# Car hire / purchase Italy



## cameo36 (Nov 18, 2011)

WE are retiring next year and plan to spend 6 months in Italy ( Florence area) and then 3 in France. We will need a caar, but do not want a new one, just a reliable one. Can anyone help with rental agencies for long term. Thanks. The Australians


----------



## Arturo.c (Aug 15, 2010)

cameo36 said:


> WE are retiring next year and plan to spend 6 months in Italy ( Florence area) and then 3 in France. We will need a caar, but do not want a new one, just a reliable one. Can anyone help with rental agencies for long term. Thanks. The Australians


Buying the car is out of the question, as both in Italy and France you have to be a registered resident to buy a car, unless you plan to buy a brand-new vehicle to bring back with you down under (obviously with Australian specs, right hand drive and all).

Long term renting would be the obvious choice, but all websites I checked are only in Italian and cater mostly to Italian small and medium sized businesses.

But do you think you really need a car all the time? During my first months in the UK I mostly used public transportation and rented a car only on weekends (every rent-a-car firm has interesting weekend deals). Public transportation in Italy is mostly reliable and gets you everywhere (unless you rent a farm house in the countryside), so why don't consider that option instead? You can always call a taxi if you are in a hurry...


----------



## 2012italy (Nov 26, 2011)

*car hire solution*

Hi there, have fun on your adventure. I've rented vehicles in Italy before and it can be very expensive, an alternative is this program through Renault (google: renault eurodrive; peugeot also has the same program, with better cars but you'll have to search for the link), it works out to approximately $1000/month for a new car, full insurance coverage, for 6 months...

Good luck,
DB


----------

