Buying Or Leasing A Car In Greece For 6 Months...

[monte]

I need to get hold of a car in Greece from October till May to travel to the North of France and return. Does anyone know a good way to do that. Options might be long term lease, buying then selling again or hiring one each way if it can be returned in France. I figure its going to cost 1000 euro or so whatever option. Any ideas or local knowledge appreciated!

monte

[Pete7]

Taking a 747 to France would be cheaper and car hire in France quite simple.

Are you planning driving through the former Yugoslavia countries or taking a ferry from Greece to Italy and driving north?

Pete

[monte]

Dunno yet Pete, maybe a ferry to Italy from preveza so long as they allow dogs and its a fast trip. Yeah I know flights are cheaper but we have our dog with us and also its handy to have a vehicle in France. We will be in Australia from Dec-April anyway, but its nice to have a car for a month each way. Maybe theres a company that allows one way hires at a decent price and we could do a month hire each way.

[Pete7]

The alternative once in Italy is the european railway network which is extensive and although its been a while prices were cheapish.

Pete

[Pete7]

Doggy can't visit England unless kept in a car on the x channel ferry, with a pet passport and jabs within 48 hours before travel etc. Walk on ferry with doggy not available and private vessel illegal unfortunately.

Pete

[rivonia]

It will cost a lot more than a €1000. If your lucky it may be as cheap as €10 per day that is €300 per month x 6= €1800

But you will be lucky to get that rate.

peter

[monte]

I meant, if I buy a car then re sell it I will probably drop a grand or so. If I hire a car just for the trip, 2 weeks each way, about 1400...just trying to come up with a creative solution ! Most rental companies don;t allow international pick up/drop offs or they charge a fortune. One option is hire one in Italy, drive it to the French border, take it back to the nearest Italian depot and continue on in the French car. All up cost for one way, 1 week hire of each is about 700 Eu. So for 1400, maybe Im better to buy a car or borrow one from a seller and pay him 1400. Any other creative solutions would be appreciated. i.e. one way camping car return? I know in Australia you can pick those up and return the car for the company and they don't charge you a cent..

[boom23]

If you rent a car, make sure you do all the paperwork correctly and with a reputable/known company. I rented a car in Greece and they tried to charge me for damages, when there were none. I took me a while to clear it up with my credit card. I grew up in Greece and speak Greek too... They are going through some hard times in Greece.

[Yofy]

One way rentals in Greece are expensive, BUT prices vary company to company AND office to office. We rented a car in the Peloponnese this summer and wanted to drive it back and drop it off at Athens airport. We checked out several rental companies in the area where we were and they all wanted 200 + Euro's for one way to the airport. We changed plans and then found out that just down the coast in another town we could have hired a car and dropped it off at the airport for FREE.

So you really have to check around.

I think the big difference is that each rental office is privately owned, so say your local Herz office isn't related to the Herz rental office in France. They would need to send a driver to France to pick the car up.

I think you'd be better off taking the ferry to Italy and renting the car there. But I'd email around first and check out the rates beforehand.

Robyn

[goboatingnow]

You will not get 6 months rental. Leasing is the same as buying and you will have to get your own insurance.

Take the ferry/train, hire the cars locally at whatever main rail station you arrive at.

PS: its not illegal to enter the UK with an animal on a private vessel, its just that the provisions of the pet passport scheme dont apply and hence you may be subject to quaratine.

put the moggie in kennels?

Dave

[monte]

Thanks guys, hes a French dog so no problem there. Seems the most economical route is hire a car in Italy, drive to the border, pick up a french hire car and return the Italian car on the border. One way rentals from Italy to France are expensive, and I dont think Greece even has the option. We will look at wintering in Bari or nearby and doing the hire car thing. Both ways will be around 1500 EU. Other option is to buy a car but the paperwork and hassle probably aren't worth it. I liek the idea of a couple of weeks road trip back up North as well..

[nickmilon]

Hi, just registered in CF in order to be able to reply with my advice that may be you can find it helpful since I am a local.
1) Renting a car for such long period will be too expensive I am afraid.
2) Good think for U is used car of 2000 CC or more are quite cheap now in Greece (probably cheaper than any other EU country) due to a) economic crisis b) heavy taxation, so a lot on the market as a matter of fact many are exported now to other EU countries while it used to be the other way around some years ago. So it make sense of buying one in Greece drive to France and a) sell it when u are back in Greece b) sell it to an other country on your way back.
Car transfer formalities is trivial can be done in a couple of hours in any city if U R an EU citizent.
3) Feries to Italy are quite cheap during winter, although U can't catch one from Preveza but only from Patras or Igoumenitsa (both around 2+ hours drive from Preveza)
If you want to proceed with this plan, U can get some more info here:
I) best used cars online site Car.gr - (use Google translate)
II) Feries to Italy schedules/tickets: Minoan Lines Official Website - Ferries in Greece - Ferries in Italy - Online Booking - Timetables & Prices for Italy Greece Italy - Ferry Departures - Ferry Arrivals | Minoan (there are some ohters also just google)
Hope U find this info useful

Nick

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by monte

Dunno yet Pete, maybe a ferry to Italy from preveza so long as they allow dogs and its a fast trip. Yeah I know flights are cheaper but we have our dog with us and also its handy to have a vehicle in France. We will be in Australia from Dec-April anyway, but its nice to have a car for a month each way. Maybe theres a company that allows one way hires at a decent price and we could do a month hire each way.

We have flown with our dog before, to Europe and back, easy; don't know what current costs might be, but it wasn't prohibitive at the time.

We've also taken dogs about ferries and tour boats... and I'd imagine dogs on trains are relatively commonplace. (All perhaps crated and in the baggage areas, as with our air experience, but that didn't seem to be traumatic for the dogs.)

-Chris

[Wraith_Mac]

Originally Posted by nickmilon

Hi, just registered in CF in order to be able to reply with my advice that may be you can find it helpful since I am a local.
1) Renting a car for such long period will be too expensive I am afraid.
2) Good think for U is used car of 2000 CC or more are quite cheap now in Greece (probably cheaper than any other EU country) due to a) economic crisis b) heavy taxation, so a lot on the market as a matter of fact many are exported now to other EU countries while it used to be the other way around some years ago. So it make sense of buying one in Greece drive to France and a) sell it when u are back in Greece b) sell it to an other country on your way back.
Car transfer formalities is trivial can be done in a couple of hours in any city if U R an EU citizent.
3) Feries to Italy are quite cheap during winter, although U can't catch one from Preveza but only from Patras or Igoumenitsa (both around 2+ hours drive from Preveza)
If you want to proceed with this plan, U can get some more info here:
I) best used cars online site Car.gr - (use Google translate)
II) Feries to Italy schedules/tickets: Minoan Lines Official Website - Ferries in Greece - Ferries in Italy - Online Booking - Timetables & Prices for Italy Greece Italy - Ferry Departures - Ferry Arrivals | Minoan (there are some ohters also just google)
Hope U find this info useful

Nick

Welcome to the forum Nick,
Local advice is always welcome.
Cheers,
Mac

[Wraith_Mac]

Monte,
Don't know if you've made a move yet but here's an example from Nick's link:
Mercedes-Benz C 180 AMG ORIGINAL '96 -
One owner, good negotiable price, easy to work on, I can't see you "dropping a grand" when you resell it, can vouch for the model but obviously not for that particular car. LOL
Why would the paperwork be such a hassle?
Take a Greek speaker with you etc. Caveat Emptor applies everywhere of course.
It's only an example of what's available under E3K. not a suggestion etc.
Cheers,
Mac