Mike Rivers

I think it's at the Thrifty at LAX (or maybe all Thrifty lots) where the policy is that if you've driven the car less than 50 miles, you have to show them a receipt for a gallone or two of gas. I guess they figure that if you've driven at least 50 miles, the gas gauge is visibly lower than when you picked up the car and it's you should know to fill it up or be charged for not filling it up.

pmiranda

What bugs me: the gas stations near the airport never seem to have paper in the receipt printer at the pump.
I will admit to renting a compact car at SJC, driving it less than 12 miles, and returning it without filling up because I was running late and the needle was still above F. I owe the universe a quart of gas.
I've also returned a rental there once with less than F because I couldn't find the unlabeled black fuel door release inside the black center storage bin of an unfamiliar car at night. But I was completely up-front about it and the rental company let it slide. I can only hope they filled it before renting it since it was obvious.
I know when IND opened at the new location the closest gas station I found open was several miles away, so even filling it above F somebody probably had to put in a few extra ounces of fuel at some point.

jackal

On your personal rentals--it's your money and your time...but if gas is $2.25 out in the city, it might be $2.50 at the airport. Even if it's $3 at the airport, it's still a far cry from the $10/gal the rental agencies charge, so you're tossing quite a large sum of money away (completely needlessly). On your business rentals--if you honestly don't care about that because it's a business rental and you don't have any remorse making your company unnecessarily pay $10/gal, well, then I'll just say I hope I haven't had the opportunity to buy products from such a wasteful company that allows its employees to be so careless with their expenses.

I rent 40-50 cars a year and have literally never once had an issue finding a gas station to fill up at before return, even when I'm cutting it to the wire and returning the car 45 minutes before the flight's departure.

Avis and Budget have that policy, too, and the cut-off with them is 75 miles. I believe Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty have some form of that policy but it is not at all enforced, IME--but then again, and especially when I'm renting at LAX, I'm usually driving 200 or 500 or 1,000 miles, not 30, so that policy doesn't come up for me that often.

c1ue

I rented a mid-size SUV a few weeks ago. When I got to the airport, it turned out to be a gigantic monster SUV.
The gauge clearly was under the F - and I noted this when I checked out the car. A notation was duly made by the Hertz rep.
When returning the car, I filled it all the way up. Click and click again.
And guess what? The gauge was in the same (not F) position.
I don't know if this is an SUV thing, but the tank isn't necessarily not full...
Check the gauge - take a pic with your cell phone if it looks low at checkout or soon after. Never had a problem if I noted before returning that the starting point was low.

Loren Pechtel

I've had a variation on this once. U-haul, local rental. Needle on the F when I left the lot, I fill up before returning it and it takes a lot more fuel than I would have thought. Gauge: Way, way past the F. Took some arguing, they ended up knocking some off the bill. Something had to be wrong with the gauge. (It did work, I think the needle wasn't properly aligned with the markings. It's hard to picture it being a profitable scam to siphon fuel out down to the F.)

lskohn

I've complained to Avis when the gas level either was slightly below "F" or declined precipitously within a mile or two of pickup - and generally Avis has given me a $3-5 credit, either on the spot when I'm returning the car or as an adjustment to the charge. As for finding a gas station to fill up before returning the car - I always ask someone from the rental agency what's closest, cheapest, and safest along my route back to the airport. The staff usually know.

ginmqi

Interesting. Shoulnd't do that I would think, Maybe something with that specific vehicle.

Good to know. I think again this shows the importance of stopping at the closest gas station to make sure car is filled up and if there is a few gallons short of "F."

Good tip on asking the local person for gas station advice, very well noted.

jackal

Good advice. In addition to the fill-up-after-leaving-lot thing I do that I mentioned above (only if the needle is not clearly over the F, so maybe 1 out of every 10 rentals), I also do take a photo of the gauge and odometer before leaving the lot, just in case.

I picked up a Nissan from Hertz at YYZ that was clearly 7/8 full. When I stopped at the Gold booth to let them know, and the guy said it's a known issue and yes, it's actually full. (I took a picture, of course.) Just to be sure, I also stopped at a nearby gas station about 5km after leaving the lot and it was all I could do to squeeze 4L into the car (10 clicks of the nozzle), and the gas gauge moved up just barely to just below the F mark. I returned the car downtown the next day full (with the gauge showing 7/8) after hours, and sure enough, when they opened the next day, they charged me a $25 refueling fee, despite me writing a note on the envelope that the gauge is wrong and the car is actually full. Fortunately, the Hertz PC phone line was happy to fix it without me even having to send anything to them, but it was good to have the documentation in the form of the photo from when I picked up just in case.

Texas Booster

Slight variation to the above:

I often rent from National for three weeks at a time, and my trips take me all over TOLA, the Midwest and in the Spring, one way from Florida. So 200 - 250 rental days each year, with over 50,000 miles annually driven in SUV and minivans.

I have found on three occasions that the mileage started off really, really bad, but went back to normal after I filled up.

I am convinced that someone used E85 to save a buck or two. I will use 89 or 93, depending on cost, and I find that I can make up most of the difference in higher mileage and/or longer distances per tank. E85 gives a lower distance per tank.

Modern cars can use E85 without damaging the engine, at a trade off to lower MPG.

So if you see the needle drop in the first 50 miles, it may be the fuel used, rather than just filling up to the first click.

At least in the Midwest, one can safely fuel up 10-20 miles from the airport and make it back with the gauge showing full.

jtkohl

Yeah, I once rented a vehicle that had an E85 logo on the rear. I only figured out it had been filled with E85 affter I filled it myself for the second tank with E0 (regular gasoline , and the MPG improved dramatically.

highstream

I've been asked for a gas receipt at LAX by some lower cost rental outfits a few times. If I had a car that was supposed to be full, but soon discovered it was clearly not I'd probably call the rental office or the toll-free number and report it, just to create a record if it became an issue later.

jackal

From what I've read, E85 kills your gas mileage by about 25%. Ergo, it only makes sense to use E85 if it's more than 25% off the regular fuel price. In all my travels, I've only ever twice seen it be >25% less than regular gas.

I've only ever done that to the next renter once, and I did feel mildly guilty about it. However, this was in an area where E85 was actually >25% less than the regular fuel price, so nothing was stopping the next renter from using E85 for his/her own fuel (and saving money in the process) and then doing the same thing at return, so it all could technically equal out in the end. I wouldn't do it in an area where it doesn't financially make sense, though (where E85 is only ~10% less than regular fuel, as it seems to be in most places).

FlightLizard

I have noticed the gas gauge issue numerous times. Cars like a Nissan Altima can drive almost 100 miles before the gas gauge moves off of Full.
I have had a number of cars that I picked up and had gas reading 3/4, 1/2 and even 1/4 of a tank. If this is at places where you can pick your car in your class area. I move on to another car and inform an employee.
If at other places, I have had cars not full and had employees fill them up at their company pump. Even when employees fill the tank they don't fill all the way.
If you get a car for a 2 day rental, drive to point B at 100 miles away. Then fill the car up at point B and it costs $12.00. You then drive the car the same 100 miles back to the airport. Fill it up at the gas station next to the rental lot and the fill up cost is $5.00. That is an issue. With all the rentals I have had, this aforementioned fill up issue is almost standard not an exception. At this point, I just shake my head and don't worry about it.
I have had more problems with employees upcharging fees after I checked out. 3 times, at different rental companies, I have had a "pre-paid full tank" added (along with the taxes) even though I filled the tank and only had the car for 2 days and drive it less than 140 miles.

docbert

Corporate rates sometimes have different rates for gas than the normal price. A previous company I worked for, there was generally no difference in price between filling the car yourself and having them do it, especially when compared to near-airport prices as you've said. My current company it's maybe 20% higher than the street price.

danbrew

Exactly.