how full does gas need to be?
 

When you return a car to Avis, how full does it need to be before they will say it's not full?

For a Tesla, I did read that it must be 70% of better.

You rent a Tesla and you're asking about the "gas" level? :D

Ha, yup! Well, I can’t say that I chose a Tesla, but that was what they gave me. I was happy to try it out and I only used 20% of the battery, so I didn’t need Tom charge it.

Anyway, That made me wonder about what is acceptable for a gas level upon return.

Many of Avis' gas-powered vehicles are now "connected cars" which electronically report (sometimes correctly) the car's fuel level. Avis will expect you to return the car with at least the same amount of fuel as the sensor showed at checkout. I'm not certain, but you might be able to view your gas vehicle's fuel level on the Avis app.

Although it might not help with a connected car, if the fuel gauge is not at the extreme end of full when you pick up the car, I would take a picture of the fuel level and odometer reading before driving off the lot. If there is a discrepancy between the gauge and odometer reading versus what appears on your contract, I would go back to the counter (with the photo on your smartphone) and get the contract adjusted before driving away.

I routinely snap a picture of the fuel gauge and odometer whenever I return a rental car.

Thank you. Are the connected cars also tracking and storing location, speed and other things?

Unfortunately, that I do not know.

Connected cars absolutely track location.

Not sure on speed. And if they do track speed, I am not sure what is being done with the data.

thanks for the info. Do you know how to tell if the car is connected?

Of the past three rentals I've done, two were connected vehicles. In those two cases, the rental agreement showed an exact amount of fuel in the tank ("Full | XX.X gal"), whereas the third did not (just said "Full").

By Avis' practices it needs to be VERY full:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/avis...llons-gas.html

Yikes

If you are using Avis app it will show connected car in "my car" (three little waves next to the car description).

The app will also give you "up to date" fuel level as you drive the car around if it is a connected car.

thank you, I will watch for that. It's both impressive and creepy that this is being done.

yes, i have read that previously. They can even block your car from moving, if e.g. you drive offroad or in Mexico, which may not be allowed based on your contract, and they find that out.

Reset the trip odometer
 

Almost every car on the road these days has a trip odometer. Reset it at the beginning of the rental. It will give you the total miles driven and the average fuel economy. Use those two numbers to calculate the actual amount of fuel used and put in at least that much. Keep a record so if you get charged, you have data to back up your claims when you fight it. Easy Peezy.