Caution with car rentals - Avoid these pitfalls

LIMFrugl on 19/12/2016 - 12:31

For all you OzBargainers who are planning on renting a car this holiday season, hopefully this will be useful advise.

I just rented a car last week and when picking it up at the airport, nobody checked the car with me or signed it off in the car park. The car had a scratch on the bumper but I did not report it as it seemed minor.

When returning the car, the scratch was immediately picked up on. Fortunately, I was not charged, but I will be very vigilant not to accept a car in the future unless it looks like it just came out of a showroom. Every detail will need to be marked off and signed by the company. Be warned!

Has anybody else had similar experiences?

Travel

Comments

  • madreece on 19/12/2016 - 12:36
    +1

    I always video the car with the agent and point out the smallest defects. Often they will say "oh don't worry about that small mark" because they couldn't be bothered writing it in the condition report. Thats why I video.

    • IMFrugl on 19/12/2016 - 12:51

      Thanks. That's a great idea. I'll do that in the future.

  • djsweet on 19/12/2016 - 12:45

    The ones I usually rent from (Hertz and Avis) only consider damage over the size of a $2 coin. Anything over this size (which is not already marked on the condition report) should be reported. Otherwise you will more than likely be charged for it.

    • IMFrugl on 19/12/2016 - 13:05

      That's a good guideline. The scratch was probably about 8cm long but was on the bumper so I thought it was not an issue. I got out of it because there was a previous report in the glove box which crossed the spot. Obviously, they were willing to charge customers for the same scratch as many times as they could.

      • djsweet on 19/12/2016 - 14:01

        Doesn't surprise me at all. In my experience car rental companies are pretty dodgy - even the reputable ones. I had a fight on my hands when one decided to charge me for a full tank of petrol (at $4/lt or something crazy like that) even though it was returned full and they had been shown the receipt.

        Took me about a month of back and forth and the provision of the receipt (which I eventually found) for them to reverse the charge. Moral of the story is keep every bit of paper work (inc petrol receipts) for a few weeks. Check for damage thoroughly before you leave the rental place, and take photographs or video for evidence down the track.

        • Shadowsfury on 19/12/2016 - 14:11
          +1

          Not the same issue but yes agree.

          A year ago when I was in Brisbane and had rented a car for a couple of days I returned it at the airport. Dropped it off and asked if there was anything to sign for it / check car for damage and was told no.

          Went off on my merry way but 2 days later see an extra change on my credit card. Ask them for an invoice (one wasn't provided for this additional charge) and they charged me for an extra day! I returned it at about 3pm on Sunday and they charged me until 10am Monday.

          I complained immediately and was told they must have a copy of my boarding pass in order to refund it, to prove I got on the plane and didn't actually return the car on Monday. Luckily I had it, what if I had thrown it away after my flight? I asked them about just checking security cameras and mentioned the name of the lady at the counter I spoke to but nope, need boarding pass.

          The other issue I had with them was the odo was way off - like 15,000km. I wanted them to put the accurate odo reading on the paperwork when I was picking up the car but they said the odo reading on their system can't go backwards and they weren't willing to go back and figure out when the error occurred since it didn't affect rental charges. I got them to write that on the invoice just in case.

  • Ryanek on 19/12/2016 - 14:16

    Don't forget to take a picture of the odometer before you start driving. Once when I hired an Avis van, the mileage they stated on the form was a whole 20k off.

    • IMFrugl on 19/12/2016 - 14:48

      20k??? Damn!!! I've never checked the odometer when picking up rentals. I'll have to add it to my list of things to check and photograph/video.

  • apple2016 on 19/12/2016 - 14:49

    I used to rent with hertz and back then all marks/scratches used to be marked on the report/rental contract. Also Hertz used to offer insurance with Zero excess. So I never bothered about these scratches.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2016 - 14:51
    +1

    I hired a car once and genuinely forgot to fill it up when I returned it - I was on about half a tank. Was expecting a large fuel bill to hit my credit card, but 2 years later nothing !

  • IMFrugl on 20/12/2016 - 14:09
    +1

    Thanks for all the comments. I've picked up a few good tips.

    To summarize:
    1. Video record car condition with the agent when picking up. Include mileage and fuel gauge level.
    2. Agent needs to sign off all marks larger than a $2 coin.
    3. When returning unattended, time of return needs to be kept as proof - boarding passes or car park ticket photo.
    4. Take another video recording of the condition, mileage, fuel gauge when returned.
    5. Retain reciept of last refuel prior to returning car.

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