So, exam time in my final semester at law school, and my car starts going on the fritz. No problem, I take it in yesterday and disappear to Enterprise to get a rental car for the couple of days it will take. No small cars are available, so they rent me a Ford Quad Cab for the same price. Not my kinda vehicle, but fun none the less. Rather than rush it back last night and stop last minute studying, I keep the rental until today, to return after my morning exam. So, I park it directly outside the law school, take the exam, and drive it the few miles back to the rental place.
Whereupon they discover a brand new 18" long scratch down the side of the truck, which can only have been inflicted in the school parking lot. Did I pay the exorbitant $20 a day insurance coverage? Hell no. So now I am stuck with an out of pocket bill to repare a truck I paid $30 to rent for one day. And what really pisses me off is that the person who did this just walks away as if nothing had happened. At least the car repair was under warranty so that bill did not appear.
Yes, they do. But the deductible is $500 and I don’t want to be out of pocket that much. Not that this should be that amount, I hope. I have some vague recollection that my credit card has a built in rental insurance feature, so I will call them tomorrow to find out.
I used to think that rental car insurance was for suckers. Then, I went on a business trip, and got a free upgrade to a luxury vehicle. Cool! I managed to tear a huge amount of plastic off the length of the driver’s side of the car. I’m glad it was a business trip - they always buy the supplemental insurance. I filled out a form, and I was good to go. No charge!
You know, with a deductible at $500, it only takes 25 days of rentals without an accident to make it a bad financial investment. I’ve had way more than 25 days rental over the last 4 years and have never taken it out. Now if someone else is paying, I can see how that might alter the financial calculation some how.
Not to mention whatever will happen to your own insurance premiums after an accident in a rental car. I always get rental insurance; that way I don’t have to mess up my own insurance.
I had a rental for 2 weeks last last month and they put me in a huge Nissan Armada that had 2000 miles on it. I was so nervous I was going to hit something in that bus.
I was extra careful, but I worried about others hitting while it was parked at my apartment.