rfrost

My apologies if this has previously been posted (I did a search but didn't find anything).
The W 77th St location is closing at the end of September (another West Side car rental facility bites the dust). Will this leave TWO National locations in Manhattan now?

Auto Enthusiast

Probably, until they close W 40th St. Seriously, National has relatively few neighborhood stores anywhere relative to the competition. But in Manhattan, where people are unable or unwilling to travel far to rent, this could translate into a more sizable drop in business.

In other news, I think some Enterprise neighborhood stores in prime areas of Manhattan are also closing. Ex, 56 Fulton St in the Financial District.

rfrost

W 40th will be a lot less convenient for me, and in any case I really do not enjoy driving in midtown on weekdays and I suspect Sunday night traffic over there is probably fairly bad. Though it's a long haul (I think 12 rentals) before beginning to earn anything of much worth with them, convenience may win out and I may move many of my rentals to Avis.

Auto Enthusiast

Perhaps National thinks there is some redundancy with Enterprise Manhattan stores. To a certain extent there is, now that you can earn rental credits through them. However, Enterprise is a different customer experience, which appeals to a different customer segment.

Enterprise in Manhattan also does not offer the degree of one-way flexibility that National does. If you try to book an intercity one-way with Enterprise in Manhattan, a red message appears, saying "no route available" or "one-way not supported."

powerup25

Hertz is also downsizing in Manhattan, I guess people don't pay anymore the $100+ daily rates??

AMflier

I suspect that as property leases are coming due the rental companies either don't want to pay new, significantly higher rents or their landlords don't offer to renew.

Auto Enthusiast

Then why isn't Avis/Budget downsizing in Manhattan?

IsleOfMan

Is Enterprise really that different of an experience at a non-aisle location? Also, wouldn't the "We'll pick you up" feature of Enterprise be fairly beneficial and level out the less desirable locations to a certain degree?

I'm not a Manhattan-er but I've visited enough (and driven once, never again) to know that driving on the island should be avoided at all costs

Auto Enthusiast

Also, wouldn't the "We'll pick you up" feature of Enterprise be fairly beneficial and level out the less desirable locations to a certain degree?

They almost certainly won't pick up customers who live in Manhattan.

I'm not a Manhattan-er but I've visited enough (and driven once, never again) to know that driving on the island should be avoided at all costs

Obviously a lot of people, myself included, disagree. Sometimes a long, circuitous, expensive mass transit ride outside the city isn't worth it. For instance, consider that by the time someone who lives in Manhattan takes the train out to the suburbs to pick up a rental car, returns to pick up their family, and exits Manhattan again, half the day's gone by. Or they could incur a significant expense of putting everyone on the train to and from the suburbs to pick up and return the car, in addition to wasting half the day on both ends. Clearly, many local city people would rather walk a few blocks and pay that $139/day or whatever for the convenience of avoiding those first two options.

IsleOfMan

I was referring more to driving INTO midtown on a regular basis (or ever) or keeping a car in the city (less and less likely based on the $1 million parking spots). As you've said, renting in midtown to drive out makes much more sense depending on the rate and length of rental.

Auto Enthusiast

I was referring more to driving INTO midtown on a regular basis (or ever)

Easy, similar problem, but in reverse. Let's say I want to go to Manhattan for a few hours. Mass transit in some cases could easily double that. Depending on the time of day, and the parking garage discounts I find, it might be more efficient to drive. The problem is not necessarily the cost of parking and tolls, but the variability in the traffic, and the high liability risk of accidents.

IsleOfMan

I'm sure if you live in/around NYC it can be do-able based on knowledge of the traffic patterns, time of day, discounts, etc as you've mentioned. As someone who visits NYC once or twice a year, never again will I drive myself into Manhattan if I can keep from it, even if it does double the travel time.

B407

Maybe they'll still service National rentals through Enterprise and Alamo?

BugsyPal

Hello,

Newbie member here but NYC resident who rented with National for years so can give some of the backstory.

West 77th Street, West 12th Street, and East 50th properties that held National/Alamo garages have all been sold to developers and are going to be torn down replaced by luxury housing. Indeed so "hot" is the NYC real estate market in particular Manhattan that garages and petrol stations are becoming nearly extinct. The land under such places is simply worth so much that owners are taking the tens of millions and running. These properties are very attractive to developers because as commercial spaces they do not have to bother with getting out existing residential tenants.

The West 12th Street garage was a huge piece of property stretching around to University Place. http://evgrieve.com/2014/02/building...anes-will.html

According to National's website the only two Manhattan locations remaining are Astor Place/Broadway and West 40th Street.

When the lease came up for renewal at East 80th two years or so now Enterprise (National's parent company) didn't want to pay what the garage owner wanted so they elected to move out. Plans were another UES location was to open at East 77th Street garage near Lexington Avenue one block down from Lenox Hill Hospital. It never happened.

Meanwhile back at the ranch National/Alamo customers that had used the East 80th Street location made other plans during the year or so that location was closed. When Enterprise decided to come to terms with the LL and move back into the garage the damage was done. That is business never really picked up. Mind you this particular location was "odd" in that it did business mostly from Thursday through Sunday nights (weekends, especially during summer months), and of course major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4 July, etc...). During the week aside from the few business/corporate renters and local area residents the place was not often very busy.

Enterprise Car Rental had a location at East 85th Street (across from the USPS office) and that garage building was sold as well. Since the National/Alamo location on East 80th was not doing so well since it reopened it was closed and Enterprise rentals took over the lease in it's place. Enterprise moved their car share program to a garage further down on East 80th Street to a garage near York Avenue.

To the best of my knowledge Enterprise at East 80th does not honor National or Alamo reservations. Do remember when National was at the location and very short on vehicles Enterprise would send some from East 85th but again that is long gone.

National/Alamo opened a location at Broadway and Astor Place to replace the West 12th Street location. However far as one knows nothing yet on the Upper East or West Side to replace those locations.

Personally we joined Hertz on Demand (car sharing) and Hertz normal rental as they are both in our area. National had better rates and is somewhat easier to deal with than Hertz for rentals (you can return vehicles anytime with National, just take it to the garage....), but Hertz requires returning during regular business hours. Just am not always into finding overnight parking and then getting up the next day to take the car back.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/national-car-rental-new-york-12

rfrost

Apparently, as of the end of October, the West 40 St location will move 4 blocks uptown and one block west.