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They are now renting cars with 1/4 and 1/8th tank full. They know that most likely the customer will put gas past that level and cannot measure it exactly to that level when returning. Given the cost of gas these days I'm sure they are making some good extra money.
This isn't exactly new and it's not limited to Enterprise. While they are making some money off this, it is probably not because you are leaving some extra gas in their tank. It is by cutting their labor costs and overhead. Many people 'pre pay' for a full tank of gas (which could be another money-maker) and don't always use all of it. Instead of having their paid employees fill up the car again, they will leave it as is and rent it out with the gas 1/4 tank full.
Now when the cycle repeats itself and you've left a fraction over 1/4 tank in there, they're not always benefiting from the little extra gas (do they siphon the gas out and sell it?). If anything, the benefit could go to the next customer, who gets that fraction over 1/4 for free. Or it could go to the rental company because they have to fill it up for a little less.
Now that you mention it, I wonder what would happen if you ask for a car with a full tank after all the paperwork has been done and they hand you they keys saying bring it back with a 1/4 tank?
well if you're 23 (i was last year) and demand a luxury car thats available (but they want to save it for a cash customer and not an insurance customer) and they say no and you make a big stink and talk to the manager and threaten to call corporate because they won't give you a comparable car to what you drive currently, (but under 25 can't have lux) then the tank is free!
thats my only experience, i ended up taking a truck, and i have no shame telling my bad customer story, because the way they do business is not in the interest of the customer.
and i made a big stink when they tried to charge me at the end for the tank of gas, i made them call the other location and tell them "yeah...i remember him" they hate me...and after my experiences, i'm glad.
So, if I return a car to Enterprise with a half-tank of gas, what do they do with that extra gas? Siphon it out, to somehow profit from it? Or just rent the car with a half a tank, to the next customer who will bring it back with a quarter of a tank?
Location: Still in Portland, Oregon, for some reason
890 posts, read 3,699,404 times
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I can tell you without a doubt that they don't fill them up all the way, either even though they mark it as full. The gauge might say full on the lot but I've had them drop off the 'F' within minutes of hitting the road. If the tank is truly and actually full, the needle will stay up there for a good 25 to 40 miles, depending on the car.
Only someone completely oblivious to the rental agencies' $8/gallon refueling charges would return a car less than full (if taken as such and without a prepaid full tank). So I'm going to assume most fill-ups are done by returning customers.
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