Our experience with Dollar

[jworthy]

We had a 13 day full size rental reserved for $191. I had signed up for Dollar Express prior to arrival. We went straight out to the garage, but at the kiosk they couldn't locate our reservation and I failed to write down our Express Id#. So, they sent me back inside. The line was pretty long, but fortunately they had several agents working (Thrifty agents helped Dollar). After about 20 minutes of waiting, the agent gave me my Express ID# and told me to go back out to the garage. I had to wait another 10 minutes @ the garage to finally get my paperwork finished. The agent didn't push any extra coverage and instead offered to uprgrade us to a premium or minivan. We ended up taking a premium car, which was a Nissan Maxima. I felt guilty taking a minivan, though my DW said we should have.

In my observation of Dollar, is they get the crappy run down cars that Hertz doesn't want anymore. Our Maxima was in so-so condition. It was very dirty and the windows were nearly impossible to get clean. The car had close to 60,000 miles on it. The windshield wipers didn't work, which made it difficult to drive in the rain. On the 6th day of having the car, we were parked at Target and when I tried to start the car the battery was dead. I had to call Dollar's roadside service. The lady actually was wanting me to check the gas cap and other things even though I knew it was the battery. She said the car is too new for the battery to go bad. I had to argure that a car with 60000 miles is not new. She said it would take at least an hour if not 2 hours for someone to get to us. Luckily, there were 2 sheriffs in the parking lot that came and gave us a jump start, which was nice since my kids were sleeping in the back seat.

Dollar ended up have a tow truck deliver a new vehicle to our hotel a couple hours later. They gave us a Nissan Rogue with 47000 miles on it. This small SUV didn't run very well either and also was extremely dirty. This SUV seemed like it was missing a cylinder. Fortunately, the car got us from A to B without problems. We had no problems when we turned in our vehicle.

In retrospect, if you rent from Dollar, don't expect a nice vehicle. They will be older, in fair if not poor condition, but they should at least get you from A to B. Would I rent from Dollar again? Maybe, the prices are definitely cheaper, but if I need a more reliable car, the answer would be NO.

 

[goobylal]

We had a 13 day full size rental reserved for $191. I had signed up for Dollar Express prior to arrival. We went straight out to the garage, but at the kiosk they couldn't locate our reservation and I failed to write down our Express Id#. So, they sent me back inside. The line was pretty long, but fortunately they had several agents working (Thrifty agents helped Dollar). After about 20 minutes of waiting, the agent gave me my Express ID# and told me to go back out to the garage. I had to wait another 10 minutes @ the garage to finally get my paperwork finished. The agent didn't push any extra coverage and instead offered to uprgrade us to a premium or minivan. We ended up taking a premium car, which was a Nissan Maxima. I felt guilty taking a minivan, though my DW said we should have.

In my observation of Dollar, is they get the crappy run down cars that Hertz doesn't want anymore. Our Maxima was in so-so condition. It was very dirty and the windows were nearly impossible to get clean. The car had close to 60,000 miles on it. The windshield wipers didn't work, which made it difficult to drive in the rain. On the 6th day of having the car, we were parked at Target and when I tried to start the car the battery was dead. I had to call Dollar's roadside service. The lady actually was wanting me to check the gas cap and other things even though I knew it was the battery. She said the car is too new for the battery to go bad. I had to argure that a car with 60000 miles is not new. She said it would take at least an hour if not 2 hours for someone to get to us. Luckily, there were 2 sheriffs in the parking lot that came and gave us a jump start, which was nice since my kids were sleeping in the back seat.

Dollar ended up have a tow truck deliver a new vehicle to our hotel a couple hours later. They gave us a Nissan Rogue with 47000 miles on it. This small SUV didn't run very well either and also was extremely dirty. This SUV seemed like it was missing a cylinder. Fortunately, the car got us from A to B without problems. We had no problems when we turned in our vehicle.

In retrospect, if you rent from Dollar, don't expect a nice vehicle. They will be older, in fair if not poor condition, but they should at least get you from A to B. Would I rent from Dollar again? Maybe, the prices are definitely cheaper, but if I need a more reliable car, the answer would be NO.

That's strange. Rented from Dollar many times and never got a dirty vehicle and never had trouble (the worst I've had it getting a car without power windows and door locks). I never checked the mileage so I don't know how old they were. Then again, I've never rented a premium car from them.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

When we get a rental from Dollar we look to see how many miles it has and we have never had one with over 20K. And if we did we certainly would not take that one.

 

[alc571]

That's strange. Rented from Dollar many times and never got a dirty vehicle and never had trouble (the worst I've had it getting a car without power windows and door locks). I never checked the mileage so I don't know how old they were. Then again, I've never rented a premium car from them.

We have also rented with Dollar many times, and never had a bad experience, until two weeks ago. We rented a premium car. When we arrived, there was nothing left. Our options were a free upgrade to a minivan, or a Chev Impala. We didn't want either. We took the Impala as my husband has an aversion to minivans. It was dirty, inside and out, like they took it from the last person and drove it back in line. There were stains everywhere. It had over 40,000 miles on it, and it ran horribly. They also forced insurance on us, which has never happened before, saying that we had to prove we had the minimum liability for the state. I didn't think to bring a copy of my Canadian insurance policy - as this has never been an issue before. So my $183 rental car, turned into $593!

I'll definitely be looking to rent with anyone else on our next trip.

 

[pigletto]

Ack.. this is not making me feel good about our upcoming rental. I think we've used them once before on a Priceline bid and had no issues, but it was a few years back. I booked through my credit card rewards points and there was no place to add Express ID so we have to use the counter.
There is no way in heck we are paying for extra ANYTHING. I know we are covered by our policy in Florida, and I am absolutely not prepaying for fuel or anything else.

I almost wonder if I shouldn't make a back up reservation in case they give me a hard time because I booked and paid the $187 for this car and I am NOT paying a penny more.

ETA) Did they want proof of insurance (ie. the little cards you put in your wallet) or a copy of the policy (which I think I would have to email or call our agent to get at this point)?

 

[goobylal]

Ack.. this is not making me feel good about our upcoming rental. I think we've used them once before on a Priceline bid and had no issues, but it was a few years back. I booked through my credit card rewards points and there was no place to add Express ID so we have to use the counter.
There is no way in heck we are paying for extra ANYTHING. I know we are covered by our policy in Florida, and I am absolutely not prepaying for fuel or anything else.

I almost wonder if I shouldn't make a back up reservation in case they give me a hard time because I booked and paid the $187 for this car and I am NOT paying a penny more.

ETA) Did they want proof of insurance (ie. the little cards you put in your wallet) or a copy of the policy (which I think I would have to email or call our agent to get at this point)?

If you can get a backup ressie for the same price, do it. Otherwise if it's even just $4 more, don't bother. Because that seems to be all they'd charge you for if you didn't show the receipt but the gas gauge read "full."

 

[jworthy]

They did not ask to see a gas receipt, even though we had one.

 

[wdwrich]

We have also rented with Dollar many times, and never had a bad experience, until two weeks ago. We rented a premium car. When we arrived, there was nothing left. Our options were a free upgrade to a minivan, or a Chev Impala. We didn't want either. We took the Impala as my husband has an aversion to minivans. It was dirty, inside and out, like they took it from the last person and drove it back in line. There were stains everywhere. It had over 40,000 miles on it, and it ran horribly. They also forced insurance on us, which has never happened before, saying that we had to prove we had the minimum liability for the state. I didn't think to bring a copy of my Canadian insurance policy - as this has never been an issue before. So my $183 rental car, turned into $593!

I'll definitely be looking to rent with anyone else on our next trip.

Dollar is the only agency I will never rent from. The one time I reserved with them, the counter agents were so rude I walked away and went to another agency and rented right at the counter. Yes, I paid full price for the second rental, but at the time it was well worth it to me. Never again!