< 21 Car Hire

cianclarke

Anybody know of companies that will hire a car to somebody who isn't 21 / 23? I'll be 20 at time of hiring, full licence for 2 years, and looking to hire in Berlin, either from that Ryanair airport or anywhere in the city, or possibly from Frankfurt Hahn!!

Anybody got some suggestions? Would like to see some of the country by car.

Beta Ray Bill

You'll be hiring in Germany?

Your age shouldnt be an issue, they have a bit of cop on over there.

Cheers
G.

Cosmo K

You wouldn't really need a hire car in Berlin. Public Transport is cheap and very effective.
Your age could well be an issue, for example one of the biigest car rental firms, sixt http://www.sixt.de/ will not rent to under 21's.

craichoe

Most require an extra amount for under 25 and your restriced to the class of car you can drive

cianclarke

@Cosmo K - I'm in berlin for four days, then probably going to extend the trip to travel about a bit!
Just can't find any car hire company to hire to me!
@grahambo - seems they do, but the big international rental companies don't. :-(


@craichoe- Wouldn't mind this, cost will be shared amongst 3 - just want to find somebody who will give me a car!!

Edit: It seems easycar might cover me!!! They take from 18, just have additional charge to be paid locally.. Other suggestions would be awesome

OTK

europcar to 19 year olds in Germany but only for small cars. Last time I used Easycar abroad they turned out to be a broker for some tiny local outfit.

craichoe

cianclarke wrote: »

@Cosmo K - I'm in berlin for four days, then probably going to extend the trip to travel about a bit!
Just can't find any car hire company to hire to me!
@grahambo - seems they do, but the big international rental companies don't. :-(


@craichoe- Wouldn't mind this, cost will be shared amongst 3 - just want to find somebody who will give me a car!!

Edit: It seems easycar might cover me!!! They take from 18, just have additional charge to be paid locally.. Other suggestions would be awesome

Just something to consider, but have you ever driven a car on the continent before ? Germany is pretty complicated, compared to Belgium, france and Holland anyway. In Europe it is THE slowest way to get around a City, Personally i'd only rent a car going from City to City and would use public transport for within the region of a big city like Berlin.

Just remember the following and you'll be grand.

1. When the light is green and your turning right .. BEWARE .. its green for Pedestrians and Bikes too, they have right of way, so when turning right lookout for Bicycles and People crossing the road !

2. Make sure you don't run out of Petrol on the Autobahn (Its Illegal and carrys a hefty fine!)

3. Driving full belt on the Autobahn will use twice as much fuel as normal.

4. Check out parking restrictions when parking up, if you get ticketed the first you'll hear about it is the car rental company billing the fine to your credit card, or indeed if its a cop they will want cash on the spot.

5. Keep right .. always, on the Autobahn or on city streets, the right hand lane will usually be for straight on, unless the road markings say different.

6. When turning at large junctions make sure you drive within the lines, you might get a bit freaked out when theres traffic driving towards you turning the opposite way.

7. Use your mirrors, i cannot stress this enough, you'll be driving and have to watch out for bicycles, trams, pedestrians and mopeds/motorcycles.

8. Get a Sat Nav, you will go MENTAL trying to work out the one-way system, and up to date sat nav will save you HOURS.

9. Give your self 5 minutes to get used to the gear stick being on the wrong side, you'll inevitably find yourself waving your left hand around looking for it from time to time

10. Watch out for drifting too close to the Kerb, a common thing of sitting on the left hand side of the car is that it takes a while to get used to judging distance, just keep and eye on the right hand side and stay a safe distance out from parked cars and pedestrians, also watch it when turning corners, mind you dont clip the kerb !

Other than that, can't think of anything else. Have fun !

cianclarke

@OTK-Yeah i suspected easycar were just brokering, but that's fine once there's no hassle there - only problem might be I could want to drop the car back elsewhere.

@craichoe- Wow thanks for the advice Yeah I don't plan on driving in cities - probably going to do the rhein valley. Only renting the car once I'm done with Berlin and want to see the countryside...

Stephen

craichoe wrote: »

3. Driving full belt on the Autobahn will use twice as much fuel as normal.

QFT! I had a poxy little 1.3 JTD Fiat Idea rental car (not my choice, work rental) and pretty much emptied its tank of diesel driving from the Swiss border to Stuttgart Took it a bit handier coming back and got massively better economy from it, plus it didn't feel like it was about to explode any more.