Weekend survey: When should a car rental company charge you for damage?


That’s not an academic question, given all the recent stories about excessive car rental claims on this site.

And yes, it still is the weekend. I’m in another time zone. (But I’ll be back on the mainland tomorrow.)

Here’s the link to the survey.

I’m also interested in your comments. Should car rental companies go after the last person who rented the car, or should they be more conservative, and only pursue claims that have been acknowledged by the renter?

You can comment here or email me.

  • Drew

    Being honest here, I think that ‘none of the above’ is the right answer. If they can verify that it went out undamaged, or if you admit to damaging the vehicle, then it’s ok to go after you. The ‘last renter’ doesn’t cover damage that happened after you dropped the car off (yes, I’ve seen rental agents hit rental cars with other rentals in the lot!)…

  • Josh

    There should be another choice:

    “If the rental company has photographs showing the damage was not there when the car was delivered to the renter, and was there when the car was returned”

    I personally don’t have a problem with renters paying for actual proven damage during their rental (though I have issues with $800 repairs for minor dents that most of us would ignore on our own cars), but I don’t think the rental company just having random written notes from a previous checkin is sufficient (different agents may miss different things, etc). Yes, renters need to protect themselves by noting damage at checkout, taking pictures, etc, but that doesn’t mean the rental company isn’t also responsible
    for giving real credible evidence of the damage from their
    perspective.

  • Lawrence Caffrey

    Since the renter is responsible for identifying damage BEFORE leaving the lot to avoid responsibility, the car rental company in my opinion must acknowledge damage at the time the car is returned to pursue a claim. This is why I do no use “drop off the key and we’ll send your the receipt” service – no evidence the car was looked at by car rental company.

  • http://www.twitter.com/yaq.driver Chris

    If faced with a claim, require past pre-rental inspection forms. That damage you missed may have been reported by a past renter.

    As far as a renter liability for damage, it should end upon return. A car can be damaged in a carwash, an employee could smoke in it, or another renter could put a door ding in it while it is parked in the return lane and you are on the shuttle bus. The after the fact claim is a real easy way for a poor employee to stay out of trouble.

  • SirWired

    I would have chosen “none of the above”

    If the return was handled by a live person, the damage should be noted at the time of return, with signatures by both parties. If the return was an unmanned dropoff, the damage should be noted the next time the location is open for business.

    In either case, they should have a week to produce the estimate, but they must document the damage itself immediately.

  • Jim Murashige

    The same way that you need to throughly check the car for
    damage when you rent it, the rental company needs to
    throughly check the car when you return it or waive any
    claim. If it needs to be washed or hoisted up, that’s their call. Fair is fair, I have no idea what they did with it after
    I’m gone. There is such inconsistency in checking for damage
    that checks need to be on the spot, here and now or waive
    any claim. Jim Murashige, San Jose, CA

  • Ron

    Too many handle the car after I leave it at the airport rental center to say I damaged it if I was the last one renting it. Let’s see, the guy that returns his car after mine and walks by my car scraping his umbrella into the paint of the door, the car handler that brings it for a cleaning(Ok, let’s assume they actually CLEAN the cars) and prep for the next renter, the guy that puts the car back into the rental area lot, and lastyl, all the people that walk by the car getting into their own new rental car.

    All of those people had a chance to damage the car since I last rented it. If the next renter notes damage on the car and the company looks to see who last rented it, is it I who is supposed to pay for all those people damaging the car?

    No, the rental car company had a chance to note any damage when I returned the car. They didn’t choose to do so, so the renter should not be responsible at a later date.

  • Eric

    Actually, none of the three options are good. The first two allow the agency to cheat the customer. The third allows the customer to cheat the agency.

    The only real solution is for customers to become more pro-active and insist on the walk around and insist any damage, no matter how minor, be documented on the rental contract. I also have gotten into the habit of going out with the agent when he does his return inspection. I had one agent get snotty about me wanting to observe his check-in inspection, but in the end, he knew he couldn’t legally prevent me from watching him.

    I also think legislation should be passed to require an agency to provide proof to the customer that a repair was actually performed.

  • Ruth

    I voted for “only when the renter acknowledges….” but felt that a better answer might be more along the lines of “only when there was no damage on the car when originally rented and there is actual damage (not ordinary wear and tear) to the vehicle when returned.” Although I agree with most of the comments on the site regarding car rental companies charging for damages that were not caused by the renter (and have had to deal with it myself in the past), I believe that there would also be unscrupulous renters who would refuse to sign a claim form for damages in order to not have to pay if that were the only way they could be charged for damage. I try now to always go by the motto of “let the renter beware” when renting a car.

  • Robert

    I would opt for “none of the above”. Why? We rent automobiles as a means of transportation for work or while on vacation. These cars do and will get driven and will incur “fair wear and tear” dings, nicks, scratches and dents. It would be patiently absurd to think that I will rent a car and then let it sit unused in fear that it might get a ding. The rental agencies will tell you that if you do not get CDW and you have a ding, you will pay through the nose. I am not going to lie about an accident I may have had, however; I am not going to point out all then parking lot dings that happened when I return the car. I consider those to be part of doing business. I can almost guarantee that if a renter has CDW and the unit does get dings, the rental agency will ignore them since there is no money to be made off the customer. The next renter just might find them when that unit is later rented. Since I don’t rent cars all that often, what rental agencies are the worst offenders? This will help me for future travels. thnx

  • Carrie Charney

    After they have proven it was you who did the damage, if you haven’t admitted to it.

  • Stoyko

    A better answer would be “When the company has evidence that the car was rented without the damage in question”. It may have evidence that the damage didn’t exist when the previous renter returned it, but there is always the potential for damage caused by employees while cleaning, driving within the parking lot, fueling, etc.

    But since this option wasn’t provided, I chose “When the company has evidence that the previous renter returned it without damage”. The renter should also bear some responsibility for inspecting the car before it is accepted, and document any pre-existing damage that is discovered.

  • http://www.carrentalsavers.com Mark

    When should a car rental company charge you for damage? When you cause damage to the rental car. It is a simple answer but the issue is the rental agencies do not have a foolproof method to determine when damage was caused. They are moving in the right direction with taking photos of vehicles pre and post rental but it will take time for this to be rolled out to all locations. In the meantime, it seems to fall on the customer to protect themselves by taking their own photos and videos. Rental agencies don’t help their image with the coming back 3 months later trick. Damage needs to be assessed at time of return period.