Renault Lease #7

That’s a wrap on our latest leased car, a 2024 Renault Captur, the same model we drove around Italy in 2022 and Ireland in 2023.  This was our 7th lease with Auto TT Renault Eurodrive and we are always really happy with their service, their delivery options and their prices, compared to rental car companies.  Of our 7 leases with Renault we have had 3 Megane’s, 3 Captur’s and 1 Dacia Sandero (we did not like this vehicle).  Our favorite is the Captur for the luggage space, we sit higher, and its a couple of inches narrower than the Megane which is important on those narrow European roads.

In April 2024 we knew our plans were to be in Europe by the fall so we contacted Auto TT to find out what cars were available.  The Captur was not on their website but after asking specifically for that model it was in fact available for the dates we wanted.  We initially booked the car for 5 months being unsure of our dates, it’s much easier to cut back the time than add time.  Any changes can be done at no additional charge, just an adjustment to the total cost of the rental.  The cost for our brand new vehicle was $39.68 USD per day, higher than other years because we are only leasing for 89 days this time, the longer you lease the less the daily cost.  Because we are leasing and not renting the total cost is usually less than a rental car as long as your term is for more than 21 days, plus the lease is all-inclusive of insurance and 24-hour roadside assistance.  Roadside assistance can be a lifesaver if you have an accident and need help in English.  Insurance covers minor scratches and dents which is essential when driving a car through narrow streets.  We scraped our front bumper a few years back, not quite missing a big rock in a parking lot, and we had no extra charges to pay when we turned the car back in to Renault!!!!

We picked up our car in November at the CDG airport in Paris then drove a short distance from Paris to Versailles.  From there we meandered our way through southern France, Spain and all the way down to The Algarve in Portugal where we spent 2 months.  Leaving the Algarve we spent two weeks near Lisbon and returned the car at the Lisbon airport in February.  Because the drop off is outside France we paid an additional fee of USD $339 for this convenience, it’s included in the daily cost above.

I know a lot of people don’t like to drive in Europe and prefer to travel by trains and buses, but for us being able to go wherever we want, whenever we want, a car is essential.  We prefer to stay in small towns, and visit out of the way places, which are not always on the rail lines or public transit routes.  On the rare occasion we decide to stay in a city, we will park the car and walk everywhere, but that is not our preference.  Besides, over the years Blair has gotten pretty darn good at driving in Europe 👏

I wrote a blog post during our first tour of Europe as nomads in 2018 explaining our logic for having a car and how it allows us to buy a few extras to make life more enjoyable.  So once again we packed up our little car with a few odds and ends to make our nomad lifestyle just a little bit more enjoyable.

I have no doubt that we will lease another car with Auto TT Renault Eurodrive the next time we are in Europe touring around.