My Adventures in Germany

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European Auto Rental Info

In the US, I used the rental company "auto europe" and called 1-800-223-5555 to reserve my rental car before I left the US. Reserving them ahead of time can save some money, especially if you rent a car for a week.

Most of the economy cars in Europe come with very small displacement engines because gasoline costs over $4.50 US per gallon. If you are interested in renting a particular model Audi or some other performance German luxury car to do some high speed cruising on the Autobahn, you may have trouble locking into one particular car model. Usually they will specify a rental from a particular "class" of cars, but the rental agency won't guarantee you will get the exact car you request. You may want to make more than one reservation with separate rental companies to ensure you get the car you want.

When I was in Germany in Oct. 1994 and in Feb. 1996 most of the cars had manual transmissions, with the exception of the high end luxury cars with automatic transmissions which rented for over $600 per week. It pays to shop around, and make sure you get the total cost as there is usually a Value Added Tax added and in some cases airport tax.

In Oct. 1994 the Audi A6 with 2.0 liter 4 cylinder was about $350-400/week as was the BMW 520i with the 2.0 liter 6 cylinder engine. Even with these small 2.0 liter engines, these cars would do 125-130 MPH on the Autobahn. The BMW 730i was available at the time for about $850/week.

Avis, Budget , Dollar (Euro dollar), Hertz, National, and Thrifty had European car rental available. You can search the Internet for the latest phone numbers.

Have a safe trip!

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