Minivan Rental Question....

[andrewg]

In late May I'm going to be renting a minivan from Avis. Most likely it will be the Dodge. Question is.....I will be driving it for about two weeks and be traveling a total of about three thousand miles or so. Should I even think about doing an oil change during my trip or just forget about it? The reason I ask is that I will be driving in a very hot region for most of the trip (southwest desert)and the fact that many rental places don't even bother to change the oil until it reaches the maximum OCI listed in the manual. In other words I could be renting the van just before the oil needs changing, but of course I'll still have a couple of thousand or more miles to go on my trip.
Any concerns I should have? I don't want a breakdown in the middle of the desert as I will have two dogs with me and any extreme heat could be deadly.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Al]

Just keep it topped off and you will be fine. As long as there is enough oil its not possible to fail (for that reason)

 

[JHZR2]

It is a rental, you should do nothing yourself. I had an Avis long term rental, and they checked it once a month, and only changed at 10k. I checked in one month with 9500+ miles, was told to do nothing (sears is the place to take the cars), and returned it with nearly 15k without OC.

When you get it I'd call the actual location a few days in advance, talk to the manager and explain. They may give you one recently serviced.

Regardless, that's all you can do...

 

[Brons2]

Only on BITOG would someone ask a question like this.

Just make sure the thing is topped off.

 

[yonyon]

How about making sure it's full before you drive off the lot, then throw a bottle that's inappropriate for your own car (What, you don't have any oil more than 15 years old lying around?) somewhere out of the way. You won't need it but you won't have to worry either.

Now go to the supermarket and buy two 5 gallon bottles of water. You may not need anywhere near that much water, but it's safer than havin none, and with two dogs they'll be happy you had at least some water.

 

[NHGUY]

Rented a U haul Toyota one time,and its V6 was down 1 qt of oil,had a missing gas cap and a ripped wiper blade.Shame you have to prep the rentals at all,when they are supposed to do it.

 

[mrichards]

Originally Posted By: Brons2
Only on BITOG would someone ask a question like this.

Just make sure the thing is topped off.


Your right only here.

Drive it like you stole it!!

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: Brons2
Only on BITOG would someone ask a question like this.

Just make sure the thing is topped off.

Only reason I ask is for the trip to be uneventful in a mechanical sense. I've actually heard of some rental places NEVER changing the oil. Being in the desert at a possible 100 degrees with a vehicle that may not have even had the oil changed once (in 8 to 15k miles maybe) does make me ask the question. Some oils may be thinned out somewhat or lost some of their basic properties. But....yeah, most likely not enough to cause a failure I suppose.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: mrichards
Originally Posted By: Brons2
Only on BITOG would someone ask a question like this.

Just make sure the thing is topped off.


Your right only here.

Drive it like you stole it!!

I don't do that....even with a rental (since it's not my vehicle). But yes, I certainly would make sure it is up to the proper level.

 

[eljefino]

Desert heat will do nothing for or to your oil! It runs at 200'F no matter what. Because you'll have a new car the radiator and block passages won't be full of rust and scale; this means way more for the reliability in the desert than any oil age issue. Plus you should still have all the plastic air deflector skirts under the bumper that usually eventually fall off. These help MPG and help force cooling air through the rad.

In short, even though desert heat is rough on humans, it's just 10-20% closer to engine operating temp, (and within design parameters) than air we consider temperate.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

My buddy rents car to go cross country in every summer..He always asks for a full size sedan that was recently serviced..He always gets one just fully serviced..He does keep a close on eye on the all the fluids during his trip.

 

[crinkles]

just check it and add if necessary. Not your problem. Perhaps check the oil before your ake delivery to see if it is slugged or not.

More important is tyre pressure. I have NEVER had a rental that had the correct tyre pressures. mostly about 20 - 25 psi or 50 psi, never on.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
just check it and add if necessary. Not your problem. Perhaps check the oil before your ake delivery to see if it is slugged or not.

More important is tyre pressure. I have NEVER had a rental that had the correct tyre pressures. mostly about 20 - 25 psi or 50 psi, never on.

Will do. Thanks.