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I would imagine the difference would manifest itself in higher insurance rates. You can't just "write off more value" for free.

cyberax 3y ago
Hertz self-insures.
- throwaway_08932 3y ago
  And that's why it really Hertz them.
- paddy_m 3y ago
  One of the reasons large rental companies self insure is so that they can do repairs in house without listing cars as salvaged. They make it back on resale I think I read this from car dealership guy.
  - Scoundreller 3y ago
    That's (yet) another reason why I don't buy the insurance that covers incidents of my own fault for my beater. A crushed bumper will deem it salvage and the insurer will take it away but I could still drive it (and from a relative's experience, at much lower cost than the insurer would pay). But on a newer vehicle, it takes a lot of damage to get branded salvage. Also makes sense for Hertz to do it in-house as they'll have a somewhat standardized fleet. Can "borrow" a rear bumper from a vehicle in for more serious heavier-duty front-end repair to get at least 1 back in the fleet.
    - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
      > That's (yet) another reason why I don't buy the insurance that covers incidents of my own fault for my beater. Insurance companies still make you pay for everyone else's coverage. ref: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/05/auto-insurance-claims-disasters/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/05/auto-insu...
      - Scoundreller 3y ago
        Less so when you opt out of portions of it and self-insure. Not recommending anyone opt out of personal liability when that's an option.
- nicoburns 3y ago
  Oh, well in that case higher repair costs will hit them directly.
NickM 3y ago
Right but the part of the argument I quoted had nothing to do with repair costs: they were making the point that changes in FMV due to EV prices going down in general were forcing them to recognize bigger losses in salvage situations, since they have to re-value the car post-salvage based on current market prices. So in this case they are basically writing off more value “for free”, because the loss is coming from a genuine loss in value of the asset, but since the asset is a car that may still provide the same amount of value back to Hertz and still last the same amount of time, it’s sort of a weird corner case where you could argue they haven’t really lost anything. Of course that loss is offset by lower depreciation losses in the future, so it’s not like it’s coming out of nowhere.

cyberax 3y ago

Hertz self-insures.

throwaway_08932 3y ago
And that's why it really Hertz them.
paddy_m 3y ago
One of the reasons large rental companies self insure is so that they can do repairs in house without listing cars as salvaged. They make it back on resale I think I read this from car dealership guy.
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  That's (yet) another reason why I don't buy the insurance that covers incidents of my own fault for my beater. A crushed bumper will deem it salvage and the insurer will take it away but I could still drive it (and from a relative's experience, at much lower cost than the insurer would pay). But on a newer vehicle, it takes a lot of damage to get branded salvage. Also makes sense for Hertz to do it in-house as they'll have a somewhat standardized fleet. Can "borrow" a rear bumper from a vehicle in for more serious heavier-duty front-end repair to get at least 1 back in the fleet.
  - WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
    > That's (yet) another reason why I don't buy the insurance that covers incidents of my own fault for my beater. Insurance companies still make you pay for everyone else's coverage. ref: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/05/auto-insurance-claims-disasters/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/05/auto-insu...
    - Scoundreller 3y ago
      Less so when you opt out of portions of it and self-insure. Not recommending anyone opt out of personal liability when that's an option.
nicoburns 3y ago
Oh, well in that case higher repair costs will hit them directly.

NickM 3y ago

Right but the part of the argument I quoted had nothing to do with repair costs: they were making the point that changes in FMV due to EV prices going down in general were forcing them to recognize bigger losses in salvage situations, since they have to re-value the car post-salvage based on current market prices. So in this case they are basically writing off more value “for free”, because the loss is coming from a genuine loss in value of the asset, but since the asset is a car that may still provide the same amount of value back to Hertz and still last the same amount of time, it’s sort of a weird corner case where you could argue they haven’t really lost anything. Of course that loss is offset by lower depreciation losses in the future, so it’s not like it’s coming out of nowhere.