Flat tire
 

Hi all

during a recent car rental with Sixt in Germany, the car I rented developed a flat tire when I was approaching Frankfurt on the highway. I was able to get to the hotel just fine but Audi had to come to pick up the car and take it away.

Sixt now wants to charge me for the replacement of the tire a significant amount (almost 400EUR)- is this standard practice? I find it difficult to believe that such is the customer's fault as there might have been something wrong with the tyre before I picked up the car, even if such was not apparent.

Many thanks for your help

Yes, renters are responsible for damage to tires just as they are for any other damage to the vehicle.

Thanks. I will try to find a legal loophole here as I do not believe this should be the customer's responsibility (absent fault) and I have not found anywhere on Sixt´s T&C Germany that such is the case. In fact I do not remember having been asked to purchase any additional insurance to cover against these risks either.

Ultimately, the car rental insurance provided by Amex Platinum might cover this but I would like to clarify first vis-a-vis Sixt who is legally obliged to cover these charges.

Sixt could care less whether you purchase insurance to cover your liability. That is up to you.

Do not delay in notifying Amex as it generally-speaking has tight notification deadlines and if that is your only coverage here and you let a notification deadline pass, you may well find yourself out EUR 400, when that would have been paid without question.

Perhaps your rental contract is different than others, but generally-speaking, damage is damage and you are responsible for what happens on your watch. This happened on your watch unless you can show otherwise and you likely cannot.

Having actually had to use Amex insurance on a rental in the UK, I cannot commend it higher. The process was simple to claim, and apart from slow communication (on the part of the rental company, not Amex) relatively painless to resolve. Make sure you have all the rental documentation from the car company though.

I will always use this service.

Hard to say who is at fault. Tire could have been leaking before pickup or a vandal puncture your tire while parked. Who knows?

What we do know is unless you inspect the vehicle and have Sixt amend damage report prior to leaving the lot, you become responsible for any damages not found in the damage report.

Having said that, I had a similar incident last year where tire pressure light came on every 24 hours during a 3 day rental even after I filled it with air. Turned out there was a concealed rim damage (damage on rim facing the axle-side). Sixt billed me for the damage but when I pointed out there was no way I could have spotted this damage prior to leaving the lot without jacking up the car and removing each tire, they dropped their claim.

In the US with Sixt you can buy the Roadside Assistance coverage for something like 6-7$ a day which does explicitly cover tire damage. Not bad if you are on a road trip and considering the very frequent crap (shredded truck tires anyone?) on US highways.

I got it for a rental from PHX to SFO for 10 days as part of an upgrade deal and low and behold one tire on my Volvo S80 got damaged badly (some fancy Platinum trim with special Pirelli tires) and saved me about 450$ in cost. Sixt just gave me another car and I was on my way again.

In Europe I wouldn't get this type of coverage even if offered as not so common, but in the US I would seriously consider it.

I don't think Roadside Assistance covers the replacement cost of a flat tire. Look at 5b on page 4. Flat Tire Service usually means someone will come out to change the flat with the spare if you don't want to get your hands dirty (or tow if no spare).

Interesting, you have a point there though that's not how staff at PHX described it to me. "Knock on wood" as I was not billed anything for the tire and it happened over 6 months ago.

Just to report back (apologies, just saw the further posts to this thread now), Amex Plat insurance gladly took over this bill and settled this with Sixt directly.

I'm in a similar situation, I rented an Audi A6 from Frankfurt and ran over something in Paris so I managed to drive it to CDG and drop it off. The Sixt personnel said that I did run over something.

It has been almost a month, I haven't heard from them, I am expecting to pay for the damage and I have already notified my MileagePlus Chase Visa.