Mikey

I recently had a tire leaking during a rental. I called National and they said to take it to Firestone and they will direct bill National. They did not want to send a tow truck. I took the car in and the repair and direct bill went fine.

My question is this - why did National not send a tow truck and save me the effort and time? There was not a close Firestone, so it took 3 hours out of my vacation to get this fixed.

Is this their normal policy? Is it proper to ask compensation for lost time, or am I whining too much?

drzoidberg

I believe tire issues are usually the responsibility of the renter; even my amex premium rental insurance doesn't cover tire damage.

Mikey

I had the full CDW - so maybe this is part of that. In any case, National paid for it via direct bill. Unless I get backcharged later, but I kind of doubt I will be.

drzoidberg

Ah, well, then I will defer the issue of CDW to someone else.

jackal

CDW pays for the damage. It does not pay for the hassle of dealing with damage. If you get in an accident 300 miles from town, CDW does not pay for an emergency helicopter airlift back to civilization so you can get on with your life. Nope; you're riding in the cab of the tow truck or waiting 12 hours for a car to be towed back to you. No compensation for that; you're lucky to even get that much.

Actually, CDW coverage usually excludes towing entirely. So if you get in an accident 300 miles from town and the car has to be towed 300 miles, you (or your insurance company) will still probably get a $1000 bill for the 300-mile tow. Yes, it's happened--I've seen it.

National is not going to spend $200 on a tow dispatch to fix a $15 tire leak. At least you were able to take it to the nearest Firestone and they didn't make you take it all the way back to a National office for a car swap.

xuni4everx

same thing happened to me about a month ago, i called national but they said since i didn't get their "Roadside Plus ($4.99/Day) " i have to take it to the nearest firestone. I had the full cdw too but they said cdw doesn't cover roadside service. I just used my AAA instead of looking for firestone.
I took it back to the national and changed to different car.

elCheapoDeluxe

What would a tow truck do? Tow it to firestone?

Mikey

OK - it sounds like I am whining too much (and I don't expect a helicopter ride!) I have never had a problem like this during a rental and did not know what National normally does in this situation. Sounds like they did what they the CDW said what they would do, and that is all I can reasonably expect.

jackal

Exactly. Roadside Assistance is the additional-cost option that you pay for to minimize (although due to logistical challenges, not completely eliminate--no helicopter rides! ) hassle. CDW and Roadside Assistance are different products and complement each other.

InkUnderNails

I had a flat a mile from the airport on the way to return. I do not buy road service or CDW, I called and asked them what I should do and they just said change the tire and bring it in. I'm glad I always plan to get to the airport early.

I turn the vehicle in and they fill out a damage report. They asked me if there was anything else wrong with the car and I said it needs a new rear wiper blade. I get a notice in about two weeks that they would be charging my CC $91 for a new tire and $14 for the new wiper blade. I called customer service and had a long discussion. Bottom line they said for safety reasons they do not repair flats and that it is considered damage to the vehicle. The $91 was mine to cover. I asked about taking it to a tire shop for a repair and was told that I am not authorized to do that and that they could close my account and charge me for a new tire anyway if they knew.

After a few minutes more, the charge for the wiper blade was removed.

I rent about 40 times year and this is the only damage charge ever, so I am still way ahead. I carry a rider on my commercial insurance for major damage to rental cars. It is a super cheap $50 per year. I have AAA which covers road service, but they can be slow and I had to get to the airport.

One lesson learned. When they ask me if I had any problems with the car I car I say "Not a thing. It was perfect."

jackal

I can't believe they would charge you for a windshield wiper. Even the greediest value-brand franchise that I know wouldn't have charged you for a windshield wiper. I mean, what could YOU do that would cause the windshield wiper to ruin the wiper blade? Take a pair of scissors to it? (at National, not at you, just to be clear).

The tire thing I can understand, because I've seen the same argument used for windshield damage (very common here in Alaska due to gravel on the roads for traction). A rock chip--even a repaired one, especially in the driver's view--can present a risk of liability for the rental company.

In addition, on leased cars, the rental companies are required to return the windshield in perfect condition. So if you get a rock chip and the rental agency charges you $45 to repair it and the car is returned with a repaired rock chip, the leasing agency will charge the rental agency anywhere from $250 to $650 for a new windshield (depending on the model of the car), and the rental agency is out $250-$650. The only way to ensure they break even on windshields is to charge you full price to replace the windshield and then replace it. Sure, it might get broken, charged, and replaced two more times before the lease ends, but charging and replacing a full windshield every time is the only way to ensure they don't lose money on windshields.

Interestingly, the same agency I know that does this also does only charge for a tire repair if the tire is repairable. Funny how different agencies can have such different policies...

pinniped

Interesting. The advice we get from our corporate travel agent is to never modify or try to fix a rental car. Always call for their repair service, no matter what the issue is - even if you think you can do it yourself. I had a flat tire one time and a blown fuse in the windshield wiper one time. (Both happened to be Hertz.) Both times I called the toll-free number on the rental agreement. A tow truck was sent to fix the flat - middle of nowhere Missouri - and the RAC (similar to AAA/CAA) was sent to fix the windshield fuse, which was thankfully at one of those really nice service areas on the British motorways.

No charge for either one... Unless I was offroading or otherwise driving dangerously, I'd be a little peeved about getting charged for a flat tire.

elCheapoDeluxe

Interesting. I had no idea tow trucks were equipped to remove a tire, install a patch, and remount a tire (possibly needing re balancing afterward). That's what it takes to properly patch a tire. Or do they just use one of those "plug it from the outside" things that the tire shops all say never to use?

pinniped

My experience was that they simply put the spare on and tossed the flat one in the trunk.. The next morning I car-swapped at a nearby rental location.

It was a late 90's Ford, and I owned a very similar Ford at the time. I could've changed the tire myself but I was concerned at the time that doing so would violate my contract. The "don't try to fix rental cars" was posted on the same page on our company's internal network as "don't book hidden city, back-to-back, etc." I figured it was a no-no.

trainman74

Hmm...here in California, I got a rock chip in the windshield of a National car in 2010, and didn't get charged. (Wasn't quite in the driver's view, though -- closer to the middle.)

In fact, when I pointed out the chip to the return agent at BUR, he seemed very concerned about whether I was returning because my contract was up or swapping due to the chip -- and not concerned at all about the chip itself.

On another occasion, I was given a discount by a return agent at ORD when I pointed out a couple minor problems with a car (broken remote, and a missing valve stem on a tire -- only noticed the latter due to a low-pressure warning).