What I've found is that the "majors" (Hertz, Avis, National) tend not to be as picky about dings. The "tourist" rental car agencies tend to go over the car with a fine tooth comb and point out every scratch. The one time I rented a car from a low cost car rental place (and this was probably the first time I had ever rented a car to boot), I picked up the car at a hotel and the agent was standing there holding the door, so I hopped right in. MISTAKE! There was a minor door ding on the other side that was pointed out to me upon return to the airport and they expected me to pay for that repair ($500 IIRC) on the spot! I flipped out and ended up not paying, but I wonder how many times that door ding was paid for...