Rental cars are so passé. Why not buy
your wheels while on the Continent? Carmakers will welcome
you with open arms, free meals and hotels, even sticker-price
discounts. And voilà, you've got a unique European vacation.
And voilà, you've got a unique Euro
Your hands encircle a soft, leather-covered steering wheel. Your
hair blows as you whiz along the winding roads of
Europe, past
castles crowning snowy peaks, past quaint châteaux overlooking
crystal lakes, past waterfalls spilling into mountain streams.
"These are the roads that inspired my car's engineering finesse,"
you find yourself musing. "This is where it was meant to be
driven."
Think you just woke up inside a car commercial? Nope. You're only
taking advantage of your carmaker's European delivery program - and
you could be saving money to boot.
When you buy certain European cars and pick them up where they're
built, carmakers will roll out the red carpet. Not only do they
slash prices on the car itself, they pick up the tab for your
driving expenses. They'll guide you through the factory so you can
see where your "baby" was born. Even better, once you've wrapped up
your vacation, you return your car to an agreed-upon drop-off point
and it's shipped to the
United States for you. No extra paperwork -
and, often, no extra charge.
A few European carmakers have offered delivery for years, but the
idea has gathered steam and spread to the point where almost any
model of the most popular lines - including BMW, Volvo,
Mercedes-Benz, Saab, and
Porsche - can be had via European
delivery. Some will even let you custom-order your car online. And
as the popularity of European delivery has grown, the various
manufacturers have added perks, like luxury hotel rooms, special
driving vacations, and gourmet meals, to their packages. "It ends
up being a great way to take a vacation in Europe, especially when
you con-sider the cost of rental cars, which are quite a bit higher
in Europe than in the U.S.," says Fred Heiler, public relations
manager for Mercedes-Benz USA in Montvale,
New Jersey.