Originally Posted by
Red Scorpion
^
I submit that most of the issues with rental cars are not Hertz' fault but the way that previous renters treat them. High mileage tends to mean stains on the upholstery, tears, bits of trim damaged etc, and I very much doubt that any of these are caused by Hertz themselves.
As long as a car has been serviced properly, and has tyres with a decent amount of tread of them, I really don't see the issue that seems to get many people very agitated. Of course, if there are problems with the car, even if it is just a spurious illuminated warning light, that's different...... but those sort of gremlins can and do occur at any mileage as well.
That's the problem though. Hertz has increased the length of time they rent their cars before selling them off, but they haven't compensated for the increased mileage with respect to how they regularly maintain their fleet. Every time, and I mean every time, I get a car with 40k+ miles on it, the brakes are shot, the tires are going bald, and the transmission shifts hard. I don't feel nearly as safe with a higher mileage vehicle.
If Hertz invested a few hundred dollars and replaced brake pads at 30k, drained the transmission fluid, and replaced tires, I would have no problem driving a higher mileage car. Heck, my car is 7 years old and has 62k miles on it. My future wife's car has 159k miles and is almost 14 years old. We have no plans on replacing either car anytime soon.
I don't need to drive new cars, but older cars have to be maintained properly. That's where Hertz fails miserably.