This post is the update to our original post Car Rental vs Lease Part 1. Part 1 outlined how the Car-2-Europe short-term lease program saved us $1,000-$1,600 off the cost of a 45-day car rental to drive around Europe. Part 2 shares our Car-2-Europe experience with Auto Europe and the results of the process involved with leasing.
I originally booked our lease several months before our departure. Auto Europe confirmed everything and we received the executed lease documents in advance. The online booking was easy and communication with Auto Europe was excellent.
Environmental sticker and registration
I researched the lease option extensively before booking. I read an extremely informative post why you need the Crit’Air sticker for driving in France. All vehicles must have this windshield sticker to avoid fines when driving in restricted traffic zones for air quality control. There’s also a similar registration program if you’re driving into Barcelona and other cities in Spain.
It’s illegal to drive inside restricted zones without this sticker. Rental cars come equipped with a sticker from the rental agency. The owners of a private vehicle or lease are required to purchase their own sticker. Ordered online, the sticker costs less than 4 euros. However to order this sticker, you need the car registration number and date, plus the licence plate number. All Car-2-Europe lease vehicles are custom built for you. Therefore, the car registration information is made available only 1-2 weeks before your pickup date. That’s when the car rolls off production and is officially registered to you.
Registration error
When Auto Europe forwarded the info to me from Peugeot, we were still in the US. So I quickly completed the online form for both stickers (France and Spain). I received confirmation from France that the request was pending. So I thought we were all set. However, in a follow up email they declined my sticker request due to an error. I tried again several times, but no luck. So Auto Europe contacted Peugeot about the issue on our behalf.
I didn’t notice on the car registration copy that Peugeot failed to include our home zip code. So the zip code on the registration showed as 00000. Apparently, the computer system in France’s version of the “Department of Motor Vehicles” won’t authorize a request with an invalid zip code. It was up to Peugeot to hopefully get this corrected ASAP.
When I registered for the sticker for Spain, they sent me a pending approval. They requested that I upload a copy of the registration. Once uploaded, I received the final approval in a few hours. Apparently in Spain, you don’t need an actual sticker for the windshield. They use road cameras to check car registrations by scanning your license plate when entering restricted zones. Barcelona is a restricted zone where we’ll be arriving in a few weeks. As long as you’ve registered online and paid for the Spanish sticker, you’re good to go. That seems like a much easier process to me.
Picking up the car at Charles de Gaulle Airport
It took us a bit of time to figure out where to go at the airport for the Car-2-Europe shuttle. FYI, if you ever lease a car with Car-2-Europe, the shuttle is at Roissypole, CDG 1. The exit door is #5 (hotel by shuttle), near the RER train station and across from the bus terminal (Roissypole). After you exit through door #5, you’re at a small traffic circle on Rue de Dublin. This area is for the hotel shuttles and taxis. There’s a Novotel hotel on your right. Once outside, if you turn look up at the airport terminal building, you’ll see the sign for Roissypole, CDG 1.
The shuttle picked us up and headed to their office about 15 minutes away. We signed a few forms and presented an ID before they gave us a brief explanation of the vehicle features. Most importantly, they changed the GPS navigation to English. They also pre-programmed the car with driving instructions for the return and the nearest gas station. We were also given a folder with everything we needed to help us on our trip. After just a few minutes, the car was ours and we were driving away. The car had only 4 kilometers on the odometer when we picked it up.
Our Car-2-Europe lease
We ordered the 2023 Peugeot 208, which is a four door sedan. It was the perfect size for us. Like most European cars, the trunk was a bit tight. However, it held our two roller boards, two backpacks and a couple of small shopping bags without any problems. We loved this car and it came fully equipped with all the latest tech.
A few days after we arrived, I received an email that Peugeot corrected the zip code error on the registration. They attached a copy of the Crit’Air sticker for the windshield that they purchased for us. I printed the sticker and taped it to the windshield with a sigh of relief. We can now freely drive anywhere without worry of a fine.
Tip to save money on parking
There are very few free parking options. In most smaller towns, you’ll see Zone Bleue parking zones, which allow you to park for up to 2 hours free, if you display a blue parking disk. These parking disks (disque de stationnement) are available at a local Tabac or Maison de la Presse for about 3 euros.
The maximum free parking time is clearly displayed on the parking sign which has a symbol that looks like the disk. On this sign, Maxi 30 minutes (parking limited to 30 minutes maximum, 9:00-12:00, 2:00-7:00, except Sundays and holidays). The time between 12pm and 2pm is free and not counted (so if you arrive at 11:30 am, for example, you could benefit from two and a half hours of free parking instead of just 30 minutes). Sundays and holidays are also usually free when posted. Simply set the time on your disk to your arrival time and display it on your dashboard clearly visible through your windshield.
Returning the car
We drove around France, Spain and Andorra for 45 days and logged over 4,000 kilometers. Apart from the one minor glitch with the zip code, everything went very smoothly. I honestly believe if the zip code were entered correctly, I would have received the sticker on my first request.
Sadly, the driving part of our trip was now complete and it’s time to return the car. We returned it to the airport where we picked it up (on empty as specified on the contract). We signed a couple more forms to terminate the lease. They didn’t even inspect the car’s condition at drop off, due to the zero deductible insurance. This alone was a huge peace of mind for us. They gave us a ride back to the terminal and we headed into Paris to finish our trip. Everything went smoothly during our 45 days with the car. We thankfully didn’t need their 24 hour roadside assistance, towing, or other accident and repair support. But, it’s nice to know it’s there if you do need it.
Final thoughts
Our Car-2-Europe experience was great for us and we’d do it again in a heartbeat. This program saves a lot of money over a rental, whenever you need a car longer than three weeks. It also provides assurance that no matter what happens with the car, you’re covered by a zero deductible insurance policy. If you’ve read our previous posts about travel mishaps and car rental wrecks, you’ll understand why it’s an important benefit to us 😉 for peace of mind.
The booking, communication and follow up by Auto Europe were excellent. Customer service from the program staff at pickup and drop off was friendly and efficient. We can’t ask for a better outcome. The next time we have a long stay in Europe, we look forward to using this program again.
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