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Tue 15 Jun 2010 11:01

none - Australian visitor wants to lease car for 4 months - SidewaysSyd

My niece and her friend fly into the south of France in July 2010 and return home in November, intending to drive round Western Europe, including the UK, for 4 months. They would lease the car in France and return it there, not necessarily to the same city.

He will be the sole driver - he is 20, has a full international licence but is in his first of two years on the 'green Ps' .

Does anyone have experience of an Australian green P driver leasing a car in Europe? Leasing seems a great scheme but they're getting conflicting info about whether the Australian green P licence is a problem in Europe, even though he has applied for and been given an international licence.

Edited by SidewaysSyd on 15/06/2010 at 11:02

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 11:33

none - Australian visitor wants to lease car for 4 months - LucyBC

It's a French government scheme. Mileage is unlimited. Cars are to a French spec and are comprehensively insured.

Providing he has a full licence (P is fine- cannot be a learner), are over 18 and take the European use option there should be no problem in using the car anywhere in the EU or in Switzerland.

There are no maximum age limits.

You have to be a non-EU resident and have the car for a minimum 17 days up to a maximum 175 days. You can only be a tourist - cannot take employment and cannot stay longer in France than 185 days in any 12 months.

He needs to nominate where he picks the car up and where he will take it back to.

If he has not booked it already he needs to do so immediately. Cars under this scheme normally take a month or so to set up and we are already half way through June so if he is travelling in July 2010 he is already close to the time limit.

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 12:30

none - Australian visitor wants to lease car for 4 months - SidewaysSyd

Thanks Lucy - the confusing thing is that when you read 'full licence' on an Australian website, even if it's on the Renault/Peugeot/Citroen websites, you're never sure if they mean full Australian or full European. So glad you have cleared that up and green P is good.

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 13:33

none - Australian visitor wants to lease car for 4 months - LucyBC

It cannot be a European licence in any event as EU nationals are excluded.

I would verify the position at the time of making the booking but I do know someone in a similar situation who has used the scheme and the P licence was accepted.

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 14:24

none - Australian visitor wants to lease car for 4 months - kithmo

Most car rental companies won't hire cars out to under 21s due to insurance premiums.

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 14:44

none - Australian visitor wants to lease car for 4 months - SidewaysSyd

thanks for the further updates guys. All the leasing sites for Australians in Europe we've looked at say over 18's which we were pleasantly surprised at. Good to know you have experience of a P plater who's done this - I knew somone on HJ's forum would produce the goods!

Right - they'd better get on with getting the leasing process started asap.

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 15:01

none - Australian visitor wants to lease car for 4 months - LucyBC

Most car rental companies won't hire cars out to under 21s due to insurance premiums.

This isn't anything to do with a car rental company - it is a special short term car lease scheme supported by the French government which is specifically aimed at long term use for visitors from outside the EU.

I outlined most of the restrictions in my previous post.