Rental Car Shonks On Today Tonight

[drron]

Well my problems at this stage have been in the USA.Problems with Alamo,surprise,surprise.
Switched to dollar and they were good for a while but 3-4 years ago they started nickel and diming so I switched to Hertz and activated a complimentary number 1 status.However after 3 downgrades of cars they put a nail in their coffin when they gave me a car in NYC with enough fuel according to the Trip monitor to get me 23 miles.I caused mrsdrron great concern when I returned it to JFK with 24 miles to go.And yes i had a pic and also had it noted on delivery that I was given a car with virtually no fuel.
So now I have Avis preferred which so far has been good and have actually had a couple of upgrades.
I still however take pictures of the car on delivery.

 

[JohnK]

I have noticed the fuel gauge not quite full or quickly move off full on a number of occasions.

There have also been times where I may not have filled the tank right to the top either. But I have never been questioned.

 

[docjames]

They are all as bad as each other. My issues have centred around correct ff point crediting.

i always take photos, which are date and location stamped on my iPhone.

 

[Princess Fiona]

They are all as bad as each other. My issues have centred around correct ff point crediting.

i always take photos, which are date and location stamped on my iPhone.

I do the same with the photos. I rent with Avis Preferred everywhere ( here, NZ, UK, US) and have not had any issues so far.

 

[malmacdowall]

We are with Avis preferred and have had many issues on and off. Most recently one of my guys picked up a car in Mel (in the undercover carptk) and together with his wife, looked over the car and left. When they stopped at the hotel (1st stop) they parked in the sun and she noticed a dent in the door , no paint damage just a small dent. On returning the car they did the right thing and pointed it out to the Avis guy and filled out the damage paper work noting that the dent was existing. The following week the corp card was charged $3k, no paper work, no calls .... Even after explaining the above Avis wouldn't reverse the charges... Final damage charge about $800 for a small dent...
The upshot is if he had just kept his mouth shut, there was a good chance that there would be no damage charge.... Ah well, so much for honesty...

 

[AdMEL]

I wouldn't have thought there would be issues with any of the major car companies.

I hope you're being sarcastic, otherwise that's a very naive view!

I have used Budget mainly.

I get the best rate from them.

I had to pay for a windscreen last year. The screen had a minor crack that I didn't notice. It didn't become evident until it was parked outside in the sun and it then split the screen in half.

I got lucky on that trip as I hit an animal and the plastic bar bent in and then it poped back out no probs for me.

Last year i drove app 50 000 in rental cars and I was pretty happy with that for a damage bill.

That's a lot of km in rental cars! I assume you're not paying the excess reduction?

My sister broke a windscreen in a Budget Tiida in Tassie a few months ago - wasn't charged for it!

Under 100Km generally they are asking, it would be rare to return a car with 5km on it! At 80km thats $10 worth of fuel that might end up with the next renter.

Hertz policy is fuel receipt for less than 120km. None of the other majors have a documented policy, as far as I am aware.



As with everything in life, it is all about the person you deal with - if that person is slack or dishonest, you may be on the losing end. It doesn't matter who they may work for. Renting from the majors does tend to lessen the risk though.

 

[Simo]

That's a lot of km in rental cars! I assume you're not paying the excess reduction?

My sister broke a windscreen in a Budget Tiida in Tassie a few months ago - wasn't charged for it!

I do pay the excess reduction.

I have a special rate which is very cheap so my excess is higher than a normal one.

A lot of my km's where all done on long day trips.

Like in 3 days drove TSV-ISA and back. over 2000km as we had some meetings in between ISA and TSV so could not fly it.

I also did a lot of travel between CNS and TSV and MKY so it was all driven. I flew it once then ended up have to drive back 200 km towards TSV so wasted time then.

 

[mtbsafari]

There are reasons why Europcar feature prominently ... they are total shonks.

I give 2 examples:

1. They advertise prices that are cheap, but include no insurances and come with a whole load of exclusions. I rented a VW Golf last weekend. Base rental was $33.93 per day. The excess was $3,500. I asked about reducing the excess, and was offered insurance at $39.00 per day. I made further enquires to find that I could get CDW at $23.00 per day reducing my excess to $350, but not including windshield, wheels, under and over damage. They weren't very forthcoming about this cheaper insurance. After taxes and fees, the rental of $110 for 2 days that I signed up to suddenly became a rental of $170+. I think the car rental industry should be introducing a code of conduct about advertising so that rates can be compared. Other things to watch are the details in the fair wear and tear policy, the exclusions for windscreens, wheels, etc, the exclusion for unsealed road driving (no matter how major or good the unsealed road, and I am led to believe no matter if the damage occurs on sealed road at some other time in the rental period), the list goes on.

2. There damage policy is very strict. So strict that one would suspect a bit of a racket. They want to charge me $180 plus GST for a scratch to an alloy wheel. I doubt if its 1mm deep of more than 3cm long. Anyways, I am disputing that because I think it was there beforehand (and part of my suspicion of a scam) ... but if they collect $180 from me and $180 from the next person who scratches a wheel, and from the next ... what a tidy sum they would pocket. Would the wheels be repaired. No way. If they tell you otherwise you'd have rocks in your head to believe them.

So keep clear of Europcar.

P.S. If you think you have been ripped off by them, lets get some group action happening. Let's see if we can get a class action to recoup all those unwarranted damages claims.

 

[Ausbt]

Launceston Europcar is one outlet that was featured heavily in letters to the Sydney Morning Herald Traveller section a while back. Sounded very shonky indeed. May have changed hands now.

 

[Awesom Andy]

I've used continued to use Europcar in recent times, in different states, but never had any issues with them. *touch wood*
However, the majority of the time, I'm on a corporate rate with its own insurance agreement, so that might make a difference.

 

[markis10]

There are reasons why Europcar feature prominently ... they are total shonks.

I give 2 examples:

1. They advertise prices that are cheap, but include no insurances and come with a whole load of exclusions. I rented a VW Golf last weekend. Base rental was $33.93 per day. The excess was $3,500. I asked about reducing the excess, and was offered insurance at $39.00 per day. I made further enquires to find that I could get CDW at $23.00 per day reducing my excess to $350, but not including windshield, wheels, under and over damage. They weren't very forthcoming about this cheaper insurance. After taxes and fees, the rental of $110 for 2 days that I signed up to suddenly became a rental of $170+. I think the car rental industry should be introducing a code of conduct about advertising so that rates can be compared. Other things to watch are the details in the fair wear and tear policy, the exclusions for windscreens, wheels, etc, the exclusion for unsealed road driving (no matter how major or good the unsealed road, and I am led to believe no matter if the damage occurs on sealed road at some other time in the rental period), the list goes on..

Have you looked at alternatives that take advantage of the cheap rates with high excess, for circa $300 a year you can get a travel insurance that covers this as well as everything else you need insurance for (delays, baggage etc) on a worldwide basis. I pay around $100 for four days rental with Europcar at most locations, its all about knowing the tricks and tips, quite a few of which are featured in various threads on this site!