I rented a Mercedes-Benz E-Class for my trip. Before picking up the car, I didn't know if it was an E200 or E220, petrol or diesel. But I did my homework beforehand, and if it was an E220, then it would be the diesel version. It turned out to be an E200, and I was a bit disappointed, as the horsepower would be lower, but there was nothing I could do about it. I checked the car and found that the latch in the bottom of the trunk was broken, causing the luggage cover inside to not close properly. I told the staff at the pick-up location that this needed to be fixed, or else I would request a different car. They said that there was only this E200 available at the moment, and asked if I would accept a different model. I said that I was used to driving a Mercedes-Benz and didn't consider other options. They quickly brought over an E220d and asked if I wanted it. Do I even need to answer that ?
Germany Q&A
I just got home today. Let me share my experience of renting a car in Italy for your reference. I picked up the car on October 6th and returned it on the 28th, a total of 22 days. I rented from AVIS for a total of 374.6 euros. They tried to sell me insurance, but I refused and said I would take responsibility for any issues. They didn't force me to buy the insurance in the end. They pre-authorized 94.86 euros on my card as a deposit. I booked a BMW 3 series, but they gave me a BMW X1 with navigation. I had heard about people getting downgraded cars before, so I didn't expect much and didn't argue about getting the X1. When I picked up the car, there were noticeable scratches on the front and back. I asked the AVIS staff to record them before I drove off, and they used a yellow marker to mark them on the contract, then circled and signed them with a black pen. The gas tank was not full, and they marked it with a stamp. The car wasn't very clean when I picked it up. When I returned the car, I made sure it was relatively clean. I told the person who received the car that all the scratches were old and showed him the previous markings. I also said that I take good care of the car, and he said I was a good renter . He told me there were no issues and I could leave. I was still worried about any potential problems, so I took new photos of the car from all angles with the date displayed. It's only been a few days since I returned the car, so I don't know if there will be any issues ?
Italy Q&A
Thank you for the reminder, it's really good advice, thank you! I'm flying in from Oslo and have been traveling in Norway before. I have a 4-night itinerary in Iceland, planning to fly in at noon and stay in Vik that night, then visit the black sand beach in the morning of the second day and go glacier hiking in the afternoon, staying at a hotel near Jokulsarlon glacier that night, visiting the ice lake and ice beach on the third day and driving back, passing through Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss along the way, staying at Selfoss that night, sightseeing in Reykjavik city and visiting the Blue Lagoon on the fourth day, staying near the airport that night, and taking an early morning flight to Stockholm on the fifth day. If I don't have time to see the attractions of the Golden Circle on the first day, is it possible to fit them in on the fourth day, or should I only choose one or two attractions of the Golden Circle, or give them up altogether? Thank you for your guidance, I really appreciate it ?
Iceland Q&A
Yesterday, I rented a car from Europcar at Frankfurt Airport. I had booked a Golf estate car and requested a diesel vehicle in the notes of my reservation. However, I was given an Opel estate car, which was diesel and automatic, and I had to pay a pre-authorization deposit of over 800 euros. The trunk could only fit two 28-inch suitcases and one 24-inch suitcase, along with some backpacks. The cover for the trunk couldn't be pulled up, and the luggage was exposed. Additionally, the previous renter had clearly broken one of the clips on the cover, so I took photos as evidence. I'm not sure if having exposed luggage will cause any issues when I go to Poland. Yesterday, I drove 400 kilometers, and the fuel gauge showed that I had used almost half of the fuel ?
Poland Q&A
Istanbul is really quite chaotic, everyone must be careful with their property. We arrived on the evening of the 15th, and on the 16th day yesterday, when we recharged our bus card at Taksim subway station, we were forcibly replaced. The situation was like this. We planned to recharge 100 lira, which was two 50-yuan notes. The first recharge was successful, and then when we recharged the second 50 yuan, the money was spit out several times. Suddenly, a man reached out his hand directly to take our card and walked towards the recharge machine behind us, telling us that we had to go to another recharge machine to recharge. I instinctively reached out to grab our card, but he avoided my hand and didn't let me grab it because he was tall and I couldn't grab it. In just a few seconds, when we got to the other recharge machine, he returned the card to us. Because there was someone recharging, we waited for a while, and then when the card was put on the machine, we found that the card had been replaced with an empty card. Fortunately, there was still some money left. After that, we felt quite afraid all the way, and reminded everyone to be careful with their property ?
Turkey Q&A
We arrived in Paris on the 13th and stayed for 6 days, then drove to Fontainebleau, Lyon, Nice, Monaco, Genoa, Florence, and arrived in Rome yesterday. We were on edge the whole way... First of all, the temperature here is not hot. The wind is quite cold. We have to wear down jackets and woolen hats to keep warm. It is not recommended to drive in the city of Paris. It is difficult to find parking spaces on the road surface. The entrances and exits of underground parking lots are too narrow and difficult to find. Navigation mainly relies on the map built into the Apple phone, which is actually a collaboration with Tom Tom and is very accurate. The maps we downloaded at home are not very reliable, including Google Maps. We were misled several times, even guided to a snow-covered mountain road at night. Maybe it's because we didn't enter the address accurately. Remember to enter the postal code of the region. Google Play needs to be installed to have offline maps, so you must have wireless WiFi. The high-speed rail here is very fast. France is 130 and Italy is 110. I think this is the lowest speed. There will always be cars following me to drive. After all, the car company gave me a top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz E200 station wagon, black German license plate, which is too eye-catching. This caused me to park in the underground garage and dare not park on the road, for fear that my car windows would be broken and my bag would be stolen. All overtaking must be done from the left side, and then the left lane must be given up. It is forbidden to occupy the left lane for a long time. Right-hand overtaking is strictly prohibited, which is very dangerous! Highways need to prepare some 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1, and 0.5 euro banknotes and coins in advance. Do not enter the electronic payment channel by mistake. France and Italy have many dark tunnels that are relatively narrow. Overtaking and turning do not slow down. It feels like you're driving a race car, so small cars are popular here. Their control performance is good. Remember not to rent big cars! My Mercedes-Benz is too long, and the city control is really a bit difficult. Those streets, tunnels, and parking lot passages are really narrow! Bring fewer luggage when you go out ?
France Q&A
I'm still working hard to get back the cost of a tank of gas. On the way back from the South Island to Auckland, I took half a day to go to Muriwai Beach and spent half a day looking for a rental car company near the airport. I found a Corolla for 480 yuan with full insurance. When I picked up the car, the salesperson tried to sell me an additional 27 New Zealand dollars of insurance, but I ignored her. When I looked inside the car, the fuel tank only had enough fuel to run 121 kilometers. I told her about it, and she said it was no problem as long as I returned the car with an empty fuel tank. Since the pickup and return process had gone smoothly before, I didn't think much of it. When I returned the car the next morning, there was still enough fuel in the tank to run for more than 130 kilometers. But as soon as I arrived at the airport, I received information that I had been charged 134.11 New Zealand dollars, and when I asked, it turned out to be for fuel. Can you imagine where the credibility comes from ?
New Zealand Q&A