Long Term or One Way Car Rental Europe

Driving in Europe for two weeks or more? Considering a monthly or one way car rental in Europe? A Citroën short-term tax-free auto lease in Europe may be a much better value for you than a traditional long term or one way car rental.

In many respects such leasing is even easier than renting a  car.

We arrange these European long term car rentals — namely tax-free auto leases — ranging in duration from, say, 13 days to 360 days — in France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal and England.

The longer the duration the cheaper the per day cost.

And there are no one-way rental fees per se. Within France, neither pick-up nor return entails a special surcharge, and no one-way fees apply. Pick-up or return outside France entails simply a modest delivery or return surcharge, because all the cars are delivered from France (on the back of a truck) and are ultimately returned there by Citroën (again on a  truck).

For example, travel one-way from Lisbon to Paris and the only surcharge is the Lisbon delivery fee. Travel from London to Rome and you pay the London fee and the Rome fee. Our online car lease order software works any such fees into the total cost it presents to you.

The government of France has authorized these auto leases since the 1950's. The leases are designed for tourists and for French expats.

Yes, the French and IdeaMerge make leasing a car in Europe easy.

With such tax-free short-term auto lease in Europe you get:

• a brand-new, factory-fresh car, mini-van or SUV
• precisely the model you choose
• pick-up/return in 9 European countries
• zero-deductible insurance good in some 40 European countries
• unlimited miles
• 24/7 road-side assistance, breakdown cover, and full warranty
• cheap one-way costs (if any)

All this for a price usually far cheaper than that of a typical one way or long term car rental in Europe.

Altogether France's short-term car leasing Europe program sounds too good to be true, we know. But keep digging and you'll find it is true! That's why IdeaMerge is proud to represent this Citroën Euro Pass "purchase-repurchase" (alias "buy-back") program.

But don't just take our work for it. Check out our Car Lease Customer Reviews Forum, where our average review is a whopping 4.8 stars out of 5, based on 49 recent reviews. On that page you can read our reviews and eventually post your own — with no editing by us. That's how much we believe in what we sell and how we sell it.

So, why Citroën? Of the French car brands, Citroën has the most remarkable history of innovation and revolutionary engineering and is today significantly the most avant-garde. Citroën's slogan "Créative Technologie" expresses this identity. Citroën automobiles are characterized by great spaciousness and by a verve that is quintessentially French. We love 'em, and you will too.

The short-term tax-free car leasing program was devised by the French government back in the 1950's to stimulate French tourism and the French automobile industries.

Under this program you as a visitor to Europe become the first registered "owner" of a truly brand new French automobile already fully insured with excellent, zero-deductible insurance — effective in some 40 European countries — and supported by a full factory warranty and breakdown assistance service (including a replacement-car protocol for the unlikely possibility your brand new car ends up in a repair shop).

You get precisely the car model you choose. The registration and insurance are in your name. In a sense you own the car. But you must only complete a couple pages of paperwork after booking, and make one small upfront payment commensurate with and probably cheaper than the cost of an "equivalent" car rental.

When your car lease duration ends, your ownership of the car ends. You just return the car and walk away. That's it. There's not even an inspection of the vehicle upon return, because the included zero-deductible insurance is there to take care of any and all damages that may have occurred — no ifs, ands or buts.

The vehicle can then be sold on the open market by the leasing company as a used car. It's used, yes, but of course it's still quite new. Nevertheless, a used car in France can be sold at a much lower tax rate than can a new car. Thus the short-term tax-free car leasing program puts myriad virtually new yet discounted cars on the open market in France. As you can imagine, there's great demand among the French public for those cars.

Thus you win, the French carmaker wins, the French public wins.

Such lease is often referred to as a "buy-back" agreement. The term buy-back implies negotiations and complex paperwork requirements upfront and upon return. That's not the case; you do not have to go through a buy-back process per se, and there are never any additional fees or charges beyond the upfront lease cost — which cost our online order software renders completely transparent. Instead, you merely need to complete a short contract with Citroën, which will be e-mailed to you after you submit your order. During our online order process we carefully and accurately represent all the important aspects of that contract; we don't want any surprises in it for you. You will send that contract back via e-mail, along with the requisite, scanned copy of your passport. Thus you will give Citroën the ability on your behalf to register and insure the vehicle in your name for precisely the duration of your lease.

General Requirements

The French short-term tax-free car leasing program — i.e. involving "transit temporaire" or "TT" registration — is available to persons whose permanent residence is outside the European Union (EU), whose age is eighteen years or more, and whose valid non-provisional driver's license in their country of residence has been valid for more than one year prior to their driving the lease vehicle. European passport holders living permanently outside of Europe are therefore welcome to participate in the TT leasing program. European permanent residents, on the other hand, do not qualify to obtain a TT registered vehicle. Persons who will be working or studying in the European Union during a limited stay can qualify to obtain a TT registered vehicle for that stay, but they must qualify for TT Special registration, described below. However, persons who will receive compensation (including room, board, etc) from an entity in the European Union (i.e. rather than from an entity outside the EU) during their stay in Europe do not qualify to obtain a TT registered vehicle for that stay.

As indicated above, there are two specific types of "TT" lease registration available:

Who Else Can Drive?

The following individuals are implicitly authorized to drive a TT registered vehicle: you the client (i.e. the one person whose name is on the lease contract), your spouse or domestic partner, your parents and your children, provided they too meet the general conditions of eligibility of the program (i.e. they are over 18 years of age and not a resident of the European Union). Regarding other persons — e.g. friends and indirect relatives — who also meet the general conditions of eligibility of the program, they will be considered authorized drivers of the vehicle if you are in the car with them or you otherwise authorize them to drive the car for relatively short drives (ideally in terms of a note you would sign and leave in the glove compartment of the vehicle, along with a phone number or address at which you can be reached nearby; certainly the lease holder must remain in Europe). This means the included insurance is as effective when these authorized drivers are operating the vehicle as it is when you are operating the vehicle; it also means the French police and customs officials, if they happen to check the registration and the driver's license and passport of such person and perhaps call you nearby, will be satisfied that the usage of your lease is appropriate to both the spirit and letter of the program.

License

We do not need a copy of your driver's license to book such auto lease. You only need to present your license (and your passport) upon the pick-up occasion. You do not need to present an International Driving Permit (IDP) upon the pick-up occasion.

Your domestic driver's license will suffice throughout France, provided you are at least 18 years of age (again, there is no age maximum) and have held such valid license for at least one year prior to the pick-up date.

Technically speaking, however, several other European countries require of drivers who are not European residents an International Driving Permit (IDP) as well. You should contact the relevant tourist office, consulate or embassy to determine whether a country requires you to carry an IDP while driving. A good secondary indicator in this respect is the IDP webpage posted by the UK's Automobile Association. IDP's are sold for a nominal price by your national automobile club; you don't have to be a member to buy one. Just take your domestic driver's license, two passport-sized photos and the requisite cash to the club office. Ten minutes later you'll have your IDP. Basically an IDP is a means by which police in a foreign country can know — in terms of translations in nearly a dozen different languages — that your domestic driver's license is indeed recognized as being valid by the proper authorities in your country. Is it really necessary that you obtain an IDP if you plan to drive in a country that reportedly requires one? In practice of course it depends on the particular police officer you might happen to be dealing with. The vehicle leasing company (e.g. Citroën Euro Pass) doesn't care whether or not you have an IDP; it's up to you whether you cover yourself in this regard.

For more info, submit a Search above. Our online order software will then present to you all the available lease cars, SUV's, minivans, and vans.

If you then click on a vehicle thumbnail image or on the "More Info" text link adjacent to that image, the software will present the following info specific to the lease vehicle and dates:

• vehicle specs, images, and brochures
• pricing details
• basic inclusions (e.g. insurance, 24/7 assistance, additional drivers)
• insurance (e.g. zero deductible, domain of coverage some 40 European countries)
• 24/7 assistance info and policies (e.g. repair protocol, replacement car policy)
• booking policies (downpayment and balance due date)
• pick-up and return instructions (e.g. depot location)
• change policy (e.g. return location can be changed before or after pick-up)
• cancellation policy
• extension policy (extensions are possible but pricier)
• early return refund policy (partial refund is possible)

Any optional items (e.g. child seats, roof bars) are presented during our online order process, along with selectable pick-up and return times. You would own outright any optional items you select. In other words, the optional items are for sale not for rent. But you would be welcome to simply leave them with the car when you return it.

Note too it's possible to buy your lease car outright at the end of your lease. Almost nobody does this, however, because the cars are made to European safety and environmental specs, not to the corresponding specs of North America, Australia, etc.

For a variety of information and websites related to traveling Europe by car, please visit our Resources page