Rental Cars

"RacinBob" (racinbob) 09/04/2020 at 11:08 • Filed to: None

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What the heck? Did anybody notice that rental car costs are through the roof? Very interesting, I would like to know more about how no cars are available when nobody is traveling......

I at random checked A tlanta and C hicago ORD emerald Aisle and no luck.

I then tried Hotwire where I have gotten cars as cheap as $13 a day. Not any more..... I know the how, but not clear on the why. A little collusion here?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 11:18

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Imagine paying nearly $100 a day for a Chrysler 200. That’s insane!

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 11:18

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Interesting...here in small town Indiana, it still $30 per day as its always been at my local Hertz

RacinBob > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 11:19

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PS, as a post script I checked western Wisconsin and national has cars here at about same as usual . N ot like Chicago....

But none in Ft Myers FL....

Just Jeepin' > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 11:23

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FWIW, Turo prices in Indianapolis don’t appear to have been impacted (yet).

This has to be related to the pandemic. Perhaps people are less comfortable taking a taxi/Lyft/Uber and are renting more, combined with Hertz’s instability.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 11:26

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Yeah I didn’t read into it much, but I just booked a work trip and the flight was under $300 and the week rental was closer to $500...

smobgirl > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 09/04/2020 at 11:28

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I paid $150 yesterday for an economy car and was “upgraded” to a 2019 Corolla with 43,300 miles.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > smobgirl 09/04/2020 at 11:30

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Well, 40k rental miles is a lot for such a steep price. All I can really do is quite me from a few minutes ago:

That’s insane!

smobgirl > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 09/04/2020 at 11:38

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I should’ve take a photo of the stickers on the windshield. The first was the oil change sticker from January, with the next change scheduled for roughly 13,000 miles (So...have they just never updated the sticker? Or never changed the oil?). The second was a small ad: “interested in a new car? Talk to us about how you can purchase our fleet!” o r something to that respect. No thanks!

fintail > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 11:38

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Last minute holiday weekend pricing ? What’s it like a month out?   I know rental car companies use algorithms that break now and then.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > smobgirl 09/04/2020 at 11:44

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Well, most cars won't show effects of missed oil changes until well after their time in the rental fleet so it kind of makes sense. 

smobgirl > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 09/04/2020 at 11:47

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Yep, exactly. It’s a Corolla, so it’ll last long enough for them to pass it on to someone else...

I know Enterprise keeps pretty good records and generally keeps up with their fleet maintenance but I’ve inspected some car rental facilities that were pretty concerning from a customer standpoint.

Ssfancyfresh > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 11:51

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I have co-workers travelling for work. The National car lot at LAX was nearly empty. There were a hand full of Chevy M alibu .

The Emeral Aisle at LAX is typically stacked with tasty rentals of all varieties.

Nope. Just white Malibu.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 12:31

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Gotta get in that Emerald Club son! This is for Orlando for 10 days , which maybe is cheaper because it has more cars?

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > smobgirl 09/04/2020 at 12:32

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For some reason I get irrational upset when my rental car has higher mileage like that. 

RacinBob > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 09/04/2020 at 12:35

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I wonder if the rental car companies are just saying for business travelers who have to travel, we are going to soak you. The odd thing though is how does this work for National when they won’t rent to me using my corporate or personal account?

RacinBob > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 09/04/2020 at 12:39

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All my searches were on my corporate emerald account. Different city, different story. But it is amazing both National Car rental Chicago and Atlanta + Ft Myers are out of cars. How does that happen?

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 12:45

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Guess they must have more demand in other cities. Does seem odd though. As long as I can get a car for my Orlando trip, I’ll be happy.

(I’m not going to Orlando to be a tourist, I lived there and will be staying with a close friend at his lake house, I never went to Disney or Universal, even when I lived there )

smobgirl > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 09/04/2020 at 12:46

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It’s interesting to see how well certain brands hold up over that kind of use. I’m more irritated by the state of the car than the actual mileage. The seats in this needed some serious Svending 

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > smobgirl 09/04/2020 at 12:56

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I have exchanged more than a few rental cars based off their initi al smell........

smobgirl > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 14:23

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I know there are storage lots in Orlando so I bet they moved a lot of fleet there and away from Ft Myers. Can’t disappoint the Disney tourists.

RacinBob > fintail 09/04/2020 at 14:31

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I wonder if its a combination of the rental car companies selling inventories combined with not buying replacements or not being able to buy replacements due to manufacturer limitations?...... .

smobgirl > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 14:31

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Alright, Austin in a week and a half is back to $50 with tax , which is about normal. Flight was $140 round trip which is cheaper than normal.

onlytwowheels > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 14:46

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At this point it m ight be cheaper to so mething at U-Haul.

fintail > RacinBob 09/04/2020 at 15:01

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Definitely all of that falls into play. I’ve read that Hertz of course is adding nothing to its fleet this year, and while also selling off a bunch of stuff, is a bit thin on the ground. I hope people enjoy getting a battered 60K mile Corolla for a “full sized” etc.

The Flyertalk forums provide a pretty good picture of the real status of the industry, that is, the wheels on the ground:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/car-rental-programs-ride-services-392/

I am PC with Hertz and the equivalent at National - which don’t seem to add value these days.  I always shop Sixt when I can, too - I’ve had good luck there.