Comments on: Smaller is better: Alamo officially “reclassifies” its cars under new ownership

By: movingtruckrental

movingtruckrental — Fri, 13 May 2011 11:45:00 +0000

be wise in choosing your car rental, van rental and your moving truck rental. thanks for sharing.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:24:41 +0000

I don’t think you will have to worry about the Pontiac g5 anymore. Pontiac is gone. GM sent Pontiac to the great beyond along with Oldsmobile, Saturn and Hummer. Lots of people rented Pontiacs and spoke well of them as rentals, but very few people ever bought them. That’s why they were a staple of rental fleets for at least two decades.

By: james

james — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:24:59 +0000

This pi$$ed me off. A compact in the past always meant I would have keyless entry. I paid for a compact and they gave my wife a Hyudai Accent at the Enterprise at John Wayne Airport (SNA) Orange County, CA. Budget, Hertz and Thrifty consider the Accent economy and they salesman introduced it as economy. Always trying to up sell, well I already paid. Give me what I paid for.

By: Ron Dolton

Ron Dolton — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:27:36 +0000

Alamo/Enterprise are not alone.The last 2 rentals from Hertz were prepaids for a fullsize(Chevvy Impala or similiar).On both occasions I have been given a Chevvy Malibu.Now the car guide at the renting desk shows the Malibu as a Standard car.But no amount of pleading got a change.And I am a Hertz No1 gold card holder.A complaint to Hertz afterwards got the response-the Malibu is now considered a full size vehicle.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:56:32 +0000

The EPA already has standards for vehicle sizes, which IMHO the rental car companies should follow.

EPA recognizes the following categories:
Two Seater
Minicompact
Subcompact
Compact
Midsize
Large Car
Small StationWagon
Midsize Station Wagon
Sport Utility Vehicle
Minivan
Small Pickup Truck
Standard Pickup Truck
Van Cargo
Van Passenger

Those standards are written into regulations for EPA gas mileage evaluations; you’d think the rental car companies would also follow those standards as well since when most of us rent cars, it’s about how big/small the car is.

By: FL Traveler

FL Traveler — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:38:23 +0000

This goes along with the story (above) about the electric locks/windows: Recently rented from Hertz in Albany (NY). They did not have what I had reserved (of course) and they tried to charge me extra for a serus radio (did I spell that right?) I told them no, what else do you have? I had prepaid and got a really good price — I think they were trying to add to the bill because of it. I ended up with the same car with the “special” radio but at no extra fee.

By: John Vance

John Vance — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:12:19 +0000

As long as Alamo / National keeps their lenient policies about the use of debit cards, I will be a customer for life!

By: wendy

wendy — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:55:58 +0000

Hopefully, CAPITALISM is still alive and well…….. we can make choices, and at this point, it would be to avoid the ENTERPRISE group!./ Thanks for the info.@!!/

By: Jim J

Jim J — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:31:53 +0000

These days, car rental companies have a difficult time renting all of their inventory. I have a reservation with Alamo for a midsize car during a five day period in late September. I just looked at my confirmation and it says Pontiac G5 or similar. I didn’t know what a G5 was until I read the comment here that says it is a renamed Chevy Cobalt. To me, a Cobalt is a compact car and I want something larger for my trip. I plan to rent from another company and cancel the Alamo reservation. Chances are that the car that I reserved will be sitting unrented during that long weekend. If \enough people do this, Alamo (and National) will have to go back to using the former classifications.

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:43:42 +0000

I don’t have a problem with the rental companies classifying cars any way they want. BUT… I think they should have to post a complete list of models they carry in each class. Not that we can guarantee a particular model (that’s what the “or similar” language covers), but I want to look at the list and see where they classify, say, a Toyota Camry, or a Nissan Altima, or whatever. Then I can at least pick a category that has a range of choices I like.

All too often the identified “type” car is fine, but most of the “or similars” are anything but similar – in handling, in styling, in anything.

By: SeaJimm

SeaJimm — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:31:57 +0000

I noticed the same change with National last week. I also had a recent experience in Burlington, VT where I had reserved a full size car, Chevy Impala or “similar”. I had four people and luggage for a week long vacation and wanted a spacious car. When I arrived I was offered a Nissan Altima. I said that is not a full size car. I was told that for Burlington it was. The Altima is similar to the Impala I was told. I said it was similar in that both cars have 4 doors and 4 wheels. I walked out to the lot and saw an Impala. I went back to the counter and after a lengthy discussion, I was given the keys to the Impala. I was told that it was “reserverd cor corporate customers”. I guess being a Executive Member with National was not enough initally. I was told by the agent in Burlington that I should call ahead to ask about the cars being stocked at smaller locations.

I did contact National Corpoate customer service after the rental. I was told that the Altima and Impala are both full size cars because they are similar. I asked if similar included engines. The response was yes. I pointed out that all of the Altimas are 4 cyclindes and the Impala was a V6. I never got a response. So the lesson here is that status does not matter and rent elsewhere.

By: EEH

EEH — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:15:42 +0000

At one time, I used Enterprise frequently, and I figured out that the only difference between the economy and compact levels are things such as manual vs. power windows/locks. So if you don’t mind a small, basic, stripped down car, reserve at the economy level. If you want more than that, you have to go higher, starting with the compact level.

Joe Farrell, you are absolutely correct about their workforce. I had one guy try to get me to initial all the areas for their insurance on the agreement without telling me what I was agreeing to first. Because I was an old hand at renting from them, I knew better and I was pretty ticked off at him.

By: Joe Farrell

Joe Farrell — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:52:25 +0000

Dear KF: when they told you that you should have said no. Bring me a car without power windows and door locks. They’d waive it.

The first job I turned down out of college was working for Enterprise. They were a scam back then – I was offered minimum wage, plus 20% of single category upsells, plus 40% of insurance plus 50% of anything else I generated over the original reservation. you needed to work 50-60hr sper week but they only paid you for 40 and to add insult to the injury they only paid you the upsell on the stuff during the 40 hour work week so they had no records of the OT.

Why do you think that 95% of their workforce is under 25? Anyone older than that figures it out and leaves for a real job.

By: Carver

Carver — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:47:48 +0000

It sems reasonable to me then when a company is purcased by another the new owners will revamp policies and procedures to standardize them across the board.

By: KF

KF — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:56:42 +0000

I recently rented from Enterprise and was charged $5 a day extra because the compact I rented had power windows and doors.