cloudybw

I was in JFK last weekend and there is a Volvo XC90 parked in the Alamo aisle next to the National booth. The manager wants to charge $35 upgrade fee even for EE.

There is, however, a Volvo S90 parked in the ES, along with BMW 330i, Cadillac XTS and others.

xienon

Huh? The 2 front panels are like 3 feet x 3 feet each, they fit in the rear cargo area or on the rear seats easily.

Brandinho1

That tells you right there I’m not a wrangler guy

Qwkynuf

This is true - but be aware that on the 2 door version they have to stand on end back there. They block the rear view, and bang against the seat back and the window every time you change brake or accelerate.

s0ssos

GLE, new Explorer, Passat, QX80, Camry SE which I got

wal5036

Picked up last Friday at about 10AM - almost no cars, but the selection was really good. From what I remember, the only car actually parked in the ES/EA was a Cadillac XT5. Then, in one of the further out rows, there were a bunch of full-size/premium SUVs (Tahoes, Suburbans, Expeditions). AND finally, there was a row that had three cars - a Mercedes GLC, an Audi A5 Sportback, and a BMW X3. Took the Audi, and played the "I'm executive elite" card when leaving, and they let me take it.

Pathfinder813

Been renting a few times from JFK over the past two months on either Friday or Saturday. There are almost always a very limited number of cars in ES and no cars in EA for the most part because of all the city residents renting cars for the weekend. They also have a bunch of the compact SUVs (Rogues, RAV4s, etc), large SUVs (Nissan Armada, Infiniti QX80, Chevy Suburban, BMW X7), minivans (Dodge Caravans usually) parked outside of ES/EA and I've seen people lining up at the counter for National/Emerald/Alamo get in those cars.

Typically on ES, I've seen the following (and there are usually 6 or less cars; when there are almost 0 cars, then sometimes you can get lucky with nicer cars):

Nissan Rogues
Nissan Altima
Toyota Camry
Toyota RAV4 (newest models, not familiar with how well equipped)
Dodge Durango GT
Hyundai Tuscon (near base model)
Hyundai Santa Fe (near base model)
Jeep Cherokee (near base model; one Cherokee had less than 500 miles)
Jeep Grand Cherokee (usually the Trailhawk version; haven't seen the Limited in a while.
Chevrolet Traverse
GMC Acadia
Nissan Pathfinder (once saw the Platinum trim)
Ford Mustang convertible (there was only 1 other car in ES)
Range Rover Velar (saw someone take this with no other cars in ES)
2020 BMW 3-Series
Mercedes C300
Mercedes GLB
Mercedes GLA

Premier (typically there are only 1-3 cars every time I've been in the past two months but it's never been empty):
Cadillac Escalade
Range Rover Velar
Range Rover Sport
Mercedes GLE (newest model)
Mercedes GLS (not the newest model)
Mercedes E-Class
Mercedes S-Class
BMW 530 xDrive
BMW 740 xDrive
BMW X3
BMW X7
Jaguar F-Pace SUV
Maserati Ghibli
Maserati Levante

Hotshot

Was at JFK yesterday because I had a check engine light on, agent told me only thing available is one minivan and I didn't want to take it. Otherwise the lot was a ghost town, some large suv's and some bmw's parked in the corner, I guess they were reserved, and at LGA they had nothing.
Has anyone had a experience with the check engine light?

kxc262

Yes - I had an X3 last year and CEL went on (thinking turbo overheated) - car went into limp mode and would not push past 60 mph. Went to ORD and swapped into anything on the aisle.

Hotshot

I guess NYC airports are basically out of stock, tried to swap at EWR and got the same "the only thing is a minivan", even though there were 2 Maximas and some other stuff in the aisle. I did my part of letting them know that the vehicle might have an issue but nobody seems to care. I just hope that when I return it they won't pin anything on me.

Pathfinder813

I had the same issue a few months ago after COVID-19 started in NYC. Had a car (I think it was a Lincoln) rattling noise, called corp and they said I could go to LGA to swap it out. LGA had nothing to give me other than a pickup truck despite some cars and SUVs being around. Ended up taking the car I brought them back.

Also, most people in NYC are renting from the city locations and because air traffic is down, most of the airport fleets are with the city locations. People in NYC tend to rent Thursday/Friday and return on Sunday/Monday to go to summer homes for the weekend. If you need to swap out cars, you're probably better off calling one of the city locations on a Wednesday. The airports are wiped out. The fleet in NYC was already significantly depleted when people fled the city in March/April and never brought the cars back because they either one-wayed the cars or have extended the rentals into monthly rentals.

Hotshot

Thanks for the info! the reason i didn't go to local branches is because I had a aisle reservation, so if i wanted to swap at a local branch then i basically over paid since aisle locations are generally more expensive then the small locations, so i paid to be able to choose anything from the lot only to be at the mercy of a local branch manager if i need to swap?!
In any case i'd like to get an opinion on a experience i had at LGA, the car i originally chose off the aisle was a brand new loaded charger and am pretty happy with it, once the check engine light came on i went to LGA (but parked the car outside the national lot) to see if i can swap for something better, the agent told me they were empty and then proceeded to call her manager and he told her that they have to check the vehicle if something is truly wrong, so i asked her do you have anything or no to which she answered we first have to check if there is something wrong and did not want to tell me what my options would be if there is something wrong, so me not wanting to take the chance that they would take in the car and say ya this car needs service and here is your new jeep compass, i simply just drove off, so the question is once i'm in the lot (the one's that have toll booths) do they have the authority to tell me that i can't continue using the vehicle and just give me whatever they want?

Pathfinder813

I don't think so. You already have a reservation and they'd have to change it out so I think you'd have to consent to the change. Also, if something's wrong, you'd want the proof that they checked it and still made you take the car you had because then if you break down in the middle of nowhere, you have proof that you tried to swap it out.

In NYC, the local branches are much different from most other cities. Local branch rentals are much more expensive than the airport locations because no one wants to make an hour long trek to the airport. NYC local branches are all corporate branches. My experience has been much better with the local branches than the area airports. I'd say in terms of service, local branches in NYC are the top, then JFK, EWR, and LGA in that order. LGA has the most inconsistent service. With the local branches, they don't have much of a supply on the weekends (Thursday through Saturday) and an oversupply on non-weekends so if you have status and your car is actually broken, they'll most likely put you in something comparable or at least a full size. Given the logistics of the parking garages with the local branches, you usually have to go with what's most convenient to pull out but I have never had to rent anything under a full size unless I specifically requested something smaller.

peepzlolo

Just passed by early this morning. At 1230am to be exact. My route home from work takes me near the airport so I figured I'll pass by and see what's available since I have a reservation next weekend and EA/EE aisles were a ghost town. Only saw 4 cars,

Ford F-150
Dodge Caravan
Dodge Journey
BMW X5

On the other side there were a bunch of cars. I have a premium SUV reservation and only saw a QX80 on the lot. Guess I'll get a better glimpse when I pick up my car

mangoMan

Just made a reservation at JFK, but the latest the website would let me book a pick-up time was 11 pm. After that it was closed until morning. Is this a COVID thing? As far as I know, JFK used to be 24 hours. Our flight lands at midnight so this may be a real issue.