Car
Car hire in Germany
By Jon Darch
Sep 25, 2004, 22:41

All the big car hire names Most major car hire companies are represented in Germany, including Europcar, Sixt, easyCar and VW's no frills car hire firm InterRent.    With only one model (VW Golf), taking online bookings only and using sites in secondary locations, InterRent can offer cheap daily car hire rates from € 8.99 (about £6!).

Photo courtesy of Avis

Key car hire words If you're going out to the World Cup and plan to look for cheap car hire when you get to Germany, signs that you will need to look for include Autovermietung (car hire) and Mietwagen (hire cars).  Other words you may need to know are Haftpflichtversicherung (obligatory third-party insurance) and Vollkaskoversicherung (fully comp.).  Car hire tips Driving licence Make sure you have the original copy of your driving licence with you - car hire firms in Germany will generally not accept photocopies. If your licence is in two parts (e.g. a card and a document), you should take both parts with you. 24-hour car hire billing periods Most care hire companies charge by the 24-hour period, so for the lowest price try to work the system by returning your car late in the last of these rather than a few minutes after the end of any such period. Vehicle damage Note that you will be asked to sign a form confirming that the car has no marks on it, or confirming those that the car hire company already knows about. If the car hire agent does not check out the car with you, do so yourself and return to the hire desk immediately if you spot any marks that haven't already been recorded - otherwise you could be in for a hefty surcharge later on! Hazard warning triangles  Traffic legislation in Germany requires that every car carries hazard warning triangles - check these are present before driving off. Fill the tank! After you've seen your final World Cup game, return the car with a full tank of fuel to avoid being charged at a much higher rate for it being filled up by the car hire firm. Driving in Germany  For general tips on driving in Germany while your out there for the World Cup, see our driving in Germany page.