Rental Cars - how do you treat them?

[DriveHard]

The thread about why you would NOT buy a rental car had me thinking...how do you treat a rental? Why should you or should you not buy one?

Usually the rentals are so underpowered, I have a digital input on the throttle (WFO all the time) no matter the temperature.
If it is extremely cold, I will shift the transmission into a lower gear to keep engine RPM's high to help it warm up faster.
I used to work for the company that made the parking pawls...so I would routinely throw them into park in the interstate to test our product...they are not supposed to engage under a certain vehicle speed
If it has tires I have not experienced before, I will test the limits of cornering and braking.
Brake stands and burnouts just to see if it will do it.

 

[slo town]

I treat rentals with respect. I won't even put cheap gas in a rental. To mistreat a rental car is a reflection of a person's character.

Scott

 

[KGMtech]

If the police gave you a pass with a rental, then I'd speed on the highway if traffic supported the idea, but this is a fantasy, I drive normally and when I'm out on the open areas I try all the buttons and scroll through the menus and then settle down to get to my destination.

In Canada you have to be 25 to rent a car, so it weeds out some of the idiots, not all, but a good amount.

 

[Pew]

With the least amount of drama/going out of my way possible which usually means normal treatment plus or minus some, but I've only used a rental once that was paid for by the other guy's insurance. Enterprise didn't care it went 13K miles without an oil change so whatever, if it seizes then it seizes.

 

[PimTac]

All the cars I have rented went back cleaner than they were when I picked them up. I drive them the same as a car I own.

 

[Trav]

I treat them well, don't abuse them or do stupid things. I do clean it before returning it, check the fluids when I rent it and note any issues.

 

[Tdbo]

I drive them like I drive my own.
However, I have had some pretty ragged rentals before.

 

[panthermike]

Best to treat it like it's yours in my opinion. When I rented a tundra a few weeks back, I noted to the owner a few maintenance items it needed. Whether they need your advice who knows but at least it's on their radar.

 

[AZjeff]

Usually the rentals are so underpowered, I have a digital input on the throttle (WFO all the time) no matter the temperature.
If it is extremely cold, I will shift the transmission into a lower gear to keep engine RPM's high to help it warm up faster.
I used to work for the company that made the parking pawls...so I would routinely throw them into park in the interstate to test our product...they are not supposed to engage under a certain vehicle speed
If it has tires I have not experienced before, I will test the limits of cornering and braking.
Brake stands and burnouts just to see if it will do it.

Hopefully you joke and if not hope you don't rent cars often.

I treat them like I owned them.

 

[wag123]

Since I am personally responsible for anything that I do to a rental, I actually treat them better than I treat my own vehicles.

 

[wemay]

I treat it with respect. I even wash them before turning them in.

Kind of like wiping the toilet seat when at a friends party even if the drops on the rim weren't yours. You were the last one there.

 

[PontiacHO]

Modern telematics can track, record, and alert the agency when there are high RPM blasts, hard braking, excessive speeds and engine idle time. Even if someone thinks it’s fun to ruin a rental car they are likely found out in real time. Not sure how they handle these events but I’m sure it’s embedded in the stack of fine print documents that you had to sign/agree to before driving off their lot.

 

[joegreen]

I worked for a rental agency for a while. I will say sometimes the employees treat the vehicles worse than the customers.

 

[UG_Passat]

The same way I do my own vehicles.

It would suck to have a rental break down when you drive it... and has happened to me before, or turn around after a mile and get the rental exchanged because of mechanical issues

 

[PWMDMD]

No differently than my own vehicles.

 

[IndyIan]

I just drive them normally now, especially with my two kids with me. I'm trying not to raise them to be idiots...

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I don't beat up on them, I figure someone might end up with it some day.

I do enjoy seeing how fast they might pull the 14% grades we end up on in PA, but other than that I'm pretty easy.

 

[Joel_MD]

I tend to treat rentals about the same as my own vehicles, although if it's an underpowered vehicle I don't mind putting the throttle all the way down to accelerate onto freeways and such.

 

[JohnnyG]

I may give one a little test to see exactly what kind of performance they're capable of, but nothing weird. Pretty much treat them like I own it.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I treat them as if they were my own. Nothing disgusts me more than someone abusing property that doesn’t belong to them.