Hertz Renting Out Stolen Cars

[Shelly F - Ohio]

You might want to think twice about renting from Hertz after reading this story of people getting arrested for driving rental cars that have been reported stolen.
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news...er-rental-vehicles-mistakenly-reported-stolen

 

[kaytieeldr]

"...in the rare circumstance..." Six (minimum, based on the three victims and six states cited or quoted) isn't really rare. Especially when there are no reports about other companies. Although that one who rented from Hertz but it turned out to be a National car? Very odd.

 

[sam_gordon]

"...in the rare circumstance..." Six (minimum, based on the three victims and six states cited or quoted) isn't really rare. Especially when there are no reports about other companies. Although that one who rented from Hertz but it turned out to be a National car? Very odd.

Not defending Hertz, but I would think six is rare based on how many rentals they have in any given day.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Overall, rare, sure. Compared to other companies which have zero reports of stolen cars being rented to customers - yeahunusually high.

 

[Darklord77]

It's more common than you think for cars to be reported stolen and not taken off the computers. Example: Hertz rents to a person who keeps the car for a few weeks longer than expected. Hertz tries to contact the renter and they don't respond. Hertz reports it stolen. Sometime after reporting it stolen the renter returns the car to Hertz. Hertz forgets to call the police to have the car taken off of stolen status. Hertz then rents the car out to another innocent person. Bam, you are now driving a stolen car.

In most cases law enforcement will be able to figure out the second, unsuspecting renter is not a thief. It might take an hour or two, some digging, and a few phone calls, but eventually the innocent person should not be arrested.

 

[Brer Chump]

If you want to check your rental car to make sure it is not reported as stolen. Enter the VIN number into this website (https://www.nicb.org/vincheck) free of charge which is run by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

 

[Anthony1971]

If you keep your rental contract with you as you are supposed to you can prove it was rented to you as it has the Vin and plate number as well as the make and color. Yes still not a good way to be treated but at least you will not be arrested and spend a night or two in a very small room without a shower.

 

[OpieDoodle]

I use to work for Hertz at a small location and we rented easy 500+ rentals a week. Larger locations do triple that in a day. Another thing to consider is that not all Hertz locations are cooperate. So lets say a franchise gets one of the cooperate offices cars by mistake (they have separate inventory completely) and rents out the car without realizing. Well the cooperate location never got their car back so they're reporting it as stolen.

Also your contract will have the vehicle information listed so you wouldn't be detained for that. I really wonder with the National car because usually there is promotional items in the car for the company, your contract, etc all would have the license plate and such.

I've had a few family members also work for car rental companies before too, something that a lot of them do at big location with multiple companies is they actually leave the keys in the car. So maybe they told her she was driving a black nissian altima, got in the wrong car and drove off. Hard to say.

 

[piper28]

If you keep your rental contract with you as you are supposed to you can prove it was rented to you as it has the Vin and plate number as well as the make and color. Yes still not a good way to be treated but at least you will not be arrested and spend a night or two in a very small room without a shower.

I suspect in the case of the car being from national instead of from hertz that the paperwork wouldn't line up properly, so probably wouldn't help a lot.

That said, I'd be willing to bet if you dig enough, you'll find reports about this at all the major rental companies. I went through a period of time where between my wife and I we had a rental car for about 2/3 of the year for a couple of years, and I definitely saw enough odd glitches during that time to not be real surprised by things like this. Can't remember if we ever got to the gate with a car from a different company, although I know of people that has happened to, although it was generally caught. I know I've had times when we'd dropped off a car and days later would get a call asking about why we hadn't returned it.

 

[Day-Day]

Former insider: rental car customers mistakenly accused of stealing cars is an industry-wide problem

Still seems somewhat rare but definitely a problem for the folks involved.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It doesn't sound like Hertz is renting out stolen vehicles. This sounds like vehicles are being reported stolen by the rental companies (for one reason or another) and rather than being listed as recovered when they are returned they are left in the system as stolen causing issues for the subsequent renters.

This sounds like blame if you will to go around. It's not the blame of the customer who is subsequently renting the vehicle out though.

From reading this it's partially people renting out vehicles for longer than their initial rental term and not telling Hertz (and other companies where this happens), Hertz (and other companies where this happens) attempting to get ahold of the people without success and so they report it stolen (assuming this is their policy so they can alert police to recover it and written off for the business). Then what happens is the vehicle is never relogged as recovered so the next time it's rented out there's a risk the police may stop the vehicle and follow their procedure on stolen vehicles.

Then there's issues with their computer system it seems and logging cars back in as returned. Then compound that with the fact that the vast vast majority of rental cars are through 3 main companies.

Hertz also owns Thrifty and Dollar
Enterprise also owns National and Alamo
Avis also owns Budget and Zipcar

Some places, especially smaller rental locations, share employees though they rent for multiple companies-that made me think of the woman whose vehicle belonged to National though she was aided by a Hertz employee which means the employees need to be aware of what systems they use for the vehicle.

FWIW it really does sound like the issue with the folks in the multiple stories on the 2 linked resources is actually treatment by the police not necessarily the error in the stolen car aspect. Not that I can't blame them because yeah that would be scary on the other hand the police are put between a rock and a hard place using the information (the vehicle being reported as stolen) they have. I'm sure they would still be quite upset with the rental car company but it adds a ton more to it when they have the experiences they have with the police over it.

 

[bumbershoot]

I've had a few family members also work for car rental companies before too, something that a lot of them do at big location with multiple companies is they actually leave the keys in the car. So maybe they told her she was driving a black nissian altima, got in the wrong car and drove off. Hard to say.

The places I’ve rented from that do that have manned gates and you actually have someone checking everything as you leave. So that would be caught.

 

[seashoreCM]

Did the rental companies make good to and compensate the innocent renters for all damages and costs and inconvenience and attorneys fees?

If not then why not?

If this happened only six times last year, then the rental companies should have had no problem doling out compensation. Then go after the guilty renters similarly involved.

 

[TinyTim2]

This doesn't surprise me about hertz. I work for a company that moves cars for them and here are somethings we've run into. Showing up at a location and they know nothing about us either picking up cars and they have no cars yet the computer says they do or dropping cars and they have no room for them. Plates for new cars are sent to the wrong location and no idea where the right plates were sent.

 

[gdrj]

If you keep your rental contract with you as you are supposed to you can prove it was rented to you as it has the Vin and plate number as well as the make and color. Yes still not a good way to be treated but at least you will not be arrested and spend a night or two in a very small room without a shower.

Last time I rented with Alamo, I had my Resv on my phone, all they asked for was my license and credit card and I drove away. There was no paper from them. PLUS even if you have the paper, Police may not be able to confirm with Rental company immediately. The Reservation number is not equipped to handle an inquiry about a stolen car.

How many cars were reported stolen that weren’t and the Police did NOT stop? It could be in the 100’s if not more.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Did the rental companies make good to and compensate the innocent renters for all damages and costs and inconvenience and attorneys fees?

If not then why not?

If this happened only six times last year, then the rental companies should have had no problem doling out compensation. Then go after the guilty renters similarly involved.

Don't know since there is lawsuit pending.

 

[bumbershoot]

If this happened only six times last year

I don’t even think it was 6 in a year. The second one mentioned was March 2018, which is over a year ago, and there was no timeframe given for the others.

Last time I rented with Alamo, I had my Resv on my phone, all they asked for was my license and credit card and I drove away. There was no paper from them. PLUS even if you have the paper, Police may not be able to confirm with Rental company immediately. The Reservation number is not equipped to handle an inquiry about a stolen car.

How many cars were reported stolen that weren’t and the Police did NOT stop? It could be in the 100’s if not more.

Alamo (and national), no matter where I rent from always scan the vin or ask me for the hang tag thing in the car, along with my license and card.