I had a flat recently on a Thrifty rental earlier this month. I changed it myself (to the high-pressure spare) and took it to get fixed - I was nowhere near a car rental place and wanted a real tire on there. They told me it was not repairable - sidewall damage - I think I may have hit the side of a pothole. When I turned it in I told them and noted a form; I was in a hurry, of course, and didn't read the fine print - maybe I agreed to pay for it. A few days ago I got a voicemail saying I owed $190.

I did not buy CDW because my understanding always was that my regular car insurance would cover the stuff CDW does. Called State Farm and they said tire issues were "wear and tear". Thrifty said no - I'm responsible for ANY damage to the vehicle. I left them a voicemail saying maybe I'll pay some, but no way I'll pay almost $200 including a $50 "administrative fee". We'll see what happens.

I'm wondering how I know there wasn't a flaw in the tire when I rented the car (it was a fairly slow leak, I just noticed the tire was very low at some point). Or even if it DID happen while I was driving, the car had 25K+ miles so the tire was half worn out (so I should pay only 1/2 the cost of new tire).