By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
Bob Silvy has a caution for travelers picking up and returning rental cars: Check the vehicle closely or you could be held liable for damage caused by others. Silvy, of Parkville, Mo., just ended a nearly six-month dispute with Thrifty Car Rental, which sent a letter requesting $700 for damage to a van he returned to the Atlanta airport in January — damage he says he had nothing to do with.

He says the van was returned undamaged but that Thrifty wouldn’t listen to his side of the story. His auto insurance company, Geico, stood behind him and refused to compensate Thrifty. When USA TODAY contacted Thrifty for comment last month, the rental company changed its position. It said that Silvy did not damage the vehicle and that it would refund $448.46 paid for the rental.

“What galls me is that Thrifty said it didn’t have to prove I caused the damage,” says Silvy, a vice president for publishing company American City Business Journals. “It made me think, ‘How many other people have been unfairly charged?’ ”

Many frequent car renters complain that, like Silvy, they’ve been charged for damage that didn’t happen during their rentals. But the burden of proof is on them to show otherwise, and some say the disputes can take months to resolve.

Car rental companies say such situations are rare, however. They say they can make mistakes. In the end, they say, more renters acknowledge damage than dispute it. “Ideally, car rental companies properly note and track all vehicle damage,” says Laura Bryant, a spokeswoman for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. “However, with millions of car rentals booked every week, it’s possible for our industry to sometimes miss things, particularly during a rush at the airport.”

Thrifty spokesman Chris Payne says proving who caused damage “can be tricky, and to the person renting the car, it may seem in many ways circumstantial.” But Thrifty’s rental agreement clearly states that renters are responsible for a vehicle while it is in their possession, he says.

“If the vehicle comes back with dings that weren’t documented prior to their taking it, they are responsible,” Payne says. “If they can convince us that the damage was pre-existing — and they often do — then we oftentimes drop it.”

That’s what happened to frequent business traveler John Oglesby of Centennial, Colo. Oglesby says he returned an Avis car with a scrape on it in Kansas City two years ago and was told he was responsible for the damage. Oglesby says he didn’t cause it, and Avis dropped the matter when he pointed to rust in the area that was scraped. “I think it is critical to avoid paying for old damage that is often not repaired between renters,” says Oglesby, vice president of a parking-lot company.

Howard Schmidt of Issaquah, Wash., says it took a week or two to eliminate a 411-euro damage charge (about $575) he was assessed five days after returning a Hertz car at the airport in Frankfurt in March. He says he inspected the car at the drop-off area, “and other than some dirt from the rain, there was absolutely no damage on the car.”

Proving it wasn’t you

Schmidt, CEO of a business information security company, requested that Hertz send photos of the damage. The photos showed a front-bumper scrape and were stamped with a time that was 13 hours after Schmidt returned the rental car.

Schmidt told Hertz that someone else must have caused the damage. “After a series of e-mails and phone calls, they finally reversed the charge,” he says.

Many car renters, though, are either in a vehicle when it is damaged or are aware of damage before a vehicle is returned. Oglesby, for example, says he was charged $3,500 by Hertz when his parked rental car was sideswiped in a Honolulu garage in 1999. He didn’t buy Hertz’s loss-damage waiver, so he had to pay $1,000 — the deductible portion of his personal auto insurance policy — and insurance paid the rest.

Damage to rental cars is infrequent, according to Hertz, the only car rental company that provided USA TODAY with statistics.

Last year, the company’s rental fleet was involved in 1.64 accidents per 1,000 rental days, spokeswoman Paula Rivera says. Each day a customer rents a vehicle is considered one rental day.

Enterprise, which also owns National and Alamo, doesn’t gather such statistics. There is much variance from location to location because of differences in geography and weather, spokeswoman Bryant says.

She says more vehicles are damaged in big cities, while Avis spokesman John Barrows says, “Winter rentals have a higher damage propensity.”

Silvy, the Thrifty renter wrongly accused last winter of being responsible for damage to a vehicle he returned to a big-city airport, says he wonders how many renters have been in the same situation.

“What concerns me is how often there is no inspection of the vehicle upon pickup or when it is dropped off,” he says. “This could happen to almost anyone.”

Have you had a bad experience with a rental car? Share your horror stories below.

TULSA, Okla., July 31, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Thrifty Car Rental, a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. , today announced the expansion of its existing relationship with Expedia, Inc. . Under the multi-year agreement, Thrifty Car Rental will join the Expedia(R) Preferred Rental Car Program on Expedia.com(R) and Expedia.ca(TM), where Expedia customers will continue to receive Thrifty’s best rates on car rentals.

By joining the Expedia Preferred Rental Car Program, Thrifty Car Rental can effectively expand its presence in the online environment and reach Expedia’s more than 22 million unique visitors per month. The agreement will provide Expedia customers with a full array of vehicles from the more than 1,000 Thrifty Car Rental locations in the U.S., Canada and around the world.

“Expedia is a premier online destination for consumers interested in a broad inventory of travel products at a great price,” said Charlie Coniglio, vice president of E-commerce and Global Distribution for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. “As a value brand servicing both leisure and business customers, Thrifty Car Rental is perfectly suited to satisfy the different needs of the Expedia customer.”

“Expedia welcomes Thrifty Car Rental to the Preferred Partner Program and looks forward to creating an unparalleled opportunity for Thrifty to reach a larger audience of travelers online than anywhere else,” said Lloyd Johnson, senior vice president, Transport & Tour, Expedia. “It is through strong business relationships like this partnership with Thrifty that Expedia is able to offer travelers the very best prices on an unmatched selection of travel products.”

About Expedia, Inc.

Expedia, Inc. is the world’s leading online travel company, empowering business and leisure travelers with the tools and information they need to easily research, plan, book and experience travel. Expedia, Inc. also provides in-destination concierge service and activity desks for travelers. The Expedia, Inc. portfolio of brands includes: Expedia.com(R), hotels.com(R), Hotwire(R), Egencia(TM) (formerly Expedia Corporate Travel), TripAdvisor(R), Expedia Local Expert(TM), Classic Vacations(R) and eLong(TM). Expedia, Inc.’s companies operate more than 60 global points of sale in more than 40 countries, with sites in North America, South America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Expedia, Inc. is a component of the S&P 500 index. For more information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/ .

About Thrifty Car Rental

Thrifty Car Rental is a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Together with its corporately-owned locations and those of its franchise owners, the Thrifty Car Rental brand serves value-conscious travelers from more than 1,028 locations in 68 countries. For more information, visit http://www.thrifty.com or http://www.dtag.com.

NEW YORK (Reuters) December 8, 2008 — Car rental chain Advantage Rent-A-Car filed for bankruptcy protection Monday and closed about 40% of its U.S. retail locations, citing a decline in the travel industry.

The company said it laid off 440 workers, or almost half its workforce.

Advantage said it will continue operating at its remaining locations during the bankruptcy, and is exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale or merger.

Rental car companies, like Advantage, Hertz Global Holdings and Avis Budget Group, have been hurt by the slowing economy as customers cut their discretionary spending on travel, translating to lower rentals.

“We have been hit with a simultaneous drop in leisure travel, with greatly increased costs, and frozen credit markets,” Advantage spokesman Jon Austin said in a statement Monday.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Texas | San Antonio | Avis Budget Group | Hertz Global Holdings

The company and 14 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Minnesota.

Advantage said it would immediately move to consolidate its retail network. The 21 locations it is closing would be open only for the return of vehicles and will not be renting additional vehicles. It also said it made arrangements with Hertz Car Rentals to honor nearly all of its pending reservations at locations it is closing.

In October, the company had said it ran about 50 U.S. locations and 36 affiliates internationally. It is privately held by Denny Hecker Family Ventures.

About 460 people are still employed at the company’s other locations and its corporate headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, it said.
Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited.

Slogan: Book Smart

Vehicle Types: Economy, Compact, Mid Size, Standard Size, Full Size, Premium, Luxury, SUV, Specialty, Mini Van, Van, Wagon, Convertible, Pickup, Special Luxury

Hybrids Available: Yes in limited markets Toyota Prius

Fleet Brands: Chevrolet,  Dodge, Chrysler, Ford, Jeep, Kia, Toyota, Suzuki, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, BMW, Renault, Volkswagon

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Canada, South America and more.

Locations: 647 Worldwide  USA Only Locations: 600+ includes Dollar Rental Cars

Background: Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Driven by the mission, “Value Every Time”, the Company’s brands, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental, serve value-conscious travelers in approximately 70 countries.

Dollar and Thrifty have over 1,650 corporate and franchised worldwide locations including about 740 in the United States and Canada. The Dollar or Thrifty brands operate in virtually all of the top U.S. airport markets; both brands operate in all of the top Canadian airport markets.

The Company’s 6,800 employees are located mainly in North America, but global service capabilities exist through an ever expanding international franchise network.

Thrifty Car Rental was founded in 1958. It became a public company in 1987 and in 1989 it was acquired by Chrysler, where in 1990 it was combined with Dollar Rent a Car. Thrifty Car Rental is one of the largest car rental companies currently in operation and is also one of the most widely recognized brands in the world.

Together with its corporately-owned locations and those of its franchise owners, the Thrifty Car Rental brand has more than 1,028 locations in 68 countries.

The Blue Chip Express Rental Program is Thrifty’s free program that expedites a customer’s rental process at most Thrifty Car Rental locations in the United States and Canada. The Blue Chip system is specialized for business travelers who need a quick pickup, but is also used for tourists and frequent local renters. The Blue Chip Rewards Program gives customers a free rental day at Thrifty after accumulating 16 rental days. visit Thrifty Car Rental

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Slogan: Rent a Car

Vehicle Types: Economy, Compact, Intermediate, Full Size, Premium, Luxury, Mini Van, Sport Utility, Crossover, Convertible

Hybrids Available: No but they do offer what they call “Green Vehicles”.

Fleet Brands: Toyota, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Audi, Volkswagon, Peugeot

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany… about 50 countries Worldwide.

Locations: 80+  USA Locations: 41

Background: Payless Car Rental, Inc. is a car rental company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. While mainly a franchise system, the company owns and operates several corporate locations. Payless Car Rental, Payless Car Sales, Payless Parking and REZlink International are sister companies under the umbrella of Avalon Global Group.

In 1971, Les Netterstron opened the first Payless Car Rental location in Spokane, Washington. Under the direction of Netterstron, the company grew from a local car rental store to a franchise system with over 100 car rental offices throughout the United States. By 1987 the company acquired the U.S. portion of Canadian based Holiday Rent a Car, at which time the company built its first automated central reservation system.[3]

The first Payless image was created in 1989, which has endured to the present day with only minor changes. Payless opened its first two corporate stores in 2002, adding 4 more between 2004 – 2006. The company currently has corporate locations in Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix and Tampa.[4] In March 2009 Payless Car Rental was added to the Expedia Preferred Vendors view. Payless also offers rates through travel portals such as Orbitz, Priceline, and Travelocity. visit Payless Car Rental

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Slogan: Reserve Your Rental Car Now

Vehicle Types: Economy, Compact, Mid Size, Mid Size Hybrid, Standard Size, Full Size, Premium, Luxury, Convertible, Mini Van, Compact SUV, SUV Crossover, Mid Size SUV, Standard SUV, Full Size SUV, Luxury SUV, Premium SUV

Hybrids Available: Yes in limited markets Toyota Prius,

Fleet Brands: Chevrolet, Toyota, Cadillac, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Kia,

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany… 75+ Worldwide

Locations: 6,100+ USA  (Includes Alamo, Enterprise, and National) Alamo Only Locations: 2,000+ Worldwide

Background: National Car Rental is a rental car company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. National was founded by 24 independent rental car agents on August 27, 1947. It has grown from 60 locations in the United States in 1947 to over 2000 locations worldwide as of 2005.

In 1996, National acquired the Canadian fleet and operations of Tilden Rent-a-Car.

National is owned by Vanguard Car Rental USA Inc., which also owns Alamo Rent a Car.

On August 1, 2007 Enterprise Rent-A-Car assumed control of Vanguard. It was purchased from Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.

Vanguard Automotive Group is a company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Vanguard purchased ANC Rental, owner of National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car. The company has a fleet of nearly 300,000 vehicles, mainly from Ford and Chrysler, and operates over 1,500 locations. [1] In 2007 Enterprise agreed to purchase a controlling share in the company from Cerberus Capital Management. [2] A sale to rival Enterprise Rent-A-Car was completed on Aug 1,2007, making the combined Enterprise-Alamo-National the largest US car rental operation, ahead of The Hertz Corporation, and rival Avis Budget Group. visit National Car Rental

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Slogan: There’s Hertz and There’s “Not Exactly”.

Vehicle Types: Green Collection, Fun Collection, Prestige Collection, Compact/Mid Size, Standard/Full Size, Premium/Luxury, SUV, Mini Van, Convertible

Hybrids Available: Yes in limited markets Ford Fusion, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata

Fleet Brands: Hyundai, Mazda, Chevrolet, Toyota, Ford, Lincoln, Nissan In addition “Collections” include Brands “Mustang”, “Corvette” , Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Merceds-Benz, Audi at certain locations.

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany… more than 150 Worldwide

Locations: 2,900 USA, 5,100 Worldwide

Background: The Hertz Corporation is the second largest general-use car rental company in the world, with 1,900 locations in the United States and 5,100 worldwide.

The company was begun by Walter L. Jacobs in 1918, who started a car rental operation in Chicago with a dozen Model Ts. In 1923, Jacobs sold it to John D. Hertz, president of Yellow Cab and Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company, who renamed it the “Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System”. The company has passed through a number of hands, including General Motors, RCA, and United Airlines. As a public company, Hertz was traded on the NYSE under the symbol HRZ until the purchase of outstanding stock by Ford Motor Company.

From 1994–2005, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. On June 13, 2005, Ford issued a notice that Hertz would be spun off in an initial public offering. On September 13, 2005 it was announced it was to be sold to a private equity group (composed of Clayton Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity) for $5.6 billion in cash and debt acquisition. The sale was completed on December 22, 2005.

This private equity group took Hertz public on November 16, 2006 and is now available on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘HTZ’.

Despite its past affiliation with Ford, the rental fleet of most Hertz locations no longer consists exclusively of Fords and Ford brands such as Mazda, Volvo, Mercury and Lincoln. It is not uncommon to find Hertz rental cars from non-Ford companies such as Toyota, Hyundai, Kia and General Motors. visit Hertz Car Rental

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Slogan: Welcome to Dollar

Vehicle Types: Economy, Compact, Mid Size, Mid Size Specialty, Full Size, Premium, Luxury, Mid Size Convertible, Standard Convertible, Mini Van, Mid Size SUV, Standard SUV, Mid Size Open Air All Terrain, Premium SUV

Hybrids Available: Yes in limited markets Ford Escape, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry

Fleet Brands: Chevrolet, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, UAE, Germany, Canada, Europe, South America – 53 countries Worldwide.

Locations: 647 Worldwide  USA Only Locations: 600+ includes Thrifty Rental Cars

Background: Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Driven by the mission, “Value Every Time”, the Company’s brands, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental, serve value-conscious travelers in approximately 70 countries.

Dollar and Thrifty have over 1,650 corporate and franchised worldwide locations including about 740 in the United States and Canada. The Dollar or Thrifty brands operate in virtually all of the top U.S. airport markets; both brands operate in all of the top Canadian airport markets.

The Company’s 6,800 employees are located mainly in North America, but global service capabilities exist through an ever expanding international franchise network.

Dollar Rent a Car was founded in 1965 by Henry Caruso in Los Angeles, California. In 1990 it was acquired by Chrysler. Dollar has more than 647 worldwide locations in 53 countries, with a significant presence in Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, including more than 358 in the United States and Canada. Combined with Thrifty Car Rental in 1990. visit Dollar Rent a Car

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Slogan: Rent a car in just 60 seconds

Vehicle Types: Economy, Compact, Intermediate, Standard, Full Size, Premium, Luxury, Minivan, Small SUV, Sport Utility, Large SUV, Pickup Truck, Large Pickup, Cargo Van. Budget also has their “Budget Truck” line of Truck rentals for moving and commercial use.

Hybrids Available: Yes in limited markets Ford Escape, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry

Fleet Brands: Chevrolet, Nissan, Cadillac, Dodge, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, GMC Trucks

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany 150+ others

Locations: 7,000+ including Avis Locations  USA Only Locations: 1,000+

Background: About Avis Budget Group, Inc.

Avis Budget Group operates two of the most recognized brands in the global vehicle rental industry through Avis and Budget. Avis is a leading rental car supplier to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry and Budget is a leading rental car supplier to the price-conscious segments of the industry. We believe we are the largest general-use vehicle rental operator in each of North America, Australia, New Zealand and certain other regions we serve, based on published airport statistics. Avis Budget Group maintains the leading share of airport car rental revenue and operates one of the leading consumer truck rental businesses in the United States.

Our car rental operations generate significant benefits from operating two distinct brands that target different industry segments but share the same fleet, maintenance facilities, systems, technology and administrative infrastructure. We believe that Avis and Budget both enjoy complementary demand patterns with weekday commercial demand balanced by weekend leisure demand.

Our operations have an extended international reach that includes approximately 7,000 car and truck rental locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Asia. On average, our rental fleet totaled more than 424,000 vehicles, and we completed more than 27 million vehicle rental transactions worldwide in 2008.

For the year ended December 31, 2008, our vehicle rental operations generated revenues of approximately $6.0 billion. The Avis, Budget and Budget Truck brands accounted for approximately 62%, 32% and 6% of our vehicle rental revenue, respectively, in 2008. Domestically, in 2008 we derived approximately 80% of our nearly $4.7 billion in car rental revenue from on-airport locations and approximately 20% of our domestic car rental revenue from off-airport locations, which we refer to as our local business.

We rent our fleet of approximately 29,700 Budget trucks through a network of approximately 2,500 dealer-operated, 300 company-operated and 75 franchisee-operated locations throughout the continental United States. We also license the use of the Avis and Budget trademarks to multiple licensees in areas in which we do not operate. The Avis and/or Budget vehicle rental systems in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia are operated at approximately 3,800 locations by subsidiaries and sub-licensees of an independent third party primarily under royalty-free trademark license agreements. visit Budget Car Rental

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Slogan: Avis. We try harder.

Vehicle Types: Subcompact, Compact, Intermediate, Standard Size, Full Size, Specialty, Specialty Hybrid, Specialty Convertible,  Pickup, Cargo Van, Passenger Van, Standard SUV, Mini Van, Intermediate SUV, Standard SUV, Premium SUV

Hybrids Available: Yes in limited markets Ford Escape, Toyota Prius

Fleet Brands: Chevrolet, Ford, Cadillac, Toyota, Infiniti, Jeep, Hummer, Volkswagon, Mitsubishi

Countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany plus another 150+ countries.

Locations: 7,000+ including Budget Locations  USA Only Locations: 1,280+

Background: About Avis Budget Group, Inc.

Avis Budget Group operates two of the most recognized brands in the global vehicle rental industry through Avis and Budget. Avis is a leading rental car supplier to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry and Budget is a leading rental car supplier to the price-conscious segments of the industry. We believe we are the largest general-use vehicle rental operator in each of North America, Australia, New Zealand and certain other regions we serve, based on published airport statistics. Avis Budget Group maintains the leading share of airport car rental revenue and operates one of the leading consumer truck rental businesses in the United States.

Our car rental operations generate significant benefits from operating two distinct brands that target different industry segments but share the same fleet, maintenance facilities, systems, technology and administrative infrastructure. We believe that Avis and Budget both enjoy complementary demand patterns with weekday commercial demand balanced by weekend leisure demand.

Our operations have an extended international reach that includes approximately 7,000 car and truck rental locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Asia. On average, our rental fleet totaled more than 424,000 vehicles, and we completed more than 27 million vehicle rental transactions worldwide in 2008.

For the year ended December 31, 2008, our vehicle rental operations generated revenues of approximately $6.0 billion. The Avis, Budget and Budget Truck brands accounted for approximately 62%, 32% and 6% of our vehicle rental revenue, respectively, in 2008. Domestically, in 2008 we derived approximately 80% of our nearly $4.7 billion in car rental revenue from on-airport locations and approximately 20% of our domestic car rental revenue from off-airport locations, which we refer to as our local business.

We rent our fleet of approximately 29,700 Budget trucks through a network of approximately 2,500 dealer-operated, 300 company-operated and 75 franchisee-operated locations throughout the continental United States. We also license the use of the Avis and Budget trademarks to multiple licensees in areas in which we do not operate. The Avis and/or Budget vehicle rental systems in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia are operated at approximately 3,800 locations by subsidiaries and sub-licensees of an independent third party primarily under royalty-free trademark license agreements. visit Avis Car Rental

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