Faulty car. What compensation can I expect?
 

November 2018 I rented a car from Hertz Manchester Uk for seven days. A few days into the rental I realized I was going to need the car for an extra four days I made a phone call to Hertz to make the necessary arrangements. When I made the reservation I spoke to the very kind gentleman at the branch explaining that I was going to need the car for my daughters wedding he subsequently he managed to secure a nice BMW 520 estate in white. A few days into the rental I noticed a message on the digital screen telling me that there was an oil service due and I subsequently called your service department to discuss what they would like me to do, I got an answering machine and left a message, the message that you’re answering machine told me was, that your messages are listened to every half an hour.

I assumed at that point that during the course of the next 24 hours I would receive a call in connection with my message. Approximately some 24+ hours later I still have not heard from your service department what they want me to do about this service warning that keeps coming up on the screen. I made another phone call to Hertz customer services and explained, not only did it have a display warning me about oil, but now AddBlue was on the display, the customer services representative said they would get back to me. Approximately 30 minutes later I got a phone call from the branch that I rented the car from and they told me because they don’t have the facility to be able to deal with it at that branch I should go to Manchester airport or any other branch where they would be able to deal with it. When I got to Manchester airport I was told the ad blue problem he can resolve but for the oil service I should take the car to a Halfords motorist or service center. As there was one very close by to where I live on my way home I went in there and they explained that they could not deal with me that day, can I come back in the morning. As an appointment was set for 9:30 AM the following morning, I arrived promptly, the gentleman took the car into the service area and after a few minutes came back to tell me that the car needs a proper service can I bring it back sometime next week? I explained that I only have the vehicle till Sunday and I still need to do approximately a further 500 miles will it be okay till then? He said he would have to contact Hertz by email and get back to me. Approximately 45 minutes later the gentleman from Halfords calls me with a reference number , saying that Hertz want me to bring the car back and they will hath to change the vehicle I spoke to Hertz at branch where I collected the vehicle from they advised that the only cars they had at that time were Corsa’s and Astra’s and because I have got a luxury vehicle they cannot help me. I now make a second trip back to Manchester airport where they exchanged the vehicle for an Audi A5.

A number of thing that springs to mind. 1. As I have rented this vehicle admittedly for one week but already saw near the very beginning that this vehicle is due for some sort of service my question is why did I have to waste three hours of my time on two trips to Manchester airport, plus time on the phone and time at the Halfords Service center when the vehicle should’ve been changed already at the first trip to Manchester airport. 2. Why is the customer sent on a wild goose chase to deal with Hertz service issues.

Has anyone had a similar experience & what compensation did you get?

If it is just an alert saying that a service is due, I wuld do nothing and then let a location deal with it after it is returned - as such I wouldn't expect anything

in my experiences with dealing with such mechanical issues, ive never had to go and bring the car to get serviced myself. they always offered to swap out the car. imo, you should have exchanged it right in the get-go, and hertz doesn't owe you anything.

Happens to so many vehicles weekly you wont get offered anything. You made a bigger deal out of it then needed. Just keep driving it.. 500 miles is nothing.

Yeah. I know people who drove thousands of miles after oil service light and that's their own vehicles. ;) No big deal at all. It is just a reminder that you, or Hertz, should service it in the next few weeks/months.

I agree that there is no compensation due, but not for that reason. Those clauses in any consumer contract anywhere in the United Kingdom or the EU would be void. Had the car been faulty, the renter would have been entitled to recover reasonable and direct losses (i.e., if the renter had been given an Astra instead, that would have been reduced value. A like-for-like replacement would not represent any reduction in value and the time and inconvenience of fixing it, if reasonable, would not represent a loss, just an inconvenience of life).

However, in this case, the issues appear to have been confined to a warning light that the car would require maintenance after the rental was over. They did actually exchange the vehicle and the advice given to go to Halfords was really not very helpful (do Hertz want to retail a used BMW with Halfords service history?) but the fundamental issue is, as has been said above, that the renter brought the problems on himself.

Compensation for broken down car
 

Rented a full size at TUS a few days ago. Brand new. Only had 100 miles on it. Today I've had major problems -- failure to start for 20 mins. Engine light. Electronics and ac fan power oscillating while driving. Failures to start again. Engine noises while driving.

There's no hertz near by so I have to drive two hours back to TUS to get an exchange and another two hours back. I need a reliable car so fine. But killing four to five hours out of my day and the work time lost because of it is a huge inconvenience. I'm out in the desert right now.

I'm Five Star right on the edge of Presidents Circle if it matters.

What would be reasonable to expect hertz to offer or do in a situation like this as compensation for the problems? I've had mechanical issues before but not this bad and not this far away from a rental place.

In my experience, they give an upgrade for the type of car (not just Hertz, this has happened to me a handful of times) . . .

As per the rental terms and conditions, they owe you nothing, because they don’t warrant the fitness or merchantability of the vehicle for any purpose or use.

But more often than not, they comp a portion of the rental - just ask.

I doubt this clause can be upheld. At the minimum, why would a renter rents a broken vehicle?

I partially agree. I would have to say the full rental should be comped, depending on the length of the rental.

I would be very concerned if the engine did not make a noise while driving!

-J.

IANAL but have never heard of a jurisdiction where a business serving consumers can disclaim an implied warranty of merchantibility

I can’t find a copy of Hertz terms but I have a National rental jacket from last month and it says in section 2, in capitals, that “Renter is renting a vehicle and any optional accessories as is, and has had an adequate opportunity to inspect the vehicle and any optional accessories and it’s operation before leaving the owner’s premises. Owner excludes all warranties, both express and implied, with respect to the vehicle and any optional accessories, including any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.”

And this makes total sense, for the fact that if something serious were to go wrong with the vehicle, causing a collision let’s say, the rental company would want nothing to do with the incident.