Estate Car Rental in Paris

An estate is what you rent in Paris when you want a saloon that drives normally but carries almost as much as an SUV. Estate car rental in Paris suits one job in particular: the trip out of the city with people and luggage. With us, mileage is unlimited, so a long run to the coast or the Alps costs the same as a short one.

The choice comes down to body style: estate, saloon, or SUV. An estate sits between the other two, and for most driving in and around the city, it's the car we'd rent ourselves, with a couple of exceptions.

Estate, saloon or SUV: what you're choosing

An estate is a saloon with the roof extended back over the boot and a tailgate in place of a separate lid. That single change is the point. You get a long, square boot and a back seat that folds flat, on a car that's the same height and weight as the saloon underneath.

Against a saloon, the estate wins on space and access.

A saloon boot can be deep, but the opening is shallow, so tall or awkward loads turn into a wrestling match, while the estate's tailgate opens the full height of the car. If you rarely carry more than a couple of cases, a saloon does the job and tends to cost a little less to run.

Against an SUV, the estate trades height for everything else. An SUV sits higher, which helps your view out and the odd rough track, but it's also taller and heavier, and it uses more fuel.

That height is the thing that catches you out in a Paris car park. An estate carries a similar load lower down, drives like a normal car, and slips under barriers an SUV can't. If you genuinely need ground clearance or all-wheel drive, take a look at our SUV range. Otherwise, for flat motorways and city streets, the estate is the more sensible choice.

Why an estate suits Paris

Around town

Paris is hard on tall cars. A lot of the underground car parks, including the ones beneath hotels and offices, have height barriers around 1.9 metres, and a full-size SUV on roof bars can be turned away at the ramp. An estate clears them without a thought. It's also narrower than most SUVs, which helps on the older streets and in the squeeze for a space that's always slightly too small.

The one thing to respect is length, because estates are long cars, so give yourself room when you park nose to tail. If the low-emission zone is on your mind, a recent estate sits in a clean Crit'Air band, so the city centre stays simple.

The drive out

The estate earns its keep the day you leave Paris. Load the boot, put three people in the back, and head down the autoroute to Normandy or the south, and you've got a car that cruises quietly and uses less fuel than an SUV the same size, with room for all of it. Long motorway stints and tolls are where a low, aerodynamic estate is plainly cheaper to run than something tall. And because the mileage is unlimited, there's no sum to do at the end, however far you've gone.

What an estate boot actually holds

Boot figures only mean something next to real luggage, so here's what a big estate like the Passat takes. Seats up, that's around 690 litres, more than most mid-size SUVs. Fold the back seats and it opens up past 1,900. In day-to-day terms, a family-size estate handles:

• two large suitcases and three or four cabin bags, with the parcel shelf still in place
• a folded pushchair next to a full week's shopping
• flat-pack furniture, or a bike with the front wheel off, once the seats are down
• ski or dive gear for four, which is the trip a saloon usually can't do

If your real list is shorter than the first line, you don't need an estate, and a hatchback will be cheaper. If it looks like the last two, this is the car.

Choosing an estate from our fleet

The clearest estate in our range is the current Volkswagen Passat, which is now built only as an estate, with no saloon version at all. If you want a worked example of the body style, our Volkswagen Passat rental is it: a long, comfortable car with one of the biggest boots you can rent. Several of our other models come as both a saloon and an estate, so if you've got a particular car in mind, tell us you want the estate body and we'll confirm what's actually on the fleet before you book, rather than leave you guessing.

Most of the estates we hand over are automatic, which is what you want for Paris traffic. If you'd prefer a manual, ask, and we'll tell you straight whether one's free for your dates.

Delivery, deposit and the paperwork

Wherever you are in Paris, we bring the car to you. An estate is a big thing to fetch across town, so doorstep delivery is the part people use most on this body style. There's no deposit held against your card, and we take debit cards as well as credit, which is still unusual in rental and worth knowing if you'd rather not have a large hold sitting on your limit while you travel. Booking with Gorentcar, you sign for the car at your address, look it over with the driver, and go. Bring your licence, a card in the driver's name, and your ID, and the desk part is done.