Anyone ever change oil in rental car?
- Thread starter CapitalTruck
- Start date
I'm with you on that, better peace of mind is priceless. Otherwise I wouldn't; I had a rental Elantra for like 9k miles once and called up Enterprise to see if they wanted to do an oil change on it and they denied. Whatever, it's their car and I wasn't going on long trips so if it died they can tow it lol.
I would have done the same thing if they couldn't put me in another vehicle then and there. Yeah the company would come and get you but why disrupt a family vacation.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Was just too humble to mention that
Never changed on a rental, I did top off, didn't really worry about it. If light is on, maybe the 5 previous renters did the same thing and just reset it. Maybe not caught in the company database so may be way over OCI.
I topped off a U-Haul 15ft truck as I was hauling my sons stuff for 8 hours to VA and towing my Accord on a transporter. I also did Rain-X on the windows.
Father-in-law took his loaner Jeep back to dealer 2x for oil change and once for new registration sticker while he had it for 9 months.
I put my winter tires/rims on a rental Corolla as I was doing a winter road trip and the stock all season were pretty shot. It snowed heavy during that trip. Places by me don't do the winter tire thing. Also the Rain-x was done.
I topped off a U-Haul 15ft truck as I was hauling my sons stuff for 8 hours to VA and towing my Accord on a transporter. I also did Rain-X on the windows.
Father-in-law took his loaner Jeep back to dealer 2x for oil change and once for new registration sticker while he had it for 9 months.
I put my winter tires/rims on a rental Corolla as I was doing a winter road trip and the stock all season were pretty shot. It snowed heavy during that trip. Places by me don't do the winter tire thing. Also the Rain-x was done.
I topped off a moving truck I rented for a long-distance move bc the engine started making weird noises. Checked, and no oil on the dipstick.
Bought a 5L jug of Shell oil at a gas station, and added most of it to get the oil to the full line. Even after that, oil was DARK.
Bought a 5L jug of Shell oil at a gas station, and added most of it to get the oil to the full line. Even after that, oil was DARK.
Rented a Kia in Aruba for a week. Told the place the car needed an oil change. They could care less. They said " Don't mind that, just bring it back with a full tank of petrol " Beat the crap out of it. Frig em.
I fixed a side mirror and little plastic piece of trim on a RAV4 my wife rented once. 
It was the second rental she dinged and her work wasn't going to let her rent cars anymore if this one went back in the condition she got it into. They took it and we never heard from them so
It was the second rental she dinged and her work wasn't going to let her rent cars anymore if this one went back in the condition she got it into. They took it and we never heard from them so
I've never changed oil in a rental, but I've had to add oil to about half of them. Most recent and one of the worst ones was a Buick Envision with 5000 miles on it (still on factory fill), and it was well over a quart low. Barely had anything on the dipstick. It got a quart from my used oil bucket (which put it back halfway between add and full), and that was it.
On the eve of the eclipse in 2017, I went out to the airport to pick up a rental that I'd reserved, and the only thing that they had was a Traverse at 3% oil life remaining. I wasn't too terribly upset about it being a Traverse, as I'd reserved a mid-sized car. They were out of cars because everyone was headed south to chase the eclipse. I made sure it was full and took off.
Once it hit 0%, it went into nag mode... throwing messages and setting off the chime. So, I reset the OLM to shut it up. National was well aware that it needed service (I was told about it at the desk when they handed me the keys), so I wasn't doing anything that would keep it from getting serviced.
Had a 2023 or 2024 Toyota Tacoma that the OLM went off while I was renting it, and it disabled a lot of the functionality on the instrument cluster once it was unhappy. The instrument cluster went into some sort of "dumb down" mode. I hated everything about that truck, and cannot understand the following that those Tacomas have. The roominess and comfort of a Corolla, with the fuel economy of a Tundra, and a transmission that never knew what gear it was in.
On the eve of the eclipse in 2017, I went out to the airport to pick up a rental that I'd reserved, and the only thing that they had was a Traverse at 3% oil life remaining. I wasn't too terribly upset about it being a Traverse, as I'd reserved a mid-sized car. They were out of cars because everyone was headed south to chase the eclipse. I made sure it was full and took off.
Once it hit 0%, it went into nag mode... throwing messages and setting off the chime. So, I reset the OLM to shut it up. National was well aware that it needed service (I was told about it at the desk when they handed me the keys), so I wasn't doing anything that would keep it from getting serviced.
Had a 2023 or 2024 Toyota Tacoma that the OLM went off while I was renting it, and it disabled a lot of the functionality on the instrument cluster once it was unhappy. The instrument cluster went into some sort of "dumb down" mode. I hated everything about that truck, and cannot understand the following that those Tacomas have. The roominess and comfort of a Corolla, with the fuel economy of a Tundra, and a transmission that never knew what gear it was in.
I have had to add oil to rentals but not change it, but last year was close as the oil life monitor on the Grand Wagoneer L was at 15 percent and that bothered my OCD personality. For the family trips, since we bring the dogs, I always vacuum the trucks out thoroughly and wipe everything down with an interior cleaner and clean the nose prints off the glass. I consider it basic decency since that is what I do with our cars and the dogs make a mess. I don’t generally clean the exterior on return. I have done it advance because I cannot stand a dirty vehicle with dirty glass for 2k miles or so.
No. However, I’ve added oil.
No, but I once paid to repaint the walls in a motel unit I rented for the night. 
Patman
Staff member
Dare we ask the story behind this?No, but I once paid to repaint the walls in a motel unit I rented for the night.
If I did do something like this I would use whatever 1/2 qts I have in my stash . Thing would have a weird viscosity like a 8w34 when I was done.
