Car rentals

Receipt breakdown from a recent Thrifty car rental in Dallas, Texas
Type of Car Jeep Compass
Dates of use 2007/12/10 throught 2007/12/12
Miles Driven 173
Cost per day and Total $21.85, total of $66.55
EToll Cost 26.85
GPS system cost $35.97
Fuel option $38.61
Fees, taxes, etc $56.29
Total Cost $223.17

Amount I was originally quoted from Hotwire for the car (rental only, no GPS, no fuel, no etoll) – $110. So add in the other options that I chose when I actually got the car, and the price roughly doubles. The lesson learned is to get the quote with these options. I thought I had rented an SUV from Thrifty recently, but I think it must have been Budget. That experience was great – had a one day rental of an SUV (overnight), got satellite radio, plenty of space, and a great ride. Contrast this with the Jeep Compass:

  • No power windows
  • No power doors. In fact, the only way to lock all the doors at once is to use the key.
  • No mirror adjustments. I don’t mean no power adjustments, I mean NO WAY TO ADJUT THE MIRRORS from inside the car at all.

The materials in the Compass look and feel cheap. The door panels felt flimsy, the locks were metal posts that came up from holes drilled in the panels. The holes looked cheap, with no trim around them at all.

I think in the future I’ll stick with other companies and vehicles for rentals. The huge cost of the eToll is the one that suprised me – the previously mentioned SUV had the same sort of system, but it only cost me about $10. Overall, I’m disappointed with the entire experience. I’ve used Hotwire for hotels and gotten lucky, but for car rentals I’m going elsewhere.

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