Cheapest van hire from England to France

[Mark]

I need to move a van load of possessions from Gloucestershire to the Vendée next month, and before embarking on the shopping around process, I thought it might be prudent to post here first.  Has there emerged, over the last few years, one company among the national van hirers which tends to offer the best deals on a five day rental to France and back?

 

Thanks, Mark

[Anton Redman]

Most of the UK national hirers are very expensive/ban you from taking a Van overseas. Assuming you know people or can hire close to your holiday home it is often cheaper  to hire in France drive North and return with the van even if it means a couple of air fares from Southampton.

[Alcazar]

Of course, you COULD do what I did, and tow a large-ish box trailer? If you have a towbar, it's actually easier than towing a caravan, as the trailer is more stable due to being twin axle.

Mine cost me about £150 to hire for ten days. I t DOES cost a bit more on the ferry, but the OVERALL cost, including extra fuel and motorway costs was WAY less expensive than van-hire, plus, you have your car when you get there.

Alcazar

[Anton Redman]

Short of purchase of a trailer the above is the cheapest way.

[bluehound]

This is more or less what I have to do - except the trailer I have is kapput...so I too was thinking of how I was going to shift my household possessions in staggered stages (probably min of three trips for various logistical reasons which also mean that we're unable to shift lock stock as it were) 

So the options I saw included rnting a large van/small lorry (ie largest capable on UK Car licence cat C1) which on intial investigation is large enough and would almost certainly be bigger capacity than a twin axle trailer  as an option (ie Cattle Trailer Ifor Williams style rather than panel boxvan type)) see http://www.iwt.co.uk/products/boxvan.htm and http://www.iwt.co.uk/products/livestock.htm  except these are not cheap (new or even 2nd hand... and would require some modifcation (maybe ply lining/covering) to make insides a bit waterproof - nevertheless a possibility. Also dont forget you need a suitable vehicle to tow these - ie 4x4 or similar and by the time you've looked at these cost (your avg 4x4 economy isnt great!) plus the added weight of trailer alone + contents you mpg is going to be getting seriously uncompetitive .

I guess thats why I'm still seeking out the lorry/van option and as you say hire seems impossible - as soon as you mention europe then its not available.

I'm now considering buying (auction) or specialist dealer an  ex bt or royal mail or similar utilities (power or water co) van/lorry as although it may have a horrid colour/logo (?) and been worked hard - its also been serviced like clockwork and kept in full working order.

Any thoughts or suggestions -

Perhaps there may be an opportunity to club together on this? If there were a couple of people with similiar requirements who knows - it might depend on location more than anything else....

Bluehound.

[Eslier]

You'll need to shop around but you'll probably find the best deals will be offered by the smaller independent companies. Their vans might be a bit older but are likely to be well maintained.  Unfortunately charges are high for taking a van out of the UK as the insurance companies want a big premium. Most hire companies also include AA or RAC European cover in the deal so they can be sure their van will be recovered in the event of a serious breakdown. If you already have European AA/RAC cover for your car then find out if it includes vans 9or ask the cost to add on) and see if the rental company will accept this to save you paying for more cover.

Most importantly, make sure the rental company provides you with a photocopy of the V5C and a letter authorising you to take the van out of the country. The customs people are getting quite hot about this and often ask to see the documentation for hired vans. I have been asked twice at Portsmouth.

It might also be worth checking the cost for hiring in France (i.e. fly over and pick up van here) as there are no insurance surcharges with French green card cover, allowing you to drive in any EU country. The "per km" charges can be higher though so work out your inclusive mileage required carefully before getting a quote.

[bluehound]

Eslier - good point - trouble I guess I have is that I need to shift from UK - France and it seems crazy to fly to France and then ferry/drive back over before even starting - worth bearing in mind though as we're half way over already (as in my wifes parents are in France)

Just seems mad on logistics - I'm looking to make 3/4 return trips over 8-10 months and I reckon my mileage will be  about 2000 km (there and back) so as far as a van or lorry goes thats say nearly 10,000 km in less than a year  - I'm just reluctant to pay a removal company 3 times or an extortianate van hire co ! Surely theres gotta be a better way to move ones possessions across the channel?

 

[Alcazar]

The trailer I hired was around 14/15 cu m, and has now been across three times in around a year.

We towed it with a Citroen Xantai HDi 2.0, and it coped admirably, fuel consumption was around 25-30mpg fully loaded and around 35-40 empty, (but it only went empty to Calais, where a trip to Eastenders soon filled it, or thereabouts[;)])

It cost around £150 to hire for a full ten days, but we used the car while we were in France, not a 7.5 t truck so fuel consumption was better there. Add to that, the Xantia itself was packed to the gunwhales, so we got a fair bit down there.

It's also MUCH more comfortable driving a saloon car or estate, than driving a van, or truck for long distances.

I'd STILL recommend it above truck/van hire.

Alcazar

[Eslier]

With that sort of distance to travel and the need for that many trips it will probably be cheaper to buy a second hand van and then sell it when you have finished with it.

[just john]

Thornbury van hire (south Glos yellow pages) quoted 240 for ELWB (7metre) merc hi-top plus 50 for European insurance, plus 50 for Recovery insurance, Fuel & Tolls Bristol/Angouleme (1200mls) were 200, Speed ferries were 89, so total 530.
If we had taken the car it would have been around 250, so since we had to be there anyway the extra cost was around 280, for which we transferred contents of about 3 rooms.
Removers quoted part load cost 570. For the control and convenience we thought it worth the extra and will probably do it again several times, it ain't cheap, but if you want to transfer the stuff you have, then the comparisons made sense to us.

Best to read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
no need for sunscreen yet [H]

[napoleon]

We used Kendall Van Hire. They seemed very happy about taking it to France for the week (We paid a small amount for the priviledge). A large Ford Transit holds quite a lot of furniture. Being a diesel, it was the cheapest journey of our many trips. The Autoroutes appear to well populated with UK hire vans so it must be a reasonable thing to do.

                             Alistair