50psi rental car tires

[troymcclure]

Ok second time in a row this happened to me. First at Enterprise and now at Hertz. Rented a car and found all four tires filled to 50psi on the info screen. Door placard says 36. Went around the car and bled off the balance.

Anyone have an my insight as to why the rental companies are blasting their tires?

 

[Rand]

The help you get these days?

 

[bdcardinal]

If they are like new new, that is how they come off the delivery truck to keep tires from flat-spotting. Part of the Pre Delivery Inspection is to set pressures.

 

[troymcclure]

If they are like new new, that is how they come off the delivery truck to keep tires from flat-spotting. Part of the Pre Delivery Inspection is to set pressures.

Ah that’s gotta be it. Both times they were fresh cars. I was peeling clear film off the screens and surfaces. I think they skipped a bunch of PDI.

 

[bdcardinal]

Ah that’s gotta be it. Both times they were fresh cars. I was peeling clear film off the screens and surfaces. I think they skipped a bunch of PDI.

A lot of the fleet vehicles skip a dealer and are supposed to be done at a place that handles fleets. Sometimes they tend to turn and burn instead of do their jobs.

 

[KevinMalone]

Ah that’s gotta be it. Both times they were fresh cars. I was peeling clear film off the screens and surfaces. I think they skipped a bunch of PDI.

Hard to find a dealer that even completes the PDI they charge you for. A relative's new Toyota had 50 PSI (instead of 35/33) and when brought up, the salesman said it was for better fuel economy...

 

[BobsArmory]

My daughters Chevy Trax came with 50 PSI when she brought it home from the dealership.

 

[notharry]

Make sense. The EPA milage standard doesnt say you have to meet the standard with the correct pressure. Pump it up to the max. gain 2 mpg. LOL no im sure someone isnt doing thier job. Anyone surprised? I go a bit over when I travel a long distance not that far up though. I bet the tire manufacturers would frown on that. Its a good way to tear a belt in the tire sidewall.

 

[slo town]

I have an even worse story. When we bought our brand new 2016 VW Passat VR6, the next morning I checked the tires for overnight cold pressures - and all four were at 20 psi. Warning didn't show because someone reset the TPMS with the tires at 20 psi. When you reset this TPMS it assumes you have the proper inflation pressures and uses that as its tire pressure baseline.

Scott

 

[thescreensavers]

50psi also means they don't have to worry about topping that tire off for a while as well. I think that's the main reason they go to sidewall.

 

[Marcozi]

Whenever my wife and I rent a car I perform a full inspection which I video using my phone. I'm going to bring a tire gauge the next time we rent a car.

 

[bdcardinal]

Ah that’s gotta be it. Both times they were fresh cars. I was peeling clear film off the screens and surfaces. I think they skipped a bunch of PDI.

Unrelated: I love your username, RIP Phil

 

[eljefino]

Another new car buyer with too much air... my Prius Prime was at exactly 47 PSI on all four corners. Some PDI!

 

[Bighorn2500]

Last enterprise rental I had the tires were low, all at 28 psi to a 36 door placard. The wipers sucked as well, were probably factory blades with 40k on them.

 

[troymcclure]

After I realized they skipped out on the PDI I started to find other things. There was M77 assembly paste smeared on the side skirt and the windshield and sunroof had large suction cup markings probably from the factory. Random nut on n the floor. Guessing the rental companies found it cheaper to skip entire parts of the checklist then.

 

[D1dad]

I spend around 5 months of my year in hertz rentals. I’ve had some pretty nice cars since I get presidents circle, and I’ve also had some real turd boxes. I grabbed a rogue platinum with under 5k in Newark last December. I didn’t pay attention to the tires until I got about a mile out of the garage and it sounded like a howling wheel bearing. It had snow tires on it. The plates were from South Carolina so made no sense. Now I look at tires first. I have had some cars with crazy high tire pressure which is easier to fix than the windshields that look like they were cleaned with shaving cream and a bear hand.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I have an even worse story. When we bought our brand new 2016 VW Passat VR6, the next morning I checked the tires for overnight cold pressures - and all four were at 20 psi. Warning didn't show because someone reset the TPMS with the tires at 20 psi. When you reset this TPMS it assumes you have the proper inflation pressures and uses that as its tire pressure baseline.

Scott

Our 2019 Sentra was like that. Picked the car up and the TPMS light was on. Between 18 and 20 in all 4

 

[crashz]

Ever since I had a rental that smelled like pot that couldn't be returned, I stopped caring about the rental companies property. I do my part by keeping them clean, filled-up upon return, and damage free. But they can maintain them. Also learned to inspect them before taking them. I had clients to transport in the weed-mobile, so needless to say I was embarrassed.

But a PDI issue I had was when I took delivery on my 2012 Silverado. I found during the first service that all the fluids were low. Apparently Chevy dealers are supposed to fill the differentials, transfer case, and power steering beyond the minimum level from the factory.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Tires on a new Subaru Outback sport she bought decades ago were filled to 50psig all around. But they were White Letter BFG radial T/A.
Max pressure 35psi (sidewall). IMO Garbage tires for this application.

Two of the tires had the sidewall splitting open all around. I could see the white rubber under the black.
I notice this doing my PDI (post delivery) before we drove off. The dealer would do nothing. He said tires are warrantied separately and we have to bring it to a BF Goodrich dealer. I said it is the Subaru Port fault - they caused the damage! No budge. Luckily the BFG tire shop took care of it, begrudgingly.

The Outback Sport - before they called the later models Crosstrek

 

[nthach]

Hard to find a dealer that even completes the PDI they charge you for. A relative's new Toyota had 50 PSI (instead of 35/33) and when brought up, the salesman said it was for better fuel economy...

Isn’t the dealer getting paid by the OEM to do the PDI? It’s not much but still and if not done, it’s grounds for denied warranty claims.