Interesting Hertz Rental (Upgraded to Car With Non-Functional Dashboard Display)
Apr 26, 2018, 5:06 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Philadelphia
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Posts: 670
Interesting Hertz Rental (Upgraded to Car With Non-Functional Dashboard Display)
I booked the cheapest car in Ponta Delgada, Portugal. Mini with manual transmission. Get to counter at airport, agent says that I’m upgraded to a new Mercedes with 1000 miles on it and it’s an automatic.
Tells me that the display has an issue, so just put 10 euro in gas in it before I return it. Weird, but I’ve been flying for many hours and am happy with the non stick. I get to the car and when I turn it on the display doesn’t work as advertised, but that includes the speedometer and everything. I don’t know how fast I’m going and I can’t even see what gear I’m in unless I look at the shifter.
The car is nice though.
Hopefully the tank was filled when I got the car. Not too many speed traps here so I should be ok.
Tells me that the display has an issue, so just put 10 euro in gas in it before I return it. Weird, but I’ve been flying for many hours and am happy with the non stick. I get to the car and when I turn it on the display doesn’t work as advertised, but that includes the speedometer and everything. I don’t know how fast I’m going and I can’t even see what gear I’m in unless I look at the shifter.
The car is nice though.
Hopefully the tank was filled when I got the car. Not too many speed traps here so I should be ok.
Last edited by FlyinHawaiian; Apr 27, 2018 at 3:58 am Reason: added details to thread title
Apr 28, 2018, 10:07 am
#4
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Apr 28, 2018, 7:33 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 1,582
I find I am very bad at judging my speed in a rental without the speedometer. Once I had one (analog) just die; I presume a wheel rev sensor or cable broke. But it had a tach (which I always think is silly in an automatic) and I managed to calibrate it to speed (at least in the high gear) by clocking mile markers on the highway. That sounds like a lot of hassle, but I was not comfortable really not knowing how fast I was going on sometimes winding roads.
Apr 28, 2018, 8:33 pm
#6
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 6,737
There's a setting in Waze that will show a speedometer in the corner of the screen. It's not perfect, but I usually find it's within an MPH or two of what the car's displaying.
Apr 28, 2018, 10:41 pm
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
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IME, a well-programmed GPS-based speedometer is often more accurate than the one in the dashboard, which can suffer from a number of calibration issues (everything from physical gauge adjustment to slightly over/under-inflated tires).
Apr 30, 2018, 3:45 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Philadelphia
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Posts: 670
I did use Waze most of the time for checking my speed. It really wasn’t necessary though. I just followed the flow.
I think the agent made up the 1000 Miles thing. The rental agreement said 0.0 (Mr Blutarsky). I mistakenly thought it was a Mercedes, but it was a lowly BMW. I did get screwed on gas though. I was worried I’d run out so I filled the tank after 75 or so miles and put in almost 30 liters. I filled it up after another 40 Miles before I returned it and only put in 7 liters. Still was glad to get a nice automatic, especially with all the hills there.
I think the agent made up the 1000 Miles thing. The rental agreement said 0.0 (Mr Blutarsky). I mistakenly thought it was a Mercedes, but it was a lowly BMW. I did get screwed on gas though. I was worried I’d run out so I filled the tank after 75 or so miles and put in almost 30 liters. I filled it up after another 40 Miles before I returned it and only put in 7 liters. Still was glad to get a nice automatic, especially with all the hills there.