As a contrast with the story about National in MUC, I recently rented a car from National at FCA (Kalispell, Montana -- it's where you fly into to visit Glacier National Park). The agent told me to check the car for damage, but she made a point about saying, "Don't worry about little dings and scratches or a chip in the windshield -- small stuff like that. We only worry about fairly significant damage." I registered my surprise, and she said, "Yeah, even some of the other rental companies here will come after you for minor scratches, too, but we kind of think it's par for the course for driving in Montana."

For the record, I returned the car with no additional damage, not even tiny scratches or dents.