USA Car Hire - Unlimited mileage?

USA Car Hire - Unlimited mileage?

Author
Discussion

Northernchimp

Original Poster:

1,282 posts

131 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Boring I know.

I'm about to book a hire car in the USA for the first time, most of the firms claim unlimited mileage. I'm planning on doing 3000 miles in a week, I cant see anything in the small print about fair use. Has anybody ever done similar? What happened when you returned it?

I've done it over here quite a few times, and twice the shop manager has grumbled something about looking into fair use but I never heard anything afterwards.

redtwin

7,518 posts

181 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Never had an eyelid batted when I took cars back with well over 2,000 miles on them.

Unlimited means unlimited, they don't follow UK definitions which can lead to such things as a life sentence only being 10 years or a 24 hour shop with closing times listed.

Fox-

13,228 posts

245 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Northernchimp said:
Boring I know.

I'm about to book a hire car in the USA for the first time, most of the firms claim unlimited mileage. I'm planning on doing 3000 miles in a week, I cant see anything in the small print about fair use. Has anybody ever done similar? What happened when you returned it?
Nobody cares if its an unlimited mileage rate.

2500 miles on my last rental, 3200 miles on the one before that.

bobtail4x4

3,701 posts

108 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
I did 3500 miles in 2 weeks the last time I went, no questions asked,
in fact will probably do similar this year too.

V40TC

1,994 posts

183 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
autoeurope.co.uk

the hire from all the firms
best prices
choose the car you fancy
and we did over 4000miles in one
all he said was on collection
bring it back as empty as you can as you have pre paid for the tank of fuel

Cemesis

771 posts

161 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Unlimited means exactly that. However, if you don't return it to the same state there is often a charge.

At 3,000 miles in a week I assume you have no plans of actually seeing anything?

belleair302

6,835 posts

206 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
I know people who rent cars one way and drive vast distances, usually because they are moving or just don't wish to fly. Lots of Americans dive huge miles and the rental companies sell their cars usually within 18 months, with under 30,000 on the clock and buy cars for cost plus a small percent by the thousand each month. No worries.

Athlon

4,998 posts

205 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
We did something like 9K on ours, CDW meant that the screen that cracked while battering through death valley on the old dirt road was met with a shrug as well!

Fox-

13,228 posts

245 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
V40TC said:
autoeurope.co.uk

the hire from all the firms
best prices
best prices?! Just quoted for my upcoming rental and they want 300 quid more than some of the others for the exact same car class, duration and rental firm at the same location with the same fully inclusive insurance.

ViperDave

5,520 posts

252 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
well i have had shonky definitions of a guaranteed base rental rate that seemed to change and subsequent argument which whilst i got the rate honored they insisted it was as a gesture not because it was guaranteed on the agreement and were still insistent in their argument that the guaranteed base rate is always subject to change. I have also turned up with three drivers under an unlimited additional driver clause where unlimited turned out to be renter + 1. Didn't succeed in getting unlimited increased from 1 to 2 on that occasion.

Never had a problem with miles and have returned cars with that much additional millage on them but not in that sort of time frame. But rental firms make st up all the time, doesn't matter what the rental booking says or what you think their terms and conditions mean, when you turn up and they are being an ass your only option is to argue or walk, not so easy to walk when they are being an ass on return with spurious damage or rate changes etc.

Car rental is now pretty much the worst part of any usa trip now in terms of pot luck and being held over a barrel by an asshole with a funny idea of guaranteed, unlimited or acceptable standard of vehicle, and they fight the TSA hard for that position.

obscene

5,174 posts

184 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
6k in a Camaro SS and no eyebrows raised as mentioned above. It was great thumbup

redtwin

7,518 posts

181 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Which firms have you dealt with and at which airports?. A small regional airport/branch won't have much choice as the larger Int'l hubs.

Other than agents trying to upsell you into a more expensive car or satnav rental I have never had an issue getting what I booked. They do state up front that a "mid-size" car could be one of any number of models and they do give model names so you have an idea.

ViperDave

5,520 posts

252 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
redtwin said:
Which firms have you dealt with and at which airports?. A small regional airport/branch won't have much choice as the larger Int'l hubs.

Other than agents trying to upsell you into a more expensive car or satnav rental I have never had an issue getting what I booked. They do state up front that a "mid-size" car could be one of any number of models and they do give model names so you have an idea.
Not sure if that was aimed at me with obscene in the middle. But all at big airports, unlimited drivers was dollar in Denver (ok quite a while ago now, but the last time i used Dollar). Guaranteed base rate was National in Tampa, funnily enough the last time we used them too and i was emerald exec at the time, but that was on the back of a few bad trips, one of which was the full size SUV in phoenix where we were palmed off with a 7 seat dodge journey which was fun getting 4 big adults, all their luggage and enough food, drink and bog roll to be fully self sufficient on lake Powell for 7 days, fortunately it was only a couple of miles drive to the dock from town.

Don't get me entirely wrong though i have had good rental experiences, likewise a few broken windscreens met with a quick form and a shrug, Really helpful agents who worked with us to find 4wd suv's for all our ski gear and suitable for a trip to west Yellowstone in jan, ended up with a double free upgrade all off the back of me asking for a different car as whilst legal the tires looked a bit low on tread on the assigned car. (Hertz, sfo btw)

Its just with vague vehicle descriptions which don't work with specific requirements like 4wd and size and a few PIA discussions it is my least favorite part of the trip and a great relief when we drive out of the lot having secured something decent.

Frankthered

1,619 posts

179 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Never had an issue with mileage in the US.

Have had restrictions on travelling out of state with some rental companies - or at least further than neighbouring states.

Other companies don't have this restriction.

31mph

1,308 posts

134 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Fox- said:
V40TC said:
autoeurope.co.uk

the hire from all the firms
best prices
best prices?! Just quoted for my upcoming rental and they want 300 quid more than some of the others for the exact same car class, duration and rental firm at the same location with the same fully inclusive insurance.
That one also loses all credibility for bringing up a mini cooper when searching for a luxury car...

ViperDave

5,520 posts

252 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
31mph said:
Fox- said:
V40TC said:
autoeurope.co.uk

the hire from all the firms
best prices
best prices?! Just quoted for my upcoming rental and they want 300 quid more than some of the others for the exact same car class, duration and rental firm at the same location with the same fully inclusive insurance.
That one also loses all credibility for bringing up a mini cooper when searching for a luxury car...
To be fair to dollar the unlimited additional drivers story I mentioned above was a agent booking and a term dollar wouldn't honor beyond one additional driver which was what you would have got if booking direct. Moral of that story, put even less value in promises made by agents, and you have zero bargaining power at the counter as the standard response will be "take it up with your agent but we don't do that here" We did have other billing issues with dollar on that trip though so i wont let them completely off the hook.

I tend to book most things (cars flights and hotels) direct these days, shuts them up when they try and fob you off saying its the agents fault and more often than not they can do something about a direct booking going wrong, when they cant with an agent one.



Edited by ViperDave on Saturday 25th April 22:17

ChasW

2,135 posts

201 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Never had an issue in the US on mileage or condition, within reason. One car I rented I noticed some serious paints scuffs down one side which wee not there when I picked it up. Assumed it had happened during my rental and spent hours rubbing them out with stuff I bought from their equivalent of Halfords. My local host told me not to bother. He was right. When I returned the car at JKF the hire chaps gave it a quick visual and sent me on my way. Not heard since.

Fox-

13,228 posts

245 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
ChasW said:
Never had an issue in the US on mileage or condition, within reason. One car I rented I noticed some serious paints scuffs down one side which wee not there when I picked it up. Assumed it had happened during my rental and spent hours rubbing them out with stuff I bought from their equivalent of Halfords. My local host told me not to bother. He was right. When I returned the car at JKF the hire chaps gave it a quick visual and sent me on my way. Not heard since.
Pretty much every rental booked from the UK will include full CDW with zero excess as standard - we get very good deals on US hire here in the UK - so you rarely have anything to worry about damage wise.

Axionknight

8,505 posts

134 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Obviously it'll vary from company to company but I use Hertz when I go to Houston for work purposes and I have racked a fair amount of miles up on some of their cars - just over 2000 miles in ten days was my record, not a word was said.

rubystone

11,252 posts

258 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Hertz upgraded me from a V6 to a.....V6. When I opened the bonnet in Vegas to confirm that the slug mobile was indeed 2 cylinders short of the stated number they weren't interested. I won't be using them again. I heard they also bought Dollar. So that's another off the list.