glad you managed to write off the two cars on that list I wasn't very keen on! :) Definitely obeying the DNG clause, I can take a rental car to the Czech Republic no worries (most of the other Eastern Europe countries on their list they were real funny about), it's just another extra charge. Probably insurance related by the sound of things! The 'Ring I'm getting a seperate car for, (GPS tracking's a bitch :lol: ) so no worries there. Plus, explaining why the Fiat Panda I hired is now parked backwards, halfway up a tree alongside a race circuit would be rather embarrassing... :wink: *Note Fiat Panda used as example, not what I'm looking at renting* Looks like it's a toss-up between the Volvo C30 & the BMW 330d. :laff: P.S - I'll take girls from any country, not fussed as long as they have less facial/back hair than me! :P Most travel insurance will cover the excess on your car. They covered the 700 euro windscreen i cracked in Ireland. I used worldcare, cheap and easy to deal with. I had to cough up the 2000 euro in the beginning but got it all back. Bamboo 700 Euro for a windscreen? F**k, what car was that in? In regards to insurance, I have PDS's coming out my ears that I'm sorting through at the moment, but I'm making sure I'm covered for whatever happens. I think total insurance charges are at about $500-ish (travel costs, medical etc, not just car hire) at the moment, but money well spent should $h1t hit the fan! :yes: Seriously, look at your itinerary and think really hard if you really need a car. Trains over there a light years ahead of Australia and you can get virtually anywhere & often. If you do hire a car, make sure you get a GPS with it. Makes things much simpler and you can even have someone speaking in an Australian accent (my kids christened her Karen). Of course you need to inconspicuously hide it when parked...... Itinerary.....still working on that! :lolcry: A GPS is also definitely ticked in the options box, the snow tyres I'm good without (August) & I don't need child booster seats, but a GPS, HELL YES!! I definitely need a hire car, travelling on some of the roads I plan on going to on a tourbus just wouldn't be the same. I'm basically going to be doing a several thousand kilometre Euro-roadtrip. It might sound stupid, but I'm not in Europe for it's arts/literature/architecture etc. Whilst amazing, I'd need a lot more time than I have & to be a bit older than I am to fully appreciate it. There's a lot that I'd like to do, but have had to cross off the list. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamboo Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 Nissan Micra. Cracked the screen in the first 15 minutes on a week long trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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