No coverage for rental car flat tire

[mystang52]

Rather than do thread creep I thought I'd start a new thread. In my 40+ .
years of renting cars, last May I got my 2nd flat tire. Not related to this thread but I got yhe charge removed, ultimately. However, it's now clear in car rental agreements that flat tires are not covered, and my AMEX card collision damage waiver likewise excludes coverage for flat tires.
My next rental, end of September offers coverage for something like $6 a day. I'll take my chances. But this now seems to be the latest revenue source for rental companies.

 

[freedomatlast]

On my last flat on a rental car, put the spare tire on, drove to the nearest WalMart, bought a can of Fix-A-Flat, put the regular tire back on, put in the Fix-A Flat, all done at a cost of about $4.00. If that didn't work, I would have gone back in and bought a plug kit and used that to fix it. This works well as long as the puncture isn't in the sidewall of the tire.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Rather than do thread creep I thought I'd start a new thread. In my 40+ .
years of renting cars, last May I got my 2nd flat tire. Not related to this thread but I got yhe charge removed, ultimately. However, it's now clear in car rental agreements that flat tires are not covered, and my AMEX card collision damage waiver likewise excludes coverage for flat tires.
My next rental, end of September offers coverage for something like $6 a day. I'll take my chances. But this now seems to be the latest revenue source for rental companies.

Priced at $6 a day, that does seem to be a great revenue generator, given the odds of getting a flat tire. Even considering towing charges and wheel damages.

 

[RE2Boys]

I've only ever had one flat on a rental vehicles, about 5 years ago on a 100 degree day in Arizona. Since a AAA member, had them come out and change the flat using the spare tire. Called the rental car company concerning repair/replacement policy and found out that they didn't care what I did, on my own. The next town had a Wal-Mart and I purchased the cheapest tire in the appropriate size (I think it was all of $56) and proceeded on my two week vacation. Put almost 2K miles on the car. It was a tire I would not have chosen for my personal vehicles, but the owner of the vehicle didn't care, so I only cared about the next two weeks. It was a generic Japanese sedan.

 

[tulak]

I had two tires replaced on my last rental that I replaced out of pocket for $280. The rental car company wouldn’t reimburse me. I rented the car using my Chase Sapphire Reserve CC, which provides primary insurance for rentals and covers flat tires. I submitted a claim with them and was reimbursed in about a week.

One of the reasons I have this card is for the primary rental car insurance. It’s not a cheap card ($550/year), but this year it easily paid for itself.

I believe their Preferred card offers the same benefit and they’re offering a 100k bonus points right now. That card is $95/year. There’s another thread on the forum discussing the Sapphire CC.

Edit to add: the cost for me could have been much higher. I got a deal on one of the tires for ~$60 with installation. Otherwise it would have been over $400 for both the tires. Happy I didn’t have to pay that!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

It's pretty common now for rental car companies to not offer ANY road side assistance *unless* you pay extra. I think they have taken a hint from the airlines and have embraced ala carte pricing for services.

 

[Arizona1]

I’ve seen this on rentals the last few years. I was renting a car in Cali that had enough miles that the tires were pretty worn. I asked for a car with better tires since I was responsible for their performance.

 

[nwsteve]

Guess I will have to be sure I have a quarter in my pocket to check tread depth before leaving on next car rental.
We had a blow out on a rental car in France a few years ago and French law required all four tires to be replaced. Even though tires were near bald, costs were on me. Fortunately found a set four used take-offs, we got for $50 ea. Won't leave rental lot anymore without checking tread--just like you now have take pics so they don't ding you for some dent someone else did.

 

[tulak]

+1 on checking tread before leaving the lot.

I always checked for car damage, but not the tires. One of the tires I replaced had almost no tread left and shouldn’t have been rented to me in that condition. My bad for not checking before I left the lot. Lesson learned.

 

[RetMD21]

I have rented dozens of cars (not hundreds like some of you) and this has never occurred to me. Anyway not working has reduce my need to rent cars dramatically.

 

[ncbill]

Guess I will have to be sure I have a quarter in my pocket to check tread depth before leaving on next car rental.
We had a blow out on a rental car in France a few years ago and French law required all four tires to be replaced. Even though tires were near bald, costs were on me. Fortunately found a set four used take-offs, we got for $50 ea. Won't leave rental lot anymore without checking tread--just like you now have take pics so they don't ding you for some dent someone else did.

Tip: use a quarter, not penny (USA) to gauge tire tread depth:

https://www.discounttire.com/learn/tire-tread-depth

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3682871&page=1

 

[CardsFan]

Tip: use a quarter, not penny (USA) to gauge tire tread depth:

https://www.discounttire.com/learn/tire-tread-depth

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3682871&page=1

Well, who the heck has a penny in their pocket any more? But always have my Aldi's quarter in the car.

 

[audreyh1]

I would have called AAA and gotten them to come fix the tire.

Usually rental cars are so low mileage that tire wear isn’t an issue.

 

[tulak]

Usually rental cars are so low mileage that tire wear isn’t an issue.

That’s what I thought. A newer Volvo, about 12k miles. I’m guessing a prior renter got a flat and replaced it with a cheap used tire without telling the rental car agency. And I was unlucky to have an issue during my rental.

 

[ERD50]

That’s what I thought. A newer Volvo, about 12k miles. I’m guessing a prior renter got a flat and replaced it with a cheap used tire without telling the rental car agency. And I was unlucky to have an issue during my rental.

I see what you did there!


-ERD50

 

[pb4uski]

I've only ever had one flat on a rental vehicles, about 5 years ago on a 100 degree day in Arizona. Since a AAA member, had them come out and change the flat using the spare tire. Called the rental car company concerning repair/replacement policy and found out that they didn't care what I did, on my own. The next town had a Wal-Mart and I purchased the cheapest tire in the appropriate size (I think it was all of $56) and proceeded on my two week vacation. Put almost 2K miles on the car. It was a tire I would not have chosen for my personal vehicles, but the owner of the vehicle didn't care, so I only cared about the next two weeks. It was a generic Japanese sedan.

That’s what I thought. A newer Volvo, about 12k miles. I’m guessing a prior renter got a flat and replaced it with a cheap used tire without telling the rental car agency. And I was unlucky to have an issue during my rental.

I think RE2Boys meant generic Swedish sedan.

 

[wolf]

Interesting topic. Never heard of this. Seems hard to believe. Customer gets flat.
Installs new tire at Customer expense. And Rental car company not concerned.

So many things could go wrong. Replacement tire, does not match existing tires.
ie. M/S, all terrain, etc.....That could affect the handling of the rental car, for the
next customer.....

Seems, to avoid potential liability the rental company, would insist, all tire replacements
be approved by the rental company.

 

[fh2000]

I had two tires replaced on my last rental that I replaced out of pocket for $280. The rental car company wouldn’t reimburse me. I rented the car using my Chase Sapphire Reserve CC, which provides primary insurance for rentals and covers flat tires. I submitted a claim with them and was reimbursed in about a week.

One of the reasons I have this card is for the primary rental car insurance. It’s not a cheap card ($550/year), but this year it easily paid for itself.

I believe their Preferred card offers the same benefit and they’re offering a 100k bonus points right now. That card is $95/year. There’s another thread on the forum discussing the Sapphire CC.

Edit to add: the cost for me could have been much higher. I got a deal on one of the tires for ~$60 with installation. Otherwise it would have been over $400 for both the tires. Happy I didn’t have to pay that!

I also have this card. I believe it provides roadside service including a flat tire so I would just call Chase if I have a flat tire. I have never used their roadside service so not sure how responsive they are.

 

[tulak]

I also have this card. I believe it provides roadside service including a flat tire so I would just call Chase if I have a flat tire. I have never used their roadside service so not sure how responsive they are.

I used roadside service many years ago. I don’t remember if it was this card, but it was a credit card. If I remember correctly, there’s a network of roadside service companies that are contracted, in my case a tow company, that come out to assist you.

In the case of my last rental, fortunately both tires I replaced only had a slow leak, so I was able to drive it to a tire shop. If not, I would
have used the credit card roadside service.

 

[Koolau]

It's pretty common now for rental car companies to not offer ANY road side assistance *unless* you pay extra. I think they have taken a hint from the airlines and have embraced ala carte pricing for services.

Yeah, it's kinda sad. I recall when the rental car companies attempted to distinguish themselves and attempt to establish loyalty among customers. Now, just like the airlines, they realize they are selling a commodity. Any "trick" they can pull to make an extra buck, they'll shamelessly adopt. There is virtually no loyalty any more among such companies. I don't even know why they advertise. Come to think of it, I don't see a lot of commercials for car rentals any more. Maybe they have no cars. Come to think of it, I guess they don't. Never mind as YMMV.

 

[tulak]

But isn’t this driven by consumers?

People price shop to find the cheapest deals, for both car rentals and plane tickets. Companies need to make money somewhere, so they offer less options at a lower price and you pay extra for upgrades. I don’t have any problems with this model. It saves money and I can choose what I want.

 

[Koolau]

But isn’t this driven by consumers?

People price shop to find the cheapest deals, for both car rentals and plane tickets. Companies need to make money somewhere, so they offer less options at a lower price and you pay extra for upgrades. I don’t have any problems with this model. It saves money and I can choose what I want.

Yeah, I have to agree that ultimately, it IS our own fault. Department stores - with actual sales people to "help" you are long gone. Dressing up to fly someplace is long gone (Jammies are now common - yuk!). Most things are now price rather than service driven.

I like the low prices, but my "relationship" with providers is now more "adversarial" than cooperative. I feel like they are out to figure a way to take every nickel from me, so I only use their services if there is no other way. For instance, I have to fly to get to the mainland. But once here, I drive or I don't go. Subjecting myself to the airlines "voluntarily" is something I'm not yet prepared to do. If they ever complete "the bridge" I'll stop flying altogether. Oh, and I'll drive my own car. YMMV

 

[ohyes]

Last year, a tire indicator light lit up in our Enterprise rental while on vacation in FL. We drove to closest Enterprise location in Ft Walton Beach and were directed to a tire dealer a mile away. The manager there told us they replace Enterprise tires allllll the time. The tire incident took a couple hours out of our vacation fun.

When we returned the rental car to our hometown Enterprise location, the employee who checked us in took $100 off our rental charges. We were happy with that. All was forgiven and we have stayed with Enterprise.

This flat tire/rental car company post got my attention.

 

[Koolau]

ca. 1987, rented a car in Seattle. Got almost to Portland en route to San Diego. New car w/6000 miles simply refused to go into gear. Called rental co. at 10:00PM. They said leave keys in dead car and it would be replaced while we slept. Sure enough, replacement car was in the same stall that the dead car had occupied.

Replacement car had 67K on the od! It was a year old and looked like it had been ridden hard and put away wet - many times. But it ran. First night, noticed one side headlights were out. Co. authorized $25 to replace. Unfortunately, it was an '86 which meant it had dual headlights and both were out. So, had the guys replace the low beam light since we didn't plan much night driving. It would be drivable - but not strictly legal.

Next day, the "bad brakes" indicator started to squeal. Co. would not replace brakes, so I pulled the wheel and bent the "squealer" away from the rotor. I'm sure when they DID replace the brakes, they had to replace the rotor as well.

All this was completed by day 3 of 12 days. Upon arrival in SDCA, we'd put 1400 miles on the car though only authorized to use 700 miles (otherwise, so much per mile charges to be added - we expected to pay the extra and budgeted for it.) Upon turning in the car, the guy was puzzled by the paperwork involved due to the car-exchange. He forgot to add the mileage charge. I didn't correct him. I figured the rental co. owed me for the 6 hours of wasted time their cars had cost me.

All this was back in the "good old days" when companies were actually competing on the basis of loyalty due to good cars/good service. Now - I test drive a rental around the lot before taking it, Try the lights, heat, AC, look at the tires, take pics of any damage, etc. etc. It's a new world. YMMV

 

[VanWinkle]

Priced at $6 a day, that does seem to be a great revenue generator, given the odds of getting a flat tire. Even considering towing charges and wheel damages.

6 dollars a day on a 150 dollar tire is like spending 450.00 per day to
insure a 10,000 dollar car. Seems like a pretty good revenue generator
to me!!

VW