Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - $7000 damage claim 3 months after Alamo rental??

Rented a car for 7 days from Alamo back in July at Palm Springs.
Five days into the rental the car was running roughly, so I took the car back to PSP and exchanged it for another. It was over 115 degrees all week so I didn't think much about the rough-running engine.
Rental concluded normally.
Last Friday I received a damage bill from Alamo for $7000 for a full engine replacement. Needless to say I was surprised.
I certainly did nothing to the car out of the ordinary during the rental. Car mileage was about 14K miles.
I didn't take out any Alamo insurance, but have great personal insurance so I'm not worried from that perspective.
It seems odd to receive such a large claim three months after a rental with no contact from Alamo in the interim. (I've rented from them again several times over the past three months.)
I'm in contact with Alamo claims and their position is that because I was the renter who reported the problem while I had the car, that I am liable.
Thoughts?

As far as I'm concerned you are not responsible for an engine problem. Give me a break. I wouldn't pay them a dime, nor would I have my insurance company pay them a dime. Your insurance company will be happy to provide a lawyer free of charge to defend themselves against this bogus claim.

...their position is that because I was the renter who reported the problem while I had the car, that I am liable.

I think that's absolutely ridiculous.

I don't often rent cars (for these types of reasons), so I can't be of any help to you. That said, I would think there would be some requirement for the car rental company to contact you within X days (not weeks, not months) of the rental if they were claiming you damaged their vehicle.

Wow, what silliness. To the contrary, you would think that by reporting a problem you found, it makes it clear you didn't do it. For example, I recently was at the library and decided to borrow their laptop to quickly check my e-mail. A few minutes later, I noticed one of the keys was loose. I went back to the desk and showed the clerk the malfunction with the keyboard. He apologized and put the computer aside for his service technician upstairs to deal with.

Absolutely outrageous. Fight this with everything you've got.

I didn't take out any Alamo insurance, but have great personal insurance so I'm not worried from that perspective.

Rental agency CDW/LDW does not usually cover mechanical damage. In other words, if you hit a bump, scrape the oil pan, leak out all the oil, and burn up the engine, LDW will not cover that. So that wouldn't have helped you in this case.

I don't know if typical insurance collision/comprehensive plans cover such damage, either. They usually don't on your personal auto, so by extension, I doubt they would on a rental car.

It may be worth checking to see if your credit card CDW will pay anything towards this.

I'm in contact with Alamo claims and their position is that because I was the renter who reported the problem while I had the car, that I am liable.
Thoughts?

With physical (body) damage, it's pretty easy: the last person to have the car before the damage is found is held responsible. That's why it's so important for you to fully inspect the vehicle before taking it off the lot. Once it leaves the lot, it's your word against theirs, and they'll win.

Mechanical problems are more difficult. It's unreasonable to ask the customer to do a full mechanical analysis or even check the oil before leaving the lot (though at least checking the oil may not be a bad idea). To simply hold someone responsible because they reported the damage is poor policy. There are a number of factors that a reputable rental agency should evaluate before deciding who to hold responsible for engine damage:



whether the damage was caused by something the customer did (e.g. scraping the oil pan, removing and leaving off the coolant cap, blatantly disregarding warning lights, putting diesel in an unleaded car, driving through deep standing water, etc.)
how far the customer drove and how long he or she had the vehicle (that is, if you've only driven 5 miles to the hotel, it's hard to hold you responsible, versus if you've just come back from an 800-mile trip to a rural area with potentially bad roads)
when the rental agency last performed service (I actually once had a customer come back to report low oil, and it was just after the rental agency's mechanic had changed the oil--turns out the mechanic had not installed the oil filter properly; fortunately, there was no engine damage)
known issues with a certain vehicle model (for example, the 2007 Chrysler Sebrings with 2.4L engines were notorious for blowing head gaskets, so that was never held against customers)


Usually, in the case of mechanical problems, the rental agency will have a local dealer look at the car, since the cars are all new and under warranty. The service writer will come back if it's not a warranty issue and tell the agency what happened--it's pretty impressive how much detective work a good mechanic can perform, including telling how long ago the problem started, which the agency will then use to evaluate who they should hold as the responsible party.

Given that you'd had the car for five days before the problem developed, I can see why Alamo is pinning this on you. Unfortunately, the fact that you came to them in good faith and reported the problem isn't a good defense: many people try to disguise things by doing that. However, telling you that they're charging you simply because you reported it is either bad information on the part of the person telling you that or is bad policy by Alamo as a whole (either the local franchise or their central claims office, depending on whether PSP is corporate or franchised). If you are sure that you did absolutely nothing wrong, I would take them to court and attempt to make them prove that you caused the damage and that they didn't give you a faulty car.

That said, I would think there would be some requirement for the car rental company to contact you within X days (not weeks, not months) of the rental if they were claiming you damaged their vehicle.

Unfortunately, there isn't. You can use the length-of-time argument in a court of law to defend yourself (the judge won't look kindly on that delay and may be more likely to rule in your favor), but there are no hard-and-fast laws or rules.

Best of luck, and please do report back how this is handled. I'm quite curious.

Thanks all. I've formally disputed the claim with Alamo and will keep you posted.

Jackal, very much appreciate such a comprehensive reply. If my personal insurance doesn't work out, the car was rented with an Amex platinum card so that should also be of some help. I hadn't thought about the mileage aspect; but I checked and when I dropped off the car after 5 days I had driven it 94 miles.

Thanks all. I've formally disputed the claim with Alamo and will keep you posted.

Jackal, very much appreciate such a comprehensive reply. If my personal insurance doesn't work out, the car was rented with an Amex platinum card so that should also be of some help. I hadn't thought about the mileage aspect; but I checked and when I dropped off the car after 5 days I had driven it 94 miles.

Good luck on this one ^

Wonder if the vehicle had the gps planted inside it and they can see where you went (I think I stumbled across a thread of this before) and they are trying to leverage that against you... :rolleyes:

But 94 miles in 5 days... unless you took a sledge to the engine or you were driving on 4x4 roads.... :eek:

How many miles were on the car? With rental cars typically in the 0 - 30K range, the engine should be still under mfgr warranty. Unless car rental agencies have different/reduced warranty arrangements with auto makers.

Please keep us posted on the developments. Even though I have been renting cars for some 2+ decades, there is always something new to learn.

How many miles were on the car? With rental cars typically in the 0 - 30K range, the engine should be still under mfgr warranty. Unless car rental agencies have different/reduced warranty arrangements with auto makers.

Please keep us posted on the developments. Even though I have been renting cars for some 2+ decades, there is always something new to learn.
Most have standard warranties.

Due to the way Enterprise sources cars, they may do things differently. IIRC, they are the largest buyer of cars in the world, and they have the upper hand in negotiations. I know that the Chrysler cars leased by Dollar Thrifty do come with the manufacturer's warranty, including complimentary roadside assistance. Enterprise, on the other hand, contracts with AAA to provide their emergency roadside assistance, since they did not include that benefit in the negotiated agreement they have (at least with Chevy). I don't know about actual mechanical warranties, though.

Now that Alamo is owned by Enterprise, this may have affected how Alamo does business...

Not to mention that Dollar/Thrifty and all the others except Alamo/National will disclose at the time of booking what locations are corporate stores and so can handle breakdown returns. If it's a franchise-owned car, the nearest Alamo/National facility might be corporate and unable to accept the car and vice versa.

Rented a car for 7 days from Alamo back in July at Palm Springs.
Five days into the rental the car was running roughly, so I took the car back to PSP and exchanged it for another. It was over 115 degrees all week so I didn't think much about the rough-running engine.
Rental concluded normally.
Last Friday I received a damage bill from Alamo for $7000 for a full engine replacement. Needless to say I was surprised.
I certainly did nothing to the car out of the ordinary during the rental. Car mileage was about 14K miles.
I didn't take out any Alamo insurance, but have great personal insurance so I'm not worried from that perspective.
It seems odd to receive such a large claim three months after a rental with no contact from Alamo in the interim. (I've rented from them again several times over the past three months.)
I'm in contact with Alamo claims and their position is that because I was the renter who reported the problem while I had the car, that I am liable.
Thoughts?

The burden of proof is on them, not you.

they can play "tag you are it" all they want, but they have to demonstrate that you caused the problem, which I imagine is extremely difficult to do, reporting the problem does not consitute proof.

They are also going to have to provide a history of the car prior and after your rental. When it was inspected, what maintenance was performed, what the manufacter's recommended maintenace intervals were and if they were adhered to, and most importantly, how they responded to your report when you returned the car..did they inspect it? Did they perform maintenance to fix it? Most importantly, in the 3 months following your rental..how many times was it rented out to other people? If it was rented out and given any maintenance in the time between your return and their claim, you are off the hook.

I would fight it tooth and nail. Get a lawyer. They will probably drop it when they find out you are fighting it. Sometimes rental companies throw crap at the wall just to see what sticks.

I didn't take out any Alamo insurance, but have great personal insurance so I'm not worried from that perspective>>>

Dont be too sure about that. Alamo likes to tack on their soft fees of loss of use, administrative "fees" and diminishment of value..none of which are usually covered by private auto insurance although some may be covered by the credit card...either way I wouldnt give them a dime.

A quick update. I'm in limbo at the moment.
I spoke with two folks in the recovery unit in late October and early November. On November 11 my Recovery Specialist requested that I send an email explaining why I didn't think I was liable, which I did the same day.
Since then, nothing. I've left two additional voicemails and have heard nothing back either via email or phone.
I guess the next step is to send them a letter requesting status.

good luck DB -- that's CRAP that they are trying to pin it on you!!!! :td: