It is what it is ... Not for the business traveler
Written: Jan 19 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Reliable Customer Service. No bait/switch or funky pricing.
Cons: Cars were a little old and used and beat up.
The Bottom Line: You get what you pay for. Not good for business travelers. More for the younger roadtrippers.
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| wrldtravler's Full Review: Rent-A-Wreck |
Most times when I am renting a car, it is for dependability or a little bit of luxury. If I am on business in a city and need to rent a car, I will usually go to one of the big chains because they have a bigger selection of locations to pick up and drop off the car at. (Although I find that customer service tends to really be terrible at these big chains ... read my review on Enterprise.) Also, sometimes I make a road trip where I have to drive 3 - 10 hours away from my house and will rent a car so I don't have to put the miles on my car or worry if something goes wrong with it.
If that was my reason for renting, there is absolutely no way that I would go to Rent a Wreck because the cars are not very reliable or luxurious. Based on the Rent a Wreck location I was at was a beach community in Florida ... I don't think I would have felt comfortable driving any car on the lot more than an hour in any direction. And the majority of cars were basically so worn out that I felt like I wanted to put a towel on the seat to keep the dirty fabric away from my clothes. However, I was in Fort Myers visiting some friends and needed a car for the week to do errands, take to the beach, etc. Luxury wasn't my focus because I really wanted a convertible and believe it or not, after checking many of the other rental companies in the area, none had any convertibles available. Which oddly enough in Florida and California always seems to be the case as most of the bigger chain places carry one convertible and it is almost always taken. Rent a Wreck gives you more of an interesting selection of cars than the cookie cutter larger companies.
The Rent a Wreck location looked like a used car lot you probably wouldn't stop at if you were looking for a used car. Most were American cars. Most had sun cracks on the dashboard and stained seats. The cars were not cleaned well on the inside and many had sand, etc. on the floor. There were some newer cars (maybe 2 - 5 years old) and some not so new cars. I took one of the not so new cars ... a convertible from the 1990s. However, the cost of the rental was about half the price what a car would be if you rented it from Avis or Hertz or Enterprise.
I agree with one of the other reviewers who said that it was nice that the rate pretty much stays the same. Enterprise in particular never really has a set price ... it varies based on a lot of factors and even a pre-set company rate fluctuates because there are a lot of mess ups. While I feel most of the big companies lack customer service and do not care about their customers, the Rent a Wreck locations are a lot more laid back and less corporate. In fact, at the location I was at, it seemed more like you were renting from someone you knew. Most of the people there looked like cheesy 80s porno stars and spoke like traditional used car salesmen stereotypes. However, they were very nice and accomodating and honored pretty much any reasonable request given them. They were also very flexible about the pick up and drop off times.
The car I rented was not in great condition, but everything worked as it should. It felt like it could break down at any time ... but maybe I was just used to driving newer rental cars and not accustomed to renting a car model that has not been made for almost 10 years. During the week I had it, the high beam lights did not work. This was a little bit of an issue because some of the roads to the beach at night were a little dark. It was like the arm didn't click into place when you pulled it back, so in order to use the high beams, you had to manually pull the arm back and hold it when you needed high beams. I could have brought it back to the place, but figured it was not a huge issue.
One problem I had was during the rental agreement signings, they valued the car at $10,000 when you waived the insurance. The car was worth maybe $3,000 on a good day. I felt a little uneasy about this.
Another plus about Rent a Wreck is that I believe they will allow a person under 25 to rent the car at a very slightly increased fee. A lot of the main companies require drivers to be 25 to rent or drive a car that was rented from them. This is a problem for young executives who are hired out of college to travel. Usually there is a lot of red tape from the majors when this occurs, if they allow it at all. At Rent a Wreck this didn't seem to be the case.
You won't get picked up at your hotel ... you won't find brand new, low mile cars on the lot. (Maybe each location is different ... I hate to judge the whole company on my experience with one lot if it is more of a franchise thing.) However, if you are looking for an inexpensive car and aren't picky about things like a clean and comfortable interior or reliability for long trips ... this is a good company. I'd probably recommend it more for younger travelers on spring break or on road trips with their friends. I don't think business people would really want to take a Rent a Wreck for business travel. It also wouldn't be that bad if you just needed a car to get you around town.
I have to say that due to the nature of my trip, I got what I paid for an expected. There was no surprise in a good or bad way ... which is often the case with the mainstream companies at double the price. I got reliability of service/price and customer commitment ... something Enterprise couldn't offer me at double the cost. If I was on a business trip, and they pulled up with the car I rented for this casual trip, I'd have called a limo. However, for what I needed, Rent a Wreck delivered. It's not for everyone ... but for the less picky people, you'll save half off and be able to buy some extra souvineers on your trip.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
wrldtravler
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Reviews written: 85
Trusted by: 3 members
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