Rental Car Experiences?

suydam

Sorry, all the carats indicating a quote disappeared when I posted. I do not understand this new system!

berri

Hey Sandman, maybe your former co-worker "Mooch" is now working payroll at Hertz - Just Kidding!

stever

@suydam, sometimes it all runs together like that. You can go back and edit (hover over your post and click the gear) and then hit your enter key where your own text begins. I already did that in your last post - had to refresh my own memory.

suydam

Thanks. Sometimes on an ipad copying is harder anyway.

stever

Oh yeah, when I really want to bug my wife I split the keyboard on her iPad. She always grabs my computer if she has more than a short email to type anyway. The copy/paste is about impossible for me on it, even with a stylus.

@sandman_6472, be careful cleaning out those rentals. You never know when you might trigger a whole different kind of problem. Naturally this incident happened in S. Florida.
(NYDailyNews.com)

Mr_Shiftright

Another reason I'm never going to live in florida.

fintail

A modern day banana republic. Someone like that should require special training for both a SUV and the firearm, I'd wager she lacks the situational awareness to operate either safely. Never know when you'll have to stand your ground!

And E-Z? Pretty low end for someone who has blindly stumbled into money.

@Stever@Edmunds said:

stever

The Dolphin's QB is supposed to have a rifle arm....

Mr_Shiftright

"Hey, you--that's MY parking space----BUDDA-BUDDA=-BUDDA!

kyfdx

That's an NFL quarterback body? Note to self: do not draft Tannehill for fantasy team.

Sandman6472

I see them all basically, some with high ,mileage and others almost brand new and then new. People are generally pigs when it is a rental and I've been amazed at some of the stuff that was left behind by every day folk. Still, I love the job and am happy to be getting an additional 5 hours with my transfer. My boss found out on Thursday and was a bit cold to me yesterday and pointed out that my replacement has already been chosen which is something I already assumed...it's easier to have a dedicated driver at the Hertz Local Edition sites, the ones in the cities and towns and not on an airport. So glad that timing worked for me here. Now I have both jobs and can work almost as many hours as I want!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Berri, saw the "mooch" last week at MIA and he came into my hertz yesterday afternoon. He acted like nothing ever happened so I went with the flow. Felt like asking him how he likes riding the bus but thought better of it. Did make it a point to show him my shiny new vehicle though...told him how nice it rides and how happy I am with it. But hey sucker, you will never get a ride in it though! Got a little satisfaction from that I must say! And the guy I loaned money to has agreed to start paying me back in March when his social security starts...sure hope so!

The Sandman

fintail

Local Budget Avis was pretty empty this morning - nothing bigger than a Sentra. But sitting by the office, a red base F30 3er, probably a fleet spec 320i.

Sandman6472

The Enterprise store right diagonally across the street from us always has a nicer selection of vehicles than we do for some unknown reason. Even Ft. Lauderdale airport has a lot more variety and that's where we get the bulk of our vehicles now...the ones that have a "HLE" on them. My old company used to deliver those all the time and now I know it stands for "Hertz Local Edition" or for stores like mine. But was pretty busy today and was kept an extra hour also. Only working the next two days this week and then the countdown starts till l go to my new office...my replacement has been chosen so don't see why I need to wait another two weeks but that's what they want. Also, no paycheck in over a month of working and still no answer as to where it was sent to...all I know is it didn't get direct deposited into my account yet. For such a big company, something like this doesn't look well! I need to get paid!!!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Busiest day yet yesterday...so many reservations and walk-ins that we ran out of cars temporarily...more were being brought over as I was leaving. Finally got my first paycheck but they owe me three more so we will see. Asked to move up my transfer but was told no, have to wait another two weeks. On the 3rd, I report to my new store and I can not wait. Will cut about a 1/3 of my travel time and will save me the same in petrol which works for me. I am good with it!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Finally picked up my re-issued first check on Thursday and got good news last night. My lost two checks have been located and will be in Sunny Isles today! Asked big guy if they could get them over to my office on Monday and he said sure. Hopefully the direct depose stuff will go into effect within the week so I won't have to worry about going to the bank to deposit it. Like knowing that every week on Friday morning my check is in the account. The wife gets my pension but this check goes into my own personal account so I have complete control over what I spend it on...nice to have that control.

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Great thing happened earlier...Fedex brought my check from my 1st week of work in January to my house! Have two more at the Sunny Isles office waiting for me so hope to get those sometime this week. Major screw up with Hertz here as someone didn't do their job correctly...must be why my direct deposit hasn't been straightened out yet!

The Sandman

fintail

Oddity at the Avis/Budget lot - a Prius C. Had plates that are maybe 14 months old, so it either has little miles, or a zillion miles on it.

Sandman6472

Busy [non-permissible content removed] day today...had me work 2 1/2 hours over my leaving time. Got another paycheck so think we are finally caught up now. Drove the GL today and it is a big wagon, prefer a GLK for it's smaller size. Did notice that Hertz seems to have a few older vehicles in it's fleet for some reason. Can't decide if Hertz is bigger than Enterprise now that they have Dollar/Thrifty under their control now. If not bigger, they must be close in size and probably the dominant players in the rental car biz.
Have also noticed that they try to place their locations somewhat close so consumers do have a choice. Did learn today that certain days during the week and month seem to have different rates for some reason. Throw in the internet and makes for a very confusing rate schedule. And sites like Priceline, Hotwire and Kyack really make things interesting. I do know that as a Hertz employee, I get a discount when renting a vehicle.

The Sandman

fintail

Saw a Sonic LTZ turbo sitting at Budget/Avis today - might be a fun small rental.

Sandman6472

They are pretty cool and so is the Spark for a small vehicle. Working tomorrow at 9 for my company in West Palm...since I explained to her that i have another part time gig, she's using me about once or twice a week. I do like to get on the road and drive every so often...and if I get to do it every week, I am cool.
One more week at my current hertz location then I move out west...hope it's all I hope it will be though I will be the only guy in my crew that speaks English as his first language I've heard. They want me 30 hours/week to start so we'll see how that goes...gotta feeling that I'm going to work on Shabbas as we're open from 9 to 2...I can do 3 days of 8 hours plus the additional 6 to make an even 30. We shall see but i am ready to go...the travel time right now is just too much! This move will cut it down by over a 1/3 which is great for me as lately, I've not been feeling too great!

The Sandman

fintail

The Spark is a bit small and overstyled - cars like that are a reason I'll spend a little extra (sometimes very little) and rent a higher class of car. They probably get abused more by renters, too.

Just think, a couple months ago you were working for that place you loathed. Things worked out.

@sandman_6472 said:
They are pretty cool and so is the Spark for a small vehicle.

suydam

My daughter got stuck with one once. Imagine being on the Philadelphia turnpike in a Spark. That is not a long distance car.

KCRam

Just to avoid rolling mailboxes like Sparks, Fits, and Yarises, I usually reserve a full-size. That way, they won't drop too many classes if that's all they have (and I get the appropriate price break), or as in the case a couple of weeks ago, they had no cars at all and put me in a brand new 2014 Chevy Suburban (just 3100 miles) for the full-size price.

suydam

I'm not sure what would be worse for me. Imagine the mpg in a Suburban on a long trip. I usually rent standard size, which gets you the basic Camry, Malibu or whatever 4 cyl sedan with good gas mileage. And not a boat to maneuver around. But I know some people like them.

KCRam

In this case, it was just a repair rental (knew in advance the repairs on my regular ride would be more than one day), and since I drive a 4-door dually pickup, the Suburban was actually smaller

stever

“When you make a reservation for a car rental you are guaranteed a car, but you are not guaranteed a classification of a car. That stems from the fact that the industry does not have any form of guaranteed reservations, and the fact that 25% at least of the people who make a reservation don’t show up,” says Chris Brown, editor of Auto Rental News in Torrance, Calif.

Unlike when you buy an airline ticket or make a hotel reservation, you do not pay a deposit. You do not pay up front. You do not even have to give a credit card number. You don’t even have to show up."

How to pick -and get - the rental car you want (Detroit Free Press)

fintail

I prepay rentals when I go with Sixt, sometimes the discount is significant, and then you have something to stand on when they don't have your car. It's only happened once - my last rental, where I prepaid an E-class category, and they had none. Agent tried to tell me a C was the same, I balked, and got an X5. Once in Germany I reserved the smallest automatic rental for a one day trip (car cheaper than taxi or spending 5 hours on rural bus routes, and I didn't want to deal with learning a new stick on narrow hilly roads with impatient fast drivers), they had none, so I got an E-class, their smallest automatic on the lot. That was at a city branch though, not airport. Another time in Germany I prepaid for E/5er size, but they had none, so I got a 7er, not shabby.

In the US, I don't worry at airport locations, as they always seem have something acceptable, and when I've rented a couple times in town, I am fine with whatever's cheap.

Sandman6472

These few weeks are insane...we have only a few vehicles on our hertz lot at any given moment. I worked my 2nd job Friday through Sunday and did 5 trips to Orlando bringing up any vehicles Hertz West Palm could spare. When we got back last night, I was beat as I've been working the last 8 days straight and looks like I won't catch a day off for a few more weeks. Heck, my weekend job called me at hertz this morning to come to work but unless I can split myself in half, that ain't gonna happen.
My transfer becomes effective next Monday and my commute will be cut by a 1/3...just hope I am not making a mistake here but think all will work out. Still having payroll issues almost 9 weeks in here. Luckily I found a lady in payroll somewhere in the midwest who has been helping to straighten things out. The direct deposit hasn't happened as the office I gave my voided check to on my first day lost it, didn't tell me and every time I ask about what's going on, they either put me on hold or hang up on me...no one is taking any sort of responsibility so my account number is floating around out there. I am past frustrated by this lack of professionalism and employee help. And still I am still missing my last check and no direct deposit...still. No wonder working folk do desperate things at work, it's all just a cry for some help from anyone. Corporate America is failing their work force big time!!!

The Frustrated Sandman :@

fintail

Saw a rental Mazda 5 today, think it might be a regional thing, don't know if they exist everywhere.

Sandman6472

We have them down here in South Florida...have driven a few in the last year. Have to go to my old Hertz office tomorrow as even though I said I have another job, she scheduled me! Told her I have to leave as early as possible and then she says how about Saturday! Huh!! Again, said I have another job and "no" for Saturday. Our weeks begin on Friday so now, she is cutting into my new bosses hours which I am sure will not please him. Some folks just plain ask for too much...and this lady is one of them...not very sincere at all, she asks you questions but won't listen to the answers most times. It is time for me to move to a calmer office. My 2nd gig has been pretty stress free lately and hope to work both days this weekend.

The Sandman

fintail

Local Avis/Budget had at least a dozen moving vans today, seemed odd.

Sandman, does everyone in FL work more than one job? Seems to be really common there, maybe a little bit of a dysfunctional economy. Too bad you can't escape the drama, unfortunately, drama seldom prevents people from gaining power.

Sandman6472

Not really sure. I fell into this job by accident from my original one since we were doing the same work at the Pembroke Pines location for Hertz. They decided to go in house and I heard this from one of their employees so had a very casual interview and eventually got hired. I got the 2nd driving gig again on Craigslist after the drama at the first one got toxic. I do them both because i like the long distance driving, a lot but it slows down once season is over in April so I need the Hertz gig as my regular job. I need my quarters for social security since I was civil service my whole previous working career except for a half dozen summer things.
Working 7 days now because we are in the height of season and because I know the slow time is coming...the driving job has a lot of employees now so my chances will be very low to drive for them come summer. Trust me, I am not doing this for my health!

The Sandman

fintail

But it beats sitting around the house, right? You're just tired of the lack of a day off, and tired of the dopes who have somehow stumbled into admin and leadership positions. Look forward to driving some cool cars, anything good lately?

iluvmysephia1

sandman - heh, you're right, that's a regular security breach ta not hook up your direct deposit correctly and quickly. That's infuriating and nuts.

Hey, btw, you don't have any Mitsubishi Mirage's to transport yet, do you? I wouldn't normally want such a small rig like that, but the old Chevy Sprint/Ford Festiva type rigs have a certain appeal to them. Like saving money on ghastly. They sell the Mirage with both an automatic transmission and a standard transmission. It would be a ball ta drive with a stick. Only costs around $13,999 or therabouts, too. New bodystyle coming for the Mirage for the 2016 MY, I read yesterday. The '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS is running like a champ with 119,981 miles on her. Hang in there, man.

Sandman6472

No Mirages in the fleet as of yet. Did the direct deposit thing from home today actually...had the form, called human resources to let them know it was on the way and boom...we're done now...easy peasy really. Sometimes taking the bull by the horns is the best way!
Got some interesting news today...they are limiting all 7 of us to 25 hours/week now so 4 more drivers are joining the ranks and I finally got set hours...outstanding! Off Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday...work Saturday 9 to 12 and the other days 8 to either 3:30 or 4. I chose first since I was standing there and really wanted two days off back to back so I can do my other gig both or just one of them. Don't mind the 1/2 day Saturday really as I can sleep in a little and traffic is lighter at that time of day. So a win/win for me and since I already had my 25 in for this week, I left at 1 today and felt nice to have the afternoon to do a few things. Even came home and took a nap! So now I feel so much calmer knowing that my life is scheduled correctly and I have some much needed flexibility with it. I think taking a day, or two, off each week will give me the balance in my life that I sorely need now, I love to work but it did get a bit much there.
All is good now and I am happy!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Drove another Camaro today and it was fun...fast to! I do like the VW C C and it felt spacious for a mid sizer actually. Hertz has all different makes and models in their fleet but have noticed more high mile vehicles lately...seems like they are keeping their fleet a bit longer than before. But am totally irked by customers, they trash these vehicles with debris and food stuffs which is really nasty. And why...because they can which stinks. Why not treat the rental like your own vehicle and pick up after yourselves...just because we have car cleaners doesn't mean that folks need to do some of the stuff I've seen to our fleet...just makes no sense to me. Personally, I treat them all like they were mine and drive very conservatively maybe getting up to 90 if I am not looking or passing another vehicle...no intentional bad stuff, ever!

The Sandman

fintail

Speaking of high milers, I have noticed many local rentals with plates that are over a year old, some may date to 2012 issue. Those are probably well-used cars.

I treat rentals like they are mine, too - I am a mild neat freak, and don't like a gross interior. If it looks sketchy, I will give it a quick detail myself. I might not be a good car rental cleaner though, I think I would do too good of a job, too much time.

90, normal in GA and FL, unimaginable where I live. On another site I read someone got a Hyundai Veloster rental from National, that would be an oddity.

imidazol97

@sandman_6472 said:

But am totally irked by customers, they trash these vehicles with debris and food stuffs which is really nasty. And why...because they can which stinks. Why not treat the rental like your own vehicle and pick up after yourselves...just because we have car cleaners

Look at it as job security. :grin

My sister-in-law rented a car a couple years back and stayed with us. She returned it cleaner than she got it--and with more gas in it.

fintail

I see that Sixt now has some G-Wagens available in Florida. That would be memorable.

Sandman6472

Luckily I am just a driver, not a cleaner. Today, worked from 9 till 7:15 as we are opening a new Hertz location at a local Lincoln dealer so we had to move about 30 vehicles over there. I asked a few times about finishing tomorrow but was told "no" so I committed to my other gig in West Palm Beach. Naturally, about an hour later I get asked if I can work tomorrow! Had to say no since I can't get out of the other one once I say yes. So the powers that be decided to get to work at 6:30 Monday morning to finish up. Just wish someone had listened to me earlier about working tomorrow as I'd have been happy to come in!
My whole crew speaks Spanish and I don't...has caused some miscommunication especially today when I was halfway to the new Lincoln store with a vehicle that wasn't supposed to go then...I took it later though. I do not know any Spanish so this is going to be very interesting going forward. It is a bit comical though!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Took today off since I was physically and mentally exhausted...decided to also take tomorrow off so let 5 p m come and go, so thought I was safe. At 7:15 my phone rings and it's the lead driver and turns out they need me tomorrow to come in to Hertz. Since it is my main gig, no way I could say no especially since I wasn't committed in West Palm. So guess my two days off are not to be this week and now must decide if I want to volunteer for Sunday as was the original plan. Saturdays are supposed to be from 9 to 12 except last week when we worked till 7:15 getting the new Hertz office up and running. All in all, I like the new office at Pembroke Pines and have no desire to ever go back to the other one where I was the only driver. Even though I don't understand most of my co-workers, we are getting into a good working rhythm so all is good!

The Sandman

fintail

Saw a rental F150 4 door 4x4 in the building of my garage this morning, and the local Avis/Budget had an Infiniti M37, which is rare but not unknown in fleets.

Sandman6472

Moved new Accords and Civics this morning...we have a Hertz location at the local Honda store and since Hertz bought about 30 new vehicles, we had to get them downstairs onto the lot to be rented out. I like the new Accord...a lot!
Got called in today though it was my N/S day...took yesterday off as a mental health day and planned the same for today but got the call last evening that my presence was requested at work today and could I PLEASE come in? Sure I said so will do my other gig on Sunday if there is work which with spring break in full swing, I bet they will need me!

The Sandman

berri

Been over in Hawaii. Nissan is definitely the king of the rental vehicles, including the new Pathfinder, but there were plenty of Ford's with barcodes including more than a few Focus and new Fusion's (although didn't see any on the Hertz lots). We had 4 adults, so we needed bigger vehicles. Had 3 Hertz rentals while over there. Seems like in Hawaii at least, Hertz has become Dollar or Thrifty instead of the other way around. We had two Dodge minivans and a Chevy Tahoe, and all of them were kind of stripped. The minivans both had a cheap looking black cloth interior. One had a backup camera with no sound, the other had nothing. Now Tahoe's are expensive trucks and I enjoyed driving a V8, but this rental was a 2013 with around 15K miles. It already had a bunch of rattles and no backup camera, just noise when you backed close to something. How much do these cost - I can't believe Chevy makes a model this chintzy for that price. Also, I noted that on one of the Hertz rental slips, the back side had in big letters "featuring Chrysler products". That may drive me back to National and Avis!

obyone

@berri said:
Been over in Hawaii. Nissan is definitely the king of the rental vehicles, including the new Pathfinder, but there were plenty of Ford's with barcodes including more than a few Focus and new Fusion's (although didn't see any on the Hertz lots). We had 4 adults, so we needed bigger vehicles. Had 3 Hertz rentals while over there. Seems like in Hawaii at least, Hertz has become Dollar or Thrifty instead of the other way around. We had two Dodge minivans and a Chevy Tahoe, and all of them were kind of stripped. The minivans both had a cheap looking black cloth interior. One had a backup camera with no sound, the other had nothing. Now Tahoe's are expensive trucks and I enjoyed driving a V8, but this rental was a 2013 with around 15K miles. It already had a bunch of rattles and no backup camera, just noise when you backed close to something. How much do these cost - I can't believe Chevy makes a model this chintzy for that price. Also, I noted that on one of the Hertz rental slips, the back side had in big letters "featuring Chrysler products". That may drive me back to National and Avis!

Best bang for the buck in Hawaii is through Budget rent a car. For four people you can get a Lincoln Towncar for under $100 a day. An ultra smooth luxo cruiser with a trunk so huge you can do 4 golf bags and still have room for luggage.

Sandman6472

Hertz bought Dollar/Thrifty sometime last year as far as I know. As of now, we have gotten vehicles from both for our HLE, Hertz Local Edition, lot. Last year, my other company moved a lot of vehicles from Tampa and Orlando for Hertz but this year since the merger, there were less of these trips since hertz now has more vehicles to draw from. Did bring 12 vehicles from Lauderdale to Orlando yesterday for Firefly, another Hertz company, mostly Chevy's and Buick's, that all had mileage under 15k to be sold at auction. Usually I've gone to Jupiter but since sometime last year, we've been going to Orlando.

The Sandman

tjc78

@obyone said:

LTC's must be getting a little old for rental car duty. They haven't made them since 2011. Of course, that doesn't matter as they go forever and then some.

fintail

When did you rent that? I haven't seen one of those in a fleet for some time.

However, I did read on another forum that someone got an 11 DTS in Hawaii (maybe Alamo), so they could still be out there.

@obyone said:

andres3

Just rented a Chevy Captiva, so they are a GM car available in the US. I think my Dad's Honda Lawnmower from the 80's had a better engine. GM is doomed with cars like this.

Switched to a Maxima after 2 days of that pathetic excuse for an engine Captiva.