Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 2 - The Rental Car and its Company

For our trip to Livonia, we decided to rent a car. We often do this to save the miles on our own vehicles. The cost of renting a car as compared to the wear and tear on our cars is a no-brainer for us. This trip would result in over 1,000 miles in just three days. At $150.00 for the weekend, that's just $0.15 per mile. Plus, renting a vehicle gives us the opportunity to check out potential replacements for our Subaru next summer. Our Subaru is 10 years old and has over 170K. We plan on replacing it when the Honda is paid off in June of 2010. Renting a car also gives you piece of mind about having your car break down in an unfamiliar place.

For this trip, we planned to stop by the Step 2 factory store and buy James a wagon. That would require a larger vehicle, so we decided to rent a small SUV. We figured the small SUV would sit a little different than a car and should therefore be a little more comfortable. SUVs, even the smaller ones, run much more expensive than the mid-size cars we typically rent, but we found one at Dollar Rent A Car for less than $40 day. With taxes, that came to just over $150 for the weekend. I had rented from Dollar on other occasions and didn't have any major problems (their cars tend to have more "dings" and "scratchers" than other rental companies), so we decided to book the SUV.

I arrived an hour early to pick up the SUV and I was given the a brand new 2009 Ford Escape. It only had 641 total miles on it. Having rented several "damaged" and "wrecked" cars from Dollar in the past, this was a pleasant surprise. As the rental agent completed the paperwork and handed me the agreement, I noticed the price was not the same as the reservation estimate. I asked the agent about it and he explained that he did not change the return time even though I picked up an hour earlier. I was charged $10.00 plus taxes for the additional hour. He assured me that as long as I returned by 6 PM on Sunday, the additional hour would not be charged. If you know anything about renting cars, especially at an airport, you know that the taxes are based on the total. The taxes on the $10.00 charge for the additional hour amounted to over $7.00! This was partially because the extra hour would put me into the next 24 hour interval and thus I was charged an extra $2.00/per day for each of the PA state rental car tax and the local Allegheny County rental car tax. In addition to state sales tax, their is now an "Energy Recovery Fee" which is a percentage of the total and the usual "Concession Recovery Fee", also a percentage of the total.

As I walked away from the counter I verified that Lori, my spouse, would be allowed to drive. No, with Dollar Rent A Car, spouses are considered an additional driver. Another $10.00 PER DAY plus taxes! I would either be driving the whole trip, or we would have to stop by the next morning to add Lori as an additional driver. Since she had dropped me off and continued on to her parents house, I did not have her driver's license and she wouldn't be able to sign the paperwork. When I told Lori about it, she opted to stop by on Friday on our way out of town an be added as an additional driver. The SUV would now be more expensive than the same vehicle at Avis, where spouses are allowed to drive without the additional driver fee. Now I know why they car it Dollar Rent A Car. They don't nickle and dime you to death with fees, they DOLLAR you to death with them.

The SUV we were given was a 2009 Ford Escape and right away I could tell that we would be pleased with the space. It was fully loaded with satellite radio, a sunroof, and leather seats. It was also much more functional than similar GM vehicles that we had driven. Despite all of these positives, we will not be buying a Ford Escape - sorry, Escape owners. The two biggest issues with the Escape are the gas mileage and the ride. I refuse to own a vehicle that costs $60 to fill the tank and that gets less mileage from a larger tank of gas than our current cars get from smaller tanks. Even as old as our Subaru is, we can still get 400 miles to a tank of gas. The Escape - about 350 miles, and the Escape's gas tank is larger than our Subaru's. If gas mileage weren't an issue, the ride definitely was. The Escape rode like a truck. Not a pickup truck - an actual truck with the big white box on the back. It was probably the worst riding vehicle we have driven. Unlike other small SUVs that are built on car chasises offering a smoother ride, the Escape is built on a chasis designed specifically for it. Additionally, the Escape has a major blind spot in the right rear. Twice, I almost took out a car when changing lanes because I could not see the other vehicle. Other minor nuisances included the console between the front seats being too bulky and hard to get into and out of when sitting in the front seat and the coat hooks in the back seats that could only hold a single coat hanger. If you have three dress shirts to hang up, you're out of luck.

Lori said that I had to say something nice for every negative, so here are the positives. Dollar Rent A Car has great customer service (at least those at the Pittsburgh Airport) and the Ford Escape seems to be very well built with a high standard of quality.