Just back from Turkey where we rented a car from National. Unlike North America and Europe where a rental car is delivered washed and cleaned, the Jetta we rented was anything but. The windscreen was badly bug-stained and the windows far from clean. On top of that, we were to drive the car with an empty tank to a gas station close by for refill. We were instructed to return it with an empty tank! (That gas station had no squeegee.)

Mind-boggling really!

We returned the Jetta in Izmir in better shape than when we got it. We had the windscreen "de-bugged" at service stations along the way. Problem is not every gas station had a squeegee. We would usually fine one at Shell for example but not at smaller gas stations.

My husband and our son are avid photographers so we wanted to keep the glass surface clean.

No tourist in his/her right mind would drive on an empty tank.

Anybody with similar experience - of rental car with an empty tank to be returned empty? What do these rental companies do with the extra gas when the car is returned? Do they syphon it off for personal use?