Search Sort Posts:  Oldest to newest Newest to oldest

09/03/2010, 11:43 Chris'nJulie Joined on 10/07/2007 Correze Posts 243 Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence Does anyone know, from experience, whether it's possible to hire a van in France, the hirer being the holder of an English (paper) driving licence? We are resident here - have been for three years, and "in the system". We are not against obtaining a French licence, should anyone suggest this, it's just the time element that's important in terms of the van hire. Thanks Chris Chris & Julie Blimey, what have we done?    Report

09/03/2010, 11:49 Mr Coeur de Lion Joined on 01/05/2005 In the middle of nowhere (36) Posts 2,556 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence Yep, I've hired a van on a couple of occasions on my English paper licence. Think I took my passport for further id, but can't remember.    Report

09/03/2010, 14:17 Gardian Joined on 15/02/2006 Gard Posts 2,003 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence Just a word of warning to check out the deposit and excess arrangements if you choose to use a French hire firm rather than an international one. When I was looking in to car hire over here last Summer, I seem to remember that the deposit was hefty (no credit cards I seem to remember) and the excess was around €700 against which you couldn't pay an insurance to cover. I went with Hertz - better the devil you know! I accept entirely that my experience of the French firms may not be typical: just worth being sure about it though.    Report

09/03/2010, 14:35 Mr Coeur de Lion Joined on 01/05/2005 In the middle of nowhere (36) Posts 2,556 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence They normally accept a cheque for the excess deposit though.    Report

09/03/2010, 14:38 Chris'nJulie Joined on 10/07/2007 Correze Posts 243 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence Thanks, both, for the advice... Chris Chris & Julie Blimey, what have we done?    Report

09/03/2010, 15:29 Mr Coeur de Lion Joined on 01/05/2005 In the middle of nowhere (36) Posts 2,556 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence Oh and make sure you check the van over even more carefully than they do, because they even whinge about tiny little black marks that come off when you rub them. They are overly strict as to the condition the vehicle is returned to them in. Strictest I've ever seen.    Report

09/03/2010, 15:44 gardengirl Joined on 30/09/2007 SE UK/Gard Posts 1,246 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence We've mainly had Avis and Hertz in France. Mostly fine, but a very filthy one once from Hertz which we turned down, and one from them which had a broken left signal; we turned back and returned that also - same attempt at picking up! We found Avis excellent when we had to cancel last year when OH had flu; an immediate email asking would we like a refund or to leave it until we wanted to hire again. We'll ceertainly use them again when we can, but the garage round the corner which also hires out cars has changed over to Europcar. We've also hired a van, and it was checkd over minutely both before and after rental; definitely a fine tooth comb job! That again was our little local place; airports seem much more laid back both about faults on paintwork whenpicking up the car and also on drop off, in our experience. Good friends are like stars ...... you don't always see them, but you know they're always there.    Report

09/03/2010, 15:50 PaulT Joined on 13/09/2006 Surrey & 31 (near Boulogne sur Gesse) Posts 651 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence The last two times we have hired from Hertz at Toulouse Airport we have collected the car at about 23:00. The paperwork has shown a couple of scratches and of course it is too dark to make a thorough check. Next morning, in daylight, and the amount of damage! Fun and games reporting this. So I now avoid Hertz. Paul Was P2    Report

09/03/2010, 20:35 AnOther Joined on 05/12/2006 Mer du Nord/W of Cahors (46) Posts 7,394 Re: Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence In circumstances where inspection is impossible I've always written on the agreement 'unseen due to darkness' or whatever. I would then examine it at the earliest opportunity and immediately inform the hire company of any damage discovered. Not sure it my note would carry any weight if a situation arose but it can't do any harm that's for sure, must say that I've never had a problem though. Fortunately most of my rentals are corporate and on my companies insurance so it would not be my problem anyway  Mr Coeur de Lion wrote: They normally accept a cheque for the excess deposit though. That will of course be a French cheque, not English When everybody is saying the same thing it's usually time to ask if they know what they are saying.    Report

Page 1 of 2 (10 items) 1 2 >

France ForumLivingDriving in Fran...Vehicle hire in France, English driving licence

(please select) Forums Home |- Search Forums |- Active Topics |- Unanswered Posts User Options |- Sign In |- Join this community |- Forgot Password About This Forum (READ ONLY) |- About This Forum Moving |- Finding/Owning French Property |- Making the Move From Outside the EU |- Long-Term Letting |- Employment Vacancies in France Legal and Finance |- French Legal Issues |- French Finance Building and Renovation |- House Renovations |-- Working with Wood Living |- Earning a Living |- NEW - Money Saving Expat |- Driving in France |- French Education |- People with Disabilities in France |- Pets |- Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection |- French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone |- Health |-- Changes to Healthcare Entitlement, CPAM, CMU and Cartes Vitales |- Swimming Pools in France Owning/Running a Business |- French Artisans |- Gite Owners Forum |- Hotel and Restaurant Owners |- B&B/Chambres d'Hôtes Owners Leisure and Pastimes |- Gardening |- Sport, Leisure and Pastimes |- Shopping |- French Antiques, Arts & Crafts |- Photography in France |- Motorcycling in France |- Books and Literature |- Getting Married in France |- Pregnancy and Birth French Culture |- French Food and Wine |- French Culture |- French Language |-- French Language FAQs and Useful Links |- Wildlife/Nature/Environment |- French History Travelling to/from France |- Travelling to/from France |- Latest Good Value Deals to/from France Holidays |- Holidays General Discussion |- The Complete France Post Bag |- The Lighter Side |- Other Topics |- Forum Technical Support |- Useful Links About France/French Living Regions |- Central (Centre, Limousin, Auvergne) |- North East (Champagne-Ardennes, Lorraine, Alsace) |- North West (Basse-Normandie, Haute-Normandie, Picardie, Nord Pas-de-Calais) |- Paris Ile de France |- South East (Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur) |- South West (Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées) |- East (Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne, Franche-Comté) |- West (Bretagne, Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charente) |- Corsica and DOM-TOMs