Great video- I have rented to visit in Germany over the past 25+ years. Difference between USA vs Germany. In the US you an itinerary for 8 days, if you return the car earlier, will only be charged for the duration of the time you had the car. During my last visit to Germany, I had to leave after a day. The rental company Avi’s charged me for the entire duration of itinerary (9 days), and early drop off fee.
Thanks! Great topic. Two things, ALWAYS check the car… cannot be overstated. For experience, I got a certificate from my home country supporting my years of experience and wrote to the companies to make a case. It has been well so far.
Great video! One suggestion for a new video: types of car purchases. Here in Germany leasing options are more similar of what we call renting in Latinamerica but there is a bit more complicated with initial payments, some include insurance, others don’t, etc…
One hint for those that have less than one year in the German drivers license: apparently the short-term rentals like DB Flinkster does not apply this rule and you can drive right away, even booking the car for quite some time. Might be more expensive than regular renting, though you don’t have to pay for the fuel, it’s included.
I have Citi Bank Visa, and it does cover car rental. I guess I have to check with them. The card does cover car rental but need to make sure it is ok in Germany, Italy, b/c we don't want painful surprise.
Miles is a so-called car-sharing company, usually used for short-term rides within a city. It's currently available in 12 big cities in Germany. Their cars are typically used by people who don't own a car for shopping trips or for transporting large goods (they have vans).
There may also restrictions about which cars you can take where. Back when I rented a car in Germany to go to Poland on a business trip, there was a specific information, that cars from Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen are not allowed to be taken there. So I had to get a Renault... That was back in 2017, not sure if that is still the case.
Thanks for warning to check the car. Checking a car is time consuming, especially it is difficult at night. I take a picture of the car from all sides just in case. I hope when needed those photos will be helpful somehow. So far I rented a car in hourly basis, maybe you could do video about it as well. About my experience with hourly rating: 1. They are in more locations than daily rent cars. Very convenient! 2. You pay subscription price around 5-20 euros monthly 3. You can book time, but if you bring the car earlier you will still get charged. I dont know exactly but it is around half of the regular hourly price for the unused time. 4. If you cancel booking in less than 24 hours before booking start time then the same rule applies, they charge you. If cancel it +24 hours before booking starts then you dont pay fine. 5. If your booking time is 10:00 then you can open a car around 09:55 and use that time to check the car.
@@simplegermany I registered to ShareNow but never used it. Also there is a Stadtteilauto in my town which I use frequently because its stations are close to me. I guess there is company named Cambio in Dusseldorf which is partner of Stadtteilauto.
Also, just to note that renting a car in Germany, you're not able to choose what specific car you want to drive. It's defined as the same vehicle class, so whatever picture of the car model you see on the website, ot is not necessarily that you get the same car, but the same class. In other countries, ypu might be able to choose what exact car model you want to rent.
Anyone with less than one year on their German License, can together show the ADAC translation (or whichever translation they used for the license exchange in Fahrerlaubnisbehörde) along with German license to show 1+ years of experience. I have used this a lot of times until my German license was a year old.
Same here, I am from Turkmenistan. I registered at Sharenow and stadteilauto companies where you can rent a car in hourly basis. At that time I had driver license for less than a year. When registering I provided them copy of my old driver license which was accepted. Note that you can also get a document from the traffic office saying that your old driver license is replaced, which also may be accepted for 1+ experience.
Hi thanks for sharing your experience. Could you please tell us if we file a claim to rental cover for any damage does it have any impact on insurance for our own cars?
I booked a VW T-Roq from Sixt and once I got an upgrade to Mercedes e class and the other time an Audi Q2 Waiting to get a BMW the next time😂 P.S. the VW was not available hence I got Lucky Also I was able to use my German license before one year experience
I also book with SIXT and got upgraded or downgraded sometimes. Another reason i choose SIXT is because of some of the issues raised in the video, especially on checking for damage before drive, SIXT does this in a different way they have the damages already showing in their app and this makes it easy to confirm. Then on return you get to see your damages to the car once they have inspected it, this may take 1 - 2 days. Also they take new drivers so don't be scared while booking for new drivers.
With SIXT sth i would give as a tip for my case is booking early or going with a flex pricing this helps alot because the price hikes can be crazy at times. Their app is also a good addition to the process. Returning the car is also easy and the keybox drop off is automated, you get a notification via mail once you drop off the car, showing the time and your Receipt too.
so if i have more than 7 years of driving experience in my non EU, home country, they wont count? and i have to wait one whole year to be able to rent a car?
If someone from family member gets driving license recently, is there anything i have to do with the insurance company that this person can drive my car?
Yes, double check whether your car insurance limits who can drive your car. You can usually define that during your purchase. For us for example, only Jen and I are allowed to drive our car, but my dad's car anyone is allowed to drive.
@@simplegermany I gave in my original license before I even wrote my theory exams. So I did everything completely just as Germany does for new license applicants/ approvals
@@simplegermany it’s possible. Also I heard that since I had an old license which showed that I have driven for more than 5 years in my home country, automatically I do not have probation of two years in Germany. I don’t know how true but yes I think I agree 80%. This was not stated in my license though.
@@simplegermany i already did. But I found out a muchhh better solution. I would buy a cheap running car (something like an old VW Polo, Opel Corsa,..) including TÜV for less than 1k. I won't care abt miles limit, beat the hell out of it, not worrying abt scratches or my friends scratching the seats! Use it for a month or 2, then just list it and resell it. Money back!! Maximum loss would be 200-300 euros. Which is wayyyy less than renting a car, anddd hassle free!! Only note is to have ADAC membership just in case something goes wrong. Most of us do have it, even for bicycle road assistance, it's like 50Euros per year. Now how about that? 🤣
Great video- I have rented to visit in Germany over the past 25+ years. Difference between USA vs Germany. In the US you an itinerary for 8 days, if you return the car earlier, will only be charged for the duration of the time you had the car. During my last visit to Germany, I had to leave after a day. The rental company Avi’s charged me for the entire duration of itinerary (9 days), and early drop off fee.