Rental Car Gamble

by "Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
Published 05/26/2017 at 15:44

Tags: Rental Car ; Hertz ; Rental Car Gamble
STARS: 0

So the wife and kids have been visiting with her parents for the last week. I’m going to join them for the next week, as I couldn’t take two weeks off of work, lol. As much of a Tank as the Crown Vic is, I don’t want to put that kind of stress on it. So I ended up renting a car through Hertz as I get free Gold Club membership through work and I have AAA for that discount. The cheapest option, which I have selected for my trip, is the “Manager’s Special.” I’ll let Hertz describe that for you:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

With the Manager’s Special, you’ll get an Economy or larger vehicle at a rate that is equal to an Economy car.

When you arrive to pick up your car, the location will pick the vehicle for you: you might get an Economy car, a Mid-size car, a Minivan, or an SUV... it’s a special deal!

The Hertz Manager’s Special guarantees a great rental with room for at least four passengers and

two pieces of luggage.

-Rates equal to an Economy

-Economy car or larger vehicle, guaranteed

-Pick up location determines vehicle at time of pick up

-Vehicle will have at least 4 seatbelts

-Room for 2 or more pieces of luggage

Come pick up your rental and let us surpri se you!

Has anyone on here had experience with renting the “Manager’s Special”? If so, what did you get? From what I’ve read so far, the Toyota Yaris 5-door seems to be the most probable option. Whatever it ends up being though, I’ll be sure to give it the ‘ol Oppo review. I pick it up, whatever it is, at 10am tomorrow, so I’ll post up then what my steed is for the day.

Replies (18)

"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/26/2017 at 15:46, STARS: 3

enjoy your mirage!

"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
05/26/2017 at 15:51, STARS: 1

Just rented from Hertz in Bangor, ME. They had a lot full of new Nissans (Versa and Sentra) for the compact/small car classes.

P.S: Sentras and wet Maine logging roads don’t mix.

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
05/26/2017 at 15:51, STARS: 0

I wouldn’t assume that Hertz is the cheapest option, even with discount. Have you checked Hotwire?

"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535)
05/26/2017 at 15:57, STARS: 2

When I was 22 I rented my first car and walked nervously up to the desk and after pulling up my info the guy says into his walkie talkie, “I need any car for a customer here” and it comes back something like “Cadillac garble garble.” And the guy I’m standing in front of says, “no I meant, any car, like any car.” “Oh, PT cruiser garble garble”.

Ughhhhh.

I was too nervous about renting my first car to complain even though it was a drop top, which I really didn’t want.

So long story short, I’m guessing you’ll get a drop top PT cruiser.

"My hovercraft is full of eels" (my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels)
05/26/2017 at 16:01, STARS: 1

I know a guy who rented a Yaris when his own car wasn’t available...

"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
05/26/2017 at 16:01, STARS: 1

Don’t have any experience with the “manager’s special”, but the words “or similar” raise my anxiety level a few notches.

"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
05/26/2017 at 16:04, STARS: 1

"Manwich - now Keto-Friendly" (manwich)
05/26/2017 at 17:07, STARS: 3

“As much of a Tank as the Crown Vic is, I don’t want to put that kind of stress on it”

Bullshit. The Crown Vic can handle that stress no problem. You’re just looking for an excuse to drive something newer/different!!

You’ve hurt your Crown Victoria’s feelings!!!

I can hear her crying from here YOU MONSTER!!!

/jk

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
05/27/2017 at 01:56, STARS: 0

Oh god don’t curse me with that shit.

This is my second time renting a car. The first time I had to argue with them over what I requested and go point to the car in the lot when they told me they didn’t have one. (I was driving through a snowstorm with a wife, two kids, and mother-in-law, so I specifically requested 4x4 Tahoe. They tried to give me a Traverse instead and almost told them to go fuck themselves. Luckily I saw a Tahoe sitting out there when I pulled into the airport and asked them about it. They came up with some sorry excuse of it not showing up in their system or something... So, I don’t have any problems arguing with them over what I get, lol. Only this time, I don’t have any specific needs. It’s just me by myself driving 7 hours on almost all interstate.

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
05/27/2017 at 01:57, STARS: 1

Well, you’re not wrong in the fact that I do want to try something new, lol. But the Vic does need new ball joints up front and new brake pads in the rear.

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
05/27/2017 at 02:00, STARS: 1

Yep. Dealt with that before. Was driving with the wife, two small children in carseats, and my mother-in-law through a snowstorm. I requested a 4x4 Tahoe. They tried to give me a Traverse. That was a mistake. Long story short, I ended up with a nice Tahoe that took on that snowstorm like a champ, and a credit on my next rental...

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
05/27/2017 at 02:03, STARS: 0

Yeah. I did. Hertz wasn’t the cheapest overall. But for the service you get with them vs the local Budget and Avis places, I’ll pay a little more. Our local Budget place has a .5 star rating on Yelp... Basically, you need to set your pickup time about an hour and half before you actually need the car. And then you get to spend another 30 minutes cleaning it out yourself. Ain’t nobody got time for that shit.

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
05/27/2017 at 02:03, STARS: 0

It’ll be like high school all over again. (I had sloppomatic 4speed Eclipse RS, lol).

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
05/27/2017 at 15:54, STARS: 0

I’ve usually been fine with Budget but that’s mostly airport rentals where they have to be decent to survive.

I get discounts with Budget, Avis, Hertz and Enterprise through USAA so I can never book a rental car quickly because I have to check all my discounts plus Hotwire. Usually Budget ends up the cheapest by a good margin.

Your post reminded me to check on rental cars for a trip I have coming up in August. For whatever reason Budget’s cheapest rates were on SUVs and they were charging way more for sedans, even little economy ones. I ended up going through Enterprise. I could’ve saved like 20 bucks on a dinkier car through Hotwire but I would’ve had to pay now vs. paying for Enterprise in August.

"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
05/27/2017 at 20:15, STARS: 0

Dodged a bullet there.

"Obsessed" (obsessed)
06/08/2017 at 13:07, STARS: 0

so what was the manager’s special?

"Obsessed" (obsessed)
06/19/2017 at 23:23, STARS: 0

What kind of car was the Mystery Managers special?

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris)
06/20/2017 at 08:29, STARS: 0

Sorry, I completely forgot about this. I got sick after I got down there, lol. It ended up being a Dodge Dart. I now despise that car. I might still write about it, but when I turned it in, I was too frustrated with it to find any motivation, lol. Basic review: it’s crappy, it’s boring, it sucks to drive, it has too small of a gas tank.