Car rental in France

Any of you sesoned travellers out there have any tips on cheap car rental in France?
I've done the ferry thing over the last 3 years (Roscoff to the Vendee). Next year we're planning to go further south. Looking at flying Ryanair from Shannon to Biarritz for the last week in June & first week in July.
I see Ryanair have paired up with Hertz for car rental abroad. I spoke with a couple who used them earlier this year. When booking the car the picked a particular mid range class, expecting to pick up something like an Opel Astra or Corolla, but ended up with a Renault Clio. It turned out Hertz were in their rights to do so. The Clio was bottom of the pile withing the class my friends had booked. Are there any other pitfalls I should look out for?

Lived in france for several years and holiday there every year.
Use the company SIXT all the time.They are very good.
Book a specific car get that specific car. They were far cheaper that the other "high street" car rental crowds as well!

See the Key Post: Car Hire in France.

I've used argus car hire for the last two years when going to france without any hassle so far, have booked through them again this year.

just back from France and we flew into Carcassonne. Reserved my car hire with Hertz using my Ryanair flight number although I don't think it gives you any discount. Reserved a good few months and paid in advance a Ford Focus/Peugeot 307 type car.

When we got there they gave us a Zafira 1.9 diesel which was great for space and economy.

lz1 said:

... Use the company SIXT all the time.They are very good. Book a specific car get that specific car. They were far cheaper that the other "high street" car rental crowds as well!

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Terms and conditions on Sixts website says "Please note that the photo only shows an example of the vehicle group. Reservations are made by vehicle group, which may cover a number of car models. Unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee a specific model. For further information please contact res-fr@sixt.com"

Have just done a fairly extensive search across most mentioned here and on the other thread (even using some discount codes).
Auto Europe came out best for a 16 day rental in France for an IDMR.

eggerb said:

Terms and conditions on Sixts website says "Please note that the photo only shows an example of the vehicle group. Reservations are made by vehicle group, which may cover a number of car models. Unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee a specific model. For further information please contact res-fr@sixt.com"

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I believe such a disclaimer is standard for all car-hire companies. You will get an alternative car that's equivalent or better.

Squonk said:

I believe such a disclaimer is standard for all car-hire companies. You will get an alternative car that's equivalent or better.

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Yeah - I totally agree. That is why I was suprised to read lz1's post "...Book a specific car get that specific car..."

holidayautos.co.uk is the best site to use. they are very competitive &, most important, their super collison damage waiver contains no excess liability for you to pay. you may have to pay the difference locally when you hire the car but this is refunded to your credit card when you come home.