Renting a Car in Stuttgart
Do you find yourself in need of a rental car in Stuttgart? Whether you have freshly arrived in the city, find yourself in need of a different vehicle than your usual one, or just want to pick something up for a trip out to the countryside, this guide will help you approach local car rental with confidence.
Where to Rent
Stuttgart is one of Germany’s largest cities, so there are quite a lot of rental agencies to choose from. A few of the largest include Enterprise, Sixt, Hertz, Auto Europe, and Europcar. There are also plenty of smaller companies and local businesses, although they will tend to have more limited fleets and may not have any information in English.
If your German is limited, you’ll be relieved to know you can easily shop around online. In addition to companies’ own websites, there are several websites where you can compare options from multiple agencies; Check24, Expedia, Kayak, and RentalCars.com, to name just a few examples. These sites are helpful when you are looking for the best prices or when you need to rent a certain kind of vehicle on short notice.
Rental Requirements
Age
Individuals must be at least age 18, the legal driving age in Germany, to rent a vehicle. However, providers often set their own requirements at age 21 or even older. In addition, most companies charge a young driver fee for individuals under age 25 and won’t rent luxury vehicles, sports cars, or large vehicles like moving vans to younger drivers. The majority of companies also have a maximum age to which they’ll rent, ranging anywhere from 60 to 79 years of age.
License
If you are staying in Germany for less than three months on a tourist visa, all you need is a current valid driver’s license in your country of residence. However, rental agencies may require an International Driving Permit. In addition, anyone whose driver’s license is written in a non-Latin alphabet needs to have an International Driving Permit. If you are staying for three to six months, an International Driving Permit is required.
If you’re staying in Germany for more than six months, you’ll need a driver’s license from an EU country. Germany’s license has strict requirements and requires expensive classes. You can read more about this in our article on about driving in Germany. That being said, most US military and government members have an exemption to this rule if they get a USAREUR license on an American military base.
Documents
In addition to having a valid driver’s license, you’ll need to show your passport, give proof of third-party liability auto insurance (which is often offered in the rental contract), and provide a credit card for a deposit.
Insurance
Germans are well known as gladly carrying multiple insurance policies. Better to accept a predictable and affordable charge than to be hit with an unexpected and potentially devastating expense if something goes wrong!
When you rent a car, you’ll be offered a variety of types of insurance. You can also choose to go directly to an insurance company like ERGO or Hanse Merkur to arrange a Mietwagenversicherung, or rental vehicle insurance policy. Check24 also offers a portal for comparing insurance policies. Alternatively, you can book a rental vehicle through Germany’s version of AAA, the ADAC, and it will come with their own insurance policy including roadside assistance.
The absolute minimum required for any vehicle is a Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung, an automobile liability insurance policy. It covers personal injury and damage to property that you cause with the rental vehicle, but not damage to the rental vehicle.
In general, rental agencies will strongly urge you to buy some kind of comprehensive insurance. Teilkasko, or partial comprehensive insurance, includes liability insurance as well as accidental damage caused to the car; for example by storms, rockfalls, hail, fire, and certain kinds of wild animals. Most policies also include coverage for burglary and theft, although this applies only to the vehicle, not your own possessions within. Vollkasko, or full comprehensive insurance, includes all of this as well as collision insurance; that is, coverage for damage to your rental vehicle through your own fault or due to vandalism. Policies may be with or without a deductible, or amount that you will need to pay yourself before the insurance company pays for the remaining costs.
Schutzbriefversicherung, or Autoschutzbrief, is insurance for when your car breaks down. It covers a tow to a garage and may also cover a replacement vehicle.
Diebstahlversicherung is insurance against theft and burglary. Once again, this only relates to the rental vehicle and its parts, not any of your own possession you may have in the car.
Glasversicherung provides additional coverage specifically for damage to your rental’s windows and windshield. Often even full comprehensive insurance policies don’t cover many situations where glass repair or replacement is necessary.
Reifenversicherung is insurance for your rental vehicle’s tires.
Type of Vehicle
Of course it’s important to think first of what size and class of vehicle you’ll need – both when it comes to fitting in your passengers and/or belongings and when considering how tricky it’ll be to find parking! However, there are a variety of other factors to consider when selecting a rental vehicle.
Keep in mind that manual transmission is far more common in Germany. People prefer standard transmission because it offers them greater personal control. Used well, it also allows for lower fuel consumption and thus lower costs. Plus, rentals with automatic transmission are generally priced higher because transmission repairs for them cost the rental companies more.
Fuel is another deciding factor. Most companies will at least offer a choice of diesel or gasoline (Benzin) vehicles, although some now offer electric vehicles as well. The rental of a gas-powered car, or Benziner, is cheaper and there are a greater range of such vehicles. However, diesel fuel is cheaper. Electric vehicles require checking to make sure that wherever you’re going to travel has charging options. The network in Germany is reasonably well developed but there are a limited number of fast chargers. In Stuttgart there are quite a few, and driving an electric vehicle means that you can make use of special reserved parking spaces while you are charging.
It’s also a good idea if you are renting a diesel vehicle to check that it has a green emissions sticker so you won’t be limited when driving into Stuttgart and other cities with green zones. This environmental protective measure restricts vehicles that are older and are more polluting from entering low-emission zones.
https://www.germanemissionssticker.com/zones/
Booking
Most major rental agencies offer online booking. You can often reserve a vehicle without paying anything in advance and cancel up to 24 hours before the beginning of the rental period without cost. Local companies may require a phone call or in-person visit and will generally be stricter about paid deposits.
Generally speaking, it’s best to book well in advance of when you’ll need a vehicle. For regular vehicles, you’ll have better selection if you book at least two weeks in advance, although you should think further ahead for holiday periods. If you need to rent a moving truck or other special vehicle, it’s advisable to book a couple of months in advance.
Price
Obviously, the basic rate depends on a huge number of factors: the type and size of the vehicle, how far in advance you book, the duration of the rental, whether the rental is over a weekend or holiday, the driver’s age, the number of kilometers included, and even the method of payment. The price you are quoted generally doesn’t include any registration or airport fees, and rentals at airports are usually more expensive. You should also keep in mind that there will be an addition 19% in value added tax (VAT) added to your final bill.
Rental agencies are notorious for finding ways to add on additional fees. Be sure to review the written details of your rental carefully and not just trust what an employee tells you verbally. Be careful about not exceeding your allowed distance and also about returning the car on time. Even an hour’s delay could mean you are charged for an entire extra day as well as a late fee.
Additional options
Besides the various insurance policies, there are several more additional options that may be added to a booking. Be sure to inquire about them specifically, since they are generally not included in the basic rental package. Here are a few examples:
+ additional driver(s)
+ kids’ car seats and booster seats
+ GPS
+ traveling across borders (leaving Germany is not always permitted)
One-way rentals, where you pick up the vehicle in one city and return it another, are generally possible with large companies but will usually cost significantly more. It may be worth your time to drive the vehicle back, then take public transportation if necessary to return!
Pick-up
When you pick up the vehicle, always check it over carefully. If the agency says they need to give you something different than what you had booked, ask for a written update to your rental contract (and if the vehicle is smaller or less desirable, try to negotiate a lower rate!). Always make note of any damage and request it be put in writing as well. Check the windows and doors, tires and rims, windshield wipers and lights, heating and fans, radio and speakers, and mats. Photograph any signs of damage.
Also make sure that the car has a green emissions sticker so you won’t be limited when driving into Stuttgart and other cities with green zones. This environmental protective measure restricts vehicles that are older and are more polluting from entering low-emission zones. Most rental companies only offer vehicles with green emissions stickers, but it pays to double check!
Many companies offer “flexible collection” so that you can pick up your vehicle even when there is no staff on hand. In such cases, you may use a code to get your key from a lockbox or even have a digital way to unlock your vehicle. While this is convenient, it means that you will need to be sure to photograph every side and interior area of the car, not just signs of wear and damage, so that you have evidence of the condition of the vehicle upon pickup.
Return
If you return the vehicle with “flexible drop-off” to an unmanned location or outside of business hours, be careful to document both the time of return and the condition of the vehicle. Time-stamped photos are the best defense when dealing with unfairly applied late fees or charges for damage.
Most companies expect you to return the vehicle with the same amount of gasoline as it had when you received it. Often that’s a full tank, or as full as it would be after driving from the nearest filling station. If you return the rental with less fuel than it had at the start, you can expect to pay an additional service charge for refueling.
Do you find yourself in need of a rental car in Stuttgart? Whether you have freshly arrived in the city, find yourself in need of a different vehicle than your usual one, or just want to pick something up for a trip out to the countryside, this guide will help you approach local car rental with confidence.