Rental car chipped windshield.

[SZR48207]

motor oil madman - Did you post this to ask for help or to rant? I think we're all trying to assist but it seems like you aren't giving us any info.

Do you still have possession of the rental or did you already turn it in?

Enterprise does use a little "card" that has a hole about the size of a golf ball. If any damage is larger than that hole, then they ding you for it.

I'm not sure if they'd also count windshield damage using that card though.

Is it a crack or a chip or what?

A chip I would not worry about. A crack I might worry about.

 

[14Accent]

OP, you really need to provide more information. That would really help with knowing what advice to give. Quick list:

Rental company
Credit card used for rental (Bank and Card Type)
Personal insurance coverage on main vehicle (Comp or Liability)
Still in possession of rental, or already returned
If already returned, have they sent you a bill?
If returned, when you dropped off did the return agent note the damage?

Without knowing that, there's no way to give you advice. At the most basic level, you have a rental car with a half dollar size chip (which is unlikely, let's say a quarter). Let's say you haven't returned the car yet. When you do return the car, just be the first to point out the chip. Something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I didn't notice this chip until later in the day after I picked the car up." I doubt they'll make much of a stink.

 

[4WD]

Been renting cars for years ~ based on past headaches while the agent walks the car down I’m looking at that windshield from both sides … even had one who would not mark a chip so out comes my iPhone for a picture …
Sure enough … they called about a rock chip and I won that one …

 

[PimTac]

It seems to me the general notion is to get it fixed before you turn the vehicle in. If the rental company finds it the costs will be many times what you could pay getting it done.

 

[Nick1994]

Take it and get it filled at a glass shop, they'll never know.

 

[Carmudgeon]

Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
I will start a new thread if its needed.

Few questions,
- Everyone says credit card has auto insurance coverage. Any time I have tried using that I was told that it is a secondary coverage. (I have tried Chase Freedom, Costco AmEx, AmEx Blue Cash and Discover. I have gotten the same answer for all of them.) Since my auto insurance does not cover rental, they ask what insurance coverage I would have? Hence, every time, I end up buying their insurance, primarily because I do not want a headache if anything happens.
(I don't rent that often so I don't mind some 10-20 just for the insurance but will happily save if I know more.)


AMEX offers primary damage coverage for a per-rental flat fee between $20-25, up to a period of 42 days.

As you note, the freebie coverage typically offered by credit cards is secondary, and often excludes the "loss of use" fees that the rental companies like to charge.

You gotta read the fine print.

 

[CT8]

My wife used to work at Hertz head office and we always buy the insurance coverage . Then you can just walk away when the car is turned in.

 

[Rolla07]

I never buy their overpriced coverages. Did they point out the damage upon returning the car or afterwards? If they checked it and signed off up front, id challenge it as such. Obviously would of had it fixed myself but you said you didnt notice it. Not all credit cards include rental coverages.

 

[The motor guy]

It's enterprise. I used a credit card, yes I have insurance, but also have a 500 dollar deductible.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
You bought the accidental damage coverage from them, right? Rental car 101.


They never offered any of that. I left my insurance in my truck when I brought it to the shop and it took a while to pull up the my insurance in my email cause my phone was freezing for some reason. I'm not sure why they didn't mention it.

 

[Hybrid]

I wasnt charged at all.
While i was driving from Colorado to Wyoming, my windshield got chipped.
the size was as big as a quarter coin.
Budget Rent-a-car saw it when i returned the car and they said "it was nothing",
"as long as the crack was not too big, or across the whole windshield, thats fine".

i left rental after about 8 minutes and no extra charges.

i checked my credit card bill , no extra charges as well

 

[SZR48207]

Originally Posted By: Carmudgeon
Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
I will start a new thread if its needed.

Few questions,
- Everyone says credit card has auto insurance coverage. Any time I have tried using that I was told that it is a secondary coverage. (I have tried Chase Freedom, Costco AmEx, AmEx Blue Cash and Discover. I have gotten the same answer for all of them.) Since my auto insurance does not cover rental, they ask what insurance coverage I would have? Hence, every time, I end up buying their insurance, primarily because I do not want a headache if anything happens.
(I don't rent that often so I don't mind some 10-20 just for the insurance but will happily save if I know more.)


AMEX offers primary damage coverage for a per-rental flat fee between $20-25, up to a period of 42 days.

As you note, the freebie coverage typically offered by credit cards is secondary, and often excludes the "loss of use" fees that the rental companies like to charge.

You gotta read the fine print.


It is secondary IF there is a primary in place!

Saying it's secondary like that's a bad thing is just incorrect.

In the absence of primary coverage, for collisions, the CDW becomes the primary coverage. In order to make the CDW the primary coverage, generally, one just needs to decline the rental company's coverage and not have it on your own auto policy.

Additionally, Visa still covers loss of use.

 

[SZR48207]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
It's enterprise. I used a credit card, yes I have insurance, but also have a 500 dollar deductible.


Did you decline all of the coverage offered by Enterprise? And does your credit card offer a collision damage waiver? (call the number on the card and ask them)

We are trying to help you but you are doing a terrible job at communicating.

 

[MoneyJohn]

Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Originally Posted By: Carmudgeon
Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
I will start a new thread if its needed.

Few questions,
- Everyone says credit card has auto insurance coverage. Any time I have tried using that I was told that it is a secondary coverage. (I have tried Chase Freedom, Costco AmEx, AmEx Blue Cash and Discover. I have gotten the same answer for all of them.) Since my auto insurance does not cover rental, they ask what insurance coverage I would have? Hence, every time, I end up buying their insurance, primarily because I do not want a headache if anything happens.
(I don't rent that often so I don't mind some 10-20 just for the insurance but will happily save if I know more.)


AMEX offers primary damage coverage for a per-rental flat fee between $20-25, up to a period of 42 days.

As you note, the freebie coverage typically offered by credit cards is secondary, and often excludes the "loss of use" fees that the rental companies like to charge.

You gotta read the fine print.


It is secondary IF there is a primary in place!

Saying it's secondary like that's a bad thing is just incorrect.

In the absence of primary coverage, for collisions, the CDW becomes the primary coverage. In order to make the CDW the primary coverage, generally, one just needs to decline the rental company's coverage and not have it on your own auto policy.

Additionally, Visa still covers loss of use.


Thanks. It very much makes sense. Since I do not rent that often, I just prefer to pay for the insurance as a headache that comes with these issues is just not worth saving a few 10s.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
I will start a new thread if its needed.

Few questions,
- Everyone says credit card has auto insurance coverage. Any time I have tried using that I was told that it is a secondary coverage. (I have tried Chase Freedom, Costco AmEx, AmEx Blue Cash and Discover. I have gotten the same answer for all of them.) Since my auto insurance does not cover rental, they ask what insurance coverage I would have? Hence, every time, I end up buying their insurance, primarily because I do not want a headache if anything happens.
(I don't rent that often so I don't mind some 10-20 just for the insurance but will happily save if I know more.)

- Somebody above mentioned that hopefully, OP didn't buy their insurance. Is it the case that their insurance does not cover the windshield?

I never really understood the concept.

Again, if this is going to hijack OP's thread, I will make another thread so that it is sorted out.


Credit card CDWs are usually secondary unless stated otherwise. Some cards offer the coverage on a primary basis, such as my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Other cards will allow you to use the coverage on a primary basis for a per session fee, such as some AMEX cards.

Most standard market auto insurance policies will extend coverage to a rental vehicle as though it was your own. The most common issue is that your auto policy lacks comp/coll coverage, so you end up with a coverage gap.

 

[nthach]

I've always used my CCs for rental cars, Citi automatically applied their coverage when I got a rental car years ago.

As for the glass, a Safelite installer told me the new guys are trained on rental cars and will hack their way through the install. My parent's Sienna was a former Hertz/Enterprise rental. The Safelite installer who told me this installed the new windshield and he was able to tell off the bat(broken cowl clips, the lower edge of the windshield wasn't bonded and the glass wasn't primed - the rental tech probably tried to drop the glass in from the top).