Dollar rent-a-car USA - any experiences?

ag19lfc

Has anyone hired a rental car in the US with Dollar before? I'm reading lots of complaints about their staff forcefully trying to upsell insurance when picking up the car and also about the general condition of the vehicles they have in their fleet.

I've booked with Dollar via Auto Europe, so any insurance I need should already be included and hopefully I will avoid the hard sell that so many customers seem to be talking about.

Are they really as bad as people are making out? Or would I see the same comments about other rental companies in the US?

Westin

I tend to use Dollar or Alamo.

I wouldn't say that Dollar is any worse them Alamo. I think all US airport desks for rental companies try to offer "upsell" opportunities.

I haven't noticed staff as being rude. Smile at them and they smile at you.

Just politely say no if they offer you extra insurance, GPS unit, or whatever extra you don't want. It's a bit like going to the till at WH Smith in this country to pay for your newspaper and a bottle of water and the till operator asks if you want to buy a large bag of Haribos (or whatever they are pushing that week). If you don't want it - just say No thank you.

iltisman

The Dollar staff get big bonuses for selling insurance so they will give you the hard sell. The big one they try to sell is the lost keys and "breakdown" insurance. If the car breaks down due to mechanical failure you will get recovered anyway. The extra cover they try and sell covers tyre blow outs and flat batteries.
Hertz bought Dollar a couple of years ago and I have had a few high milage ex Hertz cars but they ran ok.
Just smile and say no as the agent tries to worry you with tales of doom. Some of them make $100,000 by worrying tired travellers.

ag19lfc

My rental inclusions are:

* Appropriate local sales taxes at the appropriate rate(s) in force.
* UMP (Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Protection).
* SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance).
* Rental includes Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) with a ZERO excess and coverage for wheels, glass, roof and underside of the vehicle.
* Roadside Assistance.
* Customer Facility Charge (CFC), where applicable.
* The primary driver must present at least one valid credit card (not a debit card), issued in their name, upon pick up. The credit card is required as a security deposit and the amount will be held by the rental car company.
* Administration Fee.
* Unlimited Kilometers.

Would this cover everything I need? What happens if I were to breakdown, for example?

ag19lfc

What about the cleanliness of the cars on the inside, generally OK?

richardw

ag19lfc wrote: »

...What happens if I were to breakdown, for example?

You call the roadside assistance number that you asked them to clarify with you at the car hire desk when you picked the car up.

ag19lfc

Also, I'll be renting from a city location, opposed to picking up from an airport. Are the experiences any different? I imagine I'll have less of a choice to pick from at a city location, due to the garage being smaller than that at an airport?

nickcc

We used Dollar a few years ago at Orlando Airport. Very pushy agent who refused to release the car without the extra cover and even tried to sell us toll pass which we insisted we didn't need, after long flight and travel time to Heathrow and so knackered we eventually caved in on the insurance. People carrier was high mileage and at least three years old and came complete with a slow puncture which we kept blowing up when the pressure monitoring warning light came on. Eventually refunded the extra insurance cost as it was included in our original contract with Rentalcars. Personally I would not use Dollar again.

srisport

ag19lfc wrote: »

My rental inclusions are:

* Appropriate local sales taxes at the appropriate rate(s) in force.
* UMP (Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Protection).
* SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance).
* Rental includes Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) with a ZERO excess and coverage for wheels, glass, roof and underside of the vehicle.
* Roadside Assistance.
* Customer Facility Charge (CFC), where applicable.
* The primary driver must present at least one valid credit card (not a debit card), issued in their name, upon pick up. The credit card is required as a security deposit and the amount will be held by the rental car company.
* Administration Fee.
* Unlimited Kilometers.

Would this cover everything I need? What happens if I were to breakdown, for example?

I don't see anything about damage to tyres? Something I would deffinetly want to be included!

pollypenny

We travel to the USA twice a year. We've used Dollar on three occasions.

It's cheaper because the cars tend to be older and fairly battered. That was ok when we had a 15 minute journey from the airport. Now our journey is 90 minutes, so we stick to Alamo, as the cars are newish.

We currently have a Dodge with 3,500 on the clock.

Dollar would never give us a choice of cars from the category paid for, either.

ag19lfc

pollypenny wrote: »

It's cheaper because the cars tend to be older and fairly battered.

What sort of mileage on the Dollar cars? And what do you mean by "fairly battered". Dirty, dented, or faulty?