Car Leases Europe Car Leases Europe Auto Lease Europe France

A great alternative to long-term or one-way car rental in Europe!

Click here to order your short-term car lease from IdeaMerge.

All short-term tax-free car lease total prices include unlimited kilometers and insurance effective in some 30 European countries. The insurance consists of liability protection and zero-deductible (i.e. zero-excess) collision, fire, theft-of-vehicle, vandalism, and so-called act-of-God cover, along with a modicum of bodily-injury cover for car occupants. (Because these leases are not rentals, there is no option to decline the insurance coverage.) Also included are factory warranty and 24/7 assistance. Yes, these leases are tax-free. Furthermore there is no charge for additional, qualifying drivers — and generally no surcharges apply. If you pick-up and/or drop-off outside France certain pick-up and/or drop-off charges apply (our software figures them into the price); nevertheless these French car leases are a cheap way to effect a one-way car rental in Europe.

The cars are brand new, test-driven but otherwise straight from the factory. You get precisely the car you choose. When considering a diesel car, recall that in continental Europe and Scandinavia the cost of fueling a diesel averages nearly 40 percent less than the cost of fueling its gasoline-powered counterpart. Here's another advantage of short-term leases over rentals: we can guarantee you a diesel car if you choose one.

The rates are set yearly, are guaranteed in your currency, and are not dependent on season. The longer the term of the lease the lower the total cost tends to be relative to a car rental.

what are the car lease leadtimes?

The following are the leadtimes typically required to arrange such lease, per pick-up location. IdeaMerge may be able to arrange more urgent pick-ups, however.

Paris city and Paris airports: 21 calendar days
the rest of France: 22 calendar days
Brussels or Frankfurt: 23 calendar days
other pick-up locations: 30 calendar days

car leasing europe car lease
pictured is the Renault Kangoo

who qualifies?

Persons who can claim residence outside the European Union, who are 18 years of age or older, and have had a valid drivers license for at least one year qualify for a tax-free short-term car lease, which France designates with a "TT" (Transit Temporaire) registration. No maximum age limit applies. Tourists qualify for up to 170 days. Students and educators typically qualify for up to 355 days, as do certain employees undertaking a limited engagement in Europe. (Click here to learn more about this longer-duration, so-called "TT Special" registration.) Simply put, the lease plan is designed for visitors.

The pick-up date should be such that no one-year time-window involving that date — whether terminally, initially or otherwise — also contains more than 185 days during which the client was/is/will be in the European Union; the notable exception being TT Special registration, in which case the one year duration involving the pick-up date as its initial day may contain up to 365 days (366 if a leap day is involved) which the client expects to spend in the European Union. … In terms of the lease booking process the 185-day constraint is effectively an “on your honor” thing unless there is an ineluctable record — i.e. another such lease or leases in the client's full name (in contrast to, say, the client's spouse's name) and effective within the one year duration immediately prior to the pick-up date — which particular record would during said process seem to contradict a client’s statement in this respect. In other words, unless there is a pre-existing lease that’s in the client’s own full name and effective within the one year duration immediately prior to the pick-up date and seemingly in violation of the letter or spirit of said 185-day rule, no such record should be thought to exist. A client’s passport will of course bear a unique stamp for each day s/he enters or exits the European Union, but the inner pages on which these stamps are placed are not viewed as part of the lease booking process. Only French Customs officials in France might view those pages with regard to the lease. Such officials are not stationed at the pick-up/return depots, nor are they any longer typically stationed at major or minor roadway entry/exit points to/from France. They are mostly stationed at airports and seaports, although to some small degree they do patrol the roads of France.

By the way, a client may not have two or more TT or TT Special car leases in his or her own name the durations of which leases overlap.

benefits

Pictured is the Renault Scenic. (The sunroof is not a guaranteed feature.)

With French tax-free short-term auto leasing …

You get a specific brand-new, factory-fresh car

unlimited kilometers

zero-deductible collision/fire/theft insurance effective in some 30 countries (listed by our online order software)

24/7 toll-free English-speaking phone assistance

24/7 roadside assistance Europe-wide

full factory warranty

one-ways are no problem: pick-up in one country and return in another

no hidden or last-minute charges

It's all virtually as easy as a car rental — and in some important senses it's easier.

You pay entirely upfront (usually 30 days ahead of the pick-up), the amount being only the difference between the implicit purchase and repurchase prices.

No taxes will apply. (In contrast, so-called value-added tax — ranging up to 20 percent and more — must be paid on all car rentals in Europe.)

No airport pick-up/drop-off surcharges apply. Although there are delivery/return charges associated with locations outside France, our online software factors those charges into the exact cost it computes. Depots are present throughout France and in England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

No additional-driver charge(s) apply.

Such lease is a sure way of getting a super-high-fuel-economy diesel car. (Diesels in Europe cost 30–40 percent less to keep fueled than do their gasoline-powered counterparts.)

No maximum customer age applies; and the minimum age is 18 years (if you've had your driver's license for at least one year). Rental companies, in contrast, typically require customers to be no older than 70 years, and at least 23, or even 25.

You can buy the car outright at the end of the lease, if you like.

We know the above list is long and generally seems too good to be true, but keep digging through the IdeaMerge Website and you'll learn it is true!

why choose IdeaMerge to book such lease?

For starters, the IdeaMerge rates are identical to or less than our vendors' rates. No padding of rates here. The contrary is true. Nevertheless we fully and profoundly embrace our role as broker, treating our clients and our vendors equally with great respect. It's a winning formula. In choosing IdeaMerge you gain the leverage that only such a fair, successful and expert go-between can offer. We're your advocate if something goes wrong. Our Website attests to our work ethic, our consequent expertise and our thoughtful nature. As you can discern, we are the industry leader when it comes to representing tax-free short-term European car leases and worldwide motorhome rentals. What's more, you'll be pleased to discover that our remarkably responsive and personable e-mail and phone support keep pace with — and perhaps even outdistance — our other proficiencies.

But don't just take our word for it. Please peruse (and eventually add to) our French car leasing customer reviews. Note that clients post the reviews directly to those pages. That's how much confidence we have in what we represent and how we represent it.

At IdeaMerge, customer service is more than a concept — it's an ethic.

who can drive the car?

Many people wonder if their partner or partners can drive the car. Strictly speaking, French tax-free car registration entails the following constraint (embellished with bracketed comments by IdeaMerge): "Apart from the holder of the car registration document [i.e. you the person in whose name the car is registered], only the spouse, the co-habitee (with documentary proof of living together, or an affidavit [i.e. to that effect, signed by a notary public]), and direct ascendants [i.e. parents] and descendants [i.e. children] if they satisfy the necessary conditions to benefit from the same TT regime [i.e., basically, reside outside the European Union and are 18 years old; and relative to registration that is TT special, if they too would qualify for such registration] may pick-up the car." [The term "pick-up" implies that such persons are generally qualified to drive such car without being accompanied by other such persons. However, please note that a "proxy" form must be submitted to specifically qualify someone other than you, the person in whose name the car is registered, to pick-up the car in your absence.] Apart from the pick-up occasion, this limitation is enforceable in France only and by French Customs officials only (not by regular French police nor other police nor by customs officials of other countries). In spirit this constraint is meant to withhold from persons whose main residence is in Europe the benefits of tax-free car registration. Almost only with respect to that spirit might the constraint be enforced by French Customs. The insurance is a separate issue: the insurance is effective no matter who is driving, provided the car is being driven within the geographic domain of the insurance. If a friend, say, were to grab your keys, jump in your car, and drive it into a flying buttress of Germany's Cologne cathedral, the insurance would be effective relative to this incident. Similarly, if while on a particular driving excursion in France one or more of the aforementioned qualified drivers happened to become incapacitated (e.g. by illness) yet remained in the car, another companion (e.g. friend) could drive the car in their stead without violating the terms of the car's registration and insurance.

european union

Member states of the European Union are the following: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

can you decline the insurance?

As you likely know, credit card companies typically cover the cost of damage to a rental car if you use their card to pay for the rental. However, this coverage &mdash which, by the way, is usually limited to a duration of 30 days for rentals abroad — does not apply to auto leases, including these tax-free short-term leases. To save you the hassle of buying your own insurance for the leased car, and to largely avoid the hassle of insurance disputes, extremely good zero-deductible insurance coverage has been woven in to the price of these leases. There is no option to decline any aspect of this insurance. Of the thousands of lease clients IdeaMerge has served over the years, not one has reported a problem with respect to this insurance.

why are these car leases tax free?

The answer is very interesting. The manufacturer does make some small profit in selling one of these leases to you, but their major profit comes after you return the car, when they in turn sell the car to a rental company or to a private buyer on the open market. You see, there is a law in France that applies a considerably lower sales tax to cars which have (on paper at least) been owned for a minimum of 17 days. Renault, for one, enforces a slightly longer, 21-day minimum (again, on paper at least) for its leases.

The short-term auto lease program allows the likes of Renault to put many thousands of such cars on the market, thus lowering the effective cost of their cars compared to the international competition, and hence increasing sales. Of course the French government likes to see its major manufacturers selling literally lots of cars, and it likes to encourage tourists to visit France, so it extends a separate law to make these leases tax-free on the condition that only non-full-time-residents (in contrast to citizens) of France may purchase such lease.

what are the max durations?

pick-up location	typical (tourist) tt registration	tt special registration
france (except brest and rennes), brussels and frankfurt	170 days	355 days
brest and rennes	165 days	350 days
munich and london	155 days	340 days
other depots	165 days	350 days
Our online software checks these maximums against the pick-up location and the pick-up and drop-off dates you enter.

what is TT Special registration?

If you are going to Europe not as a tourist but rather on paid assignment or paid sabbatical or to study at an accredited institution, you likely do qualify for a tax-free short-term French auto lease — but you must apply for TT "Special" registration by way of three additional, one-page forms which will be provided by IdeaMerge. See, for instance, Renault's IMD2, IMD3 (or IMD4 for students) and IMD8 forms at bottom of the Resources page. Such registration, however, entitles you to a longer duration lease, as described below.

The process of completion and approval of said three additional forms may add a week or so onto the aforementioned leadtime associated with the lease arrangement. On two of those forms, you will need to get company or university officials to attest that the anticipated duration of your stay in Europe does not exceed one year. Moreover, in regard to a paid assignment or a paid sabbatical, that pay should essentially be from the non-European-based business unit or institution.

TT Special registration qualifies you for a short-term lease duration according to the maximums listed above.

what is the minimum duration?

You can reserve a tax-free short-term leased car for less than a minimum number of days, but you have to pay for the minimum. The minimum for a Renault short-term lease is 21 days.

what are the rates?

The price of such short-term lease is weighted on the aforementioned initial block of 21 or 17 days, a single total rate applying to that initial 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 car 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 the value of the Euro versus the currency of your 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.

why so many diesel cars?

These days over 60 percent of the new cars sold in Europe are diesels. This percentage continues to climb. Why? For one thing, diesel fuel in Europe costs about 20 percent less than gasoline. (Visit Ireland's Automobile Association (AA) Website for an up-to-date listing of fuel prices.) What's more, a diesel engine runs about 30 percent more efficiently (and lasts longer, for it has far fewer parts) than its gasoline-powered counterpart. Hence you save close to 40 percent fuel-wise by going with a diesel.

And IdeaMerge can guarantee you a diesel car if you select one for your short-term lease.

In a diesel engine, the fuel — which inheres more free energy than gasoline — is pressurized in a "common rail," an intake pipe leading to all cylinders. Electronically controlled injectors allow a precise amount of vaporized fuel to squirt into the cylinders. Consequently diesel engines offer great work capacity — which is of course good for larger cars, heavy loads and mountain driving — and they consume less fuel while in like measure producing less exhaust.

Admittedly, diesel exhaust long ago gained a reputation for being sooty and smelly. (As if gasoline doesn't smell too!) Yet certain other important pollutants — especially sulfates — have always been considerably less present in diesel exhaust than in gasoline exhaust. And technological improvements in diesel-engine efficiency and especially in the filtering of diesel exhaust have rendered the diesel engines of today considerably more eco-friendly than gasoline engines. Gone is the remarkable sootiness. Gone, too, is the darned glow plug (in contrast to spark plug); now you can start a diesel as quickly as a gasoline engine. Moreover, all these Renault diesels are turbo charged such that their acceleration approximates that of gasoline-powered cars.

Given the native demand for diesel engines in Europe, diesel fuel is available there wherever gasoline is available, and the diesel fuel is of a higher grade than that sold in the United States. Likewise, fuel stations in Europe provide diesel pumps on the same service islands as the gasoline pumps. The pumps are color-coded and the nozzles unique, so it is virtually impossible for someone to mistakenly put gasoline in a diesel car, or vice versa. Plastic gloves are even provided so you need not dirty your hands!

In step with the increasing popularity of hybrid cars, diesels are becoming more popular and more available in North America. In particular there's quite a buzz about biodiesel fuel. You might do well to consider your lease of a Renault (or Nissan) diesel car a nice, long test drive of a modern diesel passenger car.

By the way, have you heard about the alliance between Renault and Nissan?

what are the fuel costs and issues?

In most European countries the price of diesel is about 20 percent less than that of gasoline. In the UK and Spain, however, diesel costs virtually the same as gasoline; in Ireland it costs about 15 percent less. In Switzerland and Slovenia, diesel is more expensive than gasoline.... As noted above, diesel engines are about 30 percent more efficient than gasoline engines. Therefore in most countries you end up saving about 40 percent on your fuel costs if you drive a diesel rather than a gasoline-powered car.

Please visit Ireland's Automobile Association (AA) Website for an up-to-date listing of fuel prices. (Remember, 1 US Gallon = 3.79 Liters.)

Note how cheap fuel typically is in Andorra and Luxembourg relative to surrounding countries; how it's much cheaper in Spain than in France; how it's more expensive in Switzerland; how it's much cheaper in Ireland than in the UK; and how it gets progressively more expensive from Germany to Denmark to Sweden to Norway.

Fuel is much more expensive at stations along the expressways. Supermarkets along main roads at the edges of towns sell the cheapest fuel in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. In France the main supermarket chains are Mammoth and Intermarche; in Germany the main chain is Spar; in the Netherlands it's Mamoet. The governments of Italy and Spain and Eastern Europe regulate fuel prices; all stations have the same price, so don't waste your time shopping for fuel in these countries.

Pump your own fuel, or make it a habit to check that the attendant doesn't cheat you. (Check that he zeroes the pump before he pumps your fuel.) If you pay with a credit card, be sure the receipt is accurate. Some stations require that you pay not inside at a counter but outside at a booth upon driving out of the station area. (Although increasingly you can pay by inserting a credit card in a machine near the pumps.) If this is the case and a line of cars forms at the pay booth, you may have to wait to pump your fuel until the person who preceded you at the pump pays for theirs. Especially when dealing with such setups, note the total fuel charge on the pump so the attendant at the booth can't overcharge you; sometimes the attendants depend on your honesty and let you quote the total to them at the booth. In hot weather, fill up early in the morning or late in the evening when the air is cooler: the fuel will be more dense then, and thus you'll get more fuel for your Euro (or whatever). If a pump's nozzle won't fit in your tank, you're mistakenly trying to put leaded gas into a car that requires unleaded. A green pump holds unleaded fuel, a blue leaded. LPG pumps always occupy their own island.

You might make it a practice to fill up when the fuel level dips to a quarter of a tank, but fuel stations are so plentiful that the chances of unexpectedly finding yourself low on fuel and far from a station are very low. If, however, you're careless enough to come close to running out of fuel, try the following technique: accelerate very slowly to 33 km/h, turn off the ignition and move the gear to neutral, let the car slow to 8 km/h, start the engine, repeat. This trick can double or even triple fuel efficiency, but it's a trick that won't work if your steering wheel locks when the ignition is off — and it can be dangerous and illegal.

can you buy the car?

pictured is the Renault Mégane coupé/convertible

If you like, you can purchase your car at the end of your lease. All you have to do is contact Paris at the relevant phone number listed in the Traveling Instructions booklet (provided in the car) at least 8 days prior to the termination of your lease. The manufucturer will arrange for 2 weeks worth of temporary registration and insurance (appending to the end of your lease duration) while further assisting you in regard to financing.

The car will be a European-spec model, so you shouldn't plan to export it to, say, North America. However, the full cost of your lease (not including any pick-up and/or drop-off charges that might apply) will be subtracted from the sticker price of the car (more precisely, the portion of that price not including the French 18.6 percent value-added tax, VAT), and that remaining amount would be the amount you would owe (plus VAT on only that reduced amount). The standard, EUR sticker price (including VAT) for a particular version of a particular model can be gleaned from www.renault.fr. If you do buy the car outright, you will have to pay relative to the sticker price of the particular car you receive. That car may happen to come with certain bells and whistles which are not guaranteed features of the model in terms of the short-term leasing contract. Of course extras of this sort add no cost to the lease, but if you choose to purchase the car outright you will be charged for them.

Now, when you figure that (a) the insurance for the duration of such lease is included in the lease cost (a good value in Europe, where the cost of insurance is typically twice what it is in, say, the United States of America), and (b) that the cost of the lease would be subtracted from the pre-tax price of the car, and (c) that the lease duration would effectively be a nice long test drive, and (d) that you can return the lease early if you like, perhaps eventually receiving a refund for unused days, then this option becomes pretty attractive if you plan to keep a car in Europe.

renault–nissan?

The recent history of Renault can be fairly described as consisting of three acts: restructuring (1981–1995), privatization (1996–1999), and the Renault–Nissan alliance (2000–present). Actually signed on 27 March 1999, the alliance is largely defined in terms of cross-shareholding, with Renault owning a 44.4 percent stake in Nissan, and Nissan a 15 percent stake in Renault. The Renault–Nissan alliance commands about 9.6 percent of the relevant global market share — fourth largest, behind GM, Toyota and Ford. In 2006 Renault–Nissan and GM nearly agreed to form a similar alliance. For the time being that deal has fallen through. Nevertheless many automobile industry observers think that Renault hopes to re-enter the US market in terms of such alliance, perhaps now with Ford instead.

Renault in and of itself commands the largest share of the European passenger car and light commerical car market: about 10.8 percent. And Renault leads the way saftey-wise, with the most models — 8 — honored with the coveted 5-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.

In this light, by choosing to travel Europe in a brand-new Renault you're choosing to sample a big part of the global future.

europe wide?

car leases europe

Renault Clio: Car of the Year 2006

europe car leases

The availability of mechanical service is a prime concern for anyone endeavoring to drive abroad.

Renault literally seems to be everywhere in Europe — especially in terms of their famed Renault minute garages.

Renault garages are present every ten or twenty miles from Portugal to Italy to Germany to Norway to Britain, and, of course, in France. The presence of the competition is nowhere near as obvious.

In fact Renault has almost twice as many service stations than does their closest competitor.

Thanks to this ubiquity, a 24-hour hotline, and guaranteed 24-hour service, you would experience minimal trouble in the unlikely event you must get a Renault car to a qualified service station.

"Renault Assistance TT" is the name of Renault Eurodrive's assistance program. Renault agents will help you arrange for towing and repair (or replacement) of your car and will assist you with and compensate you for car rental and/or hotel reservations as appropriate, provided you are within the geographic domain of the included Renault insurance and assistance.

If you want to drive in Albania, Balearic Islands, Belarus, Iran, Israel, Moldova or Ukraine, please click here to ask IdeaMerge for a special solution.

how about pick-up and return?

Pick-up and return will proceed almost identically to that of a rental car. In fact, many clients report that the process is even easier because all the paperwork is taken care of ahead of time and there tends to be no line of customers. At the airport locations, courtesy phones and/or reception desks are in place to connect you with a shuttle that will take you to your car nearby, where an associate will introduce you to your car and send you on your way. Well before you arrive you will be provided with detailed directions and contact information for the pick-up and drop-off location(s). Sorry, but it is not allowed to pick-up or return cars offsite or at cities or airports not listed on this page.

All the cars in the tax-free short-term leasing program originate at factories in France. They are delivered piggy-back on a truck, just like a brand-new car is delivered to a dealership. Indeed the cars are brand new. Such delivery preserves for you that new-car feel and smell. A deeper reason for such delivery is a French law that makes it illegal for a European Union resident to drive one of these tax-free-registered cars. (This is why special deliveries to locations other than the specific offices/garages at the cities and airports indicated on this page are not allowed.) The cost of such delivery and the return, a cost which also involves certain importation fees if the car is delivered outside France, is passed on to the customer in terms of certain pick-up/drop-off charges associated with only the locations outside France. Our online reservation software carefully works these fees in to the total prices it quotes to you.

All pick-up/drop-off locations in France are free of pick-up/drop-off charges. Such fees, when they do apply, are additive.

If you want to pick-up or return at Anglet city, Antibes city, Bordeaux city, Brest city, Cherbourg city, Clermont-Ferrand airport, Clermont-Ferrand city, Dijon city, Lille TGV train station, Lyon city, Nancy city, Pau airport, Peripignan airport, Rennes airport, Rennes TGV train station, London Gatwick airport, Milan Linate airport, San Sebastian airport or Toulon city, please ask IdeaMerge for a special solution.

insurance, warranty and assistance

The insurance, warranty and assistance — which are described further on our Insurance, etc page accessible via the left navigation bar — are all included in the price of a lease as quoted by the IdeaMerge software.

The insurance — consisting of civil liability and zero-deductible (alias zero-excess) collision, theft, vandalism, fire, and act-of-God coverage — and the factory warranty are essentially air tight. The "big things" are completely covered, but so are the little things such as scratches and dings. Likewise the assistance program is remarkably comprehensive and very well structured. Again, all these coverages are included in the one set price.

Many people wonder if their partner or partners can drive the car. Strictly speaking, the French tax-free car registration entails the following constraint (embellished with bracketed comments by IdeaMerge): "Apart from the holder of the car registration document [i.e. you the person in whose name the car is registered], only the spouse, the co-habitee (with documentary proof of living together, or an affidavit [i.e. to that effect, signed by a notary public]), and direct ascendants [i.e. parents] and descendants [i.e. children] if they satisfy the necessary conditions to benefit from the same TT regime [i.e., basically, reside outside the European Union and are 18 years old; and relative to registration that is TT special, if they too would qualify for such registration] may pick-up the car." [The term "pick-up" implies that such persons are generally qualified to drive such car without being accompanied by other such persons. However, please note that a "proxy" form must be submitted to specifically qualify someone other than you, the person in whose name the car is registered, to pick-up the car in your absence.] Apart from the pick-up occasion, this limitation is enforceable in France only and by French Customs officials only (not by regular French police nor other police nor by customs officials of other countries). In spirit this constraint is meant to withhold from persons whose main residence is in Europe the benefits of tax-free car registration. Almost only with respect to that spirit might the constraint be enforced by French Customs. The insurance is a separate issue: the insurance is effective no matter who is driving, provided the car is being driven within the geographic domain of the insurance. (That domain is represented on this Webpage in terms of a list of some 30 countries.) If a friend, say, were to grab your keys, jump in your car, and drive it into a flying buttress of Germany's Cologne cathedral, the insurance would be effective relative to this incident. Similarly, if while on a particular driving excursion in France one or more of the aforementioned qualified drivers happened to become incapacitated (e.g. by illness) yet remained in the car, another companion (e.g. friend) could drive the car in their stead without violating the terms of the car's registration and insurance.

Note the insurance does not cover personal belongings. Such insurance is available from companies specializing in travel insurance. See the relevant link on our Resources page.

Neither does the insurance cover the tires. If your car has a flat tire (not caused by vandalism), you are responsible for solving the problem. Usually the solution involves changing the tire to the spare tire (jack, wrench and spare included) and driving to a tire shop for repair or replacement of the tire. Most flats can be repaired quickly and inexpensively using a sealant. If the tire must be replaced, however, the total cost may approximate EUR200. This cost is born by you the client. In extreme cases, however, the manufacturer and IdeaMerge will consider offering assistance and/or compensation in this respect. The assistance program typically stops short of dispatching a service person to assist in the case of a flat. If you are a member of your national automobile club (e.g. the AAA), you have reciprocal membership in an automobile club of each European country and therefore those clubs will be another source of assistance to you.

what is the domain of coverage?

The Renault insurance and assistance are effective in some countries. See our Insurance, etc. page.

can I see an example contract?

Here's an example of a Renault contract:

Click here for pdf version.

Renault will send such form to you for full completion and signature. You are not obligated to complete the field pertaining to employment. In the above example, the client, Mr. Joseph Traveler, will pay to Renault US$3191.00 well before picking up the car. Provided Mr. Traveler returns the car as agreed, he will not owe Renault (nor IdeaMerge nor any other entity) any money at any point with respect to this lease.

Regarding the "negotiable promissory note" at bottom of the contract:

Renault, in facilitating a client's tax-free short-term lease of a brand new Renault automobile, is charging the client a small fraction of the value of the car. As such Renault is at risk, for it is not sure that the client will indeed return the car nor that the client will do so in a reasonably timely manner. To protect itself relative to this risk, Renault in terms of said promissory note attaches a certain total value to the car and asks the client to sign that note before commencement of the lease. In theory Renault could eventually present this note in a court of law to recoup from a client the value of such leased car which the client has not yet returned to Renault or which the client has held for an unusually long duration (on the order of several weeks or months) beyond the official termination of said lease. This is the only meaning of said promissory note. Said promisorry note is not officially binding until 5 days after the agreed due date (which statement happened to be cut off at bottom when we scanned this image, for the contract is drafted on the relatively long, European standard paper size; but this statement will appear on your actual contract). Of course, you may extend your contract prior to (or even after) its official termination date, by following the simple instructions noted on our "Changes/Refunds" page (at left) and included in the booklet Renault provides in its cars.

general car features

Sorry, but you cannot choose the COLOR of a tax-free, short-term lease car.

All the French tax-free, short-term lease cars feature power steering, airbags, ABS brakes, stereo CD/radio, engine immobilizer system (i.e. anti-theft system), remote central locking, and electric windows.

The following are included by default at no extra charge: a jack, spare tire, and flashlamp (to use in lieu of warning triangles).

The car is supplied with 10–15 liters of fuel, depending on the car model. This is enough fuel to drive about 80 kilometers (50 miles). An empty tank upon return entails no charge to the client. Hence the fuel originally provided is essentially free of charge.

drivers license

In France, your domestic driving license will suffice, provided you are at least 18 years of age (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 European countries require of drivers who are not European residents an International Driving Permit (IDP) as well. (See below. IDPs are sold for a nominal price by your national automobile club; you don't have to be a member to buy one.) Regardless of pick-up location/country, you do not need to present an IDP upon the pick-up occasion; your domestic license and your passport suffice in this respect.

international driving permit

First, let us reiterate that the minimum age limit for the French auto lease program is only 18 years, and there is no maximum age limit. The only other requirement in this regard is that you've held a valid domestic drivers license for at least a year. In France your domestic drivers license suffices for operation of the car.

Indeed many European countries require of you, the foreign driver, no license apart from your domestic drivers license. However, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Ukraine, and Vatican City do, by law at least, require non-Europeans to carry an International Driving Permit (IDP) along with their domestic license. (See the country listings posted on the New Zealand Automobile Association's Website. EU residents should reference the relevant page on Britain's Automobile Association Website.) 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. (See the excellent article at Drivers.com.)

The local office of your auto club (AAA, CAA, etc.) sells IDPs for about US$20. If you need an IDP, take your license, two passport-sized photos and the requisite cash to the club office. (Though for about US$6 the club may snap Polaroid photos for you.) Ten minutes later you'll be able to legally drive on any European road—assuming you're at least 18 years of age. If you plan to operate a motorcycle in Europe, be sure to have the auto club certify your qualification to do so. The USA's AAA now has a Webpage whereby drivers licensed in the USA can obtain an IDP: AAA's application for IDP. Web searches will bring up a host of Websites selling documents that conform to the model delineated in annex 10 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic (1949); but according to Article 24 of that convention, a truly valid IDP is one which is "issued .. by the competent authority of another Contracting State or subdivision thereof, or by an association duly empowered by such authority ...." The US State Department says it has empowered only the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA) to issue IDPs. (The AATA offers IDPs through the National Automobile Club.)

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