Sydney - Europcar or other convertible hire?

[G.Zod]

Hi all

Never had to hire a car in Sydney before but I want to give myself a birthday present and drive up to the Hunter for a weekend and cruise around in a convertible. I usually use Hertz as I have a CDP and am building up the points but as far as I can see all they have is Mini Cooper cabrios which are not for me.

Europcar PTAR from Darling Harbour is an Audi A5 1.8, 2.0 or a Mercedes E250 according to the girl on the phone - anyone had any experience with any of these models from Europcar Sydney?

Ideas for other services welcome, I have looked around fairly extensively on google and the usual company sites but convertibles rentals in Sydney seem to be mainly wedding oriented which is not really for me, particularly as I'd need at least ~400km just to get to the Hunter and back.

 

[Jleno]

It's either Europcar Audi A5 Cabriolet or hire from the one sports car hire company in Sydney (at your peril).

Save your cash and wait til you get to more reasonable countries like USA and Germany/Austria to drive your convertibles. for the price of a Toyota Camry here you'll get some delicious convertibles to choose from there. Plus in Europe, they're much more sensible about speed.

 

[G.Zod]

Save your cash and wait til you get to more reasonable countries like USA and Germany/Austria to drive your convertibles. for the price of a Toyota Camry here you'll get some delicious convertibles to choose from there. Plus in Europe, they're much more sensible about speed.

Yeah I know...I've had a Mustang convertible in California and a M3 cabrio in Germany, and in comparison Europcar's Sydney prices are eye-watering. I need to be in the Hunter region anyway though as it's around the time of someone else's wedding, so I figured since I'm taking leave anyway I might as well make the most of it. But as you say, it might be that it's just not worth it in Oz.

I did look at the sports car hire but there have seem to have been quite a lot of complaints about them lately so I'm a little reluctant. Also, at their prices, I really might as well fly back to Germany :S

 

[AdMEL]

Whilst I haven't had any experience with Europcar Sydney/Darling Harbour, I rented an Audi A5 convertible in Melbourne a couple of years ago. It was a very nice car, but not worth the $90K it cost! It was the front drive 1.8L. The 2.0L is quattro all wheel drive - just under $100K! I haven't seen one of them in the Europcar fleet for some time now (a couple of years). Interesting they now have Mercedes E class convertibles - would like to drive one. I doubt it would be an E250 though - they are almost $120K! More likely an E200, which is just under $100K (almost exactly the same price as the Audi 2.0L quattro). The Mercedes will drive better - both E200 and E250 have a 2.0L engine - the E250 produces more power and accelerates quicker. My choice would be E250 first, E200 and Audi quattro tied for second and Audi 1.8L last. All nice cars though, with the Audi interior slightly better than the Merc. It looks like one of these will cost about $140 a day with 200 km and approx. $6,250 excess, using the current 15% off prestige cars deal on the Europcar website. That's about as cheap as they get these days. If you have Velocity gold or platinum and choose Europcar option, you'll get slightly cheaper (20% off for gold and 30% off for Plat, so 5% and 15% less respectively).

Europcar also have Golf convertibles, if you want something a little cheaper (about $120 a day).

Otherwise, your only other option is the Mini from Hertz.

 

[eric2011]

If you want a convertible, just go and do it. It does have a small DYKWIA about it, but don't worry about that. Treat yourself. Years ago Avis had Astra convertible but apart from specialty types of rental companies I don't think any one offers convertible rentals apart from europecar. There have been documented problems regarding europecar and insurance aspects of them but you only ever hear one side of the story. Ensure you do a thorough walk around, photograph and little dings etc or get a CSA to come prior to driving out the door and document anything not quite right

 

[G.Zod]

Whilst I haven't had any experience with Europcar Sydney/Darling Harbour, I rented an Audi A5 convertible in Melbourne a couple of years ago. It was a very nice car, but not worth the $90K it cost! It was the front drive 1.8L.

Great! Did you feel it was underpowered at all? I just want to cruise around so I don't need that much power or torque, but I don't want something thrashy.

I doubt it would be an E250 though - they are almost $120K! More likely an E200, which is just under $100K (almost exactly the same price as the Audi 2.0L quattro). The Mercedes will drive better - both E200 and E250 have a 2.0L engine - the E250 produces more power and accelerates quicker. My choice would be E250 first, E200 and Audi quattro tied for second and Audi 1.8L last. All nice cars though, with the Audi interior slightly better than the Merc.

Hmm that makes sense, but the girl on the phone distinctly said E250. I would also have expected the cheapest possible model and just assumed the E250 must be it!

It looks like one of these will cost about $140 a day with 200 km and approx. $6,250 excess, using the current 15% off prestige cars deal on the Europcar website. That's about as cheap as they get these days. If you have Velocity gold or platinum and choose Europcar option, you'll get slightly cheaper (20% off for gold and 30% off for Plat, so 5% and 15% less respectively).

Thanks I hadn't seen that - Darling Harbour or William St are then $450 for the weekend which is great. How did you work out the excess? The website mentions a "Damage Liability Fee" of $5,500 which is exclusive of GST, so the excess is $5500 x premium location surcharge x GST - I can't seem to find the surcharge rate though. I'll probably add the Tripcover/Allianz $6,000 excess cover separately since it's cheaper than Europcar's (which doesn't cover windscreen etc).

 

[G.Zod]

If you want a convertible, just go and do it. It does have a small DYKWIA about it, but don't worry about that. Treat yourself. Years ago Avis had Astra convertible but apart from specialty types of rental companies I don't think any one offers convertible rentals apart from europecar. There have been documented problems regarding europecar and insurance aspects of them but you only ever hear one side of the story. Ensure you do a thorough walk around, photograph and little dings etc or get a CSA to come prior to driving out the door and document anything not quite right

Heh yeah I'm not particularly concerned with what people think so long as they don't chuck rocks at me or anything! I just want a nice weekend cruising through the wine country.

I have seen the Europcar problems, but I'm prepared to do the usual photo walkaround and buy insurance. Hopefully the previous renters have dinged the rims etc - I always get a bit worried with a pristine car...

 

[AdMEL]

Great! Did you feel it was underpowered at all? I just want to cruise around so I don't need that much power or torque, but I don't want something thrashy.

It's no M3, but it isn't underpowered. A bit of hesitation taking off due to a combination of turbo and Constantly Variable Transmission, but otherwise fine. Audi Website show 0-100km in 8.2 sec. Why they use a CVT I have no idea! I took it for a drive along the Great Ocean Road and it was great.

Hmm that makes sense, but the girl on the phone distinctly said E250. I would also have expected the cheapest possible model and just assumed the E250 must be it!

Did you speak to Europcar reservations, or the actual depot?

Thanks I hadn't seen that - Darling Harbour or William St are then $450 for the weekend which is great. How did you work out the excess? The website mentions a "Damage Liability Fee" of $5,500 which is exclusive of GST, so the excess is $5500 x premium location surcharge x GST - I can't seem to find the surcharge rate though. I'll probably add the Tripcover/Allianz $6,000 excess cover separately since it's cheaper than Europcar's (which doesn't cover windscreen etc).

No worries. As you say, excess is quoted as $5500 excluding GST, so $6,250 with GST. It's not clear, but I think the total is actually Excess $5,500 + 3.5% Admin Fee
+ Premium Location Surcharge (~5%) + 10% GST, so approx. $6,575. I previously said approx. $6,250 as I didn't have time to work it out.

Heh yeah I'm not particularly concerned with what people think so long as they don't chuck rocks at me or anything! I just want a nice weekend cruising through the wine country.

I have seen the Europcar problems, but I'm prepared to do the usual photo walkaround and buy insurance. Hopefully the previous renters have dinged the rims etc - I always get a bit worried with a pristine car...

Check it thoroughly, including fuel gauge, odo and damage. When I collected mine, it had a deep scratch in the bonnet over 100mm long, which they initially refused to note as damage as they claimed it was fair wear and tear, which it wasn't. Also fuel tank was only 3/4 full, but agreement said it was full and odo reading was much higher than agreement. They only keep them for 6-12 months, so you'll never get a high km or badly scuffed or scraped one.

 

[G.Zod]

It's no M3, but it isn't underpowered. A bit of hesitation taking off due to a combination of turbo and Constantly Variable Transmission, but otherwise fine. Audi Website show 0-100km in 8.2 sec. Why they use a CVT I have no idea! I took it for a drive along the Great Ocean Road and it was great.

Did you speak to Europcar reservations, or the actual depot?

I spoke to reservations initially, but I rang Darling Harbour directly today and spoke to a very helpful bloke who said that all they have is the 2013 Audi A5 2.0 TFSI but NOT quattro (he initially thought it was 2.5 but was happy to check the records once I said I didn't think Audi sold a 2.5) in black, white, silver or grey, or the Golf cabriolet. So I'm guessing it's 2.0 and FWD, don't know about the transmission. Audi AU website suggests that the 2.0 is only offered with quattro, but Europcar might not be limited to the consumer range.

No worries. As you say, excess is quoted as $5500 excluding GST, so $6,250 with GST. It's not clear, but I think the total is actually Excess $5,500 + 3.5% Admin Fee + Premium Location Surcharge (~5%) + 10% GST, so approx. $6,575. I previously said approx. $6,250 as I didn't have time to work it out.

I had a brief look through the documents on the website and they have split the contract into several separate sets of terms which is very annoying (and speaking as a lawyer, pretty poor work). I'll track through them tomorrow if I get a chance and try to work out what the excess is.

Check it thoroughly, including fuel gauge, odo and damage. When I collected mine, it had a deep scratch in the bonnet over 100mm long, which they initially refused to note as damage as they claimed it was fair wear and tear, which it wasn't. Also fuel tank was only 3/4 full, but agreement said it was full and odo reading was much higher than agreement. They only keep them for 6-12 months, so you'll never get a high km or badly scuffed or scraped one.

They sound like a rather sloppy lot. I bet they weren't willing to record the scratch anywhere in writing either, or otherwise as a waiver of any claim?! I've never had anything like that from Hertz US or Europe - never rented in Australia before though.

Thanks very much for the help again - great to get people's experiences

 

[AdMEL]

I spoke to reservations initially, but I rang Darling Harbour directly today and spoke to a very helpful bloke who said that all they have is the 2013 Audi A5 2.0 TFSI but NOT quattro (he initially thought it was 2.5 but was happy to check the records once I said I didn't think Audi sold a 2.5) in black, white, silver or grey, or the Golf cabriolet. So I'm guessing it's 2.0 and FWD, don't know about the transmission. Audi AU website suggests that the 2.0 is only offered with quattro, but Europcar might not be limited to the consumer range.

2.0L FWD could be right - I seem to recall that's what I had. Otherwise, what you were told was incorrect, which is probably more likely, given rental car staff very rarely know those details and the companies records aren't always accurate! Either way, it will have a CVT. Bugger that they don't have the Merc.

I had a brief look through the documents on the website and they have split the contract into several separate sets of terms which is very annoying (and speaking as a lawyer, pretty poor work). I'll track through them tomorrow if I get a chance and try to work out what the excess is.

One problem you'll encounter is they no longer show the breakdown of the fees and charges on their website, so you can't actually see what the % rates are for the admin fee and premium location surcharge! I know the admin fee is 3.5% and it's an educated guess on the location charge. They are shown on rental agreement though.

They sound like a rather sloppy lot. I bet they weren't willing to record the scratch anywhere in writing either, or otherwise as a waiver of any claim?! I've never had anything like that from Hertz US or Europe - never rented in Australia before though.

Thanks very much for the help again - great to get people's experiences

Often very sloppy! Initially they weren't willing to note it anywhere, but I insisted and they eventually hand wrote it on the agreement. Was then told they couldn't amend the odo and fuel readings on the agreement, which I said was not acceptable. Eventually I accepted a hand written amendment for these as well, but only because they were signed by a staff member I knew, who said he would be there when I returned the car. It was that or no car! Never had any such issues with Hertz or Avis anywhere in Australia, NZ or the US.

 

[G.Zod]

I should update this - I got a grey Mercedes E250 (yes, the 250 not the 200!) from Europcar Sydney city. According to the manager, they have replaced the Audis with the E250 in Sydney with 20+ vehicles with sequential numberplates. I discovered how true this was when some clown at the airport coded my car's rego in a few days early while I still had it, causing me to receive an early morning email with a different invoice, one way fee, fuel charge etc...I sleepily ran to the window to see if someone had somehow stolen the car and returned it to Europcar (brain not working that early) and it was still there. Sorted out in the end but the records at Europcar are still buggered up.

The car came almost fully loaded I think - GPS, radar cruise control, parking cameras, proximity sensors, blind spot sensors, active lane guidance (slightly freaky when you move over a bit for a truck and the wheel fights you, I thought I was imagining it until I got home and googled). The only thing it was missing was massage seats, which would be really handy for long trips.

Condition wise, it had ~15,000km on it and ran well. A few dings and scratched left rims (very low profile tires probably didn't help here). Transmission logic not as smooth as I expected but I learned to manage it after a couple of days. Decent boost from the turbo. Only complaint I had was that the ride was pretty hard over rougher roads, but that's the price you pay for the stiff suspension and surprisingly flat cornering.

Note: I stupidly didn't notice in my excitement and checking for damage that the petrol gauge was one notch from full. Worth checking as I later discovered you can get 40+ km before that happens!

 

[AdMEL]

Thanks for the update G.Zod.

I think I posted in another thread that I've seen several E250 convertibles at Europcar in Melbourne - all white - and was told they have replaced A5's.

Looking forward to driving one when the weather gets warmer!