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I almost feel guilty about doing this. However, I know several Europeans who have come to the U.S., picked up rental cars at our candy store prices, and proceeded to loop America in them. Therefore, rental car companies have seen this before. Any foreigner renting a car at LAX for an extended period of time is likely to go to San Diego, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and San Francisco with it.
I've only got 2 stories that are noteworthy:
1) About 4,800 miles I was once at a relatives house in NJ in metro NYC. I picked up a nice car at Newark for a surprisingly good price for being in that area. I believe it was for 16 day. I did a couple of loops from there:
- up to Boston and Maine, and back
- up to Montreal, Toronto, Niagara Falls, and back
- down to Baltimore/DC, and back
- a day trip to Atlantic City and one over to Queens/Long Island
2) About 2,800 miles The perimeter of Florida to/from Atlanta in a GM mid-size. I believe it was about 9 days - a week of vacation with 2 "book ended" weekends
I just had a rental car in Italy this past summer. It was an econobox. It wasn't cheap. I had it for 5 days and racked up 1,000 kilometers (about 620 miles). They raised an eyebrow upon returning it to the airport. They are not used to Americanized use of rental cars. Many Europeans park themselves at the same resort, and use the same beach every day. That's boring to me.
i got a great deal on a toyota rav4 earlier this year, around $150/week after taxes. did everything in my power to keep it as long as possible, kept it for 56 days total without closing out the account (was surprised when they let me do it cuz hertz is usually insistent on closing out accounts after 28 days). was staying in ventura, but had to drive up to sacramento 3 times, SLO around 10 times, san ysidro 4 times, san jose 2 times, and was commuting into santa barbara and LA most days, so had a lot of miles. don't know how many, prolly 7000-9000 miles range.
I almost feel guilty about doing this. However, I know several Europeans who have come to the U.S., picked up rental cars at our candy store prices, and proceeded to loop America in them. Therefore, rental car companies have seen this before. Any foreigner renting a car at LAX for an extended period of time is likely to go to San Diego, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and San Francisco with it.
Any stories?
My worst was in 1992 in Orange County, CA. I had a 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera from Avis on a 4 month mini-lease at $850/ month. The car was new. I put 25,000 miles on the vehicle in four months. The Avis guys were really not that happy BUT unlimited means unlimited. The NEXT summer, they made me trade the car out every four weeks.
In my younger days, 3,000 miles in 10 days was pretty standard for me.
My worst was in 1992 in Orange County, CA. I had a 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera from Avis on a 4 month mini-lease at $850/ month. The car was new. I put 25,000 miles on the vehicle in four months. The Avis guys were really not that happy BUT unlimited means unlimited. The NEXT summer, they made me trade the car out every four weeks.
In my younger days, 3,000 miles in 10 days was pretty standard for me.
Car (1) was a Buick Regal sedan
Car (2) was an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera coupe (kind of odd); oh well, up to 2007, they kept Monte Carlos in rental fleets, and they were coupes
I think the 4,800 mile rental, picked up at Newark and dropped off at JFK, got a slight raising of the eyebrow.
The only time I got any flak or push wasn't about mileage. It was about optional insurance. And it was in "howdy" friendly Texas, at DFW. I wanted a basic car during a 2-week seminar I had to take in Dallas and I wanted OUT the weekend in between, preferring to go to Houston to visit a friend there. "Hmm, I don't have any Grand Ams. I don't have any full sizes either. I'm going to give you this Park Avenue." Then come the optional insurance(s), which I declined. To which the dude said "Ok, if you bring it back and anything isn't right with the car, take out your checkbook." I might have expected that kind of snark in NY, Chi, or LA, but NOT Dallas. That still didn't work. Spending 3 days in a Park Avenue to get from Dallas and Houston, and drive around Houston, was awesome. Those are as smooth as silk. Somebody almost did T-bone me, though, in Houston near Rice but, fortunately, it didn't happen. Yeah, I'm not as big on whirlwind tours in rental cars these days, either!
Last edited by robertpolyglot; 11-17-2012 at 09:56 AM..
I think I can beat most other "abusers." In 2006, my husband and I landed in Frankfurt and spent 5 weeks in Europe. When we turned in the car, it had 38,000 km's on it. That's 24,000 miles. We drove from Germany all the way to Siberia, then down to Italy, aroud Austria and Switzerland, and then back to Frankfurt.
When we turned in the rental car, the manager came out and attempted to unload on us. My husband clearly whipped out the agreement which said "unlimited mileage." It still ticks me off the manager was abusive when we merely drove the car and abided by the contract. But we got our money's worth!
The only time I got any flak or push wasn't about mileage. It was about optional insurance. And it was in "howdy" friendly Texas, at DFW. I wanted a basic car during a 2-week seminar I had to take in Dallas and I wanted OUT the weekend in between, preferring to go to Houston to visit a friend there. "Hmm, I don't have any Grand Ams. I don't have any full sizes either. I'm going to give you this Park Avenue." Then come the optional insurance(s), which I declined. To which the dude said "Ok, if you bring it back and anything isn't right with the car, take out your checkbook." I might have expected that kind of snark in NY, Chi, or LA, but NOT Dallas. That still didn't work. Spending 3 days in a Park Avenue to get from Dallas and Houston, and drive around Houston, was awesome. Those are as smooth as silk. Somebody almost did T-bone me, though, in Houston near Rice but, fortunately, it didn't happen. Yeah, I'm not as big on whirlwind tours in rental cars these days, either!
For a while, I was renting from Yuma, AZ and driving into Mexicali, Baja California (which required the purchase of Mexican insurance) with Avis. I did that every week for a several months. I had a running feud with the station manager. The corporate contract allowed me to get Avis's BEST rate available which in AZ in the middle of summer was $99 weekly which ticked off the guy to no end. In return, he seemed to make sure that my car was never that clean and never had washer fluid which is essential in driving the desert.
In one week, I managed to crack a windshield AND have a flat tire. So I delivered the car back to Yuma and I could see that the agent was ready to ding me. Unfortunately for him, all that was covered by the corporate contract. He was glad to see me go.
Corporate car rental contracts no longer have such provisions.
Drove from Munich, Germany to Nice, France 2.5 years ago. 6 days and around 2,000 km / 1,240 miles. Car: Mercedes-Benz A200 CDI. The clerk in France did not notice the German plates and was shocked at the high mileage. I think she triple checked the milage before I explained everything.
My sister, my GF and I once rented a little dinky Opel in Germany for two weeks, and drove through 11 countries in it, about 2200 miles.
Also, Renault used to have a buyback deal, where you could pick up a new car in Paris, and return it within 6 months, and they would charge by the month. Or, if you wanted to, just keep the car and pay for the whole thing. For one month, it was far cheaper than a rental. My wife and I drove one to Poland, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden, and back to Paris in a month. Reconstructing the route online, it was over 6,000 miles (10,000 km). Went through every country in Europe except USSR, Norway, Finland, Spain, Portugal, and got turned back at the border of Albania. Even drove around illegally off the corridor in DDR.
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
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600 miles from 9AM Friday morning to 4PM on Sunday. That was earlier this year, had to go down to my alma mater for something 250 miles away each direction. Hertz gave a me crappy Toyota Rav 4 that sucked gas and needed a new front bumper.
No, but I know a person who once had a courtesy car (a nice new Ford Focus) while their Excursion was in the shop. Their son - who was out of control in general - drove it as he would a 4 x 4, down a trail at the end of the road, and beat it mercilessly. I was the delegated one to bring it back when the Excursion was fixed, and the very prominent muddy spots and scratches led the agent to immediately blame me. I explained that it was not me who incurred the damage, but another person. I don't think he believed me.
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