Car rentals in Finland.
The essentials about renting a car in Finland.
Rental car company information in Finland Phone numbers and addresses of major companies.
Super cheap car rentals in Finland
Additional rental car insurances costs other expenses
Price comparison between car rentals, bus, and train(railway) travel in Finland.
What is and isn't in the rental agreement
Airport pick-up/drop-off locations in Finland -with top attractions near airports
Car parts and Service -- In case you are in need of repair or car parts. (In the Tampere area)
Why rent or hire a car in Finland? If offers greater flexibility and can be more economical. Believe it or not, there are cheap car rentals in Finland.
Traveling in and around Finland is expensive. If you are staying in Finland for two weeks or more and want to see as much of Finland as possible, with a group of 4 persons, it is more cost effective to hire a car during your visit.
Finland is as large as the state of Arizona. Realistically, it takes two days to drive to Rovaniemi(city) from the capitol of Helsinki(south to far north). One should allow much more time when taking in some of the sights like Santa Clause Village.
Popular rental car agencies in Finland contact information
Most of these rental car agencies allows you to book a car in any Scandinavian and European country and return it in Finland.
- AutoEurope in Finland - The pick-up and drop-off locations(No Map)
- Sixt car rental / hire in Finland.
- Avis, find an Avis location in Finland
- Hertz,browse all locations in Finland for Hertz.Note: To find Finland rental car locations, once the window opens click on the "Languages Tab" to "English", then click the "Siirry" button.
Note: Finnish car rental companies do not allow you to take vehicles into Russia. Likewise, when driving into Russia, you will need additional insurance costing a minimum of 50 euros.
Need to rent a car after having arrived in Finland?
Once you are in Finland, you can always go through the local yellow pages to find a local car rentals agency nearby. Here is how.
Ask for the yellow pages at any gas/service station. In Finnish the word to use is termed: autovuokraamo.(Car rental company or place). Tell them what you are looking for. They may even look it up for you, since using the local Finnish Yellow pages is challenging.
My finger is pointing to the word: autovuokraamoja under the Aut. section of the yellow pages.
If you happen to be visiting a public library, or your friend may happen to have what is called in Finnish the: Toimialahakemisto. This is a hard-copy phone book which has all the business listings in Finland. Once again, you are searching for the word autovuokraamo.
Cheap car rentals in Finland
Planning your holiday vacation, business trip in Finland and need to hire a car once you arrive in Finland?
Beware of the month of JulyIn July many Finnish residents are on holiday, at a summer cottage, or overseas. You may not get service from a small local business car rentals company, as you would if you had reserved your car through a large company.
!!--A word of caution--!!
Car rentals from small local Finnish companies. Yes, use them! Remember, they may not serve you overseas via e-mail in English. But they are cheap.
The Cheapest Car Rentals in Finland
Here are a two car rentals providers which boast to be the cheapest. These are located in the Tampere, and Lempäälä areas. Contact them for a quote well ahead of time. Web sites are in Finnish. (Use Google Translate)
Example: 39 euros / vrk, sis. 300 km means 39 euros/day with a limit of 300 kilometers of travel. Inluding insurance! Go to the Alerent pages.
Example: A one month rental agreement at the renown Lundan cheap car/rental provider. The cheapest I have ever rented was a Nissan Almera 2.0 Diesel passenger car for the amount of 20 euros/day.
Additional insurances/extras costs example:
- Loss damage waiver (Excess: 600.00 euros) costs 19.00 euros/day
- Extended loss damage waiver (including theft insurance) (Excess: 100.00 euros) costs 9.00 euros/day
- Winter package in Finland costs 3.66 euros/day (A necessity for wintertime driving in Finland.)
- Navigation system costs 15.01 euros/day. (Very good to have, especially when you want to get to the national parks, and see the countryside! Make sure to set the device to "fastest/most economic" route, not to "shortest route!"
- Baby seat (0-13 kg/Group 0+) 11.33 euros/day.(A must use, if you have a baby)
- Child seat (0-10 kg, 9-18 kg/Group 0/1) 11.33 euros/day. (Must use)
- Booster seat (15-36 kg /Group 2/3) 11.33 euros/day. (Must use)
- Ski rack costs 14.00 euros/day.
Based on the above example, the extra cost(s) for a family of 4 people traveling for two weeks in the winter time to have a skiing holiday/vacation in Lapland, including two children's seats, not including additional insurance, nor rental cost is around 620 euros. (868 U.S. dollar) Phew!!
Here is a way to lower that price and save 200 euros. Ask for a discount! Asking never hurts and they usually will lower the price. Buy a navigational device from Gigantti or Expert brand stores, for under 100 euros. This saves you 100 euros.
Do a word search in Google using the words: "lasten istuimet for sale." Baby seat for sale. Look at the search results. When you see the word, "for sale" even though it is a Finnish website, the website may have English text in it. Ask the owner about buying the baby seat.
Save up to 100 euros, by shopping online ahead of time. Have a friend or company buy the child-seat for you in Finland, and deliver it to the pick-up location.
Tip: It is always good to ask if there will be rental car surcharge in case you do not drop off the vehicle at the city of origin. Many rental car agencies will charge you extra, even though it is booked overseas.
Ok, so let's reserve a rental car in Finland for two weeks. The cost is about 650 euros/two weeks. You pick up the car at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport and return it there.
According to Michelin, your total cost for fuel is: 132 euros, but we'll round it up to 150 euros. Total cost for rental and fuel is: 800 euros. (1120 U.S. dollars)
Benefits: The freedom of driving in Finland for two weeks, unlimited distances, in a reliable vehicle.
Comparing prices between bus, train (by rail) travel, and car rentals in Finland.
Skip this section if you are not too concerned about comparison of prices. And please remember, prices change. The following shows the relationship in pricing between the above mentioned means of transportation in Finland.
According to "Dumont", a Volvo S 40 average class vehicle rental cost in Finland is 60 euros/day plus 45 cents/kilometer.
So if you travel 3500 kilometers in 14 days, the cost for rental and fuel, would be about 2414 euros(3381 U.S. dollars), about 96 cents/kilometer, or 845,5 dollars/person, or $60/day/person. -On average 4 people together pay 96 cents/kilometer.
Let's compare prices between two short distance trips by rail(train) or bus: Why not travel by train? Sometimes the Finnish railway provides a useful and economic solution for travel from Helsinki to Turku, or Hämeenlinna to Helsinki etc. Plus VR may offer discounts for these shorter rail trips.
A one way train ticket (covering 160 kilometers) travel from Helsinki to Tampere on VR(http://www.vr.fi/eng/) for a group of 4 people. Cost = 90 euros. (126 U.S. dollars) -On average 4 people traveling together each pay 78 cents/kilometer.
Cheaper than driving by car, huh!
Let's look at the same trip by bus...A one way ticket by Express bus
(http://www.expressbus.fi/) from Helsinki to Tampere for 4 persons. Cost = 95 euros. (133 U.S.dollars) -On average 4 people together pay 83 cents/kilometer.
...a long distance train trip from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, Lapland:
For the same group of four people, a one way train ticket with VR will cost around 325 euros. (455 U.S. dollars) Note: ask about a 15% discount for a group of 4 persons and above. On average 4 people traveling together each pay 54 cents/kilometer.
I just figured...traveling by train would be the cheapest option between two, or a series of cities/towns along the train track route. Plus, students get 50 percent off, or, consider VR's specials, like it's Holiday Pass where you "a person of high energy" can travel unlimited distances in a 3 day period.
if you want more flexibility......rent a car with unlimited mileage. Visit multiple cities within Finland, friends/relatives, experience the national parks, go camping, stay at a summer cottage, and see Santa Clause.
Generally speaking, you get to travel 2 to 4 times the distance with a rental car, compared with a train. See more of Finland, and the total cost comes out to be about the same.
Once you arrive in Finland and want to rent a vehicle.
Cheap and Mid-priced
Cheap car rentals in Finland starts at around 39 euros.(54 U.S. dollars/day) for limited driving distance of 300km's for a five seater passenger car. Of course, you are responsible to return the vehicle to the agency. All basic insurances are covered for. ie. collision and liability.
Mid-priced 3 day car rentals reservation: Book through the internet for example with www.sixt.com and you wind up paying around 300 euros (420 U.S. dollars) for an economy car for 5 persons, with the benefits of unlimited mileage, and pickup/drop off at various airports in Finland.
For example: Rent a Mini from Sixt at 57.74 euros/day. (80 U.S. dollars/day) or 173,22 euros/3 days (242,50 U.S. dollars/3 days.) In the previous offer...Value Added Tax is included, but does not include loss damage waiver or theft insurance.
Sixt offer includes: Unlimited kilometers,Third Party Insurance,Premium location fee,Vehicle license fee request, damage waiver.Car rentals in Finland. -what is included/not included in the agreement!
Is included:- All taxes in Finland, including road taxes.
- Unlimited driving mileage/kilometers.
- Car rental insurance(s) like: fire, person and property damage of other vehicle, collision and theft insurances of rented vehicle. If the vehicle is damaged or stolen, customer liability is 1159 euros.(1622 U.S. dollars)
- Airport transport charges/surcharge. --if you are picking up the rental car from the airport.
- Person/bodily damage insurance coverage for the driver and passengers. (Optional).
- Fuel -Customer is expected to return the car with a full tank, and required to keep a copy of the receipts for fuel purchased.
- If the customer returns the vehicle to a city/town other than the pickup point, Auto Europe charges an additional 150 euros to the total rental cost.
- Taxes, obligatory road charges, and decals for local regions.
- Winter time equipment charges ie. 'winter package', as mentioned before. This is between January and April.
- Child/baby seats, navigational devices, ski rack, etc.
A "liability insurance" comparison between two major rental car companies.
Avis in Finland can sell you liability insurance for around 1200 euros, depending how many days you will be in Finland, the insurance cost will run you about 17 euros/day.
Other companies offer lower liability insurance rates. For example SIXT liability insurance is 600 euros. Half as much as AVIS. This insurance type however does not cover windows or tires.
On the upside, when you rent a car with SIXT in Finland, between 1 to 30 days, if you want to get your liability down to 0 euros with glass and tire insurance, pay a one time payment of 30 euros plus the cost of 10 euros/day.
Doing the math: Rent a car for thirty days with SIXT and the liability insurance cost is between 300 to 330 euros. Rent a car with AVIS and the liability insurance cost is about 550 euros for 30 days.
Car rentals pick-up and drop-off locations at airports in Finland.
Big name brand car rental agencies, like Herz, Budget, and, Avis, Sixt have office locations at most/if not all cities/towns in Finland including airports.
Here is list of airports in Finland you may be flying to, including rental car company information phone numbers, addresses and maps of featured attractions around each airport.
Car parts servicing of vehicles.
If for some reason you need automobile repair or parts service in English. Hannu enjoys communicating in English. He owns a car parts shop in Tampere, and repairs cars in the evenings and weekends.
When my VW van needs fixing, I just drop it off at Hannu's and pick it up again a few days later. I know him personally, since he has serviced our vehicles for over 7 years now.
Hannu repairs engines, brakes and has extensive knowledge about electrical systems/troubleshooting. He loves American classic cars.
Need to get your car repaired, serviced or car parts?...Hannu's your man. Hannu's car parts shop is in Härmälä, Tampere. About a ten minutes drive from the center of Tampere. Hannu always finds ways to get us low cost service and parts for our vehicles.
Contact Hannu by filling out the form below.
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