johnndor

I also try to throw away my trash at my final gas fill-up. You never know when you might have buried something important under all the junk!

UALOneKPlus

Look at it this way:

Would you like to receive a rental car that someone else has trashed?

Sometimes the cleaners don't always get everything clean. And I hate it when the cup holders are slimy with soda spills and such.

Be a littel considerate and return the car at least in a presentable condition, if at all possible.

ALadyNCal

Our friends wrote JUST MARRIED/CONGRATULATIONS all over the windows of the rental van in Hawaii. When my husband returned it, they told him it would cost $50 cleaning fee if he didn't wash the writing off He drove back to the gas station, smeared it off with their squeegy (it was very easily removed if you had a real hose or a bucket of water). The writing ran down the sides, but he returned the car. We never heard anything else and never saw a charge.

JS

One time I washed a rental car by hand because I was very bored one day.

When I return the car, I always throw away my trash when filling up. I would embarassed to return a rental car dirty.

I don't understand why some people think it's OK to trash a rental car just because someone else cleans it. Do you trashy people litter, too? After all, there are people who clean up litter on the streets and highways -- maybe not as often as a rental agency, but since the roads will be cleaned eventually, why not trash the roads, too?

RobotDoctor

I agree with William and also do as he does.

Wheezer

I once received an Enterprise rental that was basically immaculate, except for a pint glass that appeared to be coated with dried-out chocolate milk and also had lipstick stains, sitting right in the center console. Never quite figured that one out. (Still have the glass, though.)

curt

I regularly check oil before I even drive the car off the rental car parking area. More than one car was well below minimum. I became cautious after one motor wrecked minutes after I rented the car.

djk7

Not always a bad thing, I found a $20.00 bill in the center console of a car I rented once.

BamaVol

JS, I half agree with you. Leaving a mess creates cost for the agency which it passes on in the form of higher rates. I guess I just treat a rental like I treat my own vehicle. The stuff piles up on the backseat until I have passengers or can't see out the rear window.

I don't equate it with littering, however. In fact, if more people did what I do, there'd be less litter.

DaDOKin DC

I actually keep my rentals cleaner than my own car. I would be embarrassed to return a rental in the condition my own car is usually in. I rarely rent a car for more than a few days, so there is little opportunity for piles of trash to build up. (BTW, I am the guy who cleans up the house before the maid comes in.)

I might leave some litter that is easy to clean out -- newspaper, rental agreement, paper towels. But not grimy, dirty, or sticky stuff.

volrichard

usually, I'll clean it out just to make sure I haven't left anything important.
However, if you leave it trashed, just look at it as you doing your part in supporting the economy and keeping down the unemployment rate.

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pinniped

OK, for the first time in my life, probably 500 rentals, I got chastised for returning a car dirty.

Did a 9-day, one-way NCE-MUC rental. 5 of us occupied that car, an Opel Zafira from Sixt, traveling through six different stops, three of them quite rural (but not offroad). The exterior of the car was dirty as in I hadn't been to a car wash, but no caked-on mud.

Upon return, the kid who is processing the returns does a thorough walkaround. He's maybe 20 years old and I can tell he's pretty hardcore about his job. He gets to the rear bumper and immediately points at a spot and says "This is damage!!" I say "Uh, no, that's dirt." We argue for a moment, and then I wet a finger and wipe the dirt off. "Damage fixed!" So he nods and gets in the car.

Then he looks around the inside thoroughly and says "This car is dirty!" At this point, I get a bit irritated because this is one case where I actually did de-trash the car. Since we'd been in it for 9 days, I took extra care to search it top to bottom to make sure we didn't leave behind electronics or anything else. In doing so, at my final petrol fill-up, I tossed pretty much every shred of trash from the rental car into a bin. The "dirtiness" was the fact that he was going to need to vacuum the floorboards...that's it. Normal use by 5 people for 9 days.

Anyway, he finally says "OK, there will be no charge, but I still must note that the car is dirty." Fine, note away. Just give me the receipt with my final bill, mmmkay?

rob0225

I normally throw that stuff away at the gas station if it's in my rental car when I stop to fill up the tank before returning.

dchristiva

Same here. I cannot ever recall being criticized for returning a car "dirty". I thought I was paying for the use of the car and "normal" wear and tear. Cars get dirty via "normal" wear and tear. That's why the car rental companies have car washes.

GatorAir

Don't rental companies embed some sort of arbitrary fee somewhere in your final bill? I mean they always seem to slap on some 20 other fees they refuse to inform you of during the initial quote.