Around the Key Largo portion of my escape from Tropical Storm Fay, the belt squeal from the engine bay of our rented Dodge Caravan reached epic proportions. The van limped and shuddered into Homestead AFB for the night. The next day, we discovered that a rear tire was low, most likely due to a pothole impact. The spare was deflated as well. Thrifty roadside assistance routed us into rain-soaked Miami International, to exchange cars. As I unloaded the van (which held my luggage and about 300lbs of stuff to be delivered to Warner-Robbins AFB), I asked the porter queuing the cars if I could move it over to the far left to expedite unloading. "What?!? You want me to make a special concession for you?" I guess not. I tracked down several carts to haul everything. I was berated again for not moving the car further down to make more space (despite the ample opening in the six spaces beside me). As Monica emerged from the rental counter with keys in hand, the porter took off with the car, and the rest of our luggage, to the nether regions of the lot. Much arguing later on who takes priority– the customer exchanging a broken van, or the porter who wants his lane clear– we were off in a beige Caravan. The dirt-covered interior had boogers smeared on the dashboard, and it smelled bad. Like the previous Caravan, it also had been in a noticeable front-end accident. The things you learn from adversity…
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Back in March we had a very good experience with Alamo at Ft Lauderdale International.
We will continue to steer clear of Thrifty. Thanks for the warning.
On that note, you may want to upgrade to a Sienna next time (because Odyssey’s don’t exist on rental lots….and neither should Caravans).
I’m not sayin, I’m just sayin.
I will be one of the first in line to sing the praises of Chrysler’s craptastic offerings, however, what is the point of reviewing a rental car?
Unless the car has zero miles on it when you began your journey (which it may have) I just dont see how it is relevant. Shouldnt the mileage have been the first thing written, after all, 10K mile in a rental car may be the equivalent or more of 100K miles of wear and tear in the hands of a private owner. I thought you guys were all about full disclosure?
I bet I have rented 30-40 cars in my travels and unless you get one with very low miles, they are generally far from “Mint” condition. That included foreign and domestics, GM’s and Toyotas, and yes, lots of Chryslers.
On a side note. I have been to Key West on 3 occasions. Twice involved a car ride either to or from Key West from the mainland. My rental car of choice was the Chrysler Sebring (previous model), fantastic warm weather rental car for a beautiful top down drive through the Keys.
Aaa, the fond memories of going to Tampa to visit the grandparents every year. In what seemed like fate, we were always given a Dodge Dynasty, and as if having to live up to its name, every one we rented (3 or 4 total) had the serpentine belt that squealed like a stuck pig and would inevitably give out by the end of the trip. I heard it’s because of all the salt in the Florida air drying out the belts, the thing was still obviously hard on them. The cars had the ugliest monotone interiors, worse then my family’s Lincoln Town car (navy on navy, blechhh.), and the car itself was no beauty. Luckily, when I travel for work now, I keep getting G6’s which by comparison are a pleasure to drive. Not that I would ever buy one.
I always wondered why malaise era Fords had perpetual fan belt squeaks? So, why do other makes of vehicle not have perpetual serpentine belt problems in the salt-air? Why Cry-slur?
Probable answer: same problem Ford previously had – since belts are supplied by similar companies, it has to be the engineering of the car manufacturer at fault.
As for Thrifty, well…… thanks for the warning!
As for Cry-slur minivans, I already knew…. craptastic doesn’t even begin to describe them.
Holy Sh*t I would have torn both their f*cken heads off if that was me while on the phone with corperate trying to get their a$$es fired. Bad customer service really pisses me off, and if I’m not going to get good customer service your going to hear about it very loudly from me.
Sorry kind of irrate after riding back from lunch against the SUV murder squad.
Have you considered abandoning all your luggage and simply repurchasing it when you get to your destination?
It might, in the end, be less of a hassle.
gamper:
I will be one of the first in line to sing the praises of Chrysler’s craptastic offerings, however, what is the point of reviewing a rental car?
Isn’t it evident that title (‘Thrifty Sucks’) and content completely damn a rental company?
But then again, some cars makes and rental agencies do have cultural similarities. Which brings up a question: Do car manufacturers have any pull regarding how rental agencies may abuse their product / brand? Some people base future car purchases on rental experiences.
Or consider this: Let’s say some Thrifty manager had a line on a dozen or so off lease Audi A6’s. Methinks Audi Marketing would speed dial corporate’s ex-Navy Seal Legal Hit team to kill sue the Thrifty SOB’s right quick. But would Thrifty have a case? Can they rent any make/car they can buy?
Lessons learned:
Stick with Enterprise.
I will be one of the first in line to sing the praises of Chrysler’s craptastic offerings, however, what is the point of reviewing a rental car?
It’s a rant about the customer service, not so much about the type of car. Although a more reliable brand might have been better able to stand up to that sort of abuse.
@gamper: Story time. GM Plant Quality VP was on vacation in the northeast. Went to the rental counter and asked for a minivan. Guy handed him keys to a Sienna.
GM VP tells him: “Sorry, I work for GM, I only drive GM.”
Owner behind the counter tells him: “We had GM minivans but everyone complained too much because they kept falling apart on them. I sold all but one of them, for a substantial loss, and now only buy Sienna’s. No more complaints from customers.
“I do have one remaining GM minivan that I couldn’t sell. I drive it to and from work. If you want to rent that, you’re welcome to it.”
GM VP: “OK, we’ll take that.” He and his family then experienced GM rental hell week. When GM VP got back to work, he called a meeting for all plant employees.
GM VP: “We talk about quality. We claim to build quality. But I am here to tell you that we are lying to ourselves. This has to change or we will be out of business.”
True story. Happened at my dad’s plant, the Chevy plant in Cleveland, Ohio. The quality? Never changed. I doubt it ever will. Ch.7 here we come.
which held my luggage and about 300lbs of stuff to be delivered to Warner-Robbins AFB
If you are the one delivering the stuff I don’t envy you. You have along drive ahead in a less than impressive ride, you might have to trade out again before you even leave Florida. If you don’t get there in the dead of night there is a nice road side stand before you get to the exit of the base that has some amazing fruits and vegetables. It’s west on the exit that huge Peach orchard is on. Huge watermelons too for $4-5.
There is also a Taco John’s on the base, what I would give for some Super Taco Bravos right now and a handful of Churros.
netrun that story was so funny, sad that nothing changed though.
Thrifty is a really craptastic outfit. When I travel to south Florida, I fly into Ft. Lauderdale and rent from Royal. They are a local outfit, and always give me an upgrade. I usually reserve a compact, and those are always gone when I arrive. Therefore, I wind up with a Mustang drop top (auto/V-6). Nice car for the Keys, never a problem!!!!!
There are two parts to the story. Maybe some of you missed the first volume. Both are riddled with accounts of Chrysler’s poor quality. It just seems that reviewing a rental car is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Great Story about the rental GM minivan vs the Sienna. Although, I dont really find much useful information in such accounts as the only rentals that have ever broke down on me were a Fiat Punto and a Toyota Camry.
Rental cars suck period. People abuse them, they are not properly maintained. They are optionless rejects or unwanted surplus. All of them, even the Toyotas.
I’ve always had good luck with enterprise. Sorry, what a way to end a vacation.
One POS Caravan to another? Why not a different type of vehicle?
Lots of experience with Enterprise. They treated me well. Vehicles always in nice condition.
Whenever I think of rental cars I think back to 1975 and the Pinto I rented.
Always had wondered what happened when moving forward at 10 mph or so and tossing the auto tranny in reverse.
Well, car comes to a shuddering halt and engine dies.
Cool!!!!
Started right up but there was a definite difference in tranny operation.
Drove right back to the rental outlet and demanded a different vehicle. Got one with an aplogy for the problem with the first car.
Sent a brief note to corporate telling of the excellent service from that outlet and the manager’s good attitude.
Never had to try that experiment again. Now I know.
Sorry about your rental experience with Thrifty, hope you stay safe.
The booger-smeared dash probably makes for a softer, higher quality interior.
I’m just sayin.
That’s a shame about Thrifty. The Detroit airport office use to always upgrade me to a convertible in the summer for free. I always use Enterprise now because they are the only ones who even try to support general aviation airports.
I wish Thrifty was swallowed up by a giant black hole.
It’s called Thrifty, not Quality, for a reason…..
I can’t say I’ve ever had a bad experience at Enterprise, and usually it’s an excellent experience.
I gave up using anyone else, unless I’m somewhere they aren’t, and then I’ll go Hertz.
the porter took off with the car, and the rest of our luggage, to the nether regions of the lot
This happened to my mom at the Phoenix airport, and her luggage was stolen via this method. None of the employees would fess up to taking the car while she was trying to unload the trunk. The cops told her this happens all the time. She said that management just didn’t seem to care at all that their employees where stealing their customers’ luggage.