I’ve always loved renting cars at airports – even with all the extra fees – because the major rental car companies just haven’t worried about minor nicks and scrapes on vehicles when I return them. Hertz, Avis and National are high volume, and these locations tend to be high revenue as well. So renters tend not to get nickeled and dimed for minor damage that they probably didn’t do to the vehicle themselves.
While it’s always advisable to take photos and videos of vehicles prior to renting, the hassle over minor dings just tends not to come into play with major car rental chains at major airports. That’s changing at Hertz.
Hertz is installing UVeye inspection portals at its biggest U.S. airports this year. Atlanta was the first, but they expect to hit 100 airports before 2025 is oer.
Now they scan cars as they’re being returned – vehicles drive through a camera‑and‑sensor tunnel and get an ‘MRI for vehicles’ to log damage in a way that rental staff never did before. It also finds hard to spot damage such as under the vehicle, uneven tire wear, hairline cracks in the windshield.
Here’s how it cashed out for one renter in Atlanta.
- There was a “1-inch scuff on the driver’s side rear wheel” of the Volkswagen he rented
- Within minutes of the return he got a message about the damage along with a bill for $440: $250 repair cost, $125 “processing” and $65 “administrative fee.”
Hertz defines the processing fee as “the cost to detect and estimate the damage that occurred during your rental.” The admin fee, meanwhile, “covers a portion of the costs [Hertz incurs] as a result of processing your claim.”
The processing fee is supposed to cover the cost of processing, but it’s the admin fee that covers the cost of processing and the processing fee that covers the cost to “detect and estimate the damage.” You have to pay them to inspect the vehicle and decide how much to charge you.
- They ask for payment right away
- In this case there was a $52 discount for payment within 2 days, or a $32.50 discount for payment within a week. That strikes me as an offer you make when you’re not confident in your position.
- Asking Hertz questions or to review the claim takes up to 10 days for a response though – so if you question the invoice, you’re stuck paying more.
According to Hertz,
The vast majority of rentals are incident-free. When damage does occur, our goal is to enhance the rental experience by bringing greater transparency, precision, and speed to the process. Digital vehicle inspections help deliver on that with clear, detailed documentation that is delivered more quickly, as well as a more technology-enabled resolution process.
The vast majority of Hertz rentals are arrest-free too, but that was little comfort to the customers who wound up in jail because the company failed to track returns properly.
Expect this to spread to other rental companies. Enterprise – known for their excruciating vehicle walkarounds (which help upsell insurance in addition to catching vehicle damage) – is piloting similar technology and Avis has discussed plans for trials.
(HT: Paul H)
@ 1990 — What, a 500 sq ft studio for $2 million and $20,000 annual property taxes? No thank you. It’s a nice place to visit (sort of), but a waste of money to live in. I’ll take MS, AR, SC, NC over NYC any day.
Corporate crooks!!!! Anything to squeeze money out of hard working people. We need to stand up to these idiots.
Seems like you are almost incentivized to just return a filthy dirt covered car to hide signs of impurities, which I am not even sure they could differentiate from a real scratch in a low res photo. Good riddance Hertz.
For those saying they want copies of a before scan, do you really trust Heartz to actually do a true scan on the way out? They are just as likely to have scanned the car when it was purchased new and just use those photos forever. Even then, what proof is there that the after scans are even from the car you rented? Don’t say the license plate or VIN, those images can be inserted into any set of damage photos. Just avoid Hertz, along with Dollar and Thrifty which are owned by Hertz.
@Gene — I know this is way off topic from Hertz, but I like where we’re going. If you don’t want view and can survive in that tiny space, $500K studios abound in FiDi. A little extra, $750K might get you a one-bedroom in BPC. Just sayin’ there are options. Sure, $1 million, better buildings. $2 million, 2-3 bedroom with a view. Mostly co-ops, similar to condos, but a little different. You’d need a reason to live here (job), or have a lot of cash to blow. As for elsewhere, I’d settle on NC, if I had to. If you like the water, ILM is actually nice. And if you like the mountains, somewhere near Franklin will do.
Gary
It is clear that no matter what the issue the customer will be guilty … Hertz is in “drivers seat” …they can use this technology to their advantage without being required to do pre rental scans or provide any pre rental documentation of damage. If thencustomer dies their own due diligence then often there are ways they decline the customers proof or make it extremely difficult to show thatbdamage preexisted the rental period. In SLC there are non English speaking contractors who just process “return” of hertz vehicles…if there’s an issue at point of return EXTREMELY difficult to find manager or dispute before paperwork heads into the”administrative abyss” of Hertz
Why can’t the consumers rise up and take some action against these greedy companies clearly trying to monetize off:of us.
Watch hertz go out of business…
A rental company in AZ tried to charge me for scrapes under the car when I returned it. I asked him when I rented it where was the Lift so that I could inspect it and take pictures before I left.
If the rental company wants to charge you for under the car damages they need to provide you with SAFE access for inspection BEFORE YOU rent.