E85 and Flex Fuel Rental Cars - Watch Out

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Recently rented a Flex Fuel Chevy Suburban. Noticed after a couple hours of highway driving it had already bured thru 1/2 tank of gas. Did not take much more time to get tho close to E. "What a pig" I thought when spending 80 buks to fill up. After having the car a week, I noticed every since the 1st fill up, it got much better mileage. When returning the car to Enterprise, I mentioned what happened and they said sometimes when they fill up the cars customers return near empty, they use E85 because its cheaper. The problem is when they use E85 to save them so dough, it screws up the next renter's gas bill due to the worse economy.
 
Wife's gotten vehicles from Enterprise with 3/8 tank, they say oh just bring it back with 3/8.

Not sure if they just don't care because she has a corporate account or what. I think "internal use" like shuttling the cars around, letting employees take them home etc, is the reason for lower than full gas.

I can't hate too badly, as e85 is a legit fuel for a flex fuel vehicle. You can always make your last fillup e85 before returning it..
 
That's interesting, next time I rent a car I'll have to remember that. If I rent a flex fuel car I'll return it with E85 in the tank.
 
Originally Posted By: steveh
Makes you wonder if people fill up and return a non flex fuel car with E85 to save money.


Is it any wonder so many people are suspicious of used rental cars when shopping for a vehicle?
I could see some people doing this.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: steveh
Makes you wonder if people fill up and return a non flex fuel car with E85 to save money.


Is it any wonder so many people are suspicious of used rental cars when shopping for a vehicle?
I could see some people doing this.


In the corn belt where E85 is common, its not uncommon to sign a special waiver when renting the car stating if you run E85 in a non-flex fuel vehicle, you will be paying for all repairs. With e85 being so cheap its easy for a renter to say "[censored]" when putting the cheap stuff in a rental's tank to save a few bucks.
 
The last rental I had was a 2011 Avenger with a nice yellow gas cap and a FlexFuel badge on the decklid. Of course I filled it up with E85 before returning it!
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Wife's gotten vehicles from Enterprise with 3/8 tank, they say oh just bring it back with 3/8.

Not sure if they just don't care because she has a corporate account or what. I think "internal use" like shuttling the cars around, letting employees take them home etc, is the reason for lower than full gas.

I can't hate too badly, as e85 is a legit fuel for a flex fuel vehicle. You can always make your last fillup e85 before returning it..
I rented from Enterprise once, personal (non-corporate) account and I got the car with 3/4 of a tank. This was noted on the rental agreement and I was told I had to have at least 3/4 of a tank on the gauge when I brought it back. The only other place I rented from that worked like this was a local rental place when I lived in Indiana.
 
I did the same thing with the last rental I had, last summer. I ran as much regular gas until as I could (until about "e" on the last day), and filled it with e85. I considered it being a smart consumer. There was probably e85 in it when I got it i figured.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: steveh
Makes you wonder if people fill up and return a non flex fuel car with E85 to save money.


Is it any wonder so many people are suspicious of used rental cars when shopping for a vehicle?
I could see some people doing this.


Watch out for a white 2011 Grand Marquis in Las Vegas, I cut a bunch of donuts in gravel and drove it down over a curb...
 
Originally Posted By: BBDartCA
With e85 being so cheap....

Define cheap. In Houston, there is only a $0.30 difference and this is not enough to justify the loss of MPG. The gap closed between E-85 and E-10 some time ago. It was a $0.50 difference and that was enough with my $0.10 discount making it $0.60 difference.

What is the cost in your area for E-85?
 
Around here E85 & regular gas is about the same price. Even with a rental you won't save much going with e85 on that last fill up before returning. Hardly anyone buys e85,except the unknowing ones.

A Winter ago I was at the station in the afternoon that it had snowed lightly in the morning. There was not one track at the e85 pump. The attendant confirmed hardly anybody bought it. At the time it may of been 10 cents cheaper than regular.
 
Originally Posted By: BBDartCA
Recently rented a Flex Fuel Chevy Suburban. Noticed after a couple hours of highway driving it had already bured thru 1/2 tank of gas. Did not take much more time to get tho close to E. "What a pig" I thought when spending 80 buks to fill up. After having the car a week, I noticed every since the 1st fill up, it got much better mileage. When returning the car to Enterprise, I mentioned what happened and they said sometimes when they fill up the cars customers return near empty, they use E85 because its cheaper. The problem is when they use E85 to save them so dough, it screws up the next renter's gas bill due to the worse economy.

They are a pig with regular gas as well. so it probably is only 15% worse mileage or so.
 
The Grand Caravan I just rented had the flex fuel badge and the yellow gas cap. A station that sold e85 was on the way to the return so I filled it from just under 1/2 a tank with e85.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Wife's gotten vehicles from Enterprise with 3/8 tank, they say oh just bring it back with 3/8.

Not sure if they just don't care because she has a corporate account or what. I think "internal use" like shuttling the cars around, letting employees take them home etc, is the reason for lower than full gas.


I think it's because the majority of renters, attempting to return the car with "at least" as much fuel as it left with will end up returning it with more. That's a small plus for Enterprise and those little pluses add up. I do not like it.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27


Is it any wonder so many people are suspicious of used rental cars when shopping for a vehicle?
I could see some people doing this.


Right! A while back I was looking at a used vehicle. When the sales manager came over to where I was sitting and told me it had been a rental what he saw next was a vapor trail from where my rear had been to the door. Cuz I was GONE!
 
Every time I've rented a car they've under-reported the fuel level so I wouldn't have to worry about it... Like if there was 1/2 tank, they'd mark 3/8th on their form, so as long as I was above 3/8th I would be OK, even if it had a little less than what I got it with.

Same with the times I've rented a U-Haul truck
 
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