US car hire woes. A precautionary tale

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 12 Jan 2010 20:24
US car hire woes. A precautionary tale - legacylad
Six months ago I pre booked a 4WD to collect on the 28th Dec in SF prior to a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. We duly turned up at the office the day after flying in only to be told ''sorry, we have nothing''. I was informed that double booking was de rigeur during the holiday season. After 2 hours they located a Chevy Tahoe from another office, and after a quick inspection I realized that this beast of a vehicle only had 2WD. The hire company did not permit the fitting of chains...to do so would invalidate the insurance. I declined the vehicle and an hour later they 'borrowed' a soft top Jeep Wrangler from another hire company, advising us to drive to Sacramento airport to change it for a more suitable 4WD. This we did. They had none and advised us to drive to Reno in Nevada! No chance.
We kept the Jeep for 3 days.....it was awful on Freeways, freezing driving in blizzards, had no grip on its summer tyres and no security at all. Just unzip the canvas and walk away with our luggage thank you very much! Finally we got a compromise at 3pm on New Years Eve..a Ford 150 twin cab pick up. Oh dear...as I drove away the low tyre pressure monitor was lit. Three tyres were low, one especially...15psi instead of 40psi, the others at 22psi. I returned the vehicle and the 'mechanic' took it away to put air in. One hour later the light was on again and I found a large screw embedded in said tyre. This time when I returned, at 4.50pm just before they closed on New Years Eve, they gave me a Dodge Ram pick up. Oh well, at least our baggage was secure, the tyres were excellent for winter conditions and we could use the Freeways without having to shout to one another!
Next time I shall both phone and email the rental company the day before collection..and use Hertz. Three out of nine wasted car hire days. Bother.
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Wed 13 Jan 2010 18:12
US car hire woes. A precautionary tale - uksant
Legacylad - who did you book with / through
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Wed 13 Jan 2010 21:14
US car hire woes. A precautionary tale - legacylad
I booked the flights and car hire with Trailfinders, who were excellent. They recommended KLM from Leeds/Bradford via Schipol then direct to SF...excellent flight times and price. Very good airline. I shall certainly fly with them again. Top class security in Schipol on the 27th Dec!
The no shaming policy prevents me from naming the car hire company.
Trailfinders did their best from the Leeds office trying to sort things out on our behalf... we had several long distance phone calls.
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Wed 13 Jan 2010 21:46
US car hire woes. A precautionary tale - rtj70
I've not read all above.... stopped when I read the hire company did not allow snow chains.

My brother lives just south of SF. He used to do a bit of skiing at Tahoe so got a 4x4 of his own at the time to not rely on friends. Not only was it a good idea to use snow chains (you needed them at times) but he got a 5.2l V8 instead of the next model down Jeep.
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