Most recently, National came in at $110 because they don't work with AutoSlash anymore. Silvercar came in at $180.

I received an email from Silvercar "[i]ntroducing rental at the dealership. Our newest Silvercar location is just down the road from you at Audi Dallas."

I wonder if this is a one-off or will rental at the dealership be expanded to other Audi dealers.

Good Thread
 

What an interesting range of comments.
My Silvercar experiences: A4 in AUS, Q5 in SEA. Really enjoyed just about everything with the company and their rental sites. AUS picked us up in the car we'd drive and dropped us off in same, then drove back to the lot. The Q5 in SEA was as others mentioned, off site via shuttle.
As @ABG mentioned, our Q5 also had wonky WiFi. Not sure what happened to us, but it was a minor annoyance. As we're planning a short visit to family in DEN, we're renting a Q7, and I confirmed if there are issues with WiFi again, they should be able to rectify over the phone, etc.
To echo @Betterproffit, @levilevi and @acarney: Knowing what you'll get when you rent, knowing the price you'll fly away after dropping off, not dealing with upsells, overcharges, "or equivalent" downgrades...STELLAR!!!! I have no status with anyone, but renting a nice Audi from Silvercar (higher quality interior materials, XM tunes, decent SatNav, fewer post rental added fees) feels better than some possibly newer but not nicer GM or Ford or Nissan product elsewhere. Couple all that with the myriad hassles that come with not having President's Octagon or Unobtanium status that I'll never achieve anyways, I'm entirely satisfied with the Silvercar experience. As noted earlier, if only they were at every airport I fly into, I'd be renting from them as often as I possibly could.
And now, with crushed travel demand, lots of discounts applied to my upcoming rental. We can't wait!

Is SilverCar still renting the 2018 model A4's, or have they finally gotten some newer vehicles?

Just out of curiosity ---

I've only rented a car once in my life before personally (got a Titanium Ford Edge/ Escape from National ES).
I still have the Executive status ...

I'm planning a one-way road-trip from Denver to Chicago. Just me, just 2-3 days.
Price being very similar, should I take my chances on the Exec Aisle at National in Denver ..... or try renting an Audi A4 from Silvercar?

Something that's sorta fun to drive a long stretch but also has good highway MPG would be ideal.
Not sure if I should gamble with the Exec Aisle --- don't really want an SUV unless it has great MPG. But ... also not sure what I should be looking for. Not a car guy.

How does Silvercar compare to National Exce?

Silvercar probably has nicer cars and better customer service. However, one-ways are usually by special arrangement. Breakdowns in rural areas between cities that don't have a Silvercar station to exchange the car can be a problem.

National in contrast does one-ways routinely, is present in most cities, and worst case scenario could do an exchange with a local Enterprise affiliate.

I just got a newer A4 in Seattle. Fully loaded with options, including the B&O soundsystem, which is nice. I actually prefer the looks of the prior model. Don't like the beltline crease at all.

We just returned from a weeklong trip to visit family in DEN. Rented a 2019 Q7, put almost 1100 miles on it (started at 5700 miles, and there were virtually no signs of wear anywhere). Looked great, plenty of room, powerful, quiet, and all the other creature comforts and features we prefer. Silvercar gave a great rate for the week, very similar in price to Hertz for a VW Atlas or equivalent. We were once again, extremely happy with our Silvercar arrangement...now if only they had 300 locations across the US, and more globally, as opposed to the very limited 30 here in the US. At least they are where we've been...more than once! :)

Just picked up in San Diego. All 2018 models with between 30,000 and 50,000 miles. Everything they had on the lot looked really rough as far as cosmetic damage. I got the cleanest looking A4 (9/2017 manufacture date) on the lot and will possibly be swapping it tomorrow since a few of the controls aren’t working properly.

Confirmed. Some airport locations are closing.

Introducing local rental, made easy.

I can confirm as well. San Diego location closing October 9 which explains the condition of the cars they had last week. Customer service was still top-notch, though.

Looks like CLT, MCO, TPA, and SNA are also on the near-term chopping block. According to a couple of press releases I saw, they're shifting towards Audi dealerships with small fleets of 10-15 cars per store. Hoping to have 20 or so dealerships online by the end of the year.

I wonder what the strategy is.

I guess they're cutting costs by leveraging their existing dealer network for rental locations? But that would seem to defeat the purpose of their original reason for buying Silvercar, which my understanding was to expose more potential buyers to Audi's. Locating their rentals at dealerships will end up just serving as loaners for existing Audi owners, I would think.

From the sounds of things, they're shifting away from fly-in travelers and more towards local renters. If you want to expose people to Audi, getting them on an Audi lot is certainly one way to do it. Toyota has had a similar program for years, although they don't advertise it much.

Based on the article I saw in ARN, they'll still have a SilverCar Concierge on site and the cars will be owned by SilverCar, not the dealership and only used as loaners if the dealership ran out. If the dealership wanted to use them as loaners, they'd have to rent them from SilverCar.

Just booked a Q7 in late October from DIA. First rental with Silvercar as I typically rent from National (Executive Elite) but after reading about the fleet reduction and lack of variety of cars on the aisles decided to give them a try.

Thankfully, I just purchased a new Audi and was able to apply one of my free rental days which was fantastic!

Does anyone know if they are renting the 2020+ Q7 (facelift) or the 2019 body style? Considering replacing the GF's Q5 with a Q7/Q8 and wanted to get a feel for the vehicle during our rental.