Been renting cars overseas for a couple of decades.

I've been dinged, like being charged for scratches on the rims, though claim paid out by Chase Sapphire Preferred rental coverage.

Yesterday I drove to Castle Combe, England from Bath. Google Maps had me go through these country roads. Very scenic but very narrow. Fortunately didn't encounter too many other cars so most of the time drove in the middle Some parts would only fit one car.

So I visited and then leaving the parking lot, the rental cars chirping. The dash showed left rear tire had low pressure like 1/3 the pressure of the other 3 tires.

Didn't see much of anything else around so I found the nearest gas station, about 4 miles away near Chippenham. Called the Europcar service number and hit the option for tire damage. Operator said maybe the sensor is off. Well it didn't go down to zero. But when I filled the air, I could only inflate it to 2/3 the pressure of the other tires, according to the dash,

Car is a Mercedes A200 AMG.

They suggested I take it to a shop they contracted to provide service, a chain called Kwik Fit. So I refilled the tire again but this time it wouldn't inflate more. In fact it deflated all the way.

So I tried calling again and after 30-60 minutes, they said they would dispatch someone. Took my US number, promised to contact me, never did.

Called an hour later but nobody picks up so I call a "breakdown" number and they said the other service closes at 5:30 PM. So in after hours, they contact Mercedes road side service and they schedule another service dispatch.

Finally someone showed up from the original request, about 2 hours later. He finds the leak, it's at the edge of the sidewall and the tread. He fixes it but says the repair probably wouldn't hold and I shouldn't drive it more than 50 MPH so stay off the motorway.

Suggested I take it back to Europcar and swap it.

I did the next morning and they said I have to go get the new tire installed and pay for it. Or Kwik Fit will bill Europcar and they will slap on a £45 admin fee.

I called Chase Sapphire, they said their coverage will cover damage but I would have to submit a claim and see what they say.

So I paid £181, was expecting maybe double that.

Car odometer barely has 2600 miles but all the tires are pretty bald. The new tire sticks out because of how worn the other tires are. Wondering if the state of the tires led to the puncture, in which case it feels like a raw deal that they gave me a car with tires in poor state.

Thing is, online agency emailed me before I picked up, offering $11 a day to cover no-deductible CDW. But I've had good experiences with Chase Sapphire so I didn't do it.

When I picked up, Europcar tried to get me to pay £27 a day for CDW. For a 7-day rental, it would be well over half of what I paid online to book the rental.