ed devinney

Rich - if the Tiergarten is full (and it probably is), try the Hotel Zur Burg, http://www.nuerburgring-hotel.de/uk/ . Nice place, nice people. IIRC they spoke decent English, too (better than my lousy German).

Charlie - I too would love a good TD here, at least you can get the VWs and now Benz, but the 320d was really nice. 39mpg cruising over 100mph, and it didn't take real long to get there.

Rich Sandor

Sweet! Thanks Ed - I've just emailed Tiergarten so if they're full I'll try Zur Burg next.

I'm about to phone AutoEurope / Avis regarding the bmw 320d rental. I am really worried that I won't be able to take it thru Italy and Hungary. We'll see.

Does anyone have any other auto rental agency recommendations?

ed devinney

Sixtusa.com - with two caveats: I was quoted a rate in dollars but the Paris office wanted euros. That was fixed in short order. My quote was also for unlimited distance, but the contract got written for 250km/day. Also fixed. The price will be quoted without VAT of nearly 20%, so shop carefully.

Rich Sandor

Crap. Looks like I can forget about a BMW, Audi, Mercedes, or even VW. I'm stuck with a Renault or Opel.

oh well.

WesM951

Good thread Rich! I'm actually planning on going to europe next summer. The ring is on my list of course. I checked expida.com for car rentals and most places didn't have any "sports" cars, then again there selection was limited. I suppose I should call them, i think we are going to settle on a Volvo S60.

Rich Sandor

You can rent whatever you wan as long as you stay in Germany/Austria. My problem is that I am also travelling into Italy and Eastern europe with totally limits what I can rent.

WesM951

Well we planned on flying into London and renting and driving from there. I guess i should get some details on that huh.

Rich Sandor

Rental agencies do not allow you to leave the UK for mainland europe in a rental car. You'll have to rent a car in London, fly to europe, and then rent another car.

ed devinney

Sixt will rent you a 320d, but not into Hungary...

hammerwerfer

Not neccesarily true. I've seen quite a few British rental cars in Germany. I have in fact, ridden in one around the 'ring.

Are you renting in your name or you father's. An older person might get better terms...

Rich Sandor

Well, the car is booked. We've got a free upgrade to "midsize" from AutoEurope/Avis. Which will be either an Opel Vectra, or Renault Megane, etc. The only way we can avoid getting an Opel/Renault, is if the downtown frankfurt rental location doesn't have any, in which case they'll have to give us whatever else they have. (Compact Audi or VW probably.) The price is right though - only $1130cdn (after taxes) for 30 day car rental. That is a pretty damn good price.

I hope the brakes will be fresh!

In the meanwhile, I've downloaded the Nordschiefe for F1 challenge 99-02. Here I am holding up a Renault and Toyota at the Karussell! haha

hammerwerfer

When you arrive, insist on a manual gearbox. In fact, you may want to alert them to this requirement now, just to increase the odds of getting one. Quite a few of the hire cars now are being equipped with automatics, but the majority are still manual, at least on the smaller cars.

Believe it or not, the newer cars have pretty decent brakes. Shouldn't be much of a problem.

Rich Sandor

Yeah, my rental agreement says Manual Gearbox w/ AC. You have to pay extra for Automatic, and in the past, when my mom travelled to europe, she had a very hard time actually getting an automatic car, because they didn't have any! I guess things may be slowly changing...

DrJupeman

Any comments on the Hotel an der Nordschleife or Ringhaus - Altes Forsthaus St. Hubertus for accommodations near the 'ring?

hammerwerfer

Best advice I have is to ask on the 'ringers list. Ben's site is a start. Click here
List infromation here.

There are literally hundreds of 'ringers there who regularly use the hotels and guesthouses around the 'ring.

I'm more or less a local so I don't often stay overnight.