Do you know, I have never rented a rental car. It is possible that it is much, much easier than I expect. But because it is unexplored, it feels mysterious and difficult (and expensive).
I am an anxious driver. I feel comfortable driving Toyotas, Subarus and, I imagine, Hondas (I have heard that Toyotas and Hondas are very similar). Can I…ask for that? Or do I have to take what I get? I have heard people complain that the car they’d reserved was not the one they got, which implies to me that (1) you CAN ask for what you want and (2) you may very well not get it. At every hotel we stayed at on our recent road trip, I asked in the Special Requests field for an extra towel (I like a separate towel for my hair), and there was never once an extra towel; this makes me think that Special Requests don’t even show up, or that “extra towel” is not something they expect to see in that field.
New/unexpected costs tend to make me Panic and Freak Out. Examples: the astonishing extra taxes on a hotel room when we stayed in a big city (the taxes alone were more than I would normally spend on a hotel room); when you order a soda at a restaurant, thinking “How much can it possibly cost?,” and it’s six United States dollars; parking garages and other paid/city parking; the way a rental truck is “$19.95/day” but then is actually hundreds of dollars because of mileage and fees. I am worried renting a car will have similar things to panic and freak out about.
And I have heard that you do NOT need to get the extra insurance, as long as you have car insurance yourself. Is that true? WHAT IF IT’S NOT TRUE AND I SAY NO AND THEN SOMETHING HAPPENS??
I imagine rental car companies are like airlines and hotel chains, in that they try to reward you for brand loyalty? And I imagine that will end up causing me stress, the way it does with airlines and hotel chains: I never seem to be able to actually USE the points/incentives, and it always seems like they’ve split up the market so that I am constantly dividing my loyalty, and I end up with a useless loyalty account for every single brand. Are some car-rental brands known to be better than others? or is it like airlines, where one person swears they will never use Delta again and they only fly United, and the next person says Delta is the only airline they will ever use and they would rather walk than fly United?
Are there things to know about saving money on rental cars? Like, is it cheaper if your rental starts on a certain day of the week, or lasts a longer/shorter number of days, or if you collect/return it to a different location? I have heard you HAVE to fill up the tank before you return it, or else they will absolutely fleece you on the refill fees. I am worried they will try to charge me for some minor damage that was already there but that I didn’t notice / didn’t think was important enough to make note of. I am not very observant.
Are there things to know about REDUCING THE HASSLE? I have heard people complain about waiting a long time to get a car. Is that just something that sometimes happens and isn’t particularly avoidable?
Re: previous damage. It is worth taking some time to really look everything over. I also always take a couple videos of the outside of the car . This actually saved us this summer. We rushed through the inspection a bit and didn’t notice a BIG dent until the next morning. I thought someone had backed into it overnight, but looking back on the video it actually was there previously. When the company tried to charge us for it we were able to show evidence that it was already there and they closed out the claim against us.
Re: insurance- you do need to check with your credit card, not all of them have this benefit. I researched this because we rented a car in Germany. The credit card insurance is just for the car itself. In the US and Canada, your car insurance should cover you for the liability portion, and the credit card covers damages to the rental car. Abroad you may need to get liability only coverage. Thankfully I have never had to make use of the insurance.
You can make requests! But you may not get it. Generally you reserve a certain class/size of car, which IME is pretty accurate, but occasionally they run out of that type and you get something else. If you can rent and return to the same location it’s usually cheaper. Also, if you have a Costco membership, check out their car rental portal! I find it’s pretty good.
My overall recommendations:
– Feel free to book using an outside site (Kayak, Priceline, Expedia) but make sure you’re searching for locations that are ON SITE, not offsite where a shuttle may be needed. Of course, some airports (San Diego and others) require you to take the bus to the car rental center.
– For a first time renter, I’d suggest you stick with the big names- Hertz, Avis, National, Alamo, Budget. Frankly they are all about the same.
– If you have Costco membership, definitely book with them.
– Check with your insurance company. Generally, no extra is required.
– Almost all sites will show total cost. Don’t be shocked if it’s $40/day for 3 days but comes up to $250! Lots of taxes and fees, but they will not be a surprise.
– Always fill tank before returning. If you use the prepay option, they’ll charge you for full tank capacity even if you only use 2 gallons!
– As noted above, take a full video of the car and photos of any existing damage. A lot of bit rental car locations now capture a full video as you depart.
– Tolls – generally you should opt out of the toll thingy. They charge $x per day PLUS tolls. If you skip that thingy, you generally just get a bill at the end with some reasonable processing fee.
– A new watch out – if you get to pick your car within a lot (take any car in row 7!) make sure you avoid electric vehicles if you aren’t familiar with charging options.
– Since you don’t rent cars often, don’t bother with joining to be a member of any program.
When you show up, you just have to show your ID and credit card. It’ll take a long time and they’ll push a ton of buttons and try to sell you on EVERYTHING – decline it ALL. They’ll use passive scare tactics, and just generally try to gouge. Be prepared to say No, No, No thank you, No. Then they will print off the rental agreement and hand you some keys.
Different makes/models cost different, so you usually ask for a type (sedan) or make. Yes, they may not have what you reserved and you will get something else in that class. Or occasionally if there is nothing else in your class, you will get an upgrade for no extra charge. Yes, you can refuse their insurance. You can say in advance you don’t want to refuel the car and yes, what they charge for gas is ridiculous. So I always opt to refuel before return. I am usually renting a car at the airport, and there is always a gas station nearby that you can fill up at. If you have AAA, there may be rental car discounts. Returning to the same location is cheaper. I also recommend that you take a picture of the car at the drop off location. I have heard of car rental companies sometimes losing the car after drop off and trying to go after the last renter for stealing the car. Despite all this, renting a car is easier, and more boring, than it sounds.
Have you heard of Turo? It’s basically like Airbnb but for cars, you get to pick the exact car you will drive and it’s way less hassle to pick up than a rental car company. I’ve used it 3x now and have had a good experience every time.
I have never rented a car either, but I have *bought* a car from Hertz Rent-A-Car. (They sell the cars once they’re no longer new enough to use as rentals.) (Also, this is the second post in a row of yours that I’ve commented on about buying a car, so I guess it’s on my mind lately.)
One thing I noticed was that many of the cars for sale had cosmetic damage — very obvious cosmetic damage in some cases. So I guess if you damage a rental car and they charge you a fee, they don’t always fix it? I thought they might be taking the amount off the sale price, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, since they didn’t seem to be any cheaper. And they don’t let you haggle, so you can’t ask them to discount it for the cost of a repair. So who knows!