Rental Car Absolutes

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It seems every rental car I get will have had the inside windshield wiped down with the same rag that cleaned the tires and the wiper blades will be worn out.
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Rent from a different company? Ask for a different car?

I rent almost exclusively from National, and I can't say I've ever had either of those problems.
 
I rent with National as well, and do not see problems like those.

My last rental was a 2019 BMW X3, with 800 miles. $34 a day with unlimited miles.
 
Originally Posted by Egg_Head
It seems every rental car I get will have had the inside windshield wiped down with the same rag that cleaned the tires



Yup, just had a rental last week and the inside of the windshield was coated in goo and left nasty streaks all over.
 
I used to work at a good year that had an account with enterprise. They didn't want to fix them. They wanted pad slaps on undersized rotors,alignments with worn components etc. Ugly duckling was a little better.
 
And no fluid in the windshield washer.

Their business model is to rent these cars for about 8000 miles without doing anything other than washing them, then sell for nearly the price of a new car.
 
I can give you the 411 of the windshield issue. Basically it boils down to laziness. Most of the people cleaning the cars just want to clean it quickly so either the inside of the windshield/windows never get wiped or the proper window cleaner and rag never get used because it across the room. A lot of times the window will look good after cleaning but it will dry to have a white haze on it. I blame that on the water based biodegradable poor cleaner that enterprise uses. This is whats used to clean the windows (http://pakit.com/products/detail.php?Glass-Hard-Surface-Cleaner-9) and its labor intensive to get the windows streak free when using it. Often the windows come out worse after using it because it just smears around whatever is on the windows. We do try and keep real glass cleaner around but its against osha so its hard to come by and usually an employee has to buy it and hide it. We do often get complaints about the windows and it will vary from branch to branch or on who is cleaning it to determine how clean the windows get.
 
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Last couple of Enterprise ones I've had were nearly out of gas at pickup, like the low fuel lights were on. Almost all rentals I've had had noticeable dents, which the attendants seem surprised that I take the time to note on the delivery form. Gee, maybe I don't want to have them claim that I put the dents in it?
 
Originally Posted by Dave Sherman
Last couple of Enterprise ones I've had were nearly out of gas at pickup, like the low fuel lights were on. Almost all rentals I've had had noticeable dents, which the attendants seem surprised that I take the time to note on the delivery form. Gee, maybe I don't want to have them claim that I put the dents in it?




Enterprise is running a big scam by claiming you damaged the car during your rental. It's well known by insurance companies. I had this happen to me on something that was a manufacturers defect.

Take video when you do the walk around.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Rent from a different company? Ask for a different car?

I rent almost exclusively from National, and I can't say I've ever had either of those problems.


Lucky you. I'm Exec Elite with National and Presidents Circle with Hertz and I see it all the time except on those brand spanking new.
 
I recommend that they see you video taping the car as you walk around and receive it. you also should note all defects on the rental with the agent present. Take pictures of the inside. And check to see if the jack and spare tire are present, A common scam is to remove then, then try to charge you for them when you return the car. They see you doing this and you never have a problem.

Rod
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Dave Sherman
Last couple of Enterprise ones I've had were nearly out of gas at pickup, like the low fuel lights were on. Almost all rentals I've had had noticeable dents, which the attendants seem surprised that I take the time to note on the delivery form. Gee, maybe I don't want to have them claim that I put the dents in it?




Enterprise is running a big scam by claiming you damaged the car during your rental. It's well known by insurance companies. I had this happen to me on something that was a manufacturers defect.

Take video when you do the walk around.

Yup when I was a claims adjuster I had a lot of claims from them, we denied 90% percent of them since the burden of proof is on the rental company. I'd run an ISO check on the rental vehicle VIN and see 3 or 4 claims for the exact damage all denied. It's a game ERAC plays all the time, IMHO its borderline insurance fraud, but they back off when you push back or request a written/recorded statement from the branch manager.
 
I prefer Hertz. Enterprise Holdings owns National and Alamo. National is more geared towards business travelers and usually takes their cars out of the rotation at 20k miles. While the Enterprise cars can have upwards of 50k miles before taken out of circulation.
 
I always get the cleanest, nicest optioned cars with National. I can usually pick a much larger car in the Emerald Aisle as well.

I just wish they'd cut back on the spam emails.
 
I have yet to have an issue with National. I'm by no means a frequent renter, 5 or 6 times a year. I never get anything with more than 20k miles, usually less than 10k, often less than 5k. The highest mileage car I got from them was actually a Maserati Ghibli SQ4 that I rented myself for my birthday. Had something like 43k on it.

That car ended up being a pile, they refunded me the entire upgrade charge and I paid the base rate I had booked for the 3 day weekend, which I thought was fair. The car didn't have any issues that kept me from enjoying it minus the crazy loud (and very cheap) tires they had installed on it.
 
I always get a cleaned inside & out from my Enterprise in Mokena IL. I do dislike being told to return the vehicle with the same amount of fuel showing on the gas gauge. Ed
 
Originally Posted by mk378
And no fluid in the windshield washer.

Their business model is to rent these cars for about 8000 miles without doing anything other than washing them, then sell for nearly the price of a new car.

Nope. Last rentals I got were a Caravan with 24K, an Edge with 11K, and a GMC van with 44K.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Rent from a different company? Ask for a different car?

I rent almost exclusively from National, and I can't say I've ever had either of those problems.


I rent from National and Enterprise. I don't know why but for some reason checking the cleanliness of the windshield slips my mind when picking up a rental car after getting off a plane. I usually don't notice it until I am in the daylight outside of the confines of the rental grotto.
 
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