My wife and I were thinking that, next time we go to Europe, it might be fun, instead of traveling around by plane or train, to rent a car. And of course it would be ideal to rent an MB diesel. Anyone have any relevant advice, experience, tips, or cautions?

We were thinking of maybe flying into Paris and driving to Prague...which would make Stuttgart basically on the way!

Thanks.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Jim B did something similar a few years ago. You might PM if he doesn't see this thread.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I have no useful info on renting a car, other than make sure you driver's license is current. For a while, CA would give you this paper DL extension that you were supposed to tape to the back of your plastic DL. That didn't go over well at the rental car counter in Germany. So my wife had to drive the entire trip. I missed out on my chance to drive the autobahn (in a diesel Ford in our case).

Look carefully into Prague. We were disappointed. It is SOOOOO touristy. The only memorable time was we purposely woke up very early one morning to walk around the old part of town. That was special. But once the sidewalks and streets are FULL of people, it is hard to enjoy yourself.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

I had a professor in college who said Prague was really beautiful and to go see it if we ever got a chance. That was rather a long time ago.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Car is a great way to see Europe! On one of my trips over 20 years ago I looked into renting a car. I was shocked by the tab for rental! Instead, I opted to buy a Benz and do it that way. I've bought 3, all diesels, a W126 back in '81, a W212 in 2011, and a X204 in 2013. It's by far cheaper that way in the long run. You can buy and sell the car as quickly as it gets here through the European Delivery program that MB has.

If you think the car rental companies here are out to screw you, look out at what happens in Europe! For reasons I don't recall, I had to rent a car in Paris, made the arrangements from over here, thought I had everything set up, and they quickly went up in smoke. Business is done differently over there. Same thing happened when I rented a car in Stuttgart in 2013 through Hertz. I arrived early, needed a car to check out things nearby, (Mercedes Museum, Porsche Museum and another worthwhile museum just north of Stuttgart. Senshein Museum?) Made the deal and got a bill three times on the agreed price. Had to fight that through the credit card company to get it resolved my way but it took time and lots of communication. You have to be real careful.

On the plus side, you get to go wherever you want. Very few people in most of the countries don't speak English. I spoke reasonably good French the first time and had no problems. By the second trip my French disappeared and yet I found only on place in the back country near Beaune where one principal neither spoke nor understood a bit of English, yet it turned out to be the most enjoyable 3 or 4 hours talking wine in his cellars. Had no problems in Spain as I speak Spanish reasonably well. No problems in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, and very few problems in Northern Italy even in the back country. Not many problems in France either though many of those folks seem to hate Americans and aren't as outgoing. But they do understand, and most can communicate. Think I only found one guy in Italy who didn't speak English, but the rest of his family did.

Should I go back I will once again buy the car, then decide what to do when it gets here. The Mercedes European Delivery program gives a 7% discount off MSRP, pays for ticket to Stuttgart, one night in a good hotel, then ships the car to dealer of your choice after you deliver to one of their designated drop-offs in various countries in Europe. There were 11 or 12 last time I went. Italy isn't on the program but they will ship from there with a surcharge. I shipped from Paris twice and Nice once. You pay your own way back. 6 weeks or so later you'll be advised by the dealer of your choice, not necessarily the selling dealer, that your car is there and prepped and ready for pickup.

You can buy from ANY dealer, anywhere, and arrange delivery through MBUSA through any other dealer of your choice. That enables you to shop anywhere in the country for the best price. I was able to get 10% off of MSRP and delivery to dealer within 20 miles of me. You can then negotiate a resale, and with an almost new car with full warranty and only a few miles, you can almost pay for the whole trip. I didn't resell the last two but the price of the car with the discount, paid for the trips.

I'm surprised you didn't lose significant money on the depreciation.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Went to italy recently meeting several family members and an aunt ended up with an A class diesel she enjoyed quite a bit.

I had a fiat bravo diesel 5 speed, and another family member ended up with an opel diesel 5 speed. This is all without requesting diesel or manual transmission.

The A class with its automatic was the least fun to drive though

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

X2, that seems like an unworkable idea, unless you intended to keep the car.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

I have been there several times renting cars. I'd love to rent a Mercedes but never have since its a thousand or so premium to do it. I've been happy renting Renaults, Toyotas and I think also a Hyundi. The Hyundi actually sucked but we made it where we were going. Always get a stick...not a problem most places, probably impossible in the US.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

for three to four weeks and always rent a car. Tying yourself to a tour or even train schedules is a sure way to diminish the experience. We have had BMW and Lancia diesels and Renault and Fiat 500 gassers.

The diesels are the way to go cost-wise since fuel is very expensive. The most fun was the Fiat. A blast to drive on the twisty mountain roads.

Despite conventional wisdom, the Italians are excellent drivers and know how to share the road. They have a set of unwritten rules and stick to them. No left lane hogs there. The exception is the big cities. It is guts driving. He who makes eye contact loses and if you get a bumper length on the next guy you have the right of way.

The best way to go. Drive it and ship it back. MBZ European Delivery Program

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

I don't understand why buying a 30+ thousand dollar car in Europe on the cheapest end is preferable over renting a car for a couple weeks?

If shertex was spending money like that, why couldnt he just ship one of his current cars over there and do the paperwork to drive it in europe for as long as he wants, then return?

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Hi,
If ever you speak (a little) french, it seems that Mercedes themselves offer a rent service in my country.
Here the map of officials Mercedes garage who offer a rent service :Mercedes-Benz France - Location courte durée par Mercedes-Benz Rent - Vos agences Mercedes-Benz Rent

There's a specialized new website made by MB for this service : https://www.mercedes-benz-rent.fr/
But when we browse it, only 3 agencies are available for online reservations (Montauban, Clermont and Monaco). Interesting cities to visit but far from Paris ;-)

I'd be you, I'd send a mail to Mercedes-Benz Paris in order to know if they can offer something. paris.mercedes@daimler.com

I can even give them a call if you can't succeed to reach them.

Clearly this makes sense if you are planning a purchase anyway....only.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Probably so, once all the math was compiled.
You've got to consider the U.S. dollar exchange rate, at the time of the purchase. Then, there's inflation rate of the timeframe to consider.

I bought a new C3 Corvette with the L82 engine upgrade option in 1976. I got a dandy of a discount on it to the extent that I owned the car for 1.5 years, drove it 9K miles, then sold it wholesale to a dealer for $200.00 less than I paid for it. The inflation rate of the day had a lot to do with selling the car for nearly what I paid for it.

However, once you've done the math on what a replacement C3 would have been, it reflected the true reduction in buying power of the dollar at that timespan.

I'm rather certain that would be the case if all the facts were looked into.

The bottom line is that if you're considering touring Europe for any length of time, and you're buying a new MB, or perhaps Audi or BMW, it may make a lot of sense to buy one for pick up over there.