Looking for tips on renting cars. I am trying to hold off on buying a new car for a while, maybe never. I figure for a couple of trips a year I can just fly where I am going and rent a car when I get there.
These are some of the problems I run into when renting a car.
bait and switch, almost 100% of the time they say the car I asked for didn’t show up on time.
Hidden costs, Somehow I always end up paying about double what I was quoted.
I always buy insurance, I have $1,000 deductable on my personnal car, how does this usually work with rentals?
Strange. I’ve rented a fair number of cars over the years and have never had #s 1 or 2 happen.
In any case, if you’re looking at a long-term rental I’d look at neighborhood locations vs airport as they often have fewer fees and might have lower prices. And Enterprise really does pick you up. Look at some sources like Fatwallet or Flyertalk for codes to get a better rate, but be wary of using a code online where you don’t have the credentials to back it up when you pick up the car. Costco might have some good rates if you’re a member there.
#3 - charge the rental to your credit card. Many of them include rental car insurance as a free perk but check with your credit card company to make sure you use one that includes it. You don’t need to buy it from the rental car company if that is the case.
Are you a Costco member? You can rent vehicles thru Costco.
Are you a AAA member? You can rent vehicles thru AAA.
I’ve used both.
When one of our own vehicles was in the shop for a week, we rented from Enterprise via Costco. The price we paid was lower than anyone else, including if we had attempted to rent directly from Enterprise.
We rent Hertz thru AAA. AAA set us up with Hertz Gold membership for free, before Hertz opened it up to everyone for free. I always get a better rate from Hertz via AAA than renting directly with Hertz.
If you are not flying, make sure your rental indicates this. And don’t rent from the airport if you are not flying. It’s lots cheaper.
Make sure all the equipment that the rental agreement says is in the car is actually IN THE CAR.
A common scam: Agreement includes the usual tools in the trunk for changing tires, but the tools aren’t actually there. When you return the car, the agent somehow immediately thinks to check the trunk for these tools, then you get billed for them because they aren’t there.
I don’t know about “common”.
I’ve probably rented cars 50 times in the last 10 years, the only “scam” I’ve run across is trying to upgrade me to a more expensive car, and that isn’t a scam it’s a business tactic. More frequently I’ve been upgraded for no charge.
To the OP, check both your CC and automotive insurance policy regarding rental car insurance. Both of mine cover it.
Bait and switch. If you have reserved a car, the rental car agency has at least a nominal duty to supply it. I can’t ever recall having to pay more because they were out of what I reserved.
Hidden fees. Yeah absolutely. Most of these seem to be airport taxes imposed on the agency.
Gas. This is debatable. I always take the option of filling the car before I return it. Hasn’t been a problem yet.
Lots of good tips from everybody, Thanks!. I think I will go the priceline route. The prices look great.
Another question I couldn’t find anything on is my next trip I will be using an SUV and will be hauling a lot of equipment and going out to a remote spot on good dirt roads. I wouldn’t mind getting a car that has some wear and tear already if it saved a few bucks as long as it was reliable. Do any companies offer deals like this?
For the heck of it, I ran a comparison of rentawreck and Enterprise. For both, I asked for a mid-size (like a Sentra) rented from the Seatac airport location from July 8-11. Rentawreck was $264 and Enterprise was $148. Both prices include all fees and taxes. Enterprise had unlimited mileage while rentawreck had a cap of 450 with 29 cents a mile thereafter.
:eek: What the…??
I’ve rented five times the last year with Enterprise and haven’t had any bait-and-switch or other problems. Twice they didn’t have my car available and they upgraded me to the next class for no charge.
When younger, my parents (on the rare occasion they’d need to rent a car on after a family flight) would generally go for the cheapest they could find.
On one memorable occasion to Orlando, with some two-bit rental company that was off-airport (e.g., needed to take a bus to it) this resulted in getting a (full-size) sedan when they’d reserved an SUV, the 5 of us not really fitting well in it, but weighing it down so much the tires were literally scraping the inside of the wheel wells. We barely made it a couple miles before that was deemed a Bad Idea™ and we turned around… only to get placed into some large mini-van and socked for a ton of $$ for what that company deemed an upgrade.
I learned from that and only rent from the reputable companies you’ve hard of - Hertz, Budget, etc.
Recently, for both work and pleasure, I go with Hertz because I’ve got AAA and Gold and it’s been wonderful. Every location - both airport and not - has been a breeze, the staff is consistently friendly and helpful and I’ve never had a problem. Also, because of AAA, they consistently seem to come in the cheapest, or close enough that it’s negligible. Also with Hertz Gold it’s super easy to pick up the car and just go - you don’t have to worry about the “hard sell for an upgrade” or similarly annoying tactics. Hertz Gold (and I’d wager most of the loyalty programs) seems targeted towards business travelers who rent frequently, and my assumption would be Hertz doesn’t want to annoy them into going to a competitor.
For insurance - most credit cards do carry rental insurance. American Express, in particular, is big on this. However - be very careful. Many times the CC’s insurance is “secondary insurance” and will only pick up anything that your normal car insurance doesn’t cover. If you don’t have a car and thus don’t have primary car insurance, I don’t know how that would work and it would be smart to look into.
I don’t know how common they are anymore but for long term rental, i.e., more than a few weeks check for local ‘Rent-a-Wreck’ type places. These are just used cars some shop or dealer is willing to rent out, and if it’s primarily for local usage then just as good as the major renters, though I would suggest you have AAA membership and use your own insurance.
Another potential deal is from the local U-Haul, if you don’t mind a van they may extend their low weekday rates over a period of time. It just depends on their own stock of vehicles and what they predict for demand.
Rates quoted on line can vary according to your location when you inquire.
I was going to go together on a trip with a friend from South Carolina, who would fly to Houston, rent a car, and pick me up in south Texas. There was about a $100 difference in the rates quoted, and we were on the phone together coordinating our request for rates for exactly the same car on the same dates from the same location. I was able to rent the car cheaper, and put it in her name.
I was told this by a manager at National Car Rental. Rental cars will often accumulate small dings or scratches that aren’t noticed by the agency when the cars are returned. Once a year or so they inventory these bruises and depreciate the cars for the estimated repair costs affecting the manager’s bottom line.
If, before the assessment is done, they can successfully send that car out on a one way rental, some other manager has to eat those damages. On a one way rental the originating manager will send out the most damaged vehicle on the lot, and the receiving manager will go over the car with a fine toothed comb. Make sure you document every blemish going out, because they’ll be documented coming in.
People have noted that most credit cards offer “insurance” on rental cars. Please note that this insurance only covers damage to the car itself – the equivalent of the rental company’s CDW or LDW coverage.
Virtually no credit card company offers any form of personal injury or property damage coverage.
Even in a single-car accident, you may be liable for property damage. For example, you may have to pay for a light pole or guard rail. If you hit another vehicle or a pedestrian, you may have to pay for injuries to the people and damages to the vehicles involved. The car rental companies provide only state-mandated minimum coverage that in many cases was set by legislation in the 1950s or 1960s and today wouldn’t even cover a cursory check in an emergency room.
So, make sure you are covered for liability insurance when renting a car. Virtually no credit card covers this, but your own personal automobile insurance may. If you don’t have a car and will be renting frequently, talk to an insurance agent about non-owner liability insurance.
Are you asking for a specific make/model of car? With all but the tiniest of car rental agencies, it is pointless. You can only reserve a class of car, like economy, mid-size, full size, SUV, etc. Yes, if you ask for a Ford Escort, they can “note” that in your reservation, but they won’t keep a Ford Escort waiting for you, they’ll give you whatever they have in the economy class. If they don’t have anything in your class, they should give you whatever they have in a higher class at no extra charge (except the extra gas the bigger car will burn).
I have often been asked something like “Would you like to upgrade to a full-size car for just $2 extra a day?” When I decline, they give me a full-size anyway, because that’s the smallest they have available.
Remember that there are several different kinds of insurance, each at extra charge. It sounds like you are talking about the CDW/LDW insurance that covers the rental car itself. If you don’t have it, you may want to get Property Damage and Personal Injury liability insurance, too. And then they have a whole bunch of junk insurance that they try to sell you too – avoid that.
As for the deductible, let me ask you, you seem to be quite comfortable taking a $1000 risk on your own car, why not on a rental car? You can afford to pay for the first $1000 of damage on your personal car, but not on a rental car? Do you think you are much more likely to have an accident in a rental car?
The collision damage waiver is a real ripoff - something like 10 bucks or more a day, which would add up to 3650 a year - much more than regular insurance even with a low deductible. As others have said, check to see if your credit card covers such damage for rental cars.
Check to see if your workplace has any affiliates / employee discounts. Employees of my company can rent through one of the major carriers - a slight discount, and CDW is included at no charge. One time I rented, and the clerk didn’t know what he was talking about, and insisted I could not use the service for personal rentals. The walk-in rate was actually a dollar or two less than the company-sponsored rate - though it didn’t include the CDW.
I’ve never used Costco to rent a car so I can’t speak to the benefits. I looked at using AAA’s rental service once and it was only through Hertz (I think); the rate wasn’t any better, and the nearest location was further from our house than the Enterprise office.
We’re like you in that we’re keeping our older cars, and just renting something newer when needed - e.g. we just rented a minivan for a driving trip. No sense in paying for an entire new car when we really only need it for a few days here and there.