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Anyone else hate car sharing services? Honestly I just found the experience increadibly stressful. Before I go anywhere, is every little scratch and dent liste

Anyone else hate car sharing services? Honestly I just found the experience increadibly stressful. Before I go anywhere, is every little scratch and dent listed in the little handbook? If I clip something in a carpark (like a bollard or tall curb) I've got to spend 30 minutes on the phone explaining it to the person on the other end then pay some hard to determine fee. On my way back to the spot if I get caught in traffic there is another fine for being late. That's before we get into the difficulty of how you'd do it with a small child with a pram and car seat etc.

khalilravanna 7y ago
Just spitballing here but it makes me think there should just be an option to rent a dinged up, scratched up car for cheaper. The policy would be like “Cosmetic damage ok. As long as there’s no functional damage, you’re good.” I personally don’t give a flying f—— if my rental car looks like a junkyard lot special, as long as it drives me safely to my destination. Plus it saves me stress if some dbag dings my rental in a parking lot. I guess maybe the counter argument for this (other than rental companies fighting it because I’m sure they shadily draw in some revenue from gauging people on fees for cosmetic damage) is it might be harder to catch functional damage if you stop checking for cosmetic damage. Though, I’m not so sure that’s true.
- OrangeMango 7y ago
  > Just spitballing here but it makes me think there should just be an option to rent a dinged up, scratched up car for cheaper. Here you go https://www.rentawreck.com/ https://www.rentawreck.com/
- dwild 7y ago
  The car sharing service I use here in Quebec, does have a "Cosmetic damage ok. As long as there’s no functional damage, you’re good". I would probably still spend 10 minutes on the phone to make sure it's alright, but they are clear in their policy that scratch are fine (and based on the damage of the back corners of some of their older cars, it's definitely fine). Their insurance is quite generous too, at first the deductible were 300$, they did increase it to 600$ but for 50$ a year you can remove it altogether. If you don't lower it, they charge 1$ more per trip, so in my case, I pay 50$ a year and there's no risk of fees.
yardie 7y ago
I rented once from a cheap car hire once and was caught off guard by the sales assistant. Like he looked diligently for every scratch and ding. Afterwards, I could not sleep from the stress. Too worried about road debris and, pedestrians, and farm animals scratching the car. So the next morning I returned it and went to Hertz. The rule there is anything larger than a quarter is marked. That seems somewhat reasonable instead of going around the car with a flashlight.
dwild 7y ago
I don't stress that much personnaly. I'm in Quebec and I use Communauto. They don't care about scratch or dent in the car. They also answer the phone quite quickly, it certainly wouldn't take 30 minutes. Their insurance is quite generous too, at first the deductible were 300$, they did increase it to 600$ but for 50$ a year you can remove it altogether. If you don't lower it, they charge 1$ more per trip, so in my case, I pay 50$ a year and there's no risk of fees. On my way back I always check and make sure I have a good buffer and increase the reservation if needed. They do have cars with child seats too.

khalilravanna 7y ago

Just spitballing here but it makes me think there should just be an option to rent a dinged up, scratched up car for cheaper. The policy would be like “Cosmetic damage ok. As long as there’s no functional damage, you’re good.” I personally don’t give a flying f—— if my rental car looks like a junkyard lot special, as long as it drives me safely to my destination. Plus it saves me stress if some dbag dings my rental in a parking lot. I guess maybe the counter argument for this (other than rental companies fighting it because I’m sure they shadily draw in some revenue from gauging people on fees for cosmetic damage) is it might be harder to catch functional damage if you stop checking for cosmetic damage. Though, I’m not so sure that’s true.

OrangeMango 7y ago
> Just spitballing here but it makes me think there should just be an option to rent a dinged up, scratched up car for cheaper. Here you go https://www.rentawreck.com/ https://www.rentawreck.com/
dwild 7y ago
The car sharing service I use here in Quebec, does have a "Cosmetic damage ok. As long as there’s no functional damage, you’re good". I would probably still spend 10 minutes on the phone to make sure it's alright, but they are clear in their policy that scratch are fine (and based on the damage of the back corners of some of their older cars, it's definitely fine). Their insurance is quite generous too, at first the deductible were 300$, they did increase it to 600$ but for 50$ a year you can remove it altogether. If you don't lower it, they charge 1$ more per trip, so in my case, I pay 50$ a year and there's no risk of fees.

yardie 7y ago

I rented once from a cheap car hire once and was caught off guard by the sales assistant. Like he looked diligently for every scratch and ding. Afterwards, I could not sleep from the stress. Too worried about road debris and, pedestrians, and farm animals scratching the car. So the next morning I returned it and went to Hertz. The rule there is anything larger than a quarter is marked. That seems somewhat reasonable instead of going around the car with a flashlight.

dwild 7y ago

I don't stress that much personnaly. I'm in Quebec and I use Communauto. They don't care about scratch or dent in the car. They also answer the phone quite quickly, it certainly wouldn't take 30 minutes. Their insurance is quite generous too, at first the deductible were 300$, they did increase it to 600$ but for 50$ a year you can remove it altogether. If you don't lower it, they charge 1$ more per trip, so in my case, I pay 50$ a year and there's no risk of fees. On my way back I always check and make sure I have a good buffer and increase the reservation if needed. They do have cars with child seats too.