Rental Car Experiences?

berri

I booked a flight for next month. I usually use Hertz Gold, but their cars seem to have cheapened up over the past year or two. Just want a sedan and even with an affinity discount and promo code a weekly rental was going to be over $450. (summer is over and apparently they have really jacked up their rates) I think they are trying to get you to go the airline route and buy a $60 cheaper nonrefundable rate. Speaking of airlines, found out my Hertz Gold miles apparently aren't accepted at some airport locations. Anyway, checked into Costco. My kid has had good luck with that. I'm getting essentially the same car at $296, and the rate is refundable through Costco with Enterprise. It will be interesting to see how that goes. The one drawback is I won't be able to walk right to my car, but for $150 difference I can wait in line.

fintail

I recently booked a car too. I was thinking about a cheapish trip to take this year, so I cashed in some air miles and Hertz points, and am flying into ATL then on to the coast in November. Those combined with pricelined and points hotels will make it not too hard on the wallet, and I'll spend most of the trip in the mellow area from Charleston to Daytona Beach. Should be good weather that time of year.

I have a ton of Hertz points from an online survey site. I booked a "luxury" class car for 10 days - I could have got a "premium" for less points, but I don't want to risk a zero option Charger (my last Hertz "premium") or one of the zero option Impalas I read are in the Hertz premium fleet. A "luxury" will be a 300 or maybe something nicer, which is more fun - I want something enjoyable for the drive.

berri

I like both of those places. Daytona Beach may be a bit tacky, but during offseason periods it is pretty laid back and affordable. Charleston is nice, but much more commercial than a decade or so ago. Savannah is a couple hour drive from there if you are into the arts or civil war stuff. Don't know if you can still get Paula Deen "budder" cookin' there though

fintail

I got some good hotel details as I booked places further south. I'll be spending a couple days in Savannah yeah, and visiting an old friend there. I've been there before, so not a new experience, but it is comfortable.

sandman_6472

Weather here in Florida then should be nice as our heat usually breaks sometime in October. Last winter, if one could call it that, wasn't that cold really, maybe call it a cool one but we take what we get down here. Did Charleston when the kids were teens and it was quite fun actually. And a very good chance of getting a MB or something similar is very possible from Hertz. Call the office in advance maybe and see what they can do for ya. Many times this happens at ours and yours truly is the one who usually gets it.

The Sandman

fintail

I don't know if I could call into a major airport and request a car - but might be able to negotiate at the desk if you can charm the agent.

Saw what I am pretty sure is a rental CTS in the workplace garage this morning - I wouldn't complain about one of those.

fintail

Saw what looked like a nicely equipped Tahoe LTZ rental yesterday (multiple barcodes, plates with no frames, etc), that wouldn't be a bad cruiser. Too many zero option cars in the fleets.

jpp5862

fintail said:

Gen 9 is definitely in the rental fleets on the west coast.

I've seen several of the Gen 9 in fleets in the southeast and midwest. Drove it a couple of times, it's as good as the Camry except for the dash, the fabric sewn on look doesn't work for me.

sandman_6472

Saw the new Cruze hatch at the Chevy dealer today...nice job Chevy!!! It was an LT model with 16" wheels but think I'd spring for an LTZ to get 17" tires hopefully and nicer goodies inside. I happen to love hatchbacks and have had a 1979 Datsun 210 hatch, a 1988 Toyota FX hatch and now, a 2015 VW Golf hatch. Even my kid has a hatch, a 2009 Versa SL. Love the added flexibility that they give when needed and the ability to haul larger items when necessary. And love the smaller size which fits better on my side of the garage.
Hopefully, we'll get the new Cruze hatch at Hertz very soon.

The Sandman

fintail

G9 Malibu rental parked near me at work today. It had a pretty serious bump/scrape on the passenger side rear quarter, I suspect from a parking garage pillar. Hope someone bought the insurance.

andres3

fintail said:

G9 Malibu rental parked near me at work today. It had a pretty serious bump/scrape on the passenger side rear quarter, I suspect from a parking garage pillar. Hope someone bought the insurance.

Ever since Enterprise and I got into a fight over a dent in a Mazda 3 I rented for all of 8 hours, (a $250 fight), I take at least 4 or 5 pictures of a car before leaving the lot. The dent had no paint damage, so it was a contoured large but subtle dent that wouldn't be noticeable especially since they delivered the car to me wet (washed but not dried). I also pay more attention to the pre-inspection for damages. Live and learn.

fintail

When I rent overseas, I just buy the full insurance (cheaper there too), and don't worry. Here. a walk around with pics of any flaws is a good idea.

Rentals on the road today - XTS, Regal, Impala LT, a couple of Altimas likely rentals too.

andres3 said:

Ever since Enterprise and I got into a fight over a dent in a Mazda 3 I rented for all of 8 hours, (a $250 fight), I take at least 4 or 5 pictures of a car before leaving the lot. The dent had no paint damage, so it was a contoured large but subtle dent that wouldn't be noticeable especially since they delivered the car to me wet (washed but not dried). I also pay more attention to the pre-inspection for damages. Live and learn.

fintail

Saw a rental Chrysler 300 on the road today - this one had pano and chrome wheels, not sure what engine. Wouldn't be a bad rental.

ab348

fintail said:

Saw a rental Chrysler 300 on the road today - this one had pano and chrome wheels, not sure what engine. Wouldn't be a bad rental.

I had one of those as a rental a while back, really liked it aside from the XL size.

fintail

In roughly 10 days I have a 10 day Hertz "luxury" rental at ATL, the anticipation is starting.

There's been a rental CTS hanging out in the workplace parking garage for weeks. Red, solid roof, 3.6, HUD, I'd be more than pleased with that.

berri

Hertz upgraded me to one of those a year or so ago in Vegas. So they are definitely out there.

fintail

I'm just hoping for something nice. Rental is mostly points, hopefully that doesn't matter. Maybe I will get lucky, I am not afraid to negotiate

Mr_Shiftright

Oh you'll love the Chevy Spark

fintail

If I find a Spark in my numbered space, there's going to be a problem

fintail

I've read that on flyertalk too, people complain loudly about getting old miled up cars from Hertz, to the point where they claim they are taking their business elsewhere. Kind of makes sense - Hertz often sells for at least a small premium, but when the car they give you is more worn and has more miles than one from a competitor who charges less, people will talk.

Any "luxury" (Class I) cars in the fleet there?

sandman_6472

Trust me, we are upgrading the fleet...at least down in the South Florida region. Drove a brand new Cruze yesterday, just over 1250 miles on it and we had to get seven Hyundai Sonata's for the presidents visit today and mine had the highest miles, just over 4K. Hertz is definitely updating their fleet which is what the people wanted!

The Sandman

berri

I think rental cars in general over the past few years have gotten older, more mileage and less optioned. Meanwhile the prices are up. Sounds just like Airlines and hotels really!

fintail

Hopefully that will hold for ATL, too. My highest mileage rental car ever was a ~50K mile Galant, many years ago. It was actually in decent shape. I remember having a Kia with 20K miles that had been abused and was kind of a mess.

I still find it amusing that loaded up rental cars are common in Europe, but not so much here, but the prices are often not that different.

tjc78

When I traveled heavy in the mid to late 2000s I don't think I ever had a rental from National that had over 20k. Lots of Impalas those days.

berri

Those were great days because you get a real deal on one year old used cars. Then Detroit woke up!

fintail

My lowest mileage rental was an Impala through Thrifty in ATL in 2011. It had 4 miles on it. When I got in the car, I thought the trip computer was set instead of the odometer. Nope, brand new.

tjc78

I had a few brand new ones over the years. One of the strangest was a Grand Caravan (hard loaded, too) in LA of all places. I wasn't happy about it, but I needed something for 5 with luggage space and that was all they had.

sandman_6472

Drove a nice Town & Country Saturday and even with 43 plus on it, drove very nicely for what it is, a big box with many seats. Had the Hertz gps unit, power everything and XM, so I was a happy camper. This time of year, we have many vehicles in our area due to season starting tomorrow though most are rented right now. For some reason, rental reservations are really up and we're scrambling to find additional vehicles so we're traveling a bit farther to pick up additional units. Fine by me as I miss the long drives I used to do with my previous employers. Better all the way around to be a Hertz employee but sometimes I long to go back and drive around the state a few days a week. Hopefully by March 2017, that speeding ticket will be past the 3 year mark where it won't count against my driving record. I've been a good boy since 2014 and extremely cognizant about how fast I am going and if a vehicle is equipped with a digital speedo, I always have it on to pace myself. This practice is working so far as no citations or even warnings. Sometimes when it's a nice day and the sunroof open and the tunes blasting, I forget to look at my speed and that's when I get into trouble!

The Sandman

suydam

What do you have to do to get a speeding ticket in Florida? When we were there everyone was driving 80 at least!

stever

You have to go 90 like they do in Atlanta.

Which begs the question of what you have to do in Atlanta....