Editorial: Turn the rental fleets into a PR opportunity

I think you hit it on the head at the end of your article. The changes you suggest would be more costly in the short-term, but likely to pay off in the long-term. I don’t know who the major stock holders of GM are, but if they are investing for short-term gains your strategy will not fly.

The company I work for (not automotive) was recently taken private. This has allowed the new management to adopt more of a long-term strategy which was not always in line with our previous stockholders short-term interests.

Too true…too true. A rental could be like an extended test drive. Salesmen talk about the “puppy-dog close” where once the car is driven home the customer will want to keep it. Seems like the domestics are missing a great opportunity for thousands of these.

I completely agree. If buying a Toyota, my recommendations are the RAV4, solara, and, my personal favorite, the avalon. The sienna is nice too, but very expensive! the base price for a sienna XLE Limited AWD in Canada is 51,000! I mean, whoever heard of a minivan that’s half of 100,000?!

A few years ago we dropped my wife’s Acura TL off for some overnight service. The dealer supplied replacement car was through a rental car company.

They brought an Impala to the Acura dealer for us to drive. I asked about switching it for a Honda. The rental guy told me that their arrangement with Acura was to supply only American cars to Acura customers so people would be reminded why they bought an Acure

There are ways to look at this issue.

First, most of us are cheap. We are paying enough for our vacation and simply want basic (read “cheap”)transportation. We don’t want to pay more for a better model.

The alternative view is that it’s a missed opportuntity. If (and that’s a big IF) you can rent something of interest to you, it’s worth paying more. I recently had a contract to rent a ‘compact’ car but was offered a new Altima. Guess what I did. After using the Altima for a week I knew it’s strengths and weaknesses well. Now it’s at the top of my list for my next car.

Rental cars are bare bones models of cars I would rarely consider purchasing. I am currently renting a saturn as I drive around Lafayette La. In rencent months it has been a chevy cobalt, Pontiac G6, Ford Mustang(6cyl), Hyundai (4 door something). When I get back to Atlanta each weekend and pick up my car at the park and ride something happens. I actually miss my car. I am happy to be behind the wheel. I have to admit I have told it so on more than one occasion as as I role away. Rental cars are a constant reminder of why I was willing to pony up the money for a Lexus. However, if Budget or Hertz began to have fleets of Audi, Merc, Infiniti, BMW, I might not be so loving upon my return. My car might get jelous as I begin to silently wonder about the trade in value as I drive away. I have to admitt it probably saves me money both during the rental and my satisfaction with my current ride to drive crappy domestics and korean trash. It is also fun to not slow down for speed bumbs. Might feel guilty doing that in something nice.

You’ve really struck on something here. I am a frequent traveler, and one of the main reasons I have NEVER considered buying GM is the low standards of the many rental units I drive. Just this week I drove a rental fleet version of the Malibu (rental fleets always get an extra year of last year’s model) so all the exciting things I’ve read about the new version were lost on me, the rental Malibu I got was a throwback to the 80s GM: Underpowered, ridiculous lack of even basic amenities, and an interior that reminds me of institutional design at its worst!). No matter how much lipstick you put on that pig I would never even think of owning any derivative of it. My wife is due for a new vehicle this month, and we’ll be a the Japanese or German lots once again. The “Big 3″ need to think: Most frequent travelers have above average income, and thus are the coveted demographic they want. Drop a few of the TV ads and invest in underwriting the rental fleets, you’ll be glad you did!

The domestics have lost an entire generation of buyers. Auto rentals are a unique way of having those who would never consider a domestic car purchase (my next-door neighbor refuses to even test drive a domestic)to experience what they have to offer. If I were a CEO I would substitute my top-top-top of the line for every rental out there of my product. Not just a nice Malibu, for example, but the LTZ and make sure it’s absolutely loaded. Ask not a penny more from the rental company. Get those renters into the BEST you have to offer. If that doesn’t sell them; nothing will. Right on Aaron!

Thinking about the rentals I’ve had in the past two years. My company requires that we rent a “full size” from Hertz. Maybe its because I’ve rented so often from them, but I seem to get some nice free upgrades from the standard Impala or Tarus. (Actually, I’ve specifically told them to give me something smaller if they have to, but not another Tarus.) I’ve spent a week with a Milan, Lucerne, Escape, Mustang, Mazda5 and just this week a Tarus X SEL with leather. In fact, I’ve noticed they tend to put the fancy cars right by the spot where you walk out of the office to pick up your rental. Maybe they just need to make them more available to the everyday renter to get the word out.

It is great to know that so many others feel the same about Aaron’s editorial on the chintzy cars in the rental fleets. I have felt this way for a long time.

One part of this issue was not discussed. These rental fleet cars end up in the used car pool. When I was manager of my companies auto fleet, we used to buy cars in the “program car fleet.” It was a struggle to find cars that were nicely equipped.

It seems like it would be a good thing for car buyers if the pool of rental(program) cars were top of the line, well equipped cars. This is especially true when it comes to convertibles. Who wants a convertible that has cheap interiors, and feel popular options. What is unknown, how does the concept affect new cars sales?

Recently I rented three different low end rental cars and none of them had Cruise Control! This seems absurd. Just about all driving involves freeway driving, even if it is within the city. Rental fleets and automakers need to wake up and put their customers first.l

I couldnt agree more with this article. There is somerthing really odd about GM/Ford cloth front buckets, they are soft, and have NO support whatsoever. Their base cars are garbage in most cases, so how can I even consider paying for a higher line in the same model when the base was so terrible.

Look at cars like the Accord, the Camry, even their base models, while lacking niceties, still perform relatively well and have a level of quality that even the higher lines of the rental cars struggle to reach.

I recently drove in a new loaded malibu, very nice, not what you would expect after driving one of the rentals, but I just cant seem to get that out of my mind (they are the same car…)

I AGREE. I have been “thinking” about buying a car for over a year now. I’m pretty tight with my hard-earned cash. I want to make sure that I’m going to get a car that I love and that will be right for me. And so in the meantime I have been renting cars, usually once or twice a month to run errands and visit family. Each time I ask for a different model. I have even gone so far as to call different rental locations to find a specific model. Renting a car is, in my opinion, the very best way to test drive a car. There’s no sales pressure, no sales person, you get to drive it for a few days, you can carry groceries or kids, see how it fits in your driveway, and all those things you cannot do with a dealership car. There’s a very, very short list of cars that I will have to test drive for which I simply cannot find a rental. And that thought scares me. Scares me. And attempting to sell to a scared person puts everyone in a bad position. So what would MY SOLUTION be? Hahaha. Well, I will tell you. Create a car rental company that has one of every car! Wouldn’t that be fun!? (Oh and if you steal my idea, just let me come work for you!)