4 ms·

My car was damaged with FlightCar and they don't care – here's the 3-month story

78 points by mikeyla85 11y ago

to3m 11y ago
Previously in FlightCar: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5526655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5526655 (I just remembered this because I recalled commenting - was it really 958 days ago??)
- the_hangman 11y ago
  Well, seeing as it's only been 958 days since they promised improved customer service, we should really cut them some slack here..
victorology 11y ago
Not surprised. Had a terrible experience with FlightCar. They didn't damage my car but I rented one. Arrived at the airport after a 13 hour flight, went to FlightCar, they said the car I was supposed to rent didn't come in. Told me they would refund me, reimburse me for a rental but in the end, they didn't reimburse me. Will never use them again.
calbear81 11y ago
I'm still a bit confused about why anyone would rent out their car via FlightCar when I normally see off-airport parking with a free shuttle costing between $5 - $15 per day with discounts when you do weeklong or more. The "whatever" attitude of people when it comes to taking care of rentals would mean it's just way more trouble than it's worth for me to use. If you're staying for a month or longer, wouldn't it be much more economical to just take public transportation there or an Uber?
- gojomo 11y ago
  Because the traditional parking costs $5-15/day, while FlightCar may be paying you $5-15/day? On a long trip, the difference could be hundreds of dollars in your favor – helping to cover your car/insurance payments while your car would otherwise be idle.
  - calbear81 11y ago
    Except for you are not accounting for wear and tear on your car. Flightcar pays $0.05 per mile from SFO and says that the average daily mileage is less than 40. So let's say your car is rented for 40 miles a day, that's a whopping $2 you made. The biggest value comes from saving on parking which I think makes sense for some folks who might have to drive to the airport but I would think that anytime you are traveling more than a few days, a shuttle/uber/bus is a much better option.
kartman 11y ago
I have had the same experience. The car was returned dirty and there was damage on the body. They said they will pay me a measly $60. I asked for $180 since I spoke to a mechanic who said it will cost me that much in SF. Since there was back and forth I said fine ok just give me the $60 saves me hassle I will foot the rest. I have not yet received the check this was several months ago. Also another time we had left a credit card in the car by mistake. Someone ran up $700 in charges. Luckily card fraud protection covered us. Flight car did not give a crap when we reported it. Don't use Flightcar, just take a shuttle or cab or whatever.
jacquesm 11y ago
I really don't get this concept. Never ever would I entrust a total stranger that I haven't even met with an expensive piece of machinery. You have zero control over what happens when you're not there and your car could easily end up being totaled, broken (in ways not easily seen immediately) or used in ways that conflict with the law. Sure, the 'middleman' will tell you it's all just fine and they're insured and what not. But in the end it's your problem to fix it if things don't work out and it won't take very much to offset the gains from going this route in the first place. I love the basic idea behind the sharing economy, way too much stuff lying around unused. At the same time as a supplier of capital goods to that industry you're taking an awful lot of risk. Edit: I did some googling about flightcar reviews: http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.flightcar.com http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.flightcar.com
- cortesoft 11y ago
  I always feel hesitant to even give my car to a valet, who will only have it a short time and won't take it far. I could never imagine renting out my car to a stranger. Although, renting out my HOUSE to a stranger is even more disturbing to me, but people do it!
  - praneshp 11y ago
    I've never rented from a person (only from apartment communities); is there no background check involved in these cases?
    - ljk 11y ago
      Usually for sites like Airbnb.com, the only "background check" is looking at the potential renter's profile
    - username223 11y ago
      I've almost always rented from individuals, and only real hard-asses in extremely tight rental markets (Bay Area?) will do a background check. Most will just interview you and, if you seem stable, take a deposit and give you a set of keys. It's not like you can run off with their apartment, and landlords are generally pretty good at getting a sense of how people will treat their property.
Spooky23 11y ago
Why would one think about doing this? Sounds like the dumbest idea ever.
- therealdrag0 11y ago
  Not if the insurance/support actually worked. I have nothing in my car. For me it's literally just a driving box. I'd be happy if it could be used when I wasn't using it, especially if that saved me 100+$ in parking fees.
guelo 11y ago
The news to me here is that if you leave the visors down on a VW it could cost you $1500. That's awful UX/engineering.
- rconti 11y ago
  I think there's a lot left unsaid here. It's a short Facebook post, and the author doesn't seem to be particularly well-versed when it comes to cars.
  - guelo 11y ago
    It's not that short. If he's trying to rile up internet anger against Flightcar he needs to be forthcoming with what really happened.
- andybak 11y ago
  I've got a VW Golf and I don't know what 'visors' are. Could you explain?
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    The sun-visors, the thing you pull down to shade your eyes. The VW has a vanity light in it that you activate with a slider over the little mirror. I'm not quite sure what exactly would cost $1500 to fix (it's just a light...).
- mikeyla85 11y ago
  Looks like it'd cost you $650 for that, San Francisco retail price. Agreed.
Mz 11y ago
We need a more pedestrian friendly world. And more pedestrians. People are letting their legs go underused, not caring how it is killing them, then worrying how they can monetize all their consumer purchases. Cuz: "Logic." The world has basically lost its mind.
- swozey 11y ago
  People don't use their legs because most people can't afford to live near their place of employment. It's hardly just people being lazy. The average travel time to work in the USA is 25 minutes. That's in a car. And I'm saying this as someone who walks to work. I'm aware of how lucky I am. http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html#5.00/42.000/-89.500 http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html#5.00/42....
  - Mz 11y ago
    Yeah, there is a reason that my first assertion was we need a more pedestrian friendly world. Before life got in the way, I wanted to be an urban planner. So I am not just making stupid comments off the cuff. I have thought about the problem space and studied it some, formally even. Plus gave up my own car some years ago. Better public transit would help. We don't need to walk the entire way to have a pedestrian life. We just need to be able to get there without a car.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
mikeyla85 11y ago
For those asking, here's the breakdown of the costs: Sun visor (x2): 238.78 + 78 service Coin drawer: 215.43 + 195 service New key: 272.60 Key programming: 97.50 Sales tax: 85 Total: 1499.19 Of course, this is an official VW dealer and this repair could probably be done more cheaply elsewhere, which I'd be happy to do. But the issue with FlightCar hasn't been about price, it's been about whether they are willing to cover these things at all.
whbk 11y ago
Had a bad experience on the renting side including poor customer service and shoddy operations - can't even imagine renting my own car, just look at their Yelp reviews. One of those concepts I really wanted to be great, but just hasn't happened. Sorry you have to deal with this.
harrisonjackson 11y ago
I can sympathize with your frustration, but it sounds like your car was on the cusp of all sorts of trouble when you left it with FlightCar. I don't know their policies, but if I was the person renting your car - I would have been extremely frustrated that FlightCar even accepted your vehicle into their renting pool. I do hope it all works out well for you though - and your story has successfully discouraged me from leaving my car with any such service.
- mikeyla85 11y ago
  Agreed, the car's radiator was definitely not happy. FlightCar's policies are that they don't check or guarantee the condition of cars, which is a bit ridiculous. Kind of like AirBnb but for a hunk of metal that can go 100mph. For reference, it's a 10-year-old Pasaat with 65k miles on it. I expect big repairs every once in a while, but some of this was actual damage.
gojomo 11y ago
I can believe there was a bad experience, but even without seeing FlightCar's response, this story doesn't completely cohere. * The vanity-lights in the sun-visors shouldn't "short out" just from being "left open". (It might drain the battery, or shorten the life of the bulb... but simply being 'open' wouldn't/shouldn't cause damage.) The actual failure may have been due to lifetime wear & tear, or perhaps even atypical use prior to the rental period... in which case FlightCar's responsibility is murky. * The VW dealer price for repair is insane. Yet even though customer is displeased at FlightCar having slightly overestimated the radiator/themostat fix cost (by $200), customer expects FlightCar to cheerfully accept highest-possible cost for his own reimbursement. Doing what this customer seems to want – generous reimbursement for something that isn't indisputably related to the incremental use during the rental period – might not be tenable for the business even if everyone was acting in good faith. And if FlightCar had a reputation for generous reimbursements, it would also attract people acting in bad faith: blaming FlightCar for preexisting issues that could be snuck by the check-in/check-out inspections. The difficulty of tracking and resolving such issues may be a fatal flaw in the FlightCar business model.
- mikeyla85 11y ago
  Can't respond to your first point as I don't really know, but I've only used those lights about three times in the lifetime of the car, so wear and tear is a hard thing to state. Proving anything is anyone's fault is an issue whenever insurance is involved, and generally comes down to trusting someone's word. I definitely would take the car to another shop to get fixed, and the FlightCar rep knew this. The disagreement was not over price, it was over whether they'd cover repair at all.
  - gojomo 11y ago
    I, too, have a VW with such visor lights, and I, too, have probably used them less than once per year in the last 7 years. So if a friend borrowed my car and (somehow, improbably) 'broke' them somehow... I might not notice for months. Are you sure they were working when you dropped the car at FlightCar? (Was one of the 3 times in 10 years that you used the visor-lights that same day, or was checking both part of the explicit check-in inspection?)
pm24601 11y ago
What I don't get is why visor lights would cost so much and why would they short out because they were left on. This says as much about VW as it does about FlightCar. Bummer about FlightCar.
corywatilo 11y ago
I will never forget the comment a disgruntled former Flightcar employee left on my rant I posted about Flightcar. I am a current flightcar employee so I will be anonymous. I read your post and listened to your recordings and I will do my best to break down whats going on a flightcar. I am sorry to hear your experience... Do not use flightcar or recommend flightcar to any one. The CEO is a 20 year old kid and only interested in making money. He moved the customer support to Philippines because he can get someone for like 10-12$ an hr. Great idea.. right? Let's connect the customers who are loaning flightcar a 30-40k car to someone in Philippines who does not understand english or even knows what a floor mat is. Check out this post on reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3.. https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3... An email sent by an angry coworker - http://imgur.com/eGhDhXM http://imgur.com/eGhDhXM Yelp reviews - http://www.yelp.com/biz/flightcar-south-san-fra.. http://www.yelp.com/biz/flightcar-south-san-fra... Glassdoor reviews - http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/FlightCar-Revi.. http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/FlightCar-Revi... The current working conditions are so shitty that my whole team hates our jobs. And it is not just you, my team and I are badgered by angry customers and we are just done and give 0 fucks to the customers. If your email is the spam in zendesk, it means that one of the philippines reps didnot want to respond to you and marked the email as spam so that the email disappears from their inbox. SOOO what can you do? - Post your review to reddit, yelp, facebook and twitter so no other customers go through this. - Here is the CEOs number, you can try to call him - 609-529-8346 I have a few interviews so I don't care if flightcar shuts down, I will be leaving this hell hole very soon anyway. You seem like a good guy, good luck and please read all the reviews before participating in a shared economy in the future. From: http://watilo.com/open-letter-to-flightcar http://watilo.com/open-letter-to-flightcar
stephengoodwin 11y ago
My biggest concern with lending my car out to strangers is many insurance policies don't give the replacement value of the car if it's totaled. Typically to purchase an equal vehicle (based on year, mileage, condition), you would need to spend up to 10-20% more. Although, I've seen a few car insurance polices offer "gap coverage" at a nice premium to make up for the difference.
- ams6110 11y ago
  Not my experience. I've had three cars totaled over the years and always gotten what I felt was a more than fair market value settlement. I've always carried major-name insurance which isn't the cheapest but have always been taken care of when I needed it. People often get emotionally attached to their cars and are not realistic about what they are worth. Edit: I can easily see an insurance co. refusing to pay for damages caused while you "rented out" your car, unless you are specifically insured for that.
  - PhantomGremlin 11y ago
    always gotten what I felt was a more than fair market value settlement Yup. Me too, fortunately just one time. I paid $20,000 for an Acura Integra. Five years later it was stolen. State Farm gave me over $16,000. I'd love for that to be a more regular occurrence (but not frequent enough that they'd cancel the policy).
LyndsySimon 11y ago
> I took the car to a mechanic, who told me that it was impossible to tell whether the thermostat is broken without replacing the radiator first, even though FlightCar had wanted to fix both This makes no sense. Replacing the thermostat in most cars is a matter of a $10 part and 15 minutes. You need a pair of pliers and a ratchet. Meanwhile, the only reasons a radiator would warrant replacement would be extreme buildup (indicative of much bigger issues, like a blown head gasket) or a puncture.
yeldarb 11y ago
Lots of complaints about flightcar here in the comments but I'll just chime in that I had an excellent experience renting from them last time I was in SF. It cost 3x less than any other rental company and I got a much bigger car and it was a hybrid to boot so I saved on gas!

78 points by mikeyla85 11y ago

to3m 11y ago

Previously in FlightCar: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5526655 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5526655 (I just remembered this because I recalled commenting - was it really 958 days ago??)

the_hangman 11y ago
Well, seeing as it's only been 958 days since they promised improved customer service, we should really cut them some slack here..

victorology 11y ago

Not surprised. Had a terrible experience with FlightCar. They didn't damage my car but I rented one. Arrived at the airport after a 13 hour flight, went to FlightCar, they said the car I was supposed to rent didn't come in. Told me they would refund me, reimburse me for a rental but in the end, they didn't reimburse me. Will never use them again.

calbear81 11y ago

I'm still a bit confused about why anyone would rent out their car via FlightCar when I normally see off-airport parking with a free shuttle costing between $5 - $15 per day with discounts when you do weeklong or more. The "whatever" attitude of people when it comes to taking care of rentals would mean it's just way more trouble than it's worth for me to use. If you're staying for a month or longer, wouldn't it be much more economical to just take public transportation there or an Uber?

gojomo 11y ago
Because the traditional parking costs $5-15/day, while FlightCar may be paying you $5-15/day? On a long trip, the difference could be hundreds of dollars in your favor – helping to cover your car/insurance payments while your car would otherwise be idle.
- calbear81 11y ago
  Except for you are not accounting for wear and tear on your car. Flightcar pays $0.05 per mile from SFO and says that the average daily mileage is less than 40. So let's say your car is rented for 40 miles a day, that's a whopping $2 you made. The biggest value comes from saving on parking which I think makes sense for some folks who might have to drive to the airport but I would think that anytime you are traveling more than a few days, a shuttle/uber/bus is a much better option.

kartman 11y ago

I have had the same experience. The car was returned dirty and there was damage on the body. They said they will pay me a measly $60. I asked for $180 since I spoke to a mechanic who said it will cost me that much in SF. Since there was back and forth I said fine ok just give me the $60 saves me hassle I will foot the rest. I have not yet received the check this was several months ago. Also another time we had left a credit card in the car by mistake. Someone ran up $700 in charges. Luckily card fraud protection covered us. Flight car did not give a crap when we reported it. Don't use Flightcar, just take a shuttle or cab or whatever.

jacquesm 11y ago

I really don't get this concept. Never ever would I entrust a total stranger that I haven't even met with an expensive piece of machinery. You have zero control over what happens when you're not there and your car could easily end up being totaled, broken (in ways not easily seen immediately) or used in ways that conflict with the law. Sure, the 'middleman' will tell you it's all just fine and they're insured and what not. But in the end it's your problem to fix it if things don't work out and it won't take very much to offset the gains from going this route in the first place. I love the basic idea behind the sharing economy, way too much stuff lying around unused. At the same time as a supplier of capital goods to that industry you're taking an awful lot of risk. Edit: I did some googling about flightcar reviews: http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.flightcar.com http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.flightcar.com

cortesoft 11y ago
I always feel hesitant to even give my car to a valet, who will only have it a short time and won't take it far. I could never imagine renting out my car to a stranger. Although, renting out my HOUSE to a stranger is even more disturbing to me, but people do it!
- praneshp 11y ago
  I've never rented from a person (only from apartment communities); is there no background check involved in these cases?
  - ljk 11y ago
    Usually for sites like Airbnb.com, the only "background check" is looking at the potential renter's profile
  - username223 11y ago
    I've almost always rented from individuals, and only real hard-asses in extremely tight rental markets (Bay Area?) will do a background check. Most will just interview you and, if you seem stable, take a deposit and give you a set of keys. It's not like you can run off with their apartment, and landlords are generally pretty good at getting a sense of how people will treat their property.

Spooky23 11y ago

Why would one think about doing this? Sounds like the dumbest idea ever.

therealdrag0 11y ago
Not if the insurance/support actually worked. I have nothing in my car. For me it's literally just a driving box. I'd be happy if it could be used when I wasn't using it, especially if that saved me 100+$ in parking fees.

guelo 11y ago

The news to me here is that if you leave the visors down on a VW it could cost you $1500. That's awful UX/engineering.

rconti 11y ago
I think there's a lot left unsaid here. It's a short Facebook post, and the author doesn't seem to be particularly well-versed when it comes to cars.
- guelo 11y ago
  It's not that short. If he's trying to rile up internet anger against Flightcar he needs to be forthcoming with what really happened.
andybak 11y ago
I've got a VW Golf and I don't know what 'visors' are. Could you explain?
- jacquesm 11y ago
  The sun-visors, the thing you pull down to shade your eyes. The VW has a vanity light in it that you activate with a slider over the little mirror. I'm not quite sure what exactly would cost $1500 to fix (it's just a light...).
mikeyla85 11y ago
Looks like it'd cost you $650 for that, San Francisco retail price. Agreed.

Mz 11y ago

We need a more pedestrian friendly world. And more pedestrians. People are letting their legs go underused, not caring how it is killing them, then worrying how they can monetize all their consumer purchases. Cuz: "Logic." The world has basically lost its mind.

swozey 11y ago
People don't use their legs because most people can't afford to live near their place of employment. It's hardly just people being lazy. The average travel time to work in the USA is 25 minutes. That's in a car. And I'm saying this as someone who walks to work. I'm aware of how lucky I am. http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html#5.00/42.000/-89.500 http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html#5.00/42....
- Mz 11y ago
  Yeah, there is a reason that my first assertion was we need a more pedestrian friendly world. Before life got in the way, I wanted to be an urban planner. So I am not just making stupid comments off the cuff. I have thought about the problem space and studied it some, formally even. Plus gave up my own car some years ago. Better public transit would help. We don't need to walk the entire way to have a pedestrian life. We just need to be able to get there without a car.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

mikeyla85 11y ago

For those asking, here's the breakdown of the costs: Sun visor (x2): 238.78 + 78 service Coin drawer: 215.43 + 195 service New key: 272.60 Key programming: 97.50 Sales tax: 85 Total: 1499.19 Of course, this is an official VW dealer and this repair could probably be done more cheaply elsewhere, which I'd be happy to do. But the issue with FlightCar hasn't been about price, it's been about whether they are willing to cover these things at all.

whbk 11y ago

Had a bad experience on the renting side including poor customer service and shoddy operations - can't even imagine renting my own car, just look at their Yelp reviews. One of those concepts I really wanted to be great, but just hasn't happened. Sorry you have to deal with this.

harrisonjackson 11y ago

I can sympathize with your frustration, but it sounds like your car was on the cusp of all sorts of trouble when you left it with FlightCar. I don't know their policies, but if I was the person renting your car - I would have been extremely frustrated that FlightCar even accepted your vehicle into their renting pool. I do hope it all works out well for you though - and your story has successfully discouraged me from leaving my car with any such service.

mikeyla85 11y ago
Agreed, the car's radiator was definitely not happy. FlightCar's policies are that they don't check or guarantee the condition of cars, which is a bit ridiculous. Kind of like AirBnb but for a hunk of metal that can go 100mph. For reference, it's a 10-year-old Pasaat with 65k miles on it. I expect big repairs every once in a while, but some of this was actual damage.

gojomo 11y ago

I can believe there was a bad experience, but even without seeing FlightCar's response, this story doesn't completely cohere. * The vanity-lights in the sun-visors shouldn't "short out" just from being "left open". (It might drain the battery, or shorten the life of the bulb... but simply being 'open' wouldn't/shouldn't cause damage.) The actual failure may have been due to lifetime wear & tear, or perhaps even atypical use prior to the rental period... in which case FlightCar's responsibility is murky. * The VW dealer price for repair is insane. Yet even though customer is displeased at FlightCar having slightly overestimated the radiator/themostat fix cost (by $200), customer expects FlightCar to cheerfully accept highest-possible cost for his own reimbursement. Doing what this customer seems to want – generous reimbursement for something that isn't indisputably related to the incremental use during the rental period – might not be tenable for the business even if everyone was acting in good faith. And if FlightCar had a reputation for generous reimbursements, it would also attract people acting in bad faith: blaming FlightCar for preexisting issues that could be snuck by the check-in/check-out inspections. The difficulty of tracking and resolving such issues may be a fatal flaw in the FlightCar business model.

mikeyla85 11y ago
Can't respond to your first point as I don't really know, but I've only used those lights about three times in the lifetime of the car, so wear and tear is a hard thing to state. Proving anything is anyone's fault is an issue whenever insurance is involved, and generally comes down to trusting someone's word. I definitely would take the car to another shop to get fixed, and the FlightCar rep knew this. The disagreement was not over price, it was over whether they'd cover repair at all.
- gojomo 11y ago
  I, too, have a VW with such visor lights, and I, too, have probably used them less than once per year in the last 7 years. So if a friend borrowed my car and (somehow, improbably) 'broke' them somehow... I might not notice for months. Are you sure they were working when you dropped the car at FlightCar? (Was one of the 3 times in 10 years that you used the visor-lights that same day, or was checking both part of the explicit check-in inspection?)

pm24601 11y ago

What I don't get is why visor lights would cost so much and why would they short out because they were left on. This says as much about VW as it does about FlightCar. Bummer about FlightCar.

corywatilo 11y ago

I will never forget the comment a disgruntled former Flightcar employee left on my rant I posted about Flightcar. I am a current flightcar employee so I will be anonymous. I read your post and listened to your recordings and I will do my best to break down whats going on a flightcar. I am sorry to hear your experience... Do not use flightcar or recommend flightcar to any one. The CEO is a 20 year old kid and only interested in making money. He moved the customer support to Philippines because he can get someone for like 10-12$ an hr. Great idea.. right? Let's connect the customers who are loaning flightcar a 30-40k car to someone in Philippines who does not understand english or even knows what a floor mat is. Check out this post on reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3.. https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3... An email sent by an angry coworker - http://imgur.com/eGhDhXM http://imgur.com/eGhDhXM Yelp reviews - http://www.yelp.com/biz/flightcar-south-san-fra.. http://www.yelp.com/biz/flightcar-south-san-fra... Glassdoor reviews - http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/FlightCar-Revi.. http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/FlightCar-Revi... The current working conditions are so shitty that my whole team hates our jobs. And it is not just you, my team and I are badgered by angry customers and we are just done and give 0 fucks to the customers. If your email is the spam in zendesk, it means that one of the philippines reps didnot want to respond to you and marked the email as spam so that the email disappears from their inbox. SOOO what can you do? - Post your review to reddit, yelp, facebook and twitter so no other customers go through this. - Here is the CEOs number, you can try to call him - 609-529-8346 I have a few interviews so I don't care if flightcar shuts down, I will be leaving this hell hole very soon anyway. You seem like a good guy, good luck and please read all the reviews before participating in a shared economy in the future. From: http://watilo.com/open-letter-to-flightcar http://watilo.com/open-letter-to-flightcar

stephengoodwin 11y ago

My biggest concern with lending my car out to strangers is many insurance policies don't give the replacement value of the car if it's totaled. Typically to purchase an equal vehicle (based on year, mileage, condition), you would need to spend up to 10-20% more. Although, I've seen a few car insurance polices offer "gap coverage" at a nice premium to make up for the difference.

ams6110 11y ago
Not my experience. I've had three cars totaled over the years and always gotten what I felt was a more than fair market value settlement. I've always carried major-name insurance which isn't the cheapest but have always been taken care of when I needed it. People often get emotionally attached to their cars and are not realistic about what they are worth. Edit: I can easily see an insurance co. refusing to pay for damages caused while you "rented out" your car, unless you are specifically insured for that.
- PhantomGremlin 11y ago
  always gotten what I felt was a more than fair market value settlement Yup. Me too, fortunately just one time. I paid $20,000 for an Acura Integra. Five years later it was stolen. State Farm gave me over $16,000. I'd love for that to be a more regular occurrence (but not frequent enough that they'd cancel the policy).

LyndsySimon 11y ago

> I took the car to a mechanic, who told me that it was impossible to tell whether the thermostat is broken without replacing the radiator first, even though FlightCar had wanted to fix both This makes no sense. Replacing the thermostat in most cars is a matter of a $10 part and 15 minutes. You need a pair of pliers and a ratchet. Meanwhile, the only reasons a radiator would warrant replacement would be extreme buildup (indicative of much bigger issues, like a blown head gasket) or a puncture.

yeldarb 11y ago

Lots of complaints about flightcar here in the comments but I'll just chime in that I had an excellent experience renting from them last time I was in SF. It cost 3x less than any other rental company and I got a much bigger car and it was a hybrid to boot so I saved on gas!