The price of such short-term lease is weighted on that initial block of days, a single total rate applying to the block. Another rate applies to each day beyond that block, this "additional-day" rate being much less than the per-day average cost of the initial block. Hence the longer the lease the better the deal is for you.

Naturally each vehicle has its own rate. The extremely specialized IdeaMerge software applies these rates automatically and presents you with a detailed cost breakdown before you submit an order.

The rates per se are not dependent on location and not dependent on season. Rather, the rates are set by the manufacturer near the beginning of the year and typically stay the same throughout that year. However, the rates effective for the market in your country of permanent residence are set relative to that market and the value of the Euro versus the currency of that market. Hence the rates may change considerably from year to year and occasionally within a year. Of course such rate changes are not retroactive to bookings already made.

Note that there are also pick-up and/or drop-off charges that apply to locations outside France. (The Geneva location is considered inside France.) Our online software automatically adds those charges into the total, all-inclusive price and of course includes them in the detailed cost breakdown it presents to you.

A US$300 down-payment is charged to the client's credit card upon booking the short-term lease, but that down-payment is refundable until 30 days prior to the pick-up date. The contract and a few other papers are then drafted and sent to the client. The client is meant to read and sign these documents (the terms of which are accurately, thoroughly and redundantly represented on the IdeaMerge Website) and mail them to the relevant North American office as directed.

At the 30-day threshold before the pick-up date, the entire balance is charged (by default to the same credit card), but that balance is refundable until and including the pick-up date. Upon that occasion, the client's copy of the contract is marked "PAID" and resent to the client — along with detailed directions about the pick-up and return procedures, depot locations, numbers to call, etc. If a lease is booked within said 30-day window, all the above occurs at once (the down-payment portion therefore being non-refundable but the balance of course still being refundable)....

Naturally some clients find it counterintuitive that a "lease" must be paid for upfront as such; but this is a short-term, tax-free lease — in other words, a purchase–repurchase agreement — designed for visitors to Europe. Hence, the entire cost is paid for upfront, that total amount being essentially just the difference between the implicit purchase and repurchase price. No funds change hands on the pick-up occasion or thereafter, unless during the lease the client extends the lease duration.

See our Changes/Refunds page regarding changes to your contract.

buying outright