CAR

A fee for lighting up in my rental? But I don’t smoke

smokeQuestion: My wife and I traveled to Las Vegas for a trade show. I decided to use my credit card points to cover my car rental through Dollar Rent a Car.

At the car rental desk I was pressured to take the optional insurance, but I told them I had checked with my insurance agent and that I was covered. After 10 minutes of saying “no” she insisted on making a copy of my credit card. I let her and went on my way.

I rented the car for five days, drove a total of 83 miles, and returned the car with a full tank. A Dollar employee checked the car when I returned it and said everything was “OK.”
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42 comments

Help, my BMW dealership is holding my title hostage!

highway2Question: I bought a BMW 750 Li from my local dealership recently. Last week, I tried to sell the car to a private party and was told by my bank that I could not sell the car because the dealership hadn’t supplied them with the title.

It doesn’t look as though they will be able to find the title in time for me to sell the car, so I’ve spoken with the dealership about buying the car back. But we can’t agree on a price.

I’ve been told that they’ll pay me $28,000 for the car. Then a representative backpedaled and said, “If the tires are bald or there are dents or dings, maybe not that much.”
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55 comments

Charged $1,341 for damage I didn’t do

Question: I’m having a problem with a car rental, and I’m hoping you can help. I rented a car from National Car Rental in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. I did not take photos of the car at pick up or drop off. Big mistake!

I’m a very careful driver, and when I park, I avoid places where I could be dinged. When I picked up the car, I did a visual inspection and noted a scratch on the rear left bumper. An attendant indicated it was “noted in the computer.”
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38 comments

Why do I have to pay for the flat on my rental car?

When Alicia Reise and her husband rented a car from Hertz in England recently, they had no reason to believe the car was in less than perfect condition.

But there were two little problems. First, Reise thinks one of the tires was faulty. And second, the car didn’t have a spare tire; instead, it came with a canister that could be used to fix a leaky tire, she says.
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80 comments

Is a burned-out clutch automatically my fault?

Question: My wife and daughter recently rented a car through Hertz in London. They purchased the Super Coverage insurance so there would be no hassle with any potential damages.

They did not get more than 10 miles from the airport when the clutch in the car malfunctioned, leaving them stranded in the middle of the road. She was pushed off the highway, and in doing so damaged the front tire and wheel going up onto the curb.
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57 comments