I reserved an economy car from FOX with unlimited miles for the LAS location. I specifically reserved an economy car because I planned on driving quite a few miles and desired the best fuel economy possible.


How many times have I booked a subcompact? Almost always. How many times have I actually gotten one? Almost never. My rule of thumb: Assume this will happen and plan to spend some extra gas money.

Upon arrival I was of course offered a PT Cruiser which I what I get offered from every company no matter if I reserve economy, midsize, full size, etc. I hate PT Cruisers and they get lousy fuel economy certainly not representative of anywhere near an "economy" car.

I agree with you on that. I once had a PT Cruiser from Enterprise (booked subcompact for a weekend day, and the place was absolutely crawling with customers.) With all 5 seatbelts in use, (upgrade didn't annoy me so much this time), the car got 26 mpg. I'd assume a solo driver could do a bit better than that.

I asked for other options and was told the PT was the only car available for my reservation. The vehicle with the highest fuel economy available on their lot was a Jeep Compass at 28mpg highway, but they wouldn't give it to me without an extra charge. I felt that if they couldn't honor my reservation for an economy car they needed to give me the vehicle closest in performance to what I reserved which amazingly was a Jeep SUV.

That's probably because they class the PT as a car. Enterprise calls it a midsize. The Jeep Compass is based on the Dodge Caliber, but the rental firms don't take that into account.

I attempted to make this point without success, and eventually paid extra for the Jeep after doing the math that spending less on gas would make up most of the difference even though I hate driving SUVs almost as much as PT Cruisers. I just want a small car that's easy to handle...why is that so much to ask from the car rental firms???

The companies use statistical modeling to determine what they should order and how many. Look at other posts on this forum to see people mad that they booked compact and didn't get a free upsize to premium. Many people want/need a large gas guzzler. The companies used to buy lots of large SUVs for that reason. Then when gas shot up, they brought in more midsize. Then when gas stayed high, they were able to justify a larger purchase order of, gasp, compacts. But still not enough demand for subcompacts to buy so many.

Based on my visual inspection of their lot both during pickup and dropoff they only had Chrysler and Jeep products which means it was IMPOSSIBLE for them to ever have an economy car on the lot as neither company manufactures such a model. Over half the lot was the PT Cruiser that they probably offer to everyone who didn't reserve a luxury or SUV model.

They all do this. If I had a dollar, nay, a penny for every time this happens, I'd be a very wealthy man.