You have a fresh driver's license and would like to book a hired car? There are a number of special features to be taken into account here, as the conditions for young drivers in particular can vary greatly. The minimum age varies depending on the rental country, car hire company and vehicle category. In order to shed some light on this, Hired Car Check has the most important information on booking a hired car as a young driver.
Hired car under 25: Reduce minimum age with young driver fee
With some car hire companies you have the possibility to reduce the minimum age for selected vehicle classes if a so-called "young driver's fee" is paid. In Germany and many other European countries, the age limit can even be reduced to 18 or 19 years by paying the young driver's fee. Car hire companies such as Avis, Budget, Alamo, holiday cars, Europcar or Hertz, for example, hire small cars in many countries to drivers from 18 and 19 years of age respectively.
It is usually not possible to hire a car from 18 years of age without a young driver's surcharge, as this is usually payable by all drivers under 25 years of age. However, it should be noted that the amount of fees can vary considerably. It is therefore worthwhile to compare the offers, because sometimes a slightly higher rental price with a low young driver's fee can be the better offer for the hired car from 18 years on. How high the young driver's fee is depends on the country and the local car hire company..
Hired car from 19 upwards without young driver fee
If you are already 19 years old, our partner Budget offers you the possibility to book an offer without a young driver fee. For small car offers in Germany Budget waives the young driver fee. Please note that the driver must be in possession of a valid driver's license for at least 1 year.
If you are looking for such an offer, simply activate the appropriate organizer filter "Budget". In this way, only offers from our partner Budget will be shown to you during the further search. And for all those of you who are planning a bigger project, we would like to say that our partner Hertz can even hire a van from 19 years of age (with a driver's license for at least 1 year).
The regular minimum age for booking a hired car is 21 years.
Most car hire companies offer rental cars from the age of 21. However, if you want a vehicle from a higher class of vehicles, the age limit can even be set at 25 or 27 years. In most countries, the age limit for the driver of a hired car is between 21 and 25 years, depending on the vehicle type.
Why are there different age regulations for hiring a car?
The issue of accident frequency plays a major role in age restriction. Statistically speaking, drivers in the age group up to 25 years of age cause accidents with above-average frequency, because beginners are still lacking in practice and experience in dealing with motor vehicles. Therefore, young drivers do not really appreciate many traffic situations. Car hire providers protect themselves against this by charging a young driver's fee or setting the age limit for special vehicles or, in general, a certain age. This is between 18,19 or 25 and 27 years. You will always find the exact terms and conditions in the rental conditions of your individual offer. But age is not the only decisive factor. For many car hire companies, the length of the driving licence is also important.
Required driver experience: 6 to 12 months
The requirements of driving experience vary from landlord to landlord. With most providers you have to be a young driver as well as an experienced driver for at least 1 year in possession of the driving licence, with others you have to be in possession of the driving licence for at least 6 months.
Hired car under 25: Booking with Driveboo
Enter the period, destination and your age in the search mask. This means that you will only be able to see offers that allow you to hire with your age.
Enter all relevant search criteria directly into the search form
If you would like to display the exact details of an interesting offer, simply click on "more information". Among other things, you will now be shown the rental conditions for the minimum age and driving experience for the selected offer.
