CAR RENTAL

Keys to car rental bliss

Want the best deal on a ride that suits your needs? Consider these tips

By Helen Anders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

This story was originally published Jan. 12, 2008.

The rent car lady picks you up, as advertised, and delivers you to her rent car office. You both walk in. She takes her place behind the counter; you take yours in front of it.

"I have a reservation for a compact car," you say.

With a friendly smile, she replies: "We don't have any cars."

Whether you're going on a trip or just trying to lease a ride while yours is being repaired, renting a car can make you feel as if you're in a Coen brothers movie.

The meaning of the word "car" can be parsed at length. And you're peppered with such questions as "Would you like to bring it back half-full?" and "So, do you want the standard coverage or the full?"

If you're a savvy car renter, you know the usually correct answers to those questions are "no" and "neither." Except when they're not. It's easy to get tangled up in rentcarspeak and find yourself babbling, "Sure, whatever." And for that, you can wind up paying a lot.

Car-renting can be a slippery, twisted road. Keeping in mind that everyone's needs are different, here's a general guide to navigating it.

What am I bidding for this fine car?

Your journey starts with the booking of the car. Most of the time, you'll find the best deal on the Web. Sometimes, you can get a lower quote over the phone, mentioning your membership in AAA, AARP or any number of frequent flier clubs.

And, according to people in the car rental business, sometimes, if it's a slow day, it works just to walk up to the counter and proclaim that you'd like to rent a car for, say, $17 a day and see if the guy blinks. Then again, sometimes that doesn't work at all. (Advertised specials don't always work, either. For whatever reason, when you try to actually book the special online, it sometimes rejects you.)

Which agency offers the best price can vary from minute to minute and by a lot of bucks. Budget, Thrifty and Dollar tend to live up to their names, but Enterprise often surfaces as cheapest at off-airport locations.

AAA spokesman Mike Pina notes that car rental companies, sensitive to consumers' ire at the high cost of gas, are rolling out more deals these days. He cites the example of Hertz, with which AAA is affiliated. Hertz typically has some of the highest rental rates, but it just launched a spinoff, www.simplywheelz.com, that offers a week's car rental (Hyundai Accent or similar) in Orlando with fees and taxes included for $94. It should hit other markets soon.

The base figure you're given usually doesn't include taxes and fees, which vary from city to city and often roughly double the charge. Make sure the Web site lists those charges, and if you're getting a quote from a human being, ask about taxes, fees and extra charges. Confirm that you'll have unlimited mileage.

And in the event you'd like to drop the car off somewhere other than the place where you rented it, find out how much extra you'll have to pay. In some cases, it's hundreds of dollars.

Do you want a car, or will a monster truck do?

With gas prices high, economy cars are more popular than ever, Pina says. Rental car agencies know this and have beefed up their fleets. Enterprise, for example, says nearly half its fleet gets at least 28 miles per gallon on the highway.

But the demand still often outstrips supply. The later in the day you arrive at a car rental agency, the more likely it is that your car rental company will be out of economy cars. So you're likely to be offered an upgrade - sometimes, a free upgrade. But do you want it?

Let's take the case of one woman who wanted to rent a compact car in San Francisco. She had reserved a compact, but when she arrived she was told there were no cars of any sort available. Instead, she was offered an extended-cab, long-bed Ford F-150 truck.

She didn't want the truck. Neither had the nine people who arrived before her. So, she waited for a car.

If you're renting the car in a downtown location rather than an airport, where most vehicles are turned in, your wait might be an hour or more.

If you rented a weasel car because it was cheap when what you really wanted was an SUV, an upgrade's a good thing. But make sure you're getting a car that works for you. Can you park it? Does it have a trunk big enough for your luggage or to hide your stuff while you shop? Keep all that in mind before you leap at a free upgrade.

And will those two sullen Gen-Xers also be driving?

Pick one driver and let that person drive. Adding additional drivers to your rental typically adds $6 a day per driver.

You generally pay more to rent a car if you're younger than 25, and most agencies won't rent to anyone younger than 21.

How good are you at expending exactly half a tank of gas?

Bringing a car back full of gas has long been the standard, but in recent years another option has surfaced: You depart in a car half full of gas (or half empty, depending on your outlook on life) and return with the car half full.

But how, exactly, do you manage to return with the car precisely half full of gas?

Rental companies typically offer numerous gas options. You can pay for a full tank of gas ahead of time, usually at a rate similar to what nearby stations charge, and bring the car back empty. It's hard to bring the car back empty, though, so you'll probably bring it back with some gas that you paid for and won't have used. Bringing a car back half full is also a hard mark to hit.

You can depart with it full and bring it back full, a good option because you can shop for cheap gas and you wind up paying for only the gas you use.

The one thing you definitely do not want to do is to say you'll bring the car back full and then bring it back less than full. In that case, you'll be charged an exorbitant rate - sometimes $10 a gallon - to fill the car.

How much would you like to pay for damage protection you probably already have?

Car rental agents often push damage and insurance coverage these days. Some won't even present you with the option of no coverage. But that option's there, and for most of us, it makes sense.

Let's deal first with the collision damage waiver, the deal that the rental company wants you to buy for, typically, $15 to $25 a day. It's not insurance; it's a financial guarantee that any damage to the car will be paid for. And if you've paid for the car with a major credit card, you probably already have it.

If you decline the damage waiver, American Express and other cards almost always cover all charges associated with your rental car being damaged, says Texas Department of Insurance spokesman Jerry Hagins. Typically, the car agency will go ahead and charge your credit card for the repair work. Then the credit card will refund the money after you fill out a claim form.

There are limits to what your card will cover. Cards typically cover only a rental of a month or less, exclude driving in some foreign countries and might not cover damage to what they term exotic cars (Porches, Lamborghinis) and large trucks, vans and sport-utility vehicles such as the Chevy Suburban (another reason to be wary of free upgrades to giant vehicles). Make sure you know your card's exclusions.

Research your card's coverage, and if you're OK with it, decline the collision damage waiver.

The damage waiver has nothing to do with liability insurance, of course. That's covered by your personal car policy - probably.

"It's not a slam dunk anymore," Hagins says, noting that a 2003 Texas insurance law change gives companies more leeway in drawing up their own coverages. But he says it's "very possible you're going to be covered for any car you drive." The car rental agency is likely to ask what type of insurance you have, and occasionally you'll be asked to produce your insurance card.

How would you like to pay for this?

The rental agency often will typically place a deposit on your credit card, often the amount of the rental plus 15 percent. It's squared away when you return the car. But if a $300 deposit, for example, pushes you close to your credit limit, you might want to take an additional card on your trip to pay for hotels and such.

Some rental agencies won't take debit cards. And because of the aforementioned deposits, using your debit card might be a bad idea even if it's accepted.

Finally, before you take off in your rental car, walk around it slowly and look for damage. Note anything - a scratch, a smudge, a window chip. If you don't, you could be charged for it when you get back.

And before you leave the lot, ask your own set of dumb questions. "How do I get the windows down?" and "Is there a trick to opening the gas tank?" are a couple of good ones.

handers@statesman.com; 912-2590