Might turn into a request for legal advice but I doubt it.
My son rented a car from Turo. (Turo is like Airbnb for cars.) After he returned it the owner sent him a photo of the windshield, clearly with a crack running from the bottom edge upwards, turning right. The crack is several inches long. Both the owner and my son have photos upon pickup that clearly show the windshield, and there is no sign of a crack in any of them. My son does not dispute that there was a crack. He didn’t notice when it happened but he did see it at some point.
The owner is looking into this, maybe talking with their insurance company. Turo sent an email that basically said “You guys work this out.” My son has his own car insurance, which he confirmed before the trip that would cover the rental with the same coverage he has on his own car.
My advice to Little Gas was “Forget about it and let the insurance companies work it out.” However, he could be on the hook for a deductible.
The crack was not caused by any action or negligence by my son. It doesn’t appear that it was caused by any action by anybody. He doesn’t remember having a rock hit the windshield or anything like that. My working hypothesis is that this was from thermal stress (this was in Phoenix, although temps there are not very high right now, highs in the 70s) when the car was parked.
Here is the crux of the question: If a rental car is in your custody, are you responsible for anything that happens to the car even if it is completely beyond your control, just as if it were your own car? Or is the owner of the car responsible for the consequences of normal events that would be expected from normal use, or casualty loss like a tree branch falling on it?
If you scrape a mailbox or spill your coffee, it’s obvious you’re responsible. I’m wondering about where the renter’s liability ends and the owner’s begins.
In my experience, the renter is.
Say you park your rental car somewhere, and someone dings it. The rental company is not going to let you off the hook just because you didn’t explicitly cause the damage. That’s why people buy CDW coverage.
I had a rock hit the windshield of my rental car, and I was on the hook for the damage. I think my insurance covered some part of it.
Unles you have a picture of the license plate of the gravel truck that spilled a rock causing the crack, it’s your problem. If Little Gas has a terrific insurance policy that features no deductible for glass, he will need to fork over the deductible.
It’s the cost of driving a vehicle, whether your own or a rental.
That’s probably true IMO. But where is the cut off? I mean, if the head gasket blows the thats on the rental car agency, if there is a dent in the bumper thats on the renter. Where is cut off between those? Is it just any external damage is the liability if the renter, even if it wasn’t obviously caused by a collision? (Eg the aerial falls off)
Even if you do, it’s still your problem not the rental company’s.
The only thing that would make it their problem is if you could somehow show that there were imperceptible cracks in the windshield when you picked it up, that became big perceptible cracks as you were calmly driving along, through no fault of your own. And that seems a pretty tricky thing to prove
I think that exterior damage is generally the renter’s responsibility.
If the engine blows up, the rental company will eat it, unless they have driving data that shows the car being driven recklessly (data that I assume most rental car companies have).
I’ve seen cases like this. Oil warning light on, continue to drive. Seize engine. Renter on the hook for $6k.
Also if there is an issue that you watch get worse, you will be on hook for increased repair bill.
Wow, not to hijack but once in Europe when getting gas I checked the oil in my rental. It’s a habit I’ve developed and I do it in my own cars. The oil was down 2.5 quarts!! Incredible. I’m glad I caught it because, yeah, the cost of a seized engine but also the cost in the delays of my vacation.
What is the time difference between returning the car and receiving notification of this crack? Is there not an inspection with both parties present when it’s returned, or is Turo more hands-off as far as pickup and return? What’s to stop the car owner from damaging something after the renter returns the vehicle and still pinning it on them?
Okay, to be clear, I cannot speak specifically for Turo’s terms and conditions, but in general when your coverage transfers to a non-owned vehicle, it works exactly like it does on an owned vehicle. And that includes the coverages that pay out for NON intentional damages, like Comprehensive. Think to your own policies. If someone keys your car, or the windshield cracks from a kicked up road rock, or it hit while parked, none of those are within your control in general - yet your policy pays out subject to your deductible.
[ in general because I’ve been in claims where the keying was because the insured had just keyed the other persons car and other outliers! ]
This is why in several threads I’ve suggested that 'Dopers check their COMP ded. It’s the one that is most likely to be paying out in damages that the policyholder can’t control (most everything but a collision) and it’s normally cheaper (not cheap, but cheaper) to get with a low deductible. A single glass claim, like the OP’s every other year or so will often pay for the difference!
The issues with damages caused by improper maintenance are a LOT harder to prove. I think I succeeded ONCE, where the insured was driving their car back from having the tires rotated and balanced, and the wheel came off while they were on the interstate. Apparently the place had failed to reattach or at least properly reattach the lugs. They denied it of course, we paid out, waived the DED and I filed the police report and on-site inspector’s information with the subrogation team, but never heard of the follow up.
But the point is that such things are very hard to prove. I mean, most private individuals (presuming for Turo again, rather than rental car agencies) aren’t going to keep evidence that they’ve been ignoring damages for some time. If you use such a service, AND the vehicle provider has an oil change sticker in the car (getting rarer every day) I might take a moment to take a photo of it just in case - or at least bring it up when you take possession of the car.
But again, once you’re operating a vehicle with permission (your policy being void if it’s NON permissive of course) your insurance treats it like it was yours, to the same limits AND restrictions of your policy. Which may work against you in some ways with a non-owned vehicle.
Because, most policies pay out for what the “usual and customary” costs for a repair are. So, if it was your car, they’d offer someone in network for glass claims especially. If you then go with them, golden, the repair company will handle the documentation, the billing, etc, no disputes.
IF you, the insured, decide you only want to go with your own mechanic/glass place, who isn’t in network, it isn’t normally a problem - these days, the shop will upload all the photos, the estimate, and the adjuster and their team will eyeball them, normally concur, and dicker a price.
BUT if you, the insured, decide you want to go with a place that does bespoke work, using only the finest of vegetarian dinosaur based petroleum products, with spends an extra dozen hours over every detail, and charges 3x the norm? The carrier will try the above, but if the dickering doesn’t work, will write up an estimate at the “usual and customary” costs, and send you a check minus the deductible, after which, anything above and beyond that is out of pocket.
Taking us back to the OP, again, really NOT much of an issue for glass claims, but you, the policy holder, are NOT going to get to pick the place the repairs are done. So in the more general sense, if there’s a ding on someone’s baby, and they take it to a bespoke repair shop, your insurance isn’t going to pay what they consider excessive costs, and then the owner of the vehicle may come after the driver for the rest.
ETA - to be clear, like all IMHO advice, I am not your carrier, each state has different requirements and laws (some QUITE divergent), and I am providing the advice based on my prior experience and employer, which may not be the same as your carrier. I do not currently have an active Property and casualty license in any state.
I thought I read someplace that auto insurers covered windshields without needing to dip into the deductible. In other words covering 100% of the cost of a replacement windshield.
Varies dramatically by carrier. IN GENERAL, repairable damage (chips, very small not spreading cracks) are handled sans deductible. Windshield replacement is normally full deductible unless your carrier or policy has an amendment for it.
Some carriers maybe, but state laws affect that too. Kentucky for example requires insurers to cover glass repairs (not just windshields, but all windows and exterior lights too) without a deductible, so long as you have comprehensive coverage. Other states like South Carolina and Florida have zero deductible laws for the windshield, but not side windows, mirrors, or lights.
Update: The owner of the car was quoted $1000 for windshield replacement. My son’s deductible is $100. At this point we expect he will pay the deductible to his own insurance company. I am hoping that they don’t try to collect loss-of-income damages. BTW the car is a BMW Z4.
I will hijack my thread to tell you a little story. A few years ago I was rear-ended on an interstate. I made the mistake of not calling police to take a report. The woman who was driving (solo) said it was her sister’s car and begged me to say that her sister was driving it. Nope, not gonna to do that. When we exchanged information, her registration had a man’s name on it. Afterwards she called me to ask again to say her sister was driving. Nope, not gonna do that. I filed a claim with GEICO, the owner’s insurance company. GEICO told me she did not have permission to drive the car so they weren’t going to cover the damage to my car. I said, “Are you telling me she stole the car?” but they would not comment further. My insurance covered it as an uninsured motorist claim, and I have no idea if they pursued anything against the driver.
and other outliers! ]