 Poster: A snowHead
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Just looking at options for heading to my sister's place in Zell am See for Feb half term. We will probably be going midweek to midweek to co-incide with their time there and the school holidays in Schottland. Flew into Munich a few years ago for Kappl and used Hertz, who were a bit of a nightmare to be honest.
We are a family of 5 and all have our own gear, so need a big estate or Touran/Zafira type car. We had booked a large family estate with Hertz ande got (initially) a Kia Ce'ed  Eventually they sorted us out with a Zafira but took over 90 mins to resolve.
Anyway, it kinda left a bitter taste in my mouth with Hertz and want to ensure we don't get messed about again. Of the companies at Munich airport, which are the ones that do what it says on the tin, ie if I ask for a large family estate - that's what I get, not a freeking hatchback
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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boabski, I used Thrifty ( via Holiday Autos ) for my trip earlier this month and I have absolutely no complaints - especially as I booked a Compact and was actually given a Nissan X-Trail 
They had a useful 'buy all of the fuel upfront' option as well, which meant I didn't have to worry about returning the car full of fuel........
Just thinking about this though, didn't Hertz buy Dollar/Thrifty recently ???
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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boabski, Beware the Austrian police checking the vehicle documents and ripping you off for a fine! I've recently read reports where car documents were checked and the police fined the occupiers (500 Euro) because the car document did not have a second dash between the second and third number group! (here is a link to the report but you may need a translation tool to get a wee bit of sense out of it: http://www.swp.de/heidenheim/lokales/heidenheim/Falscher-Bindestrich-im-Fahrzeugschein-kostet-Fahrer-500-Euro%3Bart1168893,1593943
I know that a number of snowHeads hire cars in Germany to travel through Austria either to Austrian resorts or to ones in Südtirol. Having read the articles, I checked my car's papers and they also had no dash in the relevant place. Whilst I am fairly certain that the money will be returned, the ADAC is challenging the legality of the fine, you may have to pay up on the spot or have the car impounded. The papers are printed by the licensing authorities and you as the owner/driver, have no control over how the documents look. They are legal in Germany.
Those of us who live in Germany, and those of us in particular in southern Germany, have tried to make people aware of the fact that the Austrian police do make a point of fining German drivers, just as the German ones pick on the Austrians. I have been fined twice on the spot for apparently speeding when I was not, but was overtaken by Austrian cars in the stretch I supposedly speeding in (the cars were not in the queue ahead of me when I was pulled off. On one occasion, having been pulled over by a patrol, they actually apologised and let me drive on after seeing my British passport with the words "Sorry we thought you were a German"
If you appear to be breaking any of the traffic regulations, you can be pulled over and the papers (yours and the car's) will be asked for. Whether they fine you or not seems fairly arbitrary. But I for one will not be tempting fate in future and will be sticking rigidly to the speed limits and have my vignette up-to-date and in the right place!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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That "are they really German" thing is easily sorted:
boabski, think you got unlucky with Hertz. I usually end up with a far better car than I asked for. Just as long as you pick an on airport supplier (Hertz, Sixt, National etc) and not the one you get bussed to.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I'd better shave that rather inappropriate moustache then. Thanks for the tips. Note to self - must make sure we all wear 'Jimmy hats' and kilts
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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boabski, by the way, the train journey is fairly easy. Just a change at Worgl or Schwarzach. About 3-4 hours.
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Bode Swiller, Thanks. Did look at that but only showing 2.5 hours in car, v 2/3 changes on train. Will be travelling midweek so should avoid the cloggy rush to Austria at the weekend
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boabski, Buchbinder
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Markymark29, they're good (use them at Salzburg) but I don't think they are in the airport. I think they are a shuttle bus away in Freising or do they meet you with the car?
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| Quote: |
| They had a useful 'buy all of the fuel upfront' option as well, which meant I didn't have to worry about returning the car full of fuel.... |
Unless you are taking the car back running on the fumes, this useful option is just another of the car hire companies' rip offs - ie paying for fuel that you don't use.
We once hired a car in Lanzarote for a few days and were told it was mandatory to buy a full tank of fuel. The island was so small that it turned out to be impossible to use the fuel and it went back about 7/8 full. As I say, a rip off  .....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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boabski, I hired a Zafira last year at Munich airport. I'd actually booked a Mondeo estate but got upgraded. I used www.carhire3000.com and they were much cheaper than Hertz/Europcar etc. etc. and less excess. All based on the airport too.
Cheers
Kersh
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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boabski, At Munich Airport just make sure that the guys who do the return vehicle checks don't add on charges. I thought I'd paid/filled/checked everything prior to the return, but found the eventual bill included some unexpected items. Naughty!!
I won't use Hertz again.
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Kersh,Carhire3000 look like an agency but the cars look pretty decent, ie I could get a Volvo XC90 by the looks of things (it's what I drive and know all the gear will fit in). Do you get the car on site or do you have to get driven offsite?
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You know it makes sense.
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boabski, Out of interest how much does that cost incl winter tyres, chains, damage waiver reduction (assumed), Kaisersschmarren tax etc?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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just over £500 for 5 days hire for the XC90. A VW Caddy (7 seater and with free winterisation) is coming in at £350 which is possibly the option I would go for.
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Poster: A snowHead
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boabski, Sounds OK, would be cheaper on trains but more convenient with a van/ car I guess
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Samerberg Sue wrote: |
| Beware the Austrian police checking the vehicle documents and ripping you off for a fine! |
Although this does seem to have happened, after the publicity for this case and the ensuing discussion, I doubt it is going to happen again that the dash in the registration number/car papers will be questioned. The ADAC says (in German) that the papers are valid with or without the dash. So I wouldn't worry about it 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Timberwolf wrote: |
boabski, I used Thrifty ( via Holiday Autos ) for my trip earlier this month and I have absolutely no complaints - especially as I booked a Compact and was actually given a Nissan X-Trail
They had a useful 'buy all of the fuel upfront' option as well, which meant I didn't have to worry about returning the car full of fuel........
Just thinking about this though, didn't Hertz buy Dollar/Thrifty recently ??? |
I'd like to take back my recommendation for Thrifty. For 2 reasons. 1) There seems to have been some confusion about how much the 'fuel deal' was. I thought it was €90, they have charged me €162 , but more importantly, 2) I have received a letter today suggesting that I caused some damage to the car, which they have charged me €437 for. This is absolutely outrageous, as I definitely did not cause any damage. I have raised a complaint, and asked my credit card company to place the amount in dispute, so hopefully I won't end up paying this charge, but what a disgraceful thing to do 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Timberwolf, ouch. Thanks for digging out the old thread and bringing to my attention. Using this carhire3000 mob, so hopefully they're good.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Have a look at carhire 3000. we always use them in Munich. Dont use Sixt, they are so slow.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Timberwolf, totally agree re thrifty. they are a rip off company and nothing else. had a bmw with them for 4 days last march and did the checks before driving from airport and found 15 marks which were not listed on the rental agreement. so in total there were 20+ marks on the car. after our trip when we returned we asked for the car to be checked and the guy took 20min going over the car. we went back to the rental desk and they informed us that another scratch had been found on 1 of the alloys so they were keeping our 1000 eur deposit. we booked the car via autoeurope and reported this fraud to them and also the credit card company.
after much 2 and fro they reimbursed us approx 600 and kept 400. they also gave a photo of the alleged damage and I am honestly not exagerating when i say it was a tiny scratch about the size of my small finger nail and would not have been possible to pick up on our original inspection.
of course we should have refused the car after our initial inspection but as we have always dealt with avis and hertz and have never had a problem so we were not expecting this sort of gangster behaviour.
I have since done some research on this company and have found many similar cases some worse than ours. they have the cars with all the marks so it is not possible for anyone to find and list them all so on return of the vehicle BANG, there goes your 1000 euro deposit. autoeurope and visa were pretty useless and thankfully I had my own extra insurance with insurance4carhire.com who paid up fully after a bit of work. I fought the case as hard as possible as a matter of principle as I always knew the insurance would pay out but they got their money either way so please please please, nobody use these fraudulant f**king gansters. you have been warned. their prices are lower for a reason!!
was going to post this seperately but saw this forum so stuk it in here.
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FAQ
Have not even approached the subject yet but have started making the odd comments during conversations. As of Dec, I could have a geniune business reason to go to St Anton anyway, so should all work out 