SpeedRicer

Agreed -- the website itself lists a Passat as FCAR and Jetta as SCAR, which would align with my experiences with other companies as well.

SpeedRicer

Perhaps it's a regional franchisee?

I have the location's business card and it mentions they are a "Sixt Rent-a-Car franchise" on it (I guess it could be just odd wording).

The agent was a bit unclear as to whether I could drive the car out-of-state as well.

SpeedRicer

Update (and a happy ending) on my current rental! I ended up calling the location shortly after my pickup experience, and the agent that picked up was immediately apologetic and transferred me on to one of the managers.

Interestingly enough, the agent I spoke to had mentioned that the agent I had initially rented from has had complaints before about the same inaccurate car class assignment issues and aggressive upselling. So hopefully it was an isolated case with this one agent?

Anyway, the manager had me come down to switch out cars. I arrived and the station manager personally helped me with the car switch. I also met the franchise owner and had a great conversation with him -- he's a fellow car enthusiast (he was telling me all about the CLS63 AMG and a few other recent additions into the fleet ) and he definitely has grand plans of expanding the Sixt brand and positioning themselves as a premium player out here.

So all in all, everything worked out in the end -- I decided to book several more rentals for all of February and hopefully next time the pickups go more smoothly. And I'll report back on any other interesting cars I happen to spot at this location...

kxc262

= free upgrade to that Rolls Royce right??

SpeedRicer

Believe me, I tried! And if it had happened, I would have extended my rental (with its $12/day FCAR rate) all the way to the end of the year!

Jayda James M Long

Got a great rate on a PCAR from the San Diego Branch.

I don't mind which of the PCAR's they give me from their list. But if they say its not available I'm going to write a massive complaint because it is booked for April and I don't expect any....Sorry the car you reserved is not there.

What have peoples experience been on getting the car type they reserved or being given something better ?

echino

My experience with Sixt at SAN was negative. I reserved FCAR (Passat, etc.), on pickup they tried hard to sell me an upgrade. When I refused, they gave me Jetta (SCAR) and claimed Jetta was FCAR. And were going to charge me FCAR rate for Jetta. I agrued on return, and they gave me $10 off (total, not per day) after a lot of arguing. The price difference between FCAR and SCAR was much more than $10 when I reserved. No response to complaint sent via Sixt website.

MartinN86

Hi there.

Thought the price was good and the availability to do a one way rental for free, so I thought, why not give Sixt a go :-)

I've made a reservation for a STAR, that could be either the mustang or the Camaro, but does any of you know if both comes with automatic transmission? I would HATE to drive with Manuel on my vacation!

Besides that, have any of you seen any SLK 250 / Z4 at the lot? I might consider an upgrade if the price is right.

Best regards

Martin - Denmark.

kxc262

I have never seen any manual cars in the US for rent. SLKs do float around but hard to say if they will have it when you pick up.

The Camero is the SS trim btw.

MartinN86

Thanks, good to know about the aut. transmission!

I'll let you guys know when i'm completing my rental :-)

SpeedRicer

Interesting that quite a few of us in this thread have been burned by the "Jetta is a FCAR" experience.

I had the same issue before and posted about it earlier in this thread -- there really is no excuse, a Jetta is very clearly an SCAR according to Sixt's own website and a Passat/Camry (and now 300) is the representative FCAR selection.

I wonder if it's particular agents that keep pushing this on reservations or if it's a location-wide issue. I've interacted with management during several rentals and they're definitely aware of Platinum benefits, etc. so I would escalate if this happens.

SpeedRicer

You should definitely get a PCAR at minimum, they have plenty of them onsite -- usually a Genesis or CLA in my experience. If Platinum or above, you should also get your upgrade. I've been getting mine consistently on every rental.

SpeedRicer

Should be automatic for sure -- have seen both Camaros and Mustangs on the lot. I've seen a Challenger or two as well if you're fine with a coupe instead of a convertible. Almost certainly it'll be a V6, although I've heard they may order some V8s in the future.

Haven't seen any Z4s but they definitely do have SLK250s. I'm driving one now.

moze

Anyone know what 'verts are available at this location? Anything above an E350?

SpeedRicer

Haven't seen anything higher, although they do have a 6-Series coupe (not sure if they have a convertible as well).