rental car. do they even check for damage?

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I rent a rental car once or twice a year. I always check them before I leave the facility . just returned my rental and it was dirty and dusty . this thing already had quite bit of scratches already when i got it. guy just hopped in the front seat checked the miles and printed my receipt. kinda the same as they always do.

usually at the rental counter they tell you you are responsible for any damage. seeing the way they do it at return they don't seem to care unless the bumper is falling off.

so have you ever been hit with a damage charge when renting a car? was it just a scratch or major damage.
 
Originally Posted by WhyMe
so have you ever been hit with a damage charge when renting a car? was it just a scratch or major damage.

Yup. A Hertz rental tried to pull a fast one on me once. They tried to charge me for rock chips in the windshield which did not even happen on my watch.

Gotta be careful when you drop off the vehicle outside normal working hours when there is no one there to sign for it.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4399664/purported-car-rental-damage
 
Yes, they check. Some more closely than others. I had a crack in a bumper once. It happened, no disputing it. Unable to avoid a large piece of retread on the highway. It was under a grand.

Good idea to take a video when walking around the vehicle. Look underneath too. They normally look for larger scratches and dents, but some are more picky than others.
 
Had a couple hassles over rock chips on the windshield so that's the main thing I look for.
I can pretty much walk up to a rent car and tell you the miles within 10% … shame how badly they are treated.

Therefore, on the body it has to be far more than a door ding before it gets marked.
 
My experiences mirror yours, but I've heard some rental car companies/lots use a 3rd party service to inspect and document vehicle conditions. They gotta squeeze every penny possible.
 
Rental companies have told me they only care about dings bigger than a quarter. I rented an F150 a couple weeks ago. Parked it in the same spot I took it from and dropped they keys in the drop box at 5am. I assume there were no issues. If someone were to hit it in the parking lot, not sure who'd they be looking at.

I've rented cars in Europe and there are no spots in the return garage to park it and all the rental car companies are closed. You have to just leave it in the middle of the lane and drop the keys with some sketchy guy who says they are collecting keys for all the rental car companies. Glad I'm using my company credit card for those.
 
I like to take a video before I hop in just in case they like to pull something later. I did rent a car from Enterprise once where I got too close to the curb and scratched up one of their hubcaps. I was expecting them to ding me for it but they didn't say a thing. They'll all get scratched up eventually I guess.
 
Originally Posted by WhyMe
I rent a rental car once or twice a year. I always check them before I leave the facility . just returned my rental and it was dirty and dusty . this thing already had quite bit of scratches already when i got it. guy just hopped in the front seat checked the miles and printed my receipt. kinda the same as they always do.

usually at the rental counter they tell you you are responsible for any damage. seeing the way they do it at return they don't seem to care unless the bumper is falling off.

so have you ever been hit with a damage charge when renting a car? was it just a scratch or major damage.

I saw them make a big deal out of a scratched up alloy wheel on the return ahead of me, so yes some do.
 
When you rented the car, do you pick the insurance option for "full damage waiver" ? That is one of the first things they look for in the paperwork- if you paid for that option, its basically insurance that absolves you of any penalty for damage. If you paid for that option then they do not even bother with a detailed inspection. If you do not have that option, then they go over the car in detail. Many companies go so far as to mark up potential damage so that they make a hefty profit on any required repairs.

I had a rental car that was parked in a underground garage. Last day I had it, somebody backed into it and crushed one of the taillights. I was really [censored], thinking I would be on the hook for a $500 repair, but I recalled that I got the optional insurance. When I dropped it off I pointed out to the guy the damage, and he just nodded and said "we will take care of it". My personal rule on rental cars, from experience, is that outside of the USA I always get this insurance. Inside USA it depends on what I feel is the risk factor.
My personal experience with rental cars outside of the USA is poor, with frequent incidents, thefts, vandalism etc., so I always get the CDW. My previous company refused to reimburse the employee for this cost as they claimed they were "self insured" but I got lucky and never had an issue the few times I rented a car.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damage_waiver
 
I won't tell where and I don't remember which company but a fellow worker wanted to drive my rental once-- don't even remember if I signed him up to drive. He proceeded to get up on a divider and ripped a huge hole in the exhaust. Brought it back and complained that the car was complete crap-- they responded "sorry sir, we'll give you a 50% rent reduction. This was in the last century, so hopefully the statute of limitations has passed.
 
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Originally Posted by The_Cams
Yes, they check. Some more closely than others. I had a crack in a bumper once. It happened, no disputing it. Unable to avoid a large piece of retread on the highway. It was under a grand.

This just happened to a co-worker (with a rental). He caused some damage on the bottom lip and left a lot of black marks but he was able to remove the markings. Turned it in, the rep quickly checked it, and a few hours later he rec'd his receipt and no notation of damage.
 
Had a bad Enterprise rental in Charleston sc. It was checked out to me in the rain. they actually threw me the keys. On return, agent spent 5 to 10 minutes and went over every panel of the car using a clipboard.
said there was a 1/4 inch diameter chip on the top of the trunk lid not a dent, a paint chip. I got a bill from Enterprise for Around $2500 which included many line items of unneeded work (to raise the bill to $2500.) example, they said to fix the chip on the top of the trunk lid you had to remove the fuel filler door on car side.
also got . a dunn letter a few days later saying pay up.
I took a picture to an auto repair shop I knew , they said $300 to $400. Also sent a pix to USAA they said $350 - guess as they had not seen the actual car. Glad I took pix.
Bill was reduced to around $300.
In some companies maybe an accounting person would have just paid it "Oh thats Joes trip last month".
I have rented Hertz all over the US and in England without issue.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by WhyMe
I rent a rental car once or twice a year. I always check them before I leave the facility . just returned my rental and it was dirty and dusty . this thing already had quite bit of scratches already when i got it. guy just hopped in the front seat checked the miles and printed my receipt. kinda the same as they always do.

usually at the rental counter they tell you you are responsible for any damage. seeing the way they do it at return they don't seem to care unless the bumper is falling off.

so have you ever been hit with a damage charge when renting a car? was it just a scratch or major damage.

Yes they check and no I've never been hit with damages cuzz I've never damaged a rental car.
 
I rent pretty often, and have generally found the checks to be very cursory looks around. Once in a while a return agent will look in detail, but it's rare.
 
I work for Enterprise. Every employee checks in the vehicles differently. Some are detailed some not so much. Damage waiver is always a good thing to get as i have seen some upsetting moments of some random person damaging a rental that the renter now has to pay for because they didnt get damage waiver. There are some criteria we follow. Any scratches on the bumpers are not considered damage but punctures are. Dents bigger than a golf ball and scratches longer than $1 bill on the actual metal are damage. Rock chip in glass bigger than a quarter is damage. now nyc has different criteria for damage as everyone is always damaging each others vehhicles.
 
I take a video while doing a walk around, pointing out any and all damage. Never had an issue though, enterprise in my area just does a very quick look over.
 
I once inspected a rental car in the rain. The issue with that was you couldn't see any damage on the windshield. The car they gave me was a total pos, dirty inside and out, chipped windshield. Luckily I said it was pretty dirty in the comments when we did the initial walk around. They actually never even charged me for the rental. Coincidentally, they seem fairly reluctant to rent me a car now. They never have any available. In was annoyed that they lied about taking it to the carwash as their excuse for taking so long to bring the car to me, even though it was clearly raining.
 
I got an Enterprise rental car and paid the collision damage waiver. I was starting to back out of a spot in a supermarket parking lot after an elderly gentleman drove past, when the kindly old gentlemen suddenly put his car in reverse gear and backed up again in the parking lot without looking. I stopped backing out of my space, but he was moving. He barely marked the white rear bumper of the rental with some dark paint but it left a long mark along the right side of his car. Asked who's my insurance company: I said Enterprise car rental. Later after five minutes of cleanup I returned the car and its shiny white bumper without incident.

Several weeks later I got a call from Enterprise. Other driver was now trying to make a collision claim. I said the old fellow was operating in reverse, when he unfortunately backed into your car, which was stopped. I said did your attendant not inspect the car, and did he notice any damage to your car when I returned it? Enterprise guy agreed no; there is no damage noted.

Enterprise guy then says other driver is making a claim against us for damage to his car. Who's your auto insurance carrier? I said, you are. Do you have a copy of our rental agreement in front of your, like I am looking at my contract right now? He said yes. Do you see where it says on the contract that I purchased the liability insurance? Yes. I said fine, then we have nothing further to discuss. Then I said goodbye and hung up, and never heard from them again.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
I like to take a video before I hop in just in case they like to pull something later. I did rent a car from Enterprise once where I got too close to the curb and scratched up one of their hubcaps. I was expecting them to ding me for it but they didn't say a thing. They'll all get scratched up eventually I guess.


We had a Enterprise rental for a month while the leaseon was getting repaired. All 4 hubcaps were curbed, and I noted it on the pickup report, but both people we dealt with said they don't even pay attention to plastic wheel covers or hubcaps.
 
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