Since I agreed to the suggestion of a friend and started to also write reviews of car rentals, Sixt happened to be quite frequently represented in this category. This is another review of a rental I had with the company. In early June, I had booked a car for two days in their Hanover City office. Here are my thoughts.
Sixt Hannover – The Rental
I originally wanted to book a car from Thursday morning until Friday night. I however made a mistake and took a three day booking (i.e. until Saturday evening). The flexible rate (with some frequent traveler bonus was 170.97 Euro. I had a limited mileage on that fare. I expected some 350 to 400km distance I would do during these days. Thus (under the wrong booking), 450km in total felt fine to me. The rental was a Seat Leon or Ford Puma class car.
Sixt Hannover – The Rental Office
Sixt does arrange rentals at the main train station as well – but their main office in the city center of Hanvoer is located quite a bit of South to that traffic hub. The physical address is the Georgstraße. Due the orange branding, it is quite eye-catching and thus easy to find. The map below also shows where in fact the cars are parked, see the section about receiving the car. If you want to reach the office by public transport, the best options are Kröpke and Aegidientorplatz. From main station to the office, it is about a ten to fifteen minutes walk.
Sixt Hannover – Receiving The Car
I got the car early on a Thursday morning. the staff was already in the office and very friendly. They also saw that my booking was a day too long. The lady reduced my booking by one day. Neither she nor myself noted at that time that this was unfortunate for me: first of all, that increased the daily rate and secondly the mileage included in the rental. The impact was not too material, but finally I had some 60 km charged and the higher daily rate, so that the in-fact invoice was about six Euro higher than my original booking. The car I received was in line with the class I booked, despite my Sixt Platinum status. You receive all the contract details by e-mail which is very handy.
The office does not have a car park on its own, but is using parking spaces at the fifth floor of the Parkhaus Osterstraße parking garage, which is some 300 to 400 meters away. The signposting and explanation by the staff was very good, so that it was an easy routing. Nonetheless, doing the route with luggage is a bit of bothering, especially when you travel with luggage. There is no permanent staff at the garage.
Sixt Hannover – Returning The Car
Nothing I can blame Sixt for, but returning the car was an absolute mess. There was a shooting incident at a quite different part of Hanover – which however lamed the traffic in the whole city. From refueling the car to the parking garage (some 4kms), the trip took me about an hour. The return process was very easy. Two things were a bit of bothering: first all of, that there is no staff in the garage, which may be difficult in case of damages or additional fees. Secondly, my hotel and the office were located in different directions from the garage, which lead to roughly 700m additional walking in light rain with luggage. If you, however, head to the main station, you pass the Sixt office en route to the station.
The Car – Ford Puma ST Line
The car I received for the rental was a Ford Puma ST Line with a mileage of some 16,000 km. I really enjoyed driving the car, which came with automatic transmittion. Quite surprising how rather small cars are nowadays really comfy. With the majority of driving being on country road, the car was really a good option.
Sixt Hannover – My View
There are just minor differences between a good and an excellent car rental to me. Sixt in Hanover has in fact been efficient, but the distance to the garage and the unexpected raise in the total rental price without prior notification leads to a slight decrease in the rating. Nonetheless, it has definitely been a good rental – I would use the office again if I need a car in the region.
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