Frequent car renters--your tips?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m taking a trip next month where I’ll be renting a car, a fairly unusual thing for me to do when I travel. On the occasions I’ve done this before, there’s always some business that comes up at the rental agency that I have to make a snap decision on. One of these is insurance–I never know if I’m already covered under my own car insurance, or maybe I’'m covered under the credit card I’m using to pay for the rental–but I’m not sure so I opt for it anyway, adding (no doubt unnecessarily) to my rental fee and gaining me perhaps nothing. I promptly forget about this until the next time I rent a car.

I forget the other issues that come up in the rental agency, but if you often rent cars, this is the spot to pass along your expertise on all the smart things you’ve figured to do, to avoid, to watch out for when you’re renting a car.

2

Don’t get the insurance. If you pay by credit card, or you are a member of AAA, or you have a decent insurance company you are already covered. Figure out when you will be returning to the rental place, and budget time to fill the tank before you turn it in. Rental companies love to charge $7.00/gallon for empty tanks. Check for discounts, and book your car as early as possible. Don’t wait until you get to where you are going. There are internet deals available if you look for them. Comparison shop…always! Don’t just assume that National is going to be cheaper than Hertz. It sometimes isn’t.

3

In addition, always prod the rental agent to see if they can give you some kind of free upgrade, or ask to hear the cars available in your rental class to see what options you have. If they say that your car isn’t quite ready yet, tell them you are on a timetable, and to see if they can get you into something else.

This doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s very nice. It has resulted in such trades for us as Dodge Neon->Chevy Colorado, Ford Taurus->Lincoln Mark VIII, and my personal coup, Chevy Cavalier->Cadillac DTS.

4

I used to be a semi-frequent car renter. Besides not getting the insurance and being sure to fill the tank back up, the best advice I have is, if you’re going to do any significant driving, figure out what car size you want and see if you can’t go one larger. No reason to drive eight hours in a Dodge Neon if you can do it in a larger vehicle for an extra $20. Even if you fit fine in a Neon, now’s your chance to have some fun driving something a bit nicer :slight_smile:

Out of 10-15 rentals in a couple year span, I never had any problem. I used Enterprise almost exclusivelt just because one was close and they never gave me reason to stop using them. Do the walk-around and make sure you note any dings or scratches before you take possession. They never tried to scam me on it but it seems an obvious thing to make sure of.

Oh, one problem I once had was getting pulled over for speeding (which I deserved) and the plates didn’t match the make/model they were registered to. The cop let me go on it because I was able to show him the rental information but he wanred me that I was in violation for operating an improperly registered vehicle. I’m not sure how you’d check for that before leaving the lot however.

5

I always make sure I document every scratch and ding. Their pre-rental damage report card looks like a poster for the NHSTA when I’m done.

6

NHTSA, rather

7

As others have said, don’t get the insurance and fill up the tank. If you have AAA or are a member of AARP, you will probably be eligible for a discount. If you work for a large enough company, your company may have a corporate discount that you can still use for personal travel.

8

I work for a car and truck rental place right now. But it’s a small family owned one - Not one of the big ones like Hertz or anything… But we do things the same way.

It’s all pretty good advice in here. The walk-around thing isn’t too big. The people (like myself) who do the walk arounds also usually clean the cars as well, so they generally have a very good idea of the condition of the car. As long as there’s no real damage (a stone chip’s not going to matter much) you’re not going to get charged for it (Don’t forget, they take ‘normal wear and tear’ under consideration. Just don’t hit anything (or get hit by something) and you’ll be fine.

Always, always fill the tank. We charge $1.50/litre (CDN) for regular gasoline… Which is not quite double what it is at the gas station down the road. Plus it makes the employee’s life easier. Best thing is when you come in, tell them that it’s full, and write down the mileage.

Keep the car relatively clean… Normal dirt is fine, but if you’re using the car as a rolling restaurant, it’s ok to leave like a bag of garbage, but if it’s strewn throughout the car, it’s not appreciated, and you may get charged a cleaning fee… And cursed by the guys cleaing the car (I’ve found hunks of hamburgers along with thousands of candy wrappers… all in one car. Not cool.) But don’t worry too much about it… Try to remember you’re in someone else’s car, and while a little mess is expected, don’t leave too much. I’ve spent hours cleaning a single car after an extremely messy customer had it for a day. I’ve spent an entire day on a single cargo van because they wre moving cement, bothin blocks and bags, and allowed the entire inside (black rubberized interior) of the vehicle to become coated in cement dust… Rendering water and most cleaners useless, and frustrating the hell out of me. It took me personally more than 5 washes of the entire interior, and despite my best efforts, and the efforts of others, it was still not pretty by the end of the week… When we discovered the secret is large amounts of ArmorAll, which doesn’t remove the dust, it just makes it blend in with the interior.

Sorry for the rant… I just got home from there, and I’ve had a very, very bad day.

About the insurance. I believe only “gold” credit cards will cover rental car insurance. It’s best to check with your credit card company before you do it. The best option is to check your current insurance, and see if will extend coverage to a rental. Most of the cheaper policies won’t allow it, and some may only cover it if the current vehicle is not on the road (after an accident, etc). That’ll generally save a hunk of change.

That’s about it. It’s really not rocket science. The car company’s not going to screw you, especially if you mention you’ll be renting again in the near future (even if you’re not) because the rental industry survives on repeat customers. Oh, and don’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re making the agreement, they’ll explain it to you.

9

I second the “Ask about an upgrade” suggestion. That little trick once got me a week in Dallas in a Lincoln Towncar instead of a mid-size Econobox. :smiley:

10

Check with your insurance agent to be sure you’re covered in any vehicle you drive. If your policy says ‘Rental Car’, that doesn’t mean you’re covered in a rental car – it means the insurance will pay for a (cheap) rental while your car is being repaired. Additional coverage is available, very inexpensively, that covers you in any vehicle you lawfully drive.

Find out who, if anyone, is authorized to drive the rental other than yourself.

Always ask what kind of car you’re getting, then ask what else is available. If you’re nice, you can get a free upgrade.

11

Verify the outgoing mileage before you leave the lot. I once had a rental where they somehow missed the outgoing mileage by about 300 miles. :eek:
Ask for upgrades
Decline the insurance
Note any damage
If you are going to drive any distance make sure you have an unlimited miles contract
Describe to the agent what you need the car for, and ask if there is a better deal than the one you reserved.
Fill the tank before you return

12

Bears repeating: call your agent and make positively sure whether or not your regular policy covers you for liability, injury AND loss/damage when driving a rental car while travelling (most often the credit card or auto club coverage is “secondary” coverage, you still need a “primary”). If so, decline everything they pitch you at the counter. (Advice valid domestically – if you cross a national border it’s a different story)
BTW if NOT covered, often your agent could get you a “rider” on your policy pretty cheap. Also some companies like Access America will sell you term Loss/Damage coverage at slightly-lower-than-rental-company rates.

Various of the major companies (e.g. Dollar, National) will have special extra-low-price promo codes somewhere on their website, dicreetly tucked away from the main “rate quote” form. These work kinda like airline fares – there are a few such at any given time and place. So if you got the time hunt around the site for anything that looks promising – not long ago I got something like 1/3 off vs. just filling the front-page form.

Majors will sometimes sell you “prepaid gas” which means you pay for a full tank at a (relatively) moderate markup above market and you can return it w/o refilling. The disadvantage is that you don’t recover the value of any “surplus” fuel at the end.

13

I worked in the rental car industry for quite a while when I was younger. Pretty good advice so far. Find out from your insurance company what kind of coverage you have. Heck, this is good advice anyway. May as well make sure you have the right insurance for your own car!

The counter agents make commission from selling upgrades. Don’t agree to pay for an upgrade. A friendly attitude might go a long way into getting an upgrade if one is available. If they’re going to sitck someone with the subcompact, it may as well be the asshole who is yaking on his cell phone and acting like he owns the world, not you.

Don’t buy the prepaid gas unless you’re taking an early flight the next day. Driving around when you’re already short on time looking for a gas station in an unfamiliary city is no fun. However, the prepaid fuel amount, although perhaps competitive with local fuel prices doesn’t include the myriad of taxes you’ll be subjected to.

Make sure you’re supposed to drop off the car the same place you pick it up.

Be prepared to be hit with A LOT of extra fees. These can easily triple the cost of your rental. The rental rate will be a certain amount per day, but taxes/fees/surcharges will add a considerable amount. However, most rental companies now give you a complete estimate.

14

This is a very good piece of advice. The company I generally use here (Hertz) has now started asking all of its customers to check the car for scratches, dents etc before they drive it out of the yard.

I’m not so sure about the advice to fill up the petrol tank. Sometimes I do this and sometimes I don’t. It just depends on the prevailing petrol price at the time compared with what Hertz is offering. Last time I rented a car (over Christmas) Hertz’s petrol price was less than $1 per litre. That was about 20 cents a litre less than the prevailing price. So I brought the car back almost empty and paid for a full tank.

15

Think about how many people will be driving the car. They may want to charge you $8-10 (USD) per day per extra driver.

16

Along with the free upgrade thing.

I always reserve a subcompact piece of shit for the lowest price available. They almost never have them on the lot, so they are forced to give you a free upgrade. Out of about 30 times I have reservered a subcompact only twice did they actually have one. One time I inspected it and said the belts and hoses looked shot and unreliable, which they were, and they agreed, so as they didn’t have another I got the free upgrade anyway :).

The other time I was just stuck wedging my fat ass into a metro for a week. :frowning:

But all in all I saved 15-30 bucks a day for every other car.

17

One thing about declining insurance–check your policy/credit card coverage. Some will not cover you if you are renting a vehicle in another country. (like New Zealand and Australia)

18

Here’s a method I’ve used to get a fairly dramatic price discount:

I called Delta (airline) about some flight fares, then they asked if I were interested in rental cars. I said sure, and the operator transferred me to Hertz. She did NOT just give me a number to call; she transferred me. And the person I spoke to at Hertz offered me a substantially lower daily rate because I’d been transferred through Delta. I didn’t commit right then, and she warned me that when I called back I should call Delta and ask to be transferred. I did, and sure enough I got the same discount (something like 25%, IIRC).

Worth a shot; call an airline and ask if they have any tie-ins with rental places. (For the sake of the subterfuge you might want to ask about some flights, too.)

19

If you see anything resembling a ding, report it, but also take a picure with your camera or camera phone. It could help.

I get enrolled in the express programs of the companies we use for work, and they do save time.

As for gas, most airports have gas stations fairly close. Make a note of where they are when you leave, so you can find them again.

20

Buying their insurance means if anything goes wrong, their insurance takes care of it…you don’t have to spend all the time and paper work trying to get your other insurance companies to cover it. :smack: