Car hire

Car hire companies

The following companies offer car hire in Germany:

Sixt - a popular car rental agency in Munich. They are a nationwide German company and are currently continuing to expand throughout Europe and the world. They have 10 pick-up and drop-off points in Munich. These are at the airport, the Arabella Sheraton hotel in Bogenhausen, Karlsplatz Stachus, the Hauptbahnhof, North, East (24 hr), Günwald, West, city center (Lehel), and Ottobrunn. Sixt usually have very good weekend rates. The best thing to do is see their website and enter your requirements for a quote: www.sixt.de

Holiday Autos - They are like a travel agent but for car rental only. You still get your car with a known company such as National, Europcar, or Hertz, but is often cheaper. The price with Holiday Autos includes all insurances and they even pay the damage excess should you have an accident. All rental companies charge you €500 plus for damage but Holiday Autos pay that for you. Telephone 01805 179192 or see their website: holidayautos.de

Europcar - they have an office at the airport. They also have special deals at the weekend and the rates can be pretty cheap. Telephone (+49) 089 9735020 for their office at the airport.

Hertz - A worldwide company with their headquarters in the USA. Their prices are usually legit - i.e. you end up paying what you are quoted - and the default rental package includes everything you need - theft insurance etc.

Avis was founded in 1946 and has been operating in Germany since 1965. As one of the leading car rental companies worldwide, the Avis fleet averages 350,000 cars in 161 countries. The German Headquarters is located in Oberursel/Taunus and its network counts 340 stations and an average of 22,700 cars per year.

National / Alamo - National Car Rental (on Einsteinstrasse) has a special daily rate of 28€ (including all taxes and insurance) for a VW Golf. This means if you pick up the car on Friday say at 6:30pm and return it on Sunday 6:30pm you would pay a grand total of 56€ including all taxes and insurance. This is not a corporate price...anybody can call up and reserve a car. This is the best deal I've found in Munich so far. See more: Cheap Car Rental from National

Super cheap car hire

Sixt offer a super cheap deal on their "Smart" cars. Rates are €5 per day. Note that these cars are tiny - they have room for a driver and one passenger only. The rental is also restricted to within Munich - i.e. restricted mileage.

Laudamotion - have Smart's for €1 per day. This works because the cars are covered with advertising and that is how they make their money. Again, the mileage is very limited so it's only possible to drive within the city. The company was set up by Niki Lauda, the Austrian Formula 1 ex-racing driver.

Avisbasic - it is easy to see the price you are going to pay but they are closed at the weekend, so they charge for a 3 day hire. They also ask for 15 euros to clean the car when you return it, but a carwash only costs 5 euros which is the cheap option. The astra estate is great for skiing.

Navicar - They seem very cheap if you book a bit in advance, as cheap as €9 a day.

interrent.de - €9 per day. But they only offer Golfs. Prices look good however, even taking into account extras like cleaning.

Buchbinder - advertised as 'from €29 per day'

Traumcar - Quite cheap if you stick with the limited kilometres (100 or 300) options

Autovermietung Kiel - Fritz Will - you can rent a moving van in Kiel/ Germany for 31 Euro.

Van hire

Many of the car hire companies listed above also do van hire. Those which are confirmed to do van hire are Europcar and Sixt. The cheapest and most popular van-hire company is Buchbinder, which specialises in vans and trucks of all sizes. Half-day rentals are generally also possible.

See also the TT chat topic: Van hire / rental

Travel to Eastern Europe

It's a well known fact that many rental car companies restrict travel to certain countries like, particularly those in the East such as the Czech Republic. Some companies also restrict travel to Italy. This is because the cars are considered more vulnerable to theft or damage there.

Companies which allow travel to Eastern Europe:

Swing
Europcar
Sixt (but not all of their cars)

Companies which restrict the travel destinations are:

Holiday Cars

Other alternatives

See TT site search for further related chat topics: Car hire in Germany

Instead of renting, how about car sharing?

Germany