I know nothing about cars but I’m the planner of the group, so it’s up to me to book everything. Can anyone tell me if these cars are good enough for driving around Lapland (mainly between Oulu/Rovaniemi). Our friend moved back to Finland years ago and can drive in winter conditions (don’t ask me why he’s not booking it himself).

Also, is Finn-Rent reliable?

by Ornery-Luck9524

25 comments

  1. Yes they are suitable for finnish winter. Those cars will have winter tyres on.

    No idea about the company.

  2. As a native Finn I have never even heard of that company. Personally I prefer known brands like Europcar and Hertz but most likely that company is fine too.

  3. As others have said its more down to the tires, Finnish roads are normaly well looked after in winter, maybe do not rent from Finn-Rent though i know some people who have had bad experinces, jacking up the prices and trying to charge for pre-existing damage and so forth

  4. Reviews of this company are not good. I’d stay away tbh.
    Yes, these cars would be fine in Lapland during winters.

  6. Local people drive mostly 1kEur shitboxes, you should be fine with these. See if they have studded winter tires or studless, studded are better for not experienced winter drivers IMO.

  9. If you drive to some unmaintained forest road, that’s the only place where you might have problems. But if there are people living in some house next to forest road, those roads are also cleared from snow. Forest roads without any housing/cottages are also often cleared for purpose of logging trucks. People in Lapland drive all the same cars as in rest of Europe, cars are expensive here.

    Never heard of the company.

  10. I’ve used Finn-Rent once before, was perfectly boring and ordinary rental experience overall. Although if I had to guess, the guy who delivered the car (to train station) probably only spoke Finnish, also all papers were in Finnish iirc.

    Edit: you can get around Lapland in winter with any rustbucket with a pair of winter tires if you stick to main roads and don’t drive recklessly

  11. It is not about the car but the tires. The car needs to have winter tires. The roads in Lapland are not even that slippery because of the cold conditions. When it is -10 C or more, the ice is dry.

    The most challenging part of driving around in Lapland in December is not the roads that are taken good care of but darkness. There is barely any daylight, and the further north you go, the darker it will be.

  15. If you drive only on main roads, both are fine, I would pick the golf just because it is better on longer journeys.

    Check out Green Motion if you want something more affordable than Hertz or Europcar, I have used their rentals from Rovaniemi quite a few times, I have good experiences only.

  18. Any shitbox will do just fine if it has a decent 12v battery, windows close, something to defog the windshield and studded tires. Asking stuff like this smells like fear of driving in the cold. Just take it easy and it will be fine (with the winter tires).

  20. Any modern car will be OK as long as it has proper tires fitted.

    Btw, it reminds me, there is that Polish travelling youtuber who went on some sponsored trip to Nordkapp in the middle of Winter, he was going all about how it would be impossible to reach that without a fantastic super duper Toyota car.

    Then he arrives at the last bit of the Nordkapp road, and there is a wait for the snowplough so he needs to sit in a queue…

    …behind teenage Kia Ceed, battered Peugeot Boxer, Hyundai i10, Tesla and 40 years old Fiat Panda on Italian plates 😉

    That really made me chuckle. 😉

  21. No need for 4WD or terrain vehicle. The roads are either well-maintained or covered by over 1m of snow and impassable except by snowmobiles.

    What you need is a good heater, heated seats, a good brush and ice scraper. Any car that starts when it’s cold is good enough. Winter tyres are compulsory. Electric cars are not great in Lapland.

    Keep your fuel tank topped up, as distances are very long.

  23. If you are going to be driving a lot on really icy and snowy roads, I’d go with 4×4 car. It’s not required but helps a lot especially in the north with the amount of snow

  24. Basically all cars are driveable as long as you have winter tires.

    VW golf and Polo are both quite small cars, so if you have more than 2 people going they might be pretty small for all of you and your luggages.

    There was a discussion about Finn-Rent in this sub-reddit not too long ago:

    [https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/1eszhpm/car_rental_finnrent/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/1eszhpm/car_rental_finnrent/)

    If you are going to rent for them, please make sure to take photos & video throughout the car (inside & outside) to make sure they don’t charge you for anything extra.

    Usually the Finnish companies are quite trustable vs. car renting companies in Southern Europe.

  25. All fine, but on the smaller side, won’t fit many passengers and their luggace. At least not very comfortably. See a lot of Opel Astra station wagons with rental badges, those will be a little roomier with more luggage space, and most likely not much more expensive.

    Don’t NEED a 4WD.

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