Anyone ever change oil in rental car?

Back around 2000 I worked at a Jiffy Lube afterschool and during the summer. It was a good shop, we were a bunch of car nerds and actually knew what we were doing. There was a rental car place across the street and they stuck to the maintenance schedule like it was the 10 commandments.

Rental car companies back then kept the cars much longer and really kept up on the maintenance.

Nowadays they dump the cars at 30k and don't really care for any maintenance as it cuts into their bottom line.

Two years ago I rented a new Jeep Wrangler in the desert of California with about 25k miles on it. The low oil light came on and it was over two quarts low. OLM was at 0% and the oil was dark as squid ink. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the factory fill.
 
Before renting an Equinox at LAS this month, I asked a couple AI chats which company would be a best choice. Both told me Enterprise for customers service and well maintained vehicles. Anyway, the Equinox had 47k on it and ran perfectly fine for the 1,000 miles I drove it. The tires may have been a bit over inflated, but otherwise fine.
 
AdmiralYoda said:
Rental car companies back then kept the cars much longer and really kept up on the maintenance.

Nowadays they dump the cars at 30k and don't really care for any maintenance as it cuts into their bottom line.

Two years ago I rented a new Jeep Wrangler in the desert of California with about 25k miles on it. The low oil light came on and it was over two quarts low. OLM was at 0% and the oil was dark as squid ink. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the factory fill.
Click to expand...
Hertz companies are keeping them longer than that since the bankruptcy. I've gotten several vehicles over 30k. Other times they dump them into their Dollar and Thrifty brands.
 
Did wipers once. Couldn't see a thing. I was reimbursed. Also had the oil change due light. Checked the oil and it was "pretty much" full. Close enough for the 2 days I would have the vehicle. I left light on.
 
AdmiralYoda said:
Back around 2000 I worked at a Jiffy Lube afterschool and during the summer. It was a good shop, we were a bunch of car nerds and actually knew what we were doing. There was a rental car place across the street and they stuck to the maintenance schedule like it was the 10 commandments.

Rental car companies back then kept the cars much longer and really kept up on the maintenance.

Nowadays they dump the cars at 30k and don't really care for any maintenance as it cuts into their bottom line.

Two years ago I rented a new Jeep Wrangler in the desert of California with about 25k miles on it. The low oil light came on and it was over two quarts low. OLM was at 0% and the oil was dark as squid ink. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the factory fill.
Click to expand...
Actually, it's the other way around regarding mileage, highlighted by the OP with 78k miles on their 2023 Suburban from AvisBudget. Before the Great Recession, it was common for car rental companies to have a large amount of American fleet cars on "lease" where they would have to be retired by something like 2 years or 25k miles (it varied). Getting a car with over 30k miles was quite rare back then.

After the recession, with American car companies pulling back on fleet penetration, car rental companies increased their "risk" car ratio, in other words, vehicles they own themselves. This is why the 3 majors, Enterprise-National-Alamo, AvisBudget, and Hertz-Dollar-Thrifty, all have such a diverse fleet of vehicles now compared to, say, the 90s. Also, this is why they will run the mileage so high as they are owned with no pre-planned turnback model.

For the consumer, we have a way more diverse choice of rental cars, but also may end up with a high-mileage vehicle. Lastly, the OLM’s often don’t correlate to the actual services; they have that in their computer system, and it will flag when a car needs to be serviced- not that services don’t get postponed or driven beyond if a long rental.

Source: Father spent much of his life in the corporate car rental world and owned a Budget car rental franchise.
 
Change the oil? Hell to the no. I check it the first time I get gas if the odo has more than a few thousand miles on it. I add a quart if necessary. I added antifreeze to one of our rentals in the Bahamas because it had next to none. I always take them through a car wash and vacuum them out before returning any rental. But I will not do maintenance.
 
I probably would have at one time, but most of my rentals have been for work where I flew in and used the rental for a week or so. So no real need or opportunity.

However, over time I began to realize that the rental companies absolutely do not care. As long as the car is outwardly undamaged and fuel is topped off, they don't care. I was once given a Chevy Colorado that I needed to ferry client around in. Appearances were fine, but the previous rents smoked a lot of weed in it. The stink was in tolerable. I complained, they did nothing. So yeah, I'm not going out of my way for them.
 
No. Only thing I've done is add washer fluid during a winter road trip. Had the rental company reimburse me the $4 and change for it too because you bet your bum they'd send me a bill if I owed them $4!
 
tvaughn said:
Actually, it's the other way around regarding mileage, highlighted by the OP with 78k miles on their 2023 Suburban from AvisBudget. Before the Great Recession, it was common for car rental companies to have a large amount of American fleet cars on "lease" where they would have to be retired by something like 2 years or 25k miles (it varied). Getting a car with over 30k miles was quite rare back then.

After the recession, with American car companies pulling back on fleet penetration, car rental companies increased their "risk" car ratio, in other words, vehicles they own themselves. This is why the 3 majors, Enterprise-National-Alamo, AvisBudget, and Hertz-Dollar-Thrifty, all have such a diverse fleet of vehicles now compared to, say, the 90s. Also, this is why they will run the mileage so high as they are owned with no pre-planned turnback model.

For the consumer, we have a way more diverse choice of rental cars, but also may end up with a high-mileage vehicle. Lastly, the OLM’s often don’t correlate to the actual services; they have that in their computer system, and it will flag when a car needs to be serviced- not that services don’t get postponed or driven beyond if a long rental.

Source: Father spent much of his life in the corporate car rental world and owned a Budget car rental franchise.
Click to expand...
Without getting into too much personal detail, how did that franchise treat him financially? I’ve always wondered about that. Do I correctly assume finding good workers for the wage that was available to pay them was a constant concern?
 
CapitalTruck said:
Without getting into too much personal detail, how did that franchise treat him financially? I’ve always wondered about that. Do I correctly assume finding good workers for the wage that was available to pay them was a constant concern?
Click to expand...
Too slim of margins, and the big guys could easily squeeze him out on daily rates. If one wanted to do something like this today, I would recommend Turo- my buddy has 1,500+ cars from Hawaii to TX, and the margins are far better. Finding workers wasn't much of an issue, but the industry as a whole only works well at scale, as you own a large amount of depreciating assets that you are trying to make a few dollars on each day. Enterprise Holdings has 1M+ cars across the US, so it can work at a huge scale, but we had 350-500 cars, very tough.
 
I've added oil to rental cars, if it was below the add line on the dipstick. I've never changed the oil. I do drive rentals as if they were mine, as I was taught from a young age to respect the property of others.
 
Zee09 said:
I had to do it a few times as I told them I was going to put 3k miles on and they didn't change the oil and I would for cheap insurance and I'm not rental abuser...

I would wash the vehicle too upon return.... I always had oil and filters around.
Click to expand...
I haven't changed the oil on a rental (and don't ever plan to), but I have washed a rental before bringing it back.

In fact, I've also washed loaner vehicles I've gotten from the dealership before returning them.

Oh well...
 
I wonder if they have a contract somewhere and you could have swung into a jiffy lube and had it done for free.

You're a good man though
 
You may have been able to call the office and get the name of the shop they get the oil changed at and have them do it. I have done that multiple times with cars I have rented for longer term and they needed a change.

Leaving first thing in the morning, however, meant that was not an option. I call that cheap insurance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Dave Hess
Anyone rent a car from Sixt ?
2
Replies
22
Views
653
xspeedy
W
Oil changing questions I should have known by now but don't
Replies
16
Views
961
50yr Street Mech
C
Anyone use Easirent car rental before?
Replies
4
Views
3K
JustinH
Brons2
Making oil with a Peugeot 3008 in Spain (Rental Car Review)
Replies
13
Views
1K
Brons2
R
GM Gen V V8 on Euro xW-30, 24' Tahoe Oil Change
Replies
3
Views
731
Glenda W.
Back
Top Bottom