Originally Posted by
Schweden
Upgrade rates fluctuate wildly. There have been times where they've quoted $100/day with a mileage restriction to upgrade into an S90, and then there are times where I've been assigned into one by Carfirmation for free. I've gotten a brand new Alfa Romeo Stelvio for no upgrade charge without really asking and then I've also been quoted anywhere from $30-80/day to upgrade into that or the Audi A5s.
I can see why Hertz would rather leave their "premium" cars unsold as I can imagine that they'd rather not run up the mileage without adequate compensation as I can't see them keeping those cars past the 15,000-20,000km mark. As well, rightly or wrongly, Hertz's fleet can now be seen as more "high end" and "exotic" than most of National or Enterprise due to the fact that they chose rarer vehicles (ie., Alfa Romeo Stelvio vs Jaguar F-Pace, Audi A5 Sportback vs BMW 3 Series, Volvo XC90 vs large American SUV). That said, I really would rather have a Mustang GT or Camaro SS than the European cars on most days.
I have yet to see a Hertz high end vehicle have less than 15,000 km. Last vehicle I had was an XC90 and it had 22,000km on a 2018. Before that, the S90 had 18,000km.
No BMW, Audi or Volvo is worth an extra $50-60 a day. These are entry to mid-tier luxury with a MSRP of <$60,000. The base-rate is already expensive enough for a month in the summer (almost/over double) without tacking on upgrade charges.
I got a Mustang GT convertible for $85 (base + upgrade fee) a day from Enterprise this month. I hear they run as much as $120-200 a day usually which is pretty steep. I'd still rather pay $85/day for a Mustang GT than for an overpriced Hertz upgrade.