Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - scammed by FOX rental car in Las Vegas

I'm used to getting scammed or attempted to be scammed pretty much anytime I rent a car, but this situation particularly irks me.

I reserved an economy car from FOX with unlimited miles for the LAS location. I specifically reserved an economy car because I planned on driving quite a few miles and desired the best fuel economy possible.

Upon arrival I was of course offered a PT Cruiser which I what I get offered from every company no matter if I reserve economy, midsize, full size, etc. I hate PT Cruisers and they get lousy fuel economy certainly not representative of anywhere near an "economy" car. I asked for other options and was told the PT was the only car available for my reservation. The vehicle with the highest fuel economy available on their lot was a Jeep Compass at 28mpg highway, but they wouldn't give it to me without an extra charge. I felt that if they couldn't honor my reservation for an economy car they needed to give me the vehicle closest in performance to what I reserved which amazingly was a Jeep SUV. I attempted to make this point without success, and eventually paid extra for the Jeep after doing the math that spending less on gas would make up most of the difference even though I hate driving SUVs almost as much as PT Cruisers. I just want a small car that's easy to handle...why is that so much to ask from the car rental firms???

Based on my visual inspection of their lot both during pickup and dropoff they only had Chrysler and Jeep products which means it was IMPOSSIBLE for them to ever have an economy car on the lot as neither company manufactures such a model. Over half the lot was the PT Cruiser that they probably offer to everyone who didn't reserve a luxury or SUV model.

I feel scammed. They're clearly offering reservations for vehicles classes which don't exist and then upselling the customer after offering a horrible vehicle (the PT Cruiser) that nobody wants. I'm going to submit a complaint to FOX corporate, but I want to share my experience with FT. Hopefully I can encourage someone to not rent with FOX in the future.

I reserved an economy car from FOX with unlimited miles for the LAS location. I specifically reserved an economy car because I planned on driving quite a few miles and desired the best fuel economy possible.


How many times have I booked a subcompact? Almost always. How many times have I actually gotten one? Almost never. My rule of thumb: Assume this will happen and plan to spend some extra gas money.

Upon arrival I was of course offered a PT Cruiser which I what I get offered from every company no matter if I reserve economy, midsize, full size, etc. I hate PT Cruisers and they get lousy fuel economy certainly not representative of anywhere near an "economy" car.

I agree with you on that. I once had a PT Cruiser from Enterprise (booked subcompact for a weekend day, and the place was absolutely crawling with customers.) With all 5 seatbelts in use, (upgrade didn't annoy me so much this time), the car got 26 mpg. I'd assume a solo driver could do a bit better than that.

I asked for other options and was told the PT was the only car available for my reservation. The vehicle with the highest fuel economy available on their lot was a Jeep Compass at 28mpg highway, but they wouldn't give it to me without an extra charge. I felt that if they couldn't honor my reservation for an economy car they needed to give me the vehicle closest in performance to what I reserved which amazingly was a Jeep SUV.

That's probably because they class the PT as a car. Enterprise calls it a midsize. The Jeep Compass is based on the Dodge Caliber, but the rental firms don't take that into account.

I attempted to make this point without success, and eventually paid extra for the Jeep after doing the math that spending less on gas would make up most of the difference even though I hate driving SUVs almost as much as PT Cruisers. I just want a small car that's easy to handle...why is that so much to ask from the car rental firms???

The companies use statistical modeling to determine what they should order and how many. Look at other posts on this forum to see people mad that they booked compact and didn't get a free upsize to premium. Many people want/need a large gas guzzler. The companies used to buy lots of large SUVs for that reason. Then when gas shot up, they brought in more midsize. Then when gas stayed high, they were able to justify a larger purchase order of, gasp, compacts. But still not enough demand for subcompacts to buy so many.

Based on my visual inspection of their lot both during pickup and dropoff they only had Chrysler and Jeep products which means it was IMPOSSIBLE for them to ever have an economy car on the lot as neither company manufactures such a model. Over half the lot was the PT Cruiser that they probably offer to everyone who didn't reserve a luxury or SUV model.

They all do this. If I had a dollar, nay, a penny for every time this happens, I'd be a very wealthy man.

I emailed Fox regarding my dissatisfaction, and they refunded the additional charge I was forced to pay without a problem. Kudos for that at least. I'm not so mad at them directly anymore just the overall lack of morals in the industry.

Why is it considered OK to give people a bigger car than they reserved but not the other way around? For some reason it's OK to screw people with bigger vehicles they don't want but on the flip side they wouldn't consider giving a smaller car to someone who reserved an SUV to be OK? Why the double standard?

Receiving a small car is critical for my rental needs. I often drive rentals a long distance - once several thousand miles through moutainous areas. Had I been screwed with an SUV in that case it would have cost me hundreds of dollars in extra fuel.

I also have very poor vision especially depth perception, and it's rather unsafe for me to drive SUVs because I can't see well and have almost no experience with big vehicles. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable I'd be driving a big vehicle in bad weather. I have difficulty judging distances driving through tight areas like small city streets and maneuvering in traffic. My safety is literally impacted by the type of vehicle I drive.

Gas has been expensive for several years now, and far fewer people desire unnecessarily large vehicles now...they need to get with modern times! The level of posts on this board alone of people desiring small cars but getting shafted with larger ones is evidence enough.

When I worked in the business (until 2007), we rarely had economy or compact cars in our fleet. This was because it didn't cost us much more to lease bigger cars, and people liked upgrades. We rarely had people put up a fuss over getting a Taurus for their compact reservation as most folks reserved for the price, not the fuel economy.

Now the tide has turned the other way. The rental fleets are full of small cars, and everyone is complaining because they aren't getting upgrades.

I agree about the PT Cruiser, though... it is one of those cars that doesn't really fit into a class. Of course when they first came out, we rented them for $100 a day and everyone wanted one. I guess the novelty wore off over the years....

The absolute worst car I ever got was the current VW version of the Beetle...

I think Alamo considered that a compact and it was the only car available...

Quite amusing to hear Americans whining about gasoline prices ! ;)

Same thing happened this weekend with Alamo.. rented a compact but all they had was midsize. I was given the choice of any car I wanted, as long as it was a HHR (even uglier than the PT Cruiser).

Quite amusing to hear Americans whining about gasoline prices ! ;)

+1 ... LOL

Quite amusing to hear Americans whining about gasoline prices ! ;)

I've no problem with the gas price itself, but when I try to do the responsible thing and drive fuel efficient vehicles and get forced into accepting guzzlers I'm not too happy. My own car gets 50mpg so I have no issues with the current price.

When I drove in Europe I rented a compact diesel in Germany that got 45mpg on the autobahn (quite an accomplishment in fact at those speeds) and a Prius in the UK. I don't have a problem paying the prevailing fuel price as long as I have the choice to rent the car type I deem necessary. American car rental firms take away that choice and oppress us with undesirable 22mpg butt ugly PT Cruisers!

OP,

I understand your frustration with FOX.

But, it sounds like you travel alot. Do you require a rental everytime you travel.
About your Vegas rental. Are you on some massive road trip upon arrival or is it a matter of convenience why you rent. I just returned from Vegas and put 300 miles on my rental....... did alot of sightseeing outside Vegas.
Are you in the same boat.

My point being that by reading threads on this website you have to know that renting a car can be a pain in some cases.

#2 - Why did you rent from FOX?

Quite amusing to hear Americans whining about gasoline prices ! ;)


Why? If the price of gas in YOUR area, which had remained essentially the same for many years (let's just disregard the fact that your prices have always been higher than ours), suddenly increased by as much as 300% over a short period of time, wouldn't YOU be whining too? :rolleyes: