Why do hire car companies never have the vehicle you book?

Why do hire car companies never have the vehicle you book?

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anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
So the latest hire car we've picked up today. When we booked a month ago, because we were having the car for 2 weeks, doing lots of miles, much of those miles on twisty Scottish and Welsh roads, we specifically phoned the hire company (Thrifty) and asked to hire one of their BMW 320D Estate's in manual. The reason being is that they are nice to drive, RWD, and are one of the only cars left that seem to have a proper old fashioned manual handbrake.

What we actually left with was a VW Sharan people carrier with electric handbrake (which was the only decent sized manual car they had but in the same price bracket as the BMW) which feels and handles like a large, heavy bowl of blancmange on wheels. Possibly the least enjoyable vehicle I've ever driven and has put a massive dampener on 2 weeks of A road driving.

Okay so in the small print it normally says 'or similar' but we rent a lot of hire cars through work and I'm getting pretty fed up of booking a vehicle only to turn up at the hire car desk and get told they don't have that car, but we've given you something better, or an upgrade (which, since I like driving and cars is invariably an upgrade to a vehicle I'd not want to drive in a million years).

Out of the last 10 vehicles I've hired, only 3 have been what I've actually wanted or been lead to believe I've hired (as implied by the picture and most prominent description on the website) - that's pretty poor service in my book.

Other sorry examples include:

What we thought we'd booked: New VW T5 Transporter, what we actually got: Scruffy looking Transit.

What we thought we'd booked: Volvo V90 Estate manual, what we actually got: Vauxhall Zafira automatic people carrier.

What we thought we'd booked: Fiat 500 petrol, what we actually got: Citroen Xzara Picasso diesel.

What we thought we'd booked: Skoda Octavia Estate, what we actually got: Vauxhall Insignia Saloon.

What we thought we'd booked: Ford Mustang V6, what we actually got: Chrysler Sebring Convertible.

Oh and there was the time we'd booked a Ford Fiesta, only for the hire desk (Europcar) to offer us an upgrade to a Fiat Bravo for just an extra £15. When we said no, we're happy with the Fiesta, they gave us the keys to the Bravo anyway as they didn't have any Fiesta's. They were just trying it on for the extra £15, hoping we'd say yes !!!

Okay so we could have rejected the VW, or the hire full stop, but what's the alternative? Once we're at the hire car desk, we invariably need to be somewhere else shortly afterwards so there's limited options to just cancel the whole thing and go somewhere else, particularly if we've already pre-paid for the vehicle. So the hire companies have us over a barrel it feels - if they don't have the vehicle you've booked, what can you do about it? Sweet FA! The choice is to either take what they have got, or not get to where you need to be at the time you need to be there.

It's now royally starting to p*** me off as the reason we choose a specific vehicle, large or small, cheap or expensive, is that it's invariably the best vehicle for the purpose we have in mind for it. To then be given something else can be a massive inconvenience. Are there any large hire car firms out there where you can reliably get the vehicle you think you've booked or are they all a complete shower of s*** in this department?


V8forweekends

2,481 posts

123 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Past tense of lead is led not lead.

I don't think there's much future in trying to hire particular cars. They never have what I've booked - although I often book a size rather than a particular car so I don't always know what I'm getting. I suspect that unless you are booking with a company that only has BMW 320 manual estates, you're going to be at the mercy of the previous hirer having crashed it, being late back, filthy, someone else swapping because their booked vehicle didn't match their needs.

I think it's just the nature of hiring - and I bet most hirers don't care, so there's no incentive for them to change.

vikingaero

10,256 posts

168 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Friends wedding in Malta and we petrolheads scour for deals and decent cars. Budget comes up trumps with BMW 320's. So we all call up and are told yes they have 320's on their fleet.

On arrival I got a Opel Kadett 1.6 in flat blue to much amusement from my cohorts. We pish ourselves when my other friend got a Volvo that was so old it was probably the bosses wifes car with no rear lights so it has to travel in the middle of the convoy. When I say no rear lights, it had NO lamp units - just holes. And the piece de la resistance was my other friend who got a Hiace Minibus.

Quhet

2,409 posts

145 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
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The way they work means that they aim to have all of their cars out at all times.
If someone's got the 320d and asks for another day with it, they'll do this and give you a different car from somewhere else.

northandy

3,495 posts

220 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
I applied this theory to a recent hire, I needed a very cheap run about for a week for very short. Trips to work and back etc, so I hired a Chevy spark from enterprise, I figured there was no chance of them having one, so expected a fiesta or such like.

I turned up and lo and behold they wheel out a two year old Chevy spark with 30,000 hard miles on the clock.

Just my luck.

rcspeirs

178 posts

213 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
You've answered your own question. All the rental companies show an example model, and include the words "or similar". Their inventory is so fast moving on their main fleets it really is hopeless to try and predict what precise cars will be available at any particular location more than a day ahead.
If you really want a specific vehicle you have to rent from the speciality fleets. Avis call them "select series", Hertz call them "collections". Expect to pay significantly more for these.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Hired a cheapie car online for pickup at Cork airport a few years ago. On collection, I was asked if I'd like to upgrade for the special price of €50 to a car a couple of rungs up the class ladder.

I politely declined the offer, and was then told that my chosen cheapie wasn't available. As a substitute I was offered - you guessed it - that very same 'upgrade' modellaugh





















brickwall

5,192 posts

209 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
280E said:
Hired a cheapie car online for pickup at Cork airport a few years ago. On collection, I was asked if I'd like to upgrade for the special price of €50 to a car a couple of rungs up the class ladder.

I politely declined the offer, and was then told that my chosen cheapie wasn't available. As a substitute I was then offered - you guessed it - that very same 'upgrade' modellaugh
Had this at Geneva Airport - had booked a Passat Estate, guy behind counter says "I see you have lots of luggage, I suggest you upgrade to an A6 Avant, as it won't fit in the Passat. I'll give you a discount on the upgrade."

We decline, knowing full well what's going on. Lo and behold we get handed a set of keys to an A6.
Edited by brickwall on Thursday 28th May 21:00

Fox-

13,228 posts

245 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Unless you pay a premium price for a 'special' collection none of them can guarantee a make and model and all of them make this clear. They have larged mixed fleets, you are booking a class not a model. That said they should therefore be able to give you something in that class or better - people carriers in place of saloons and hatchbacks when you booked estates should never happen, though sadly does.

ferrariF50lover

1,834 posts

225 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
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Fox wins it. You're not booking a BMW 320d M-Sport in blue with black leather, nav, 19s, the yellow contrast stitching and the extra badge pack, you're booking a small premium. It can't be any more specific than that, unless you fancy paying, say, £500/day, then I'll find you one (genuinely, PM me, we'll do a deal)

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Fox- said:
and all of them make this clear.
You're not suggesting people should actually _READ_ what they're agreeing to when they place their order, are you? It'll never catch on.

FFS... It's a hire car. It's to get you from A to B. Just book the minimum size that'll fit you all + luggage in, and get over yourselves. You want to test-drive something specific? Find the local dealer and ask them nicely.

0a

23,879 posts

193 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Car hire companies are just ways of the car industry laundering excess new cars that they can't sell quietly into the nearly new or second hand market, with no costs for storage. Which is fine, but it still means you should get something from the class (or better should you agree).

AlexIT

1,482 posts

137 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
I must say that I've been always quite lucky then.
I remember once I was given a Panda when I booked a 500, but I can't say it was a problem, but the most enjoyable was when I booked a Polo 1.2TSI at Lübeck airport and I was handed the keys to a 2.0 TDI Scirocco...

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Appreciate that hire car fleets move pretty quick and what you think you've booked may not always be available, but if the company is posting a picture of a 320D Estate Manual on their website (all be it with the words 'or similar' in the small print), then you'd expect that there should be a greater than 50% chance you might get what you think you've booked. From my history it would seem to be a 30% chance of getting what I'm expecting at best which is pretty poor. Plus in my book, a VW Sharan, (although it may be in the same price band) is in no way similar to a 320D!

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Andy20vt said:
Plus in my book, a VW Sharan, (although it may be in the same price band) is in no way similar to a 320D!
You're right. A 7-seater sprogbus is probably a higher-priced band than a mid-size saloon, so the Sharan would be an upgrade.

poing

8,743 posts

199 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
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I love playing hire car roulette, one of my favourite parts of the holiday!

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
Andy20vt said:
Plus in my book, a VW Sharan, (although it may be in the same price band) is in no way similar to a 320D!
You're right. A 7-seater sprogbus is probably a higher-priced band than a mid-size saloon, so the Sharan would be an upgrade.
Upgrade, pah, not in my book!

I'd have actually really enjoyed driving the 320D for the 2 weeks we'd have had it, in the Sharan all I've got to look forward to is the wobbly handling, underpowered engine and hopelessly numb steering - oh and that bl**dy awful button where the handbrake should be. Really, it's an absolute crock of sh**e! Can't even have fun abusing the thing as it's got a £1,250 excess to worry about.

SteBrown91

2,360 posts

128 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
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Once had a hire car through work, listed as a Hyundai i30 (or similar). Was dreading it. Went to collect the hire car keys from security to be greeted with a brand new golf GT TDI! Result!

Years ago went to Florida and the hire desk just told you to pick a car from a colour coded park area (they all had keys in). Which was cool. Except instead of going for a cool yellow chevvy thing my dad chose a ford focus saloon auto. What a dreary wet slushmobile that was!

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
Andy20vt said:
Upgrade, pah, not in my book!

I'd have actually really enjoyed driving the 320D for the 2 weeks we'd have had it, in the Sharan all I've got to look forward to is the wobbly handling, underpowered engine and hopelessly numb steering
I think you might be missing the point of hire banding.

pad58

12,543 posts

180 months

Thursday 28th May 2015
quotequote all
This like for like on insurance is the same , My Golf got hit ,went through the insurance and thought I'd get another Golf, no chance ,a clio with less than half the power and room.