Newest Rental Cars at MCO

[rossb]

I've always rented from Dollar at MCO and the past few cars I've rented were fairly old, dirty, and dinged up. Dollar used to rent me brand new cars and unfortunately the past few had at least 40,000 miles and were showing significant signs of abuse and wear.

Are there any on-site rental companies that rent basically new cars? If so, which on-site companies offer the newest cars?

 

[gmeh1]

I've always rented from Dollar at MCO and the past few cars I've rented were fairly old, dirty, and dinged up. Dollar used to rent me brand new cars and unfortunately the past few had at least 40,000 miles and were showing significant signs of abuse and wear.

Are there any on-site rental companies that rent basically new cars? If so, which on-site companies offer the newest cars?

Are you buying or renting? Most of the majors keep nice cars, rarely will you ever get a brand new car, they usually have miles on them. Most rental cars have been abused in some way, people don't care (not my car, so big whoop attitude). Most rental companies keep up with the maintenance on their cars, so, I would not let moderate mileage be an issue. NOT replenishing stock keeps the rental prices lower than the one that constantly replenish or have a very very large inventory. Dollar shares with Thrifty and combined they have one lane, two sides. Small inventory.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I fondly remember the old days when Hertz was owned by Ford Motor Company. Hertz cars were seldom more than 6 months old. Then the cars went to Ford dealers, Mercury dealers, or Hertz Used Car Sales. It was a way to keep Ford's factories humming. Other rental car companies were also tied to car manufacturers in one way or another.

The rental car business is now a standalone business. It no longer makes business sense to replace cars as quickly. Cars with 20, 30, or 40 thousand miles are not uncommon.

The best option now is sign up for a program that lets you pick your own car, such as National's Emerald Club program. Some cars will be nicer and newer than others. Of course, other renters are also looking for the best cars, so there's no guarantee you'll find any brand new cars when you're looking.

If a car rental company assigns a car to you that you don't like for any reason, ask for a different car. Back before a switched to National, I probably kept 90% of the cars that Hertz assigned to me, but I wouldn't keep a car that I knew I would be unhappy with.

 

[rossb]

Are you buying or renting?

That is not the point. The last few times we rental from Dollar all of their cars in the mid sized category were pretty dirty inside and my wife was very unhappy. We are just looking for something clean and fairly new.

 

[cyndik1111]

If a car rental company assigns a car to you that you don't like for any reason, ask for a different car. Back before a switched to National, I probably kept 90% of the cars that Hertz assigned to me, but I wouldn't keep a car that I knew I would be unhappy with.

Sure, last year my brother-in-law refused 3 different minivans before he found one he thought was acceptable.

The last 2 years we have gotten great deals on minivans, but they were a little dirty....found french fries in the back seat, worn interior, etc. But for the price they were "good enough". And they drove fine and did the job...got us to and from disney.

I figure they turn these cars over so fast in busy markets like Orlando, that they don't really have the time to thoroughly clean them. Also like a PP mentioned, they need to keep them a little longer to be profitable.

I'm just happy we can find a minivan for under $300 for the week. I figure the french fries are a bonus.

 

[bumbershoot]

I haven't had any complaints about the relative newness of National cars we've rented at any location. I haven't gotten any with as low mileage as some get, but still, pretty new, and new-looking.

And I love the Emerald Aisle way of getting a car, where you can actually get in a car and look at it (making sure seats go down or up, etc) before driving it away. Assuming, of course, there are many cars to choose from (and for me there always have been though I recognize that it could change if I arrived at a HIGH volume rental time of day).

 

[lovemymac]

We have rented from national all three times to Disney. We usually get in late and still have a garage full of cars to choose from. The last time we went with 5 yr old in tow the attendant offered to upgrade us than suv for free if we wanted. We tend to do allot of driving when staying off site so we said we will jut use a car.
He asked again are you sure? I'd be happy to upgrade you. He said your welcome to look at them and take your time.

They have always been nice to us. The first time wee went in 06 we didn't know what to do they just said pick anything in the garage and no attendant then and we drove off with a luxury car and we not supposed to but the lady at the booth said your not suppose to have this but she let us have it anyway and was nice about it.

I won't rent with anyone else. Plus this last time for 9 days we had a car for just over $100. I went to the site and started playing around with every combination of codes I could find some on mouse savers.com and other places and finally used an Alaskan airlines frequent flyer member code and another discount from national for paying with visa I think it was.
The emerald club membership I think normally costs but I believe mouse savers has a way to get it free. They have good rates plus it's quick you pick the car you want then drive out and they usually have your info on file so you just show the card and your dL to verify and they take 3 minutes and send you on your way.
None of the cars we had were nice, clean and well maintained. I think around 15k miles and the other 8k. I don't care about mileage so much as just a clean well maintained car. I have read tons of reports about the other rental agencies in Orlando that some of them are slow to get people checked into their cars especially at busy times.

 

[gmeh1]

We have rented from national all three times to Disney. We usually get in late and still have a garage full of cars to choose from. The last time we went with 5 yr old in tow the attendant offered to upgrade us than suv for free if we wanted. We tend to do allot of driving when staying off site so we said we will jut use a car.
He asked again are you sure? I'd be happy to upgrade you. He said your welcome to look at them and take your time.

They have always been nice to us. The first time wee went in 06 we didn't know what to do they just said pick anything in the garage and no attendant then and we drove off with a luxury car and we not supposed to but the lady at the booth said your not suppose to have this but she let us have it anyway and was nice about it.

I won't rent with anyone else. Plus this last time for 9 days we had a car for just over $100. I went to the site and started playing around with every combination of codes I could find some on mouse savers.com and other places and finally used an Alaskan airlines frequent flyer member code and another discount from national for paying with visa I think it was.
The emerald club membership I think normally costs but I believe mouse savers has a way to get it free. They have good rates plus it's quick you pick the car you want then drive out and they usually have your info on file so you just show the card and your dL to verify and they take 3 minutes and send you on your way.

None of the cars we had were nice, clean and well maintained

. I think around 15k miles and the other 8k. I don't care about mileage so much as just a clean well maintained car. I have read tons of reports about the other rental agencies in Orlando that some of them are slow to get people checked into their cars especially at busy times.

None of the cars?
First: Emerald Club is free to join for everyone. Just sign up on the National web page.
Second: You select a car from the Emerald Aisle, NOT any car in the garage. When you hit Executive status, you select from the Executive Aisle, NOT the entire garage. Same goes with the Executive Elite Status.
You show your driver's license at the exit booth and you are on you way. You do not need to show your Emerald Club card. The Emerald Club progam guidelines are available on the National Car website. I truly wish people would actually read them (this is in general, not directed at you).

 

[lovemymac]

Sorry it should have said all of the cars we had were great. I have never had a bad car ever.
Well the last time we were there the garage was divided. One row was all for just emerald and then another whole area was for preferred.
But like I said allot of times they will upgrade you for free.
No you don't show your emerald card but some they do ask for your cc. They did not this last time but did time before.

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[Horace Horsecollar]

None of the cars?
First: Emerald Club is free to join for everyone. Just sign up on the National web page.

Officially, there's a one-time $50 enrollment fee for National's Emerald Club.

It's waived if you enter a valid source code from an employer or other source during the online enrollment process.

You can Google for Emerald Club source codes, but it really should be something you legitimately qualify for.

 

[Katie's Mom]

Officially, there's a one-time $50 enrollment fee for National's Emerald Club.

It's waived if you enter a valid source code from an employer or other source during the online enrollment process.

You can Google for Emerald Club source codes, but it really should be something you legitimately qualify for.

We are planning a trip in January. I went to National's website about a month ago and joined the Emerald Club for free. Now if the room only discounts would be released!

 

[lovemymac]

When we went I did not see 1 car in the garage more then 1 year old. They all looked fairly new and we looked in several cars before we decided on what we wanted and everyone was clean inside and out. Most smelled like new cars.

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[Shelly F - Ohio]

We love Alamo because we get to pick the car we want to drive. We usually rent a mid size so we go out to the mid size aisle and pick and chose what we want to drive for the week. Usually the miles are very low- usually 20K miles or less. Cars are always clean.

 

[gmeh1]

Sorry it should have said all of the cars we had were great. I have never had a bad car ever.
Well the last time we were there the garage was divided. One row was all for just emerald and then another whole area was for preferred.
But like I said allot of times they will upgrade you for free.
No you don't show your emerald card but some they do ask for your cc. They did not this last time but did time before.

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The Emerald aisle is divided. One Side Emerald Club, the other side Emerald Executive. No, we don't allow and Emerald member to go to the the Exec. side. There is only one Emerald Aisle, two side. The rest of the rows are for non Emerald renters and divided into sections. You have been misinformed and you are not the first person to be misinformed. I go through this on a daily basis. We do not have a "preferred" status in our program.
When you first use the Emerald Club, they will ask for your license and credit card to verify. Then they will usually only ask for your license, if your credit card has expired, then they will ask to see it again.
If we can give you something other than what is on aisle, we will do that, but, it does not happen all the time.

 

[gmeh1]

Officially, there's a one-time $50 enrollment fee for National's Emerald Club.

It's waived if you enter a valid source code from an employer or other source during the online enrollment process.

You can Google for Emerald Club source codes, but it really should be something you legitimately qualify for.

Horace, I work for National and they dropped the enrollment fee when Enterprise bought them. So, no, officially there is not an enrollment fee. It is free for anyone to join.

http://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/ch...SE_Emerald_B_NTL_E_US-_-national_emerald_club

 

[bumbershoot]

Most smelled like new cars.

Did you know there is a "new car smell" air freshener? Helpful for rental agencies.

But like I said allot of times they will upgrade you for free.

If you are an Emerald Club member, and you rent a mid-size car from a location with the Emerald Aisle, you can choose from whatever is in the Emerald Aisle. The only times I've gotten something less than an SUV are the times I've *wanted* less than an SUV. We've found that the Camry is an *excellent* car for good mileage on longer trips (not a mid-size class, but also not an SUV). So it's an "upgrade", but they don't *give it* to us; it just happens, if/when there are cars "higher" than a mid-size class in the Aisle. See what I'm saying?



Also, mousesavers really indicates that there's a charge for the Emerald Club, but DH signed up and got it free without going through them, just by going through the National site. I'm not sure there IS a charge for it anymore; I think it's flat out free now.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Horace, I work for National and they dropped the enrollment fee when Enterprise bought them. So, no, officially there is not an enrollment fee. It is free for anyone to join.

http://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/ch...SE_Emerald_B_NTL_E_US-_-national_emerald_club

That's good to know.

Back when the enrollment fee was $50, I would imagine that almost everyone was able to get it waived. It makes sense that there's no longer a fictitious enrollment fee.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

None of the cars?
First: Emerald Club is free to join for everyone. Just sign up on the National web page.
Second: You select a car from the Emerald Aisle, NOT any car in the garage. When you hit Executive status, you select from the Executive Aisle, NOT the entire garage. Same goes with the Executive Elite Status.
You show your driver's license at the exit booth and you are on you way. You do not need to show your Emerald Club card. The Emerald Club progam guidelines are available on the National Car website. I truly wish people would actually read them (this is in general, not directed at you).

And they do charge for "self upgrades" Several months ago I had to "back" away from the gate at National because the man in front of me had "self upgraded" to a minii van because he was "executive" Apprently when they told him the "upgrade" price he decided he could live with a car! (Agent told me this when apologizing for the mess he made of the check out lanes)

 

[lovemymac]

It depends on who is at the gate. We ended up with a luxury model because the guy at the desk jut said go out and pick whatever. So we did.
Then when we got to the gate the lady said you are not supposed to have this. I said tell the guy at the counter he said go grab whatever. She let us go but that is not what Is normal.
National has always been great to us and I have nothing but good things to say about them.
I hope next time we go we can get a free upgrade to suv of minivan. Because we will have 2 kids with luggage next time and just 3 of us took up the whole trunk on a dodge avenger.

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[gmeh1]

It depends on who is at the gate. We ended up with a luxury model because the guy at the desk jut said go out and pick whatever. So we did.
Then when we got to the gate the lady said you are not supposed to have this. I said tell the guy at the counter he said go grab whatever. She let us go but that is not what Is normal.
National has always been great to us and I have nothing but good things to say about them.
I hope next time we go we can get a free upgrade to suv of minivan. Because we will have 2 kids with luggage next time and just 3 of us took up the whole trunk on a dodge avenger.

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No, it does not depend on who is on the gate, the rules apply to everyone, you got the exception. You may have misheard the person inside or it was not explained correctly to you. It happens. We have a lot of people who work here who do not speak English all that well, so, we do have a communication problem now and then. We have a lot of members who think because they have hit Exec. Elite, that they can have anything in the garage.....WRONG!!! You can have anything in the Emerald Exec. aisle. I am printing the rules just to keep with me.
As to upgrading to a SUV or Mini van, don't bet the bank on that, I will tell you what many others here say, book what you need, not what you hope will be on the EA.
I am glad you are happy with National and hope you remain a customer for many years to come.