Originally Posted by Tuneman1984

Rental cars are being kept longer these days by most agencies. As such, they have a tendancy to have small amounts of wear and tear on them that aren't repaired until the car is sold. I rent about 25-30 times a year and 95% of the time the car will have some damage on it (scratches, rock chips in windshield on occasion). I rent with National, and they ask you to do an inspection yourself. If you come back having found anything they mark it down on both copies and take your word for it. Makes sense, not like I can read the future and know what exact fender I'll scrape in 2 days.

A lot of companies don't worry about small knicks IME. It varies by company, but there's certainly nothing wrong with being cautious. Even if they don't mark stuff down as a rule, if you get them to do it they should. That way, it makes no difference to them since they wouldn't have in the first place, but you know you have documentation on your side.