A Budget Rent a Car customer was pulled over by police, and had their Chrysler Pacifica confiscated. Police said that it was unregistered, and had fake plates. They were left on the side of the road for hours.
Budget had no new car to offer at Newark airport where they rented (or anywhere else nearby), so they had to scrounge to come up with another vehicle to make it to their daughter’s college graduation – paying for both.
The original rental was one-way, with a return in Canada. They couldn’t replicate that with another agency, so had to drive the car back to the United States taking up extra time, effort and $2,913 in expense.
- The original Budget rental was for $1,391
- They had to change their flights to return the second car where they rented it for $1,051
- And the trip back to Newark incurred an extra night’s hotel at $220, along with $251 in additional food and gas.
And Budget sent them a threat of prosecution for not returning the car and banned them as a customer.
“Failure to return the vehicle will subject you to prosecution. Unauthorized use of a vehicle is a Class A Misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine up to $1,000 or a sentence to a term of imprisonment for a period of up to one year, or both fine and imprisonment,” the letter said. “If the vehicle is not returned, a report will be made to the local Police Department and a request for warrant of arrest will be sought.”
Budget eventually picked up the vehicle from the impound lot, and acknowledged its error. The Police Department says they did their checks, but that it’s possible the databases they were searching weren’t properly up to date on out of state vehicles that were newly registered. The car company finally agreed to cover some costs, but we don’t know what because they’ve insisted on a non-disclosure agreement from the customer.
Fortunately the renters weren’t charged with car theft, though the police initially believed the rental had been stolen. Had they rented from Hertz they might not have been so lucky.
(HT: Jonathan)
Keeping rental cars properly documented seems like a universal problem. I was pulled over in my Avis rental in Texas Hill Country. The policeman said “your license plate does not exist.” A few more cops showed up. They let me go after 20 minutes. Again, glad it wasn’t Hertz.
@Gary: When the police stopped them, what did they say in response to the driver producing the rental contract?
Seems to me that if the renters could produce a proper rental agreement the cops should have first checked with Budget, particularly if rental cars showing as valid is an ongoing issue. This would have avoided these people going through sheer hell.
These rental car companies are outta control. Why isn’t something being done about their flagrant abuse of honest customers?
Ubering might be cheaper than all that.
Pennsylvania initial titling/registration is quite archaic. You don’t go to the DMV but rather an “agent” such as a notary (who will charge you for the privilege). Even if your agent is connected to the DMV, you won’t receive your registration immediately. Instead, you receive the pink copy of a title/registration application and have to wait for the registration to be approved (when you either receive the card in the mail or have to pick it up from the agent). If the agent isn’t connected to the DMV and has to mail the forms in (or the car is bought out of state and the dealer has to submit the registration to a PA agent), I can see this exact situation occurring. Normally, there is a temporary paper tag placed in the window alongside the license plate with a 60-90 day expiration. If any of these were missed (or the NJ officer had never seen a recently registered PA vehicle before), I could definitely see this happening.
Most car companies don’t provide hard copy contracts…they email them to you, so it’s not something you can easily show the police. Or even can if you need wifi or cell service to connect to your email. Most of the time, you don’t even see what you are signing!
I always get a print out of the rental agreement so it shows that the vehicle is a rental and in my name
This situation sounds rather Shady indeed
The police don’t have time to wait on hold before they get a person. Once they get the person, how many layers do they need to go through before they get a person that can field their question?
This is why we need a national vehicle registration database. One for all states. So a vehicle that lost it registration in one state can not be registered in another state by the same person. Why one driver license covers al. 50 states. So the driver who has a dui in Kentucky can not go to Indiana to get a license there.
Now some of you are going to say we can not do that. Big brother. First look at social security number. Then look at passports it works for them. And if any one owns stocks on the stock market. How is that any different.
Other countries do it why can’t we.
Why are trailers all registered in Oklahoma and Maine. Because it is cheaper the New York and Texas
Moral of the story seems to be that you should only rent a vehicle with at least thousands of miles on it. Budget was not at fault because they properly registered the vehicle even though the police chief said it was unregistered (it was registered, just not in the databases checked by the police). The police were probably in violation of the fourth amendment (searches and seizures) but would be given a pass by the judicial system. Unless there was a violation of the law, the police shouldn’t have even tried to run the plates. This points to a police state.
@Ron
Fully agree.
Same when returning a vehicle. Many agents state they’ll send via e-mail while brushing you off. I’ll stand there and make them quote the final price while waiting for the confirmation to chime my phone. I’ve pissed off a few agents along the way.
The exit booths at larger locations where the keys are in the vehicle should be able to print rental agreements. There should also be a paper registration and insurance certificate in the glove compartment. I always get a paper copy of the rental agreement and keep it accessible, and have refused vehicles without registration/insurance certificates. The mobile data terminals in law enforcement vehicles do not always have access to plates recently issued but there is a way to verify by calling the dispatcher who should be able to get live data. Avoiding new vehicles does not ensure you will not have a problem as rental companies sometimes re-register an expiring plate in the state the vehicle happens to be in at the time it expires.
Avis typically does not have printed contracts for Preferred and above clients – you just go to the assigned stall and go. I’ll be damned if I am going to wait a half hour or more in line just to get one.
The problem likely arises when the database is wrong. I’ve had emailed final bills with a completely different vehicle and/or mileage.
@Tomri: The reason that we shouldn’t do a national vehicle registration database is not because of the utility of that today, but because of creeping incrementalism. There are already states toying with tax-by-the-mile schemes (due to the advent of EV’s that do not pay gas taxes), but a national vehicle registration database would place that on steroids: A nice road trip from Texas to Maine would cost well into 4 figures (just for the tax). The same issue is present with national sales tax (in theory to replace the income tax), because legislators eager for tax revenue will keep the income tax, add the sales tax, and then add a VAT tax. Ditto for FedNow (digital dollar), great for simple payments today, but what about taxing your IRA, introducing a social credit score, confiscating money to pay off the Federal Deficit, the list is endless.
If Avis/Budget is offering a “confidential resolution” they probably messed up. It could have been whoever was registering the vehicle mis-typed a character of the VIN. In addition to verifying the plate on the vehicle, the key tag, the registration, and the rental agreement all match, I should probably start matching the VIN on the registration to the VIN on the vehicle itself. Some law enforcement agencies use cameras that read license plates and alert if there is an issue with the plate or the registered owner, so you can get caught in this situation even if doing nothing to attract attention.
Is there even one rental company left that isn’t a source of stress and nightmare scenarios? I recently had a car from Dollar in Puerto RIco, and they tried to scam both myself and the people in front of me. When I returned the vehicle, there was a scene with a particularly irate hispanic guy who kept yelling in Spanish and English that he was going to charge back and sue. The cops showed up, which isn’t a common occurrence in P.R.
Is Turo really the only way?