You and your good friends are about to rent a car in Europe. Because you’re a party of four, you’re worried about legroom and trunk space. You reason that a midsize (in rental-speak an “intermediate”) car won’t be big enough. You begin shopping for a full-size. But if it’s just room you want, you could be making an expensive mistake. What most travelers don’t know is that, unlike the U.S., so-called full-size European rental cars are often no larger than cars in the intermediate category. Usually, they just have a more prestigious brand name.
The best example is Germany, where the most common vehicle in the full-size category is the Mercedes C-class sedan. The 2008 Mercedes C-300 is 182.3 inches long, 56.9 inches high and 69.7 inches wide. The two most widely rented cars in the intermediate category are the Opel Vectra and the VW Passat. Surprisingly, the Passat is longer (188.2”) and wider (71.7”) than the Mercedes, while the Vectra is virtually the same size as the MBZ. But guess which car costs more to rent: an intermediate for one week in Germany is $276, including the 19% value added tax. The full-size is $302.26.
The price difference is even more pronounced when it comes to station wagons. Since the Volvo V70 is popular in the U.S., Gemut.com’s rental department gets a lot of calls for it from customers who insist they have to have more luggage space than they can get in a midsize wagon. But there's a much better deal. At 188 inches in length, 72 inches in width, and 35.8 cubic feet of luggage capacity, the VW Passat Wagon’s specs are comparable to the Volvo’s 190 inch length, 73.7 inch height, and 33.3 cubic feet of luggage space. When it comes to cost, however, the Passat’s one-week rental tab of $345, including tax, is far easier on the purse than the Volvo’s $568 price tag.
The categories to which European rental companies assign their vehicles is inconsistent and confusing. For example, some companies put the Audi A3 in the intermediate category. Size-wise, however, it’s a compact; no larger than the VW Golf, Opel Astra, or Ford Focus. The full-size Opel Signum, which we drove in Germany last month, is built on the same platform as the intermediate Opel Vectra. The Signum just has more features and upgraded interior appointments. Most companies put the three-series BMW, with its woefully inadequate trunk, in the standard category (same size as intermediate). Some companies call it a full-size, but the trunk is tiny.
The situation is bit better in France where full-size could mean a Peugeot 607—192 inches long and 21 cubic feet of trunk space. I emphasize “could” because one should never forget that specific makes or models are never guaranteed by Europen car rental companies, only a category such as economy, compact, intermediate, standard, fullsize, luxury, premium, etc., is promised. So the 64-euro question is, what happens when you show up at the Europcar rental counter in Paris expecting that 192-inch Peugeot and they hand you the keys to a “full-size” C-class Mercedes, which is almost a foot shorter and has about half the luggage capacity. Even the luxury/premium category E-class Mercedes is just 191 inches in length.
If you’re going to spend more money for a larger rental car in Europe, make sure the cars in the category you’re booking are truly bigger, not just more luxurious than the category below. Read our Twelve European Car Tips. Go here for a “guaranteed lowest price”quote on rental cars in Europe, or phone 800-541-6722.
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