Hertz - Less than a full tank

The car I picked up on Monday had less than 3/4 full tak of gas. I pointed out on the exit check, the attendant said "I have noted it and you can bring it back that way"

How the heck do you fill a car 3/4th full?

What a scam. :td:

Not sure how this is a "scam". I started using Hertz often about 2 years ago (5* Status) and if there's one thing I can depend on is that the Gate Attendant always asks about my gas level. Almost always, the tank is full, but sometimes the tank is 3/4 full, sometimes 7/8. I mention it to the attendant, they reply to bring it back as it is, mark something on my copy of the paperwork and their copy as well. The printout receipt upon return notes 3/4 or 7/8 full. OK, so I might go over a bit when I "fill-up to 7/8th" on my way back to the airport. But I figure that there are many more times when I fill up, drive 30-60 miles before returning to the airport, and the tank still shows as "full". When unlucky enough to get a Taurus, I know that even right after leaving a gas station, the gas gauge will never show "full".

I rent 20-30X a year from various companies (Natl/Dollar/Thrifty). Hertz is the only one that ever asks me to check fuel level upon departure.

The car I picked up on Monday had less than 3/4 full tak of gas. I pointed out on the exit check, the attendant said "I have noted it and you can bring it back that way"

How the heck do you fill a car 3/4th full?

What a scam. :td:

In cases where I knew that I was only going to drive the car 20 miles or so, I just return it without filling it. Make sure they do write it down.

In cases where it's a long term rental, and I don't want to take the time to calculate how far I can drive before I return it, I tell them I'm going to do a U-Turn and go pick up a different car (which oftent results in an upgrade for the inconvience).

Your choce.... :cool:

The car I picked up on Monday had less than 3/4 full tak of gas. I pointed out on the exit check, the attendant said "I have noted it and you can bring it back that way"

How the heck do you fill a car 3/4th full?

What a scam. :td:

On your rental agreement it will say the fuel tank capacity.

At my Local Edition, sometimes the attendant does not have time to re-fuel the best car on the lot (which is what they always offer me). So they make a note at that time of the fuel level and that is all I have to return.

At airport locations, I have had two cars that were less then full, and both were so close to the needle that I didn't bother. I do check fuel every time I start so if there was ever a case where the tank was noticeably down, I could run back and have them take care of it for me.

The car I picked up on Monday had less than 3/4 full tak of gas. I pointed out on the exit check, the attendant said "I have noted it and you can bring it back that way"

How the heck do you fill a car 3/4th full?

What a scam. :td:

I completely agree - if it's less than 7/8's full, I get a new car. If it's between 7/8ths & full, then I generally have them note it & I'll try to return the car at that level, but won't get too annoyed when I don't.

Next time, either a PT Cruiser or less than full, back to the counter. Probably more for the PT Cruiser though.

A few times (not often with Hertz, but often with other companies, and all the time on local rentals with Enterprise) is the car not full. I either get the gold booth or the exit agent to note it, and then use rough estimations based on how much I drive (ie 20 mpg for a car). Since those indicators are never exact anyway, it's close enough and I haven't had any problems.

In cases like that it usually means that Hertz didn't refuel the car after it arrived and just turned it back out.

At least in Europe, with Hertz it's almost impossible (for me) to get a less than full tank.
I used to ask for it, my motto was the less, the better

The reasons for such an original request:

the extra gasoline is refunded as 'fuel discount' and its value is greater than the cost of the involved gasoline
airline miles are 'fixed' so no impact due to minor rental cost
more points with the gasoline fidelity program

I agree that it's difficult to return the car at the same fuel level, if the tank wasn't full to begin with.

On a one-way rental with National from JFK to BDL, the tank was 7/8 full at pick-up. I filled up about 30 miles from BDL thinking it would show 7/8 by the time I arrived there. It still showed full and National gave me a CREDIT for the difference. I was very surprised when I saw that on the receipt.

Too bad Hertz doesn't offer such credits... especially since the per gallon price they used was higher than what I originally paid :)

Szymon

The last time I rented, I had 1/8 of a tank! Talk about being hard to return with the same level! At my local edition, they do not have any refilling capacity so you just get what other people return. I have to say that it can be pretty frustrating. Two rentals ago, I had a car that was 3/8 when I rented it. I went to a gas station and asked that they add $3 of regular to bring me back to the same level. The gas station attendant said OK but he filled it up completely while I was in the lady's room. Needless to say, the bill was $17 and I got no credit for returning the car with extra gas when I broght it back to Hertz. For us in the NY area, returning to the same level is a real pain but a fact of life here.

As I work at Hertz I get the fuel question many times. Though sadly it is not us not filling up the tank but, the fuel gauge isn`t working. Many of our new cars which are Saab`s have heaps of problems with the gauges and show 3/4 when it is full.
So that could be one of the solutions, though I know some of my car cleaners tend to be lazy and assume the tank is full (when it is not).

Gonna be annoying if that happens to me this week because my return will be in Oregon, that other place where there's no self serve gas....

Rented a cargo van from Enterprise the other day, darned thing had between 1/8 and 1/4 of a tank. I suspect they do it on purpose, especially in these days of pricey gas. More likely that they'll get too much than too little, and if it's too little, they'll bill outrageous amounts for the difference. Really really lame practice. :mad:

(Other than that, though, Enterprise is a way better deal for a local cargo van than U-Haul, etc.)

In these situations, I usually try to negotiate some free gas at the exit gate. Sometimes, they'll work with you. "It's 3/4, so please mark it 1/2 so I have some wiggle room when I fill it." Sometimes they won't, in which case I exchange the car out.

I rent from Hertz all the time and would not consider this a scam -- they asked after all!

Depending on how far I drive, I'll put in 4-5 bucks worth... or whatever. I don't care if a dollar comes out of my pocket because I put too much in. And it's a lot quicker and easier than turning around and getting another car!

I personally never found this to be a big deal. If I know how far I drove and I can guess (or look up) the fuel consumption, it's a piece of cake.

I suppose if it's really a concern, I could always ask for a trade out as has been suggested by others here, but a) the mind exercise never hurt me and b) on my last rental, since I knew where I'd be driving, I could get gas at the START of my rental at a cheap station and then never worry about it again.

The OP's point was if you get a car that is X/8th's full and when they say to return it X/8th's full, how does one know when filling up the gas to fill it back up to X/8th? It's not going to stop until you're at 8/8ths, which is not what you want.

1) Do a quick calculation (I've done this before with my cell phone calculator and isn't too far off - figure out how much your fuel tank carries, figure out how much is used from X/8th's then do the math)
2) When in this situation (before I drive off the lot), I go back to the counter and ask for a discount (which I normally get), or
3) Like others have said here, just get a new car that has a full tank...

A couple of thoughts - Working for HLE, I used to do the customary walk round with the customer and note the fuel as a matter of course so that there wouldn't be any issues later - some cars are filled to overflow, but still show 7/8 - Rather than try and explain thet some cars don't show F even if they are (Tauruses) - I marked down the car was 6/8 or added notation to the rental agreement, particularly if I were . Part of the business was also at local dealerships for the insurance/replacement market - customer often had a full car and drove it a couple of miles without refueling, returning it 7/8 - who did they think would pay for the gas? Certainly not the dealership!
Still - at the end of the day, customer service was paramount - I'd rather give the benefit of doubt to a pleasant customer than someone who was having a bad day. Often used to get alot of comments about buying the tank of gas - had to remind people that it is a convenience benefit - a good CSR will be able to use their reservation/computer to adjust the gas level with the car and so alter the FPO - i.e 'How about buying 1/2 a tank of gas?' Our HLE gas FPO was set at a similar level to nearby gas stations.
Rented from Enterprise and had a car virtually running on fumes -

I can take a car at Full or less Full.

It's all a matter of figuring out how much fuel the car eats and the distance you plan to drive. I'm lucky I know my vehicles enough and usually get the same models over and over again.

For someone, who don't know their vehicles, then that's another story.

Eh, I think you can know the cars pretty well, but it still works out in the rental company's favor because you have to be just a wee bit pessimistic on the mileage to avoid the outrageous refueling fee. I think I got pretty close with the Enterprise van I mentioned, but still, it wasn't ideal. I doubt it's Hertz's policy at all, but I wouldn't put it past Enterprise to be doing it on purpose. Those little tiny bits of extra fuel spread among a bunch of cars really add up.

Plus, imagine the paranoid people who fill their cars at half a tank. Give them a car with less than 1/4? They'd be freaking out! :D

I guess if you drive the car enough that you fill the tank a couple times you could even calculate the mileage of that particular unit (could vary even among the same model car due to options, total mileage, etc.) But even then what side are you going to err on: the one where you put in maybe $1.00 too much gas or the one where if the level is too low they charge you $6 per gallon plus maybe an extra rip off fee?

Since I don't have a car and always rent to get from A to B, and live in Europe where we are not exactly blessed with low fuel prices, refuelling is a big issue.

I always refuel aprox 20-30 KM/ 15-20 miles before returning the car to save on gas costs. Hertz has a tolerance of 2 litres (1/2 gal) in Germany before they charge you anything. They refuel the vehicles even if the gauge shows F. The low range Ford models (Focus, Ka etc) have a problem with the gauge and the returning agents know that. Showing them the fuel receipt of the local gas station satisfies them.

When I returned my Hertz rental last month at ORD, I was stuck in traffic earlier and was in hurry so I forgot to refuel before giving back the car. The agent was very generous and I only got charged 25 USD for gas. ;)

The one time this happened to me, and it was probably 4 or 5 years ago, I mentioned it as I was leaving. I filled the tank (it was 7/8 when I left) and actually got a credit when I returned.

Another story, a few weeks ago I rented in PHX, and put a grand total of 7 miles on the car. The check in agent asked if I filled the tank. I asked just how much gas would she expect me to put in for 7 miles. She just smiled and charged me the dollar or so to replace the fuel at $5 a gallon or whatever it is now.

Last story, or maybe word of caution. I always check the fuel level, but more important, check the mileage. At least a couple times a year, (I rent probably 50-60 cars a year) I'll get in a car with enormous mileage differences between the contract and the car. There are times that for whatever reason I haven't replaced the fuel, imagine getting dinged for driving 300 miles of gas when I only did 30! I guess I can ask them to charge me for the fuel level indicated by the gauge, but why have the hassle?

This happened to me the last two times I rented with Hertz. Both times I left with the tank 7/8 full, and the attendent noted it for me. When I returned the car the first time, it was right around 7/8 full, but they gave me a $10 credit voucher anyways. The second time I returned it full and got a $10 credit voucher.

I guess if you drive the car enough that you fill the tank a couple times you could even calculate the mileage of that particular unit (could vary even among the same model car due to options, total mileage, etc.) But even then what side are you going to err on: the one where you put in maybe $1.00 too much gas or the one where if the level is too low they charge you $6 per gallon plus maybe an extra rip off fee?

It is very annoying to try and calclate how much you can drive to get it down to the acceptable level, assuming you are even going to drive that distance. Most of the time its all experimentation, only works out if you are going to take the car a long distance, if its just a short distance, then def would want of those credits :)

I had a car rented to me by ENTERPRISE that was on fumes. The car was also 30 minutes late, as they did not have the reserved class (any reputable car rental place would upgrade the renter to the next car class -- not ENTERPRISE). I had to stop immediately to tank the car.

The whole episode cost about 45 minutes of my time, and it screwed up my schedule.

a number of times the gauge showed 3/4-7/8 so instead of wasting my time and having to switch cars and unload/load the cars. I SIMPLY drive over to the Car Service area and they are more than happy to fill up the car. Sometimes it took less than a 1/2 gal. The gauges sometimes dont reflect the real amount until the car has been driven for a few minutes once it was shut off. a few times it was a few gals short.

that brings me to how many others here have driven out with the gauge showing Full only to see after going 10-15 miles that the gauge dips down to the 7/8 level. Why cause the person who had it before filled it up away from the Airport knowing how many miles they can drive on it before it will dip below Full, so it gets returned showing Full. depending on the car I know I can drive up to 40 miles+ in a mid size and it will still show Full, the guy after me will run into what I usually do after 10 miles or so it will dip to 7/8.

This is cause in most cars it wont dip cause theres a 1-2 gal resevre above the Full line. well depending on the acr that can give you anywhere from 30-55 miles before it will dip.

Try this -- per my Hertz receipt, the worst mileage vehicle in the US is a Toyota Prius Hybrid at 8 MPG!!!!

Hertz said used 3 gallons to go 25 miles (6/8 full on the return). The digital guage read full at the exit gate, one mile later it read one notch down. I was short of time on the return and figured I would pay for a gallon of gas --at most.

Strangely enough, this has happened to me TWICE, and both times were leisure rentals out of the Tampa Airport. Also (in both cases) I did not notice it until we had left the airport property.

All I did was call the Hertz #1 Club Gold CS line and told them the level of my tank. They said to just stop and fill the tank to FULL, and record the date, time and car's current mileage.

Upon return to the airport, the receipt for gas was enough information to credit that exact amount back off of my total rental cost.

Worked out just fine with minimal hassle.

Picked up my Mazda 6 (rented C class, no upgrades yet) at PIT on Saturday. Gauge did say full, but I think it was never really topped off. I'm not sure how short that made it. When I filled it before turning it in it the pointer went somewhat over the actual F mark. So someone the last time probably drove it 20-30 miles after filling and got lucky that it still was pointing at F. And Hertz didn't bother to top off that gallon. Oh, well. Not a personal rental and not worth my time for a couple bucks, but if it's a trend I'm sure I'll keep noticing and finding it more annoying....

i feal the best thing to do is pre pay for fuel then i push the car back to hertz, that way who cares about the 3 or 5 $ difference?????????

My last Hertz rental, they were allowing a prepay of a tank of gas at below the going price of gas in the whole area, not just near the airport. So what if I gave them a gallon or two? I was quite happy with the arrangement.

Too bad Hertz doesn't offer such credits... especially since the per gallon price they used was higher than what I originally paid
I had this happen at SJC just a week ago for an HLE checkout at 7/8 full and returned it completely full. To me it was trivial and I wasn't going to be able to figure out the mileage and when I needed to fill up the tank to return it at 7/8. I joked with the return agent that I should get a credit for the extra amount (I wasn't expecting it) but he said if I went in to the office they would give me the credit but he wasn't empowered to do it right there.

I probably wouldn't have worried about it, but the coupon I used didn't apply correctly so I had to go chat with them anyway. They saw checked out at 7/8 and checked in full so they marked it off an extra $5, which honestly wasn't enough to cover the cost of the fuel (it was an SUV and 1/8 tank is probably 3+ gallons) but I didn't really care. I'd just finished getting an SUV for 3 days for $24.