First of all, I am not making any assumptions. Dont speak to me like my last name is "avis". I am clarifying issues here, why THEY use that as an excuse to invalidate insurance clauses and LDW. I work there, I dont make the policies. Someone needs to chill.
The easiest phrase to catch all "prohibited" activites is to say "no off paved road driving" instead of "no jeep trails, potholes greater than 18 inches, and because you have a jeep its okay as long as you use common sense, but as long as you drive the car as you would your own and use good judgement when driving on country unpaved roads."
Legally its easier to just say "no off finished/paved roads" PERIOD.
Originally Posted by Reindeerflame
It's simply not true, again, unless people drive like idiots.
As roads get more difficult, speed must be reduced. And, at 5 or 10 miles an hour, one can clear many problem areas easily. There is no undercarriage damage.
All it takes is good sense.
I drive these roads in a rental car in the same manner as I drive my own car on them.
If they did use good sense (and honestly, there is a good 20% out there who rent who dont) then they got nothing to worry about. I have personally called tow trucks for chrysler sebrings stuck in the sand 5 feet from the waters edge, usually about 45 feet off the road, at least( happened 5 times this year already), High centered on jeep trails stuck in ditches off unpaved roads and stuck in sand dunes in the desert, and honest to freaking god 145 feet off the road in a cornfield. Hell I even had to reclaim a rental car from a police impound lot after the renter tried to pick up an undercover cop for sex.
Common sense following people dont get into situations like that. If you want to drive on unfinished roads, thats your business. Just remember that wether you have coverage or not, you are responsible for the full price of the car until it is returned, then if any damage is detected, its your bill as well. That rule applies on roads as well. LDW and standard roadside may be denied, or even billed back to you, if you violate the contract. It sounds like you know what your doing on country/unfinished roads. Fine. A great deal of people in america have NEVER driven on roads like that. Now thats not an assumption, thats fact.