Expired sticker shock

Next time you rent a car, take a closer look at the license plate. Is the registration sticker current? If not, be sure you ask for a different car — or at least a new sticker.

Lila Davis wishes she had. She recently rented a car from Thrifty in Burlington, Vt., and her license got her into some trouble.

A day after picking up her rental, she noticed that her plate was about to expire. “I decided to drive to Thrifty to get a new sticker or exchange cars,” she told me. “Less than one block from Thrifty, the police motioned me over.”

Fortunately, Davis was able to talk her way out of a ticket.

The Thrifty employees “seemed surprised that it bothered me to have a car with an expired license,” she said. She was sent to another building with an employee to get a sticker.

It turns out the car rental company didn’t have any new stickers yet, so it offered Davis another car.

“While waiting for the replacement car to be brought, I noted four other cars on the lot with stickers expired — one as long ago as April 30. A new customer was brought his car while I waited and the registration on it also was expired.”

Even the sticker on the shuttle van had expired.

Davis said it had never occurred to her to check the plate on a rental car. But now she will.

That’s good advice for anyone renting a car.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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