Tampa is not a Choice Location according to its website. There are 5 other Dollars in FL that are. If you have time, just go to a choice location and just complain about something... preferably the same (or next day) and they will probably tell you to go choose a car. I've done it at Thrifty locations... (For those of you who don't know Dollar and Thrifty are sister companies so only the branding is different.)
In other words, in Tampa the rental agent assigns a car for you and you are usually not able to select the specific car you want.
Source:
http://www.dollar.com/TravelCenter/T...ceService.aspx