Ask HN: What do you hate most about renting a car?
Personally, I hate:
- Over Priced Insurance
- Rip-off Airport Prices
- Sweaty Shuttle Bus
- Long Lines at Counter
- Poor UI/UX when booking
We're trying to fix this and want to hear HN's opinions. The words "or similar" are what I hate most. On the web site, cars are listed by class. I care about models, not classes. I see the example car, google it to determine if I like it, choose it, and then... show up at the place and find I'm given some horrid substitute that I don't know much about. Oh, it's a "full size sedan" and all such cars are interchangable? No, really, they are not. It is super-important that I know exactly what I will end up driving. I'd like to know the options, trim level, and ideally even the color. Best would probably be that I check a box for every acceptable model, with a minor discount if I check lots of boxes. (being non-picky makes my order easy to fulfill) This way I can exclude models that I hate, and I have plenty of time to research all the different choices in advance. You win. This is the correct answer. Our car was in the shop for the better part of a month this summer and I was considering just buying a new one. I'd heard lots of good thing about the BMW 3 Series but hadn't ever driven one. Hey, since I need to rent a car anyway, why not grab one o' those for a week to see it I like it? So I find a national chain that advertises them. I get my rental confirmation with a big picture and the words BMW 3 Series on it. I call the local office just to make sure they'll have one ready for me. The answer? We don't rent BMWs. Yes, they have a couple. But no, you can't have one. They're reserved for a special program exclusively for bmw owners. No BMW, no BMW rental. But that doesn't stop them putting a picture of one one the homepage of their site or 'renting' one to you. Awesome. To solve this, the rental company could show a picture of the worst thing you could end up with in that class. Leaves the disappointment out with a statistically high chance you ending up with something better. 100% agree. When I choose a model, I choose that model for a reason. I get frustrated when I get a car that doesn't have features in the way I'd expect. If I were buying the car, maybe I'd have time to get used to the placement of controls and the handling. If I'm renting for a short period of time, I don't have as much time to get used to the quirks of a particular vehicle. I want the experience to be as close to cars I'm familiar with, so I care about the model. This is even more important in cities with a lot of traffic and congestion. Whether the experience is positive or not almost always comes down to the car I get stuck with. Not being able to pick it up at any time. Not being able to return it at any time. Getting charged for a full two days when only renting for a day and an hour. Reserving the vehicle online weeks before, then getting to the rental office and finding that the requested vehicle won't be available for an hour or more until it's returned by the previous renter or sent over from another rental office. Getting a vehicle that's damaged in some way that isn't visible, like grinding in the tranny, which only becomes obvious after having started one's journey. The fear involved with reporting problems like the aforementioned problem with the tranny, out of fear of being blamed for causing the pre-existing problem, and then getting charged for it. Reserving and finding they oversold is one i've heard a bunch. deff working to change that. As for the tranny, was this something that happened at one of the "main brands" (hertz, avis) or a second tier one?
and could the fear be solved by automatic free insurance? It's even worse when the vehicle you reserved days before isn't there, but there are several equivalent vehicles on the lot, and no other customers obviously waiting for them, yet the rental agents insist those vehicles aren't available. I've had problems with a well known national brand. The problem I had wasn't obvious unless going at freeway speeds. A replacement may have been available, but that would have cut into the rental time, which just isn't an option when there are places to be and things to do on a tight deadline. And I just can't trust these companies to honor whatever damage waivers or insurance they might offer. I don't want to waste my time arguing this crap with the foreigners who often work as agents at the rental counters. Dealing with the staff is often the worst part of the rental car experience for me. I book online, declined insurance, chose the car I wanted, I don't need your upsell and you telling me that I really should have insurance, which is a bunch of BS as I already have a ton. As some have already mentioned the shuttle bus is a slight annoyance, you calling them 'sweaty shuttle buses' is leading the conversation. I've never been on a shuttle bus that I felt was sweaty. I've always thought a curb-side service would be amazing, but haven't figured out how to make that work. The fuel pricing hasn't been a massive issue, with the exception that again, the rental car companies try to up sell you on their hair-brained and over-priced 'pre-purchase' options. Can you elaborate on 'dealing with staff'- as in they're rude? Or having to wait? You mention you book online. Do you find that process tedious?
I agree overall it always had a godaddy vibe where I feel as if they're trying to upsell me on everything- but find that more annoying from a UX point. I've never liked dealing with the staff either. Many of the times I've done it in the US I've had to deal with foreigners who speak very poor English, and just don't seem to care at all about giving even a basic level of customer service. I don't expect much when renting a car, but being able to understand the agent does matter to me, as does them showing even a slight amount of interest in making it a tolerable experience for the customers. > dealing with staff Standing at a counter having an absurd conversation that we've all had dozens of times. Saying no to the insurance. Saying no to the GPS. Waiting in line. Paying. Having the contract explained, again. I think Orlando International Airport, FL is probably one the worst places in the world to rent a car. What they do in that airport is immoral and also illegal in pretty much everywhere I've been. This is what usually happens: - You rent a car online, the website gives you a price and reservation You are not charged, when you get there, you are charged at least two times the original amount you saw on the website even when the reservation clearly states the amount will not change. (That happens in all reservation websites) - They know you are probably coming from a long flight and use that as a tool to make you pay and go away; That said, I saw them purposely making lines longer at every rental booth, at the same time. When I asked why they were doing that they said '... we are closing some unneeded booths at this time'. They want you to be tired. They even had one employee, not using an uniform, which clearly worked for all companies, he was the one coordinating the lines. - All car rentals practice the EXACT same price. They created some gimmicks (GPS/insurance/amenities) to change the bottom line a little bit, but the price is exactly the same, they even share the parking space and employees, it's all a big lie. - Somehow there is not a single car rental near those airports every time, I think that's intentional; - I've been to some of the worst airports in Africa and was better treated in those countries than in that airport while renting a car; - They will try to push you into the crappiest car they have, they will give you a better car if you complain. They somehow thought I would put my family to travel around florida in a 10y/o crown victoria. I don't have a doubt the Orlando Airport car rental is some kind of cartel. I think I just found my favorite beta tester. Can you add me on Skype? Avizolty
(Or avi@beatdeck.com) Will be renting there in a few hours. Hopefully will have a better experience. The number one thing which annoys me is when I'm in Europe and I do something stupid like rent from Sixt and they promise me a BMW 3-series Automatic SATNAV, and then when I show up, it's a Golf manual. I drove it in first/second to another station, on the clutch a fair bit to get the special smell, and then ended the rental early, walked upstairs to Avis, and got a suitable Audi. (I don't like driving manuals in cities, I especially hate vw clutches and golfs in general, and I don't like driving without satnav in foreign countries where I have no data coverage and where the car has no good place to put my phone for google maps use.) I hate the surprises. I just wish sites would give greater transparency to all the various nickel-and-dime charges that will inevitably make the rate I'm paying at the counter higher than what I thought I signed up for. I usually book on priceline and have just come to expect that I'll end up swiping my card for upwards of 100% more money than the prices I was quoted. (Airport fees, taxes of all kinds, insurance, other fees I've never heard of, etc...) I hate the feeling that I'm getting ripped off. That if I'd come in via the right web-search or with the right coupon code, I'd get the car for $10/day cheaper or whatever. Have the major credit card agreements on file and don't offer me lucrative (for you) insurance that I absolutely don't need - my credit card provides it. In the UI, the total price should be highlighted so I know how much it will cost me in total. The per-day cost is good to know too, but I really just care about how much it's going to cost at the end of the day. The shuttle bus is, imo, unavoidable (though it'd better have air conditioning/heating). Hertz is copying the airlines by having kiosks so you can avoid long lines at the counter. I rent from Hertz and Avis and Silvercar exclusively, and have elite status with each. What I hate is when I get a car which is dirty, especially the side mirrors or glass in general (safety issue). I do not fucking want to have to wash the car when I get off a plane at 11pm to not have massive internal glare. Insurance is only an issue for morons. Counter lines are solved for elites. Prices at Hertz and Avis are sometimes high, but not usually out of the realm of reasonableness for at least one of them. Silvercar is the correct solution to all car rentals, but it's not in enough cities yet. Consistently "ok" prices (if a little high), great cars, great service. No need for anything other than this, IMO. "Elite" status is a slap in the face to all customers. If the rental company is capable of offering that level of service, then that level of service should be the norm, at the non-elite price, and available to all customers. Elite members shouldn't have to pay extra for it. And non-elite customers shouldn't be subjected to inferior service just because they don't have elite status. Hertz Gold is pretty easy to get for free through various sources, or it's $50/yr or a minimum number of rentals. All it really means is you've substantially pre-registed so they can totally automate the pickup process, as they have your identity/license/etc. info on file. Yes, well, we are stuck with capitalism. What do you mean by "Insurance is only an issue for morons."? Not everyone who rents a vehicle is doing it while traveling. A lot of people living in cities only need a vehicle once or twice a year, for example. They don't own a car otherwise, and thus don't have insurance that may cover rental cars. And not all of them have a credit card that includes insurance, or if they do, it may not offer sufficient coverage. If you rent infrequently and don't have a car or good credit card, just pay the $10. If you drive once a year, you're probably a sufficiently bad driver due to recent inexperience so you're getting underpriced coverage. (e.g. when I rented cars right after getting my first US license, with no experience driving on highways or in cities.) If you rent frequently enough that you dislike the fee, and don't have a car/insurance, either get a real credit card, or you're probably doing it wrong. @Ryan - I flew into LAX last week and went to try out Silver Car for the first time. I just needed a car for the day. Pickup was around 7 AM and I was going to be returning it the following day at 1 PM. The app quoted me $200 since it considered that a full two day rental ($89/day + fees). In my case, I wouldn't have opted in for the $28/day insurance either. It's discounted 15% with FoundersCard and includes free tank of gas ($60 or so?). The "two days for 30h" thing is annoying with most car rentals. With Hertz elite you can get 4h grace period sometimes, and with a lot of them there's an hourly rate which is ~1/4 to 1/8 of the daily rate, but you're still possibly in for two days otherwise. LAX and LAS are pretty cheap places to rent cars usually (from Avis/Hertz/etc.). Ryan, thanks for your input!
I was under the impression Silvercar required you to take a shuttle there, is this not the case anymore? Or maybe not an issue for you? Many airports have shuttles anyway. I'm not Hertz Platinum or anything, so I don't have someone usually bringing my car to me -- it's a shuttle ride to the rental place, which tends to be close. SFO has the airtrain/car pez dispenser, but I never need to rent a car at SFO. So would being able to circumvent shuttles be a value add to you? Or insignificant because of relatively short time. What about the wait? Hertz and Avis shuttles, at least, are frequent, and usually fast. It'd be a slight positive to get Hertz Platinum style "driver drives to curb with you car, gets out, you get in, and the delivery driver takes a shuttle back to base", but I don't think I'd pay much of a premium for that. Maybe $25 per rental, tops. At airports with big on-site car vending machines, you're not going to generally be able to do that at any scale without being arrested, and you'll probably be inferior to my current experience of walking across to the car vending area gold stalls, going to the number which was emailed to me, picking up my car, and driving off. It might be more of an issue at smaller airports with no onsite cars, or where at certain hours all the shuttles are infrequent. There's a problem with the way fuel is charged. http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jun/22/car-hire-fuel-h... > Holidaymakers hiring a car abroad this summer are being warned about a worsening car rental rip-off – firms that make you pay up front for a full tank of fuel, then insist you return the car empty. No matter what car rental I choose, I feel like I'm not getting the best deal. Prices are never clear – just like telecom companies, you'll rarely see the full (price + taxes + fees + "convenience" charges + mystery airport fees + …) price listed. Suddenly your $50/day rental is $75/day rental. If you search online, you'll find a dozen different prices – heck, even calling the place to get rates won't always get you the same results. I smell someone trying to dream up the Uber of car rentals. It's a good comparison. The obnoxious thing about taxis has always been the uncertainty, the wait, the unpleasantness, and of course the stress of the thing. Turn it into a trivial exercise in using an app and you can eliminate all of these things, although I imagine liability will be a significantly larger problem. Uber of car rentals is zipcar though or Relay Rides. But close :) I agree on the taxi thing but I think the use case of a car rental and a taxi are quite different. Dealing with the people at the counter. They keep asking questions and waste your time trying to up-sell you. It's a pop-quiz math test to determine which random options to go with after a 5+ hour flight and you just want to get to your hotel. All that could have been determined when you made the reservation online. Hidden fees. It's never as cheap as the websites. Car rental firms need to go the way of the airlines and be up front about what you're actually going to pay. Hotwire shows you "total" price. I think this comes from
a) insurance/ underage driver fee
b) no clarity on 'taxes'
c) messy UX...
thoughts? Underage fees are one thing, but policies like extremely large deposits if you won't pay for their insurance, paying surpluses for diesel models if petrol is unavailable (and they never are), having to pay for the first tank of fuel as well as the one you return it with, etc. This, I think, is the biggest problem. You get told your rental costs 100 Euros on a website, you do that and turn up and suddenly you're looking at paying two or three times that on top of a deposit which must be paid by a credit card and may well be above your limit. I think this is largely a problem with holiday destinations trying to fleece unwary tourists, I've had good experiences with local van hire companies who make things straightforward. At most airports, the walk / shuttle / train / whatever, from my gate, to the rental car facility. The worst ones are the shuttle-bus rides when it's cold, raining, after midnight, and I get stuck standing on the sidewalk for 15 minutes waiting for the next $VENDOR shuttle-bus, while freezing my balls off. If you can walk (indoors) from the gate to the rental cars, that's not too bad, and if there's a train, the wait is usually indoors. But man, I freaking hate waiting for those goddamn shuttles at night, in the cold. Brrrrrrrr..... To me that's really the only bad part. Everything else is pretty smooth these days. I usually don't even deal with any paperwork or tricky waiver situations any more. How do you accomplish that? Through their loyalty program? Yeah, signed up a long time ago and I never saw any drawbacks and it didn't cost me anything. I did initially get Hertz Gold through work but was free to use it privately. I signed up for the other ones myself. What's your take on insurance - do you buy it? Never - I have it through my own car insurance. If I didn't have that I would probably buy it from the rental agency, not sure if there are other sources that are cheaper. This is a big issue for me as well. Even with something Silvercar; I still had to take a shuttle. Opaque pricing. Like hotwire? As in not telling you which car company you're booking from? Or adding hidden costs after?
Can you elaborate? Semen on the stick shift