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How can one fuck a rental car in a way it can be detected only days or weeks later? Personally I tend to be 10X cautious with a rented car because I never pay

How can one fuck a rental car in a way it can be detected only days or weeks later? Personally I tend to be 10X cautious with a rented car because I never pay for full assurance coverage, because I feel it like being robbed (the same way renting a child's seat makes you feel, I paid more for the seat that for the car itself)

latchkey 3y ago
I went to Mexico once, damaged the side of a brand new rental car (big huge dent in the side of the door from a close corner in an alley). Shockingly to me, the repairs (which they estimated and billed me for when I returned the car), were less than the insurance (that I didn't purchase).
- rightbyte 3y ago
  Sometimes you can just suck dents out with a, you know, the thing a plumber use in the sink or toilette. Then you repaint the edges of the dent if they are visible.
  - latchkey 3y ago
    paint scratched + dent... there was a low cement staircase as I was going around a right hand corner of a small alley... didn't see it... whoops.
seabrookmx 3y ago
Underbody damage? On an ice vehicle smashing up the oil pan for instance. Anecdotally, the folks checking over the vehicle before taking it back also do quite a poor job and miss things. A friend of mine I was helping move put a solid dent in the box of a u-haul and they didn't even notice.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Yeah, it's usually a pretty cursory check. I've definitely had a number of scrapes over the years that weren't major but weren't totally trivial either and they've never been flagged. Right now I'm driving a rental that has some gouges in the paint up front that I had to make sure got added to my rental contract; presumably these were not identified after a prior rental.
ghaff 3y ago
It's probably more a cumulative thing. In the western US, for example, there are a lot of bad mountain/desert/etc. roads that are rough on a vehicle, especially basic street cars. I've never taken a rental on a road I wouldn't have taken my own car on but I'm sure I've caused more wear and tear than just driving a car down the highway.
UncleEntity 3y ago
> How can one fuck a rental car in a way it can be detected only days or weeks later? I used to run 'rental cars' (aka cabs) into the ground on a regular basis just because you're not making any money sitting around waiting on a wrecker. Plus, the company generally didn't fix the cars unless they were towed in, can't even count how many times I'd swap out of a car after telling them what's wrong with it and see a message the next morning about needing a passenger rescue on that car because the mechanics just sent it back out without even looking at it beyond "well, it starts and drives around the yard". The last cab company I worked for had an unofficial policy (on 'voucher' trips which were billed to insurance companies and whatnot) that if you got the passenger in the car you'd get paid for the trip so if you have a $100+ trip on your screen and the car can somehow limp to the pickup address then this what you do without worrying about what it'll do to the car... I didn't intentionally tear up the cars but after a while I learned what a Prius could take. No AC in the Arizona summer, straight back to the yard. Car makes a big thumping noise taking off from every stop, probably be OK for a day or two before finding a better car to swap into. Can't imagine rideshare drivers care any more about the cars than I ever did.
InvertedRhodium 3y ago
Using the incorrect octane fuel is one way, it’ll seriously shorten the engines lifetime but will probably take months to become obvious.
- chriscappuccio 3y ago
  Don't the cars just dial back ignition timing when they detect knock? Unless your car has no ability to dial back, maybe with a custom high-octane tune, regular fuel should still be safe to run.
- compiler-guy 3y ago
  With modern cars incorrect octane will decrease available power, as the knock detector reduces the spark's advance, but it won't otherwise hurt the engine. Low-octane gas will cause problems in older carbureted cars, but most cars sold in the last thirty-or-so years will not have this problem.

latchkey 3y ago

I went to Mexico once, damaged the side of a brand new rental car (big huge dent in the side of the door from a close corner in an alley). Shockingly to me, the repairs (which they estimated and billed me for when I returned the car), were less than the insurance (that I didn't purchase).

rightbyte 3y ago
Sometimes you can just suck dents out with a, you know, the thing a plumber use in the sink or toilette. Then you repaint the edges of the dent if they are visible.
- latchkey 3y ago
  paint scratched + dent... there was a low cement staircase as I was going around a right hand corner of a small alley... didn't see it... whoops.

seabrookmx 3y ago

Underbody damage? On an ice vehicle smashing up the oil pan for instance. Anecdotally, the folks checking over the vehicle before taking it back also do quite a poor job and miss things. A friend of mine I was helping move put a solid dent in the box of a u-haul and they didn't even notice.

ghaff 3y ago
Yeah, it's usually a pretty cursory check. I've definitely had a number of scrapes over the years that weren't major but weren't totally trivial either and they've never been flagged. Right now I'm driving a rental that has some gouges in the paint up front that I had to make sure got added to my rental contract; presumably these were not identified after a prior rental.

ghaff 3y ago

It's probably more a cumulative thing. In the western US, for example, there are a lot of bad mountain/desert/etc. roads that are rough on a vehicle, especially basic street cars. I've never taken a rental on a road I wouldn't have taken my own car on but I'm sure I've caused more wear and tear than just driving a car down the highway.

UncleEntity 3y ago

> How can one fuck a rental car in a way it can be detected only days or weeks later? I used to run 'rental cars' (aka cabs) into the ground on a regular basis just because you're not making any money sitting around waiting on a wrecker. Plus, the company generally didn't fix the cars unless they were towed in, can't even count how many times I'd swap out of a car after telling them what's wrong with it and see a message the next morning about needing a passenger rescue on that car because the mechanics just sent it back out without even looking at it beyond "well, it starts and drives around the yard". The last cab company I worked for had an unofficial policy (on 'voucher' trips which were billed to insurance companies and whatnot) that if you got the passenger in the car you'd get paid for the trip so if you have a $100+ trip on your screen and the car can somehow limp to the pickup address then this what you do without worrying about what it'll do to the car... I didn't intentionally tear up the cars but after a while I learned what a Prius could take. No AC in the Arizona summer, straight back to the yard. Car makes a big thumping noise taking off from every stop, probably be OK for a day or two before finding a better car to swap into. Can't imagine rideshare drivers care any more about the cars than I ever did.

InvertedRhodium 3y ago

Using the incorrect octane fuel is one way, it’ll seriously shorten the engines lifetime but will probably take months to become obvious.

chriscappuccio 3y ago
Don't the cars just dial back ignition timing when they detect knock? Unless your car has no ability to dial back, maybe with a custom high-octane tune, regular fuel should still be safe to run.
compiler-guy 3y ago
With modern cars incorrect octane will decrease available power, as the knock detector reduces the spark's advance, but it won't otherwise hurt the engine. Low-octane gas will cause problems in older carbureted cars, but most cars sold in the last thirty-or-so years will not have this problem.