they try and gouge you on the return of the vehicle with things like extra cleaning bill, damage claims for things that were there on picking up the car etc.

Do you think the 'regular' companies won't ?

We've had Twingos with them for over 2 years.

4€/day+ Kms for a new car listed at 22K last time I looked.

All their cars are like-new and will have been washed on return so you should see any marks on it.

But pay close attention to the windscreen. I've never known anywhere where they 'chip' like they do over here.

We've used 2 sites and the second one once charged a hoovering fee of about 15 euros which was a bit dubious.

The basic 4 euros carries a 1200 euros insurance excess.

You could rest assured and pay about 8 euros a day (Twingo) for Full Coverage with (I think) zero /next to nothing to pay.

At 56-60 euros for a week full cover it's still 'for nowt'.

#Bev, it wasn't me who mentioned Leclerc this time. 😅 I still receive no financial reward from them, although at this stage I think I should. 🤔😂

 

Do you think the 'regular' companies won't ?

We've had Twingos with them for over 2 years.

4€/day+ Kms for a new car listed at 22K last time I looked.

All their cars are like-new and will have been washed on return so you should see any marks on it.

But pay close attention to the windscreen. I've never known anywhere where they 'chip' like they do over here.

We've used 2 sites and the second one once charged a hoovering fee of about 15 euros which was a bit dubious.

The basic 4 euros carries a 1200 euros insurance excess.

You could rest assured and pay about 8 euros a day (Twingo) for Full Coverage with (I think) zero /next to nothing to pay.

At 56-60 euros for a week full cover it's still 'for nowt'.

#Bev, it wasn't me who mentioned Leclerc this time. 😅 I still receive no financial reward from them, although at this stage I think I should. 🤔😂

I've never had an issue with any car rental company charging for stuff that wasn't legit and I've rented all over the world for years. However, I take your point, especially about the insurance as I didn't see that option on their website.

It is a great deal, so caveat emptor on collecting it.

Thanks

 

I have a car now that I'm renting from Leclerc, a Skoda Kamiq - nice car. It's a small SUV with 12k km and not a scratch on it. It's 7e/day or 210e for the 30-day month (max rental period offered) with 1500e excess, and .13e per km. This is my second rental from them. There was no problem with returning the first one. I washed and vacuumed and returned it in the state I received it. My Leclerc even gives you free tokens to use at their car wash facility. It was all very straightforward. They made sure that I was a French resident, and accepted my British DL.

 

Thank you - did they insist on French residency? Their website indicates they accept 'foreign' tourists

 

One word here - I'm a huge fan of our local Leclerc for a whole variety of reasons. But Leclerc is run more or less like a franchise. Our local one used to be another grocery store brand and the company that runs the store is apparently who decides much of the important stuff - what merchandise to carry (other than the weekly chain specials), and the general store policies. I expect this also applies to the car rental terms and policies. So your mileage may vary from store to store.

 

As far as policies go, the details are on the main Leclerc website from which you can choose the location (sorry about the pun!) so I doubt they will change much, especially the insurance policy. We'll see when the SIL tries to make a reservation.

 

Have never rented a car from LeClerc, but I did hire one of their larger vans for the day a couple of years back. Although you're supposed to fuel it to the top, whoever used it before had got it to the top bar, but definitely not filled it right up, as I discovered at the pump when the cost didn't match the mileage. I cleaned the van at the garage too before returning it. The lady came out to have a look and was really surprised I'd actually cleaned it - apparently almost nobody bothers. Told her about the fuel and she offered a small gesture off the price, which was appreciated.

 

I have rented a few times from them this year and so far have not had a problem. On return, someone once commented that the car was a little dirty, but there was no extra charge. Since then, however, I have been careful to clean the car before returning it. The only problem I have had with them is that they seem to have a fairly limited inventory, so it is sometimes hard to get a car.

Based on my limited experience, I would recommend them.

 

My Leclerc asks that the fuel receipts be returned with the car.

 

Following my recent experiences hiring a van from SuperU, I would ascertain what is included in the assistance package before proceeding with any hire / rental.
The van I hired to drive from Limoges area to the haute Pyrenees broke down 3 hours in to the trip due to an attempted theft of the catalytic converter the previous night. We "used" our €500 taxi allowance getting to our destination and were asked for a further €135 to be paid by "yourself direct to the taxi firm", who had been instructed by the assistance. Took over 4 hours to find a taxi firm willing to do the trip with my wife and dog.
No replacement vans with tail lift were available. So we lost 2 days trying to find one ourselves.
The assistance eventually agreed to pay for the rental of a van from a local intermarche although we had to pay for the hire and claim it back from the assistance via a pre arranged reference code, along with the receipt. Guess what, still waiting !
After we drove 4 hours North to rendezvous with the broken down van, transfer the load to the replacement van, take it back South and unload it, we thought we had over one a very traumatic few days.
That was when we were told that we had now used up all our assistance allocation and no form of transport ( car hire, train, bus etc) would be paid for, and in essence we were stuck in the haute Pyrenees, with no transport to get us back to Limoges and our own vehicle.
What should have been a three day trip had now taken 7 days.
Super U have subsequently refunded the original van hire and insurance costs as a gesture of good will. We have to date had no refund of the hire costs of the replacement van. We have had to stand the return costs from the haute Pyrenees.
My advice to anyone thinking of hiring or renting, read the small print. You normally get what you pay for. In our case, less than we paid for!

 

Can I ask: are people just using LeClerc as a 'normal' short term hire company, or has anyone taken a car from them for long term (6 months +). Do they do this? I am unclear as to what limitations they might have. Thanks

 

Someone in the previous post said 30 days was their maximum period. When I tested booking, the calendar for dates seemed not to allow more than 30 days from pickup.

 

With our branch you can only book for a maximum of a month, but you can immediately re-book another month as many times as you want to and have it as an on-going rental.

 

Hi,
Could anybody confirm that it is possible to rent a car in Leclerc without a French address? When trying to book through the webpage it asks for a French post code.
I am moving to France in March and it would be very helpful to rent a car for the first month. The terms and conditions say that you need a proof of address but it does not say that it has to be French.

Thank you

 

It should be possible but not using their website - I queried this when I rented a car for my step-son last year and they said that if you phone or write then you can rent using a 'foreign' licence and address. As the driver on that occasion was using a UK licence they did want to see a proof of that address - utility bill etc works even if in English. I used my UK Barclaycard to pay the deposit (€1200) which was accepted and I paid the rental using my French debit card.

All in all a very good experience, great service and the car was immaculate - just make sure you record any, no matter how small, damage and return it spotless otherwise they will charge you for repairs/cleaning.

 

My Leclerc had me show proof that I had been resident in France for at least 90 days. Looked at my EDF bill and visa.

 

That's what I thought. Thanks

 

I don't know whether it will work now, or at your local store, but in 2019 my other half rented a car from Leclerc using her hotel as an address. She also presented her US driving license. Both were accepted. One snag: I don't recall why, but she couldn't use her US credit card for the 1200 euro deposit. She had to go to the bank and get an official check.

BTW, Leclerc still has some 5 euro per day cars, but ours at least now charges .17 euro per km.

 

You should be fine but call them to set up the booking soon, availability can be a problem

 

Thanks for the replies.
I have contacted today (via email) with the rental office and explained them the situation. They told me that it can be rented using a French or swiss address (this is near the swiss border) and sent me a link to book it, so I assume that I am allowed to rent as long as I book with a French address. I will use my temporary address.

 

Hello!
I have read comments below saying that one needs to be a French resident to rent a car from LeClerc. However my mother has rented them in the past. She is French and lives in Ireland but got her brother to make the booking online. There were no problems for her. Im wondering is this because she holds a French passport? Although I am half French I will be travelling with an Irish passport. Even if I get a friend or relative to make the booking online does anyone know if there will be an issue for me when I go to take the car without this person present?
Merci!

 

I waltzed into my local Eleclerc the other day with a letter in French that I wrote out in advance explaining that I wanted to rent in the future and these (listed below...blah blah) were the documents that I would be supplying. The CSU went to her book , studied everything and confirmed that I was good to go (and actually wrote that on the paper). I don't know if that will actually guarantee my success in April when I try to rent, but I have some level of confidence that it will.

 

I have rented from Le Clercfive or six times over the last two years, usually for 30 days.. I rent in the small town of Pineuilh, which is in the southwest, about 22 km. from Bergerac.

I make it a point to inspect the car very carefully before I rent it and to search carefully for any scratches or dents. I then note them on the form that Le Clerc gives me for that purpose. The staff does check the car over carefully when I return it, but I have never been charged for scratches or dents.

I also clean the interior of the car very carefully before returning it, and this Le Clerc, like most Le Clerc's, has a car wash and a vacuum for cleaning the interior, so I spend 4 euros to wash the car before I return it, and another euro or two to vacuum out the interior. I also use my nail brush to scrub the interior of the car if there is a dirty spot. My experience has been that they do not check the interior or the trunk as carefully as the exterior.

With these precautions, I've never been charged for exterior marks or for cleaning the car.

I generally rent an electric car and return it at least 90% charged.

If you rent for periods of more than 30 days, you have to bring the car back every thirty days and pay what you owe at that point, which is a nuisance. It is also more or less impossible to reserve a car from the U.S., but Le Clerc generally has something available. The choice of cars may be quite limited in the summer months.

 

Hello, I'm going to be in Pineuilh in September 2025. Do you know if le Clerc is still renting cars? Thanks.

 

Hi, I was able to make my reservations to rent online when in the US, and I know another person did but they used the chrome browser. Question-I know that insurance is included with the rental-but is it a good enough insurance that one would not see a need to take out any additional insurance? Thanks.

 

We haven't rented with Leclerc for a while but two years ago it was 4€/day for the car, with a maximum liability (excess) of 1200€ for any damage.

The same car with full cover was 8€/day, so probably double what you have already been quoted. HTH.

 

There is a website that you can use, but I haven't used it in quite a while so I can't confirm that it actually helps. Here is the link: Location de véhicules utilitaires et voitures en France | E.Leclerc Location

I don't use the website because I have been renting from the same location for so long that I just contact them directly by email.

The rental process itself is fairly straightforward, but the paperwork differs significantly from what you might see at a Hertz, Avis etc. It is a little old-fashioned and cumbersome, so it takes a little longer when you are actually there to pick or return your car, but I just treat is as part of the adventure and allow extra time.

One quirk is that they can only rent the car for 30 days, so if you need it for longer, you have to go back on the 30th day and renew for another 30 days. The location I use is about 25 km from us, so we just use that as an excuse to go have lunch in Beziers.

Another quirk is the way they handle the payments. There are 2 separate charges: (i) a daily rental rate (5 euros/day for my car), which is paid up front; and (ii) a charge per km which is paid at the end. The charge per km has been creeping up for the last few years and now is around .25 euros per km, so it is not the bargain that it once was, but is still generally cheaper than other places, unless you plan to do a lot of driving.

In my experience, they don't have conveniently located rental agencies at airports or train stations, so the pick up and drop may involve an extra step in getting to the rental location. For me, that involves a taxi to and from the train station. Also, they do not allow after-hours drop off (or at least I have never done it), so if you are arriving or leaving outside of normal business hours, you will need a work-around.

I am happy to discuss this with you if you have more questions. We are back in the US for a while, so I should be fairly easy to reach. DM me if you want to discuss.

Ben