Quality of Rental Cars at MCO???

[River Country]

I have always rented from Dollar and I usually fly into Tampa. I was not happy with my last 3 rentals from Dollar from TPA and was wondering what others had thought of the quality of rental cars from MCO. Let me give examples.

November 2013 Rented SUV Dollar from TPA. Said it was supposed to be a ford escape and it was it was just 4 years old smelled and sounded like my snow blower.

August 2014 Rental Mini-Van from TPA from Dollar had low tire pressure the entire week along with a check engine light that came on, on day 5. We called both in the minute it happened because we did not want to be liable for it and the van just looked beat up and old.

November 2014 Rented a Full size they didn't have one when we got there so they gave me a premium Hyundai Genesis 4 door. it was old but premium none the less. One window didn't go down and the trunk release didn't always work and the AC wasn't exactly cold, it also had Arizona Plates which I guess means it was a transplant. Again it looked beat up

I am not expecting perfection in a rental I was just wondering if one company has a better fleet than others. I have a AAA reservation with Hertz right now at MCO only cause it was the cheapest I found thus far.

Any and all comments are welcome Please.


Thanks

 

[migel]

We rent at least a couple of times per year usually midsize sometimes compact. On average the cars are new, less than 7000 miles. We opted for a VW bug once (daughters choice) and it smelled a bit of smoke, and the drivers window would not shut properly, but otherwise no major concerns in the last 3 years.

 

[Yellowjj]

The problem is Dollar. Switch vendors. I would put National/Alamo miles ahead of the rest, especially for infrequent renters.

 

[Jon84]

Never had a problem with Dollar at MCO. Rented Convertible and 7 Seat SUV, both low miles. Seems like they pool the cars with the other brands in their group.

Vegas however was a very beaten Mustang with loads of miles on the clock!

 

[wdwrich]

I had a bad experience with Dollar (not at TPA), so I avoid them regardless of price. Never had a problem with vehicles from National, Alamo or Enterprise.

 

[rwdavis2]

Never had a bad experience with Dollar or National at MCO.

 

[kadams17]

I've always rented from Budget at MCO, 1st time rented convertible... brand new Camaro with 700 miles. 2nd Time rented intermediate, brand new Mazda 6 with 1003 miles... got 56mpg on the highway!

Last time Budget rented full size, got a Chevy Impala, 2012, 35000 but very clean. Would rather stick with intermediate.

Trying Alamo out of Tampa this next time, we will see!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We have rented once from Budget, once from Dollar, multiple times from Alamo.

Budget - terrible experience. High mileage, visibly beat up SUV (though it had lots of bells and whistles, such as a back-up camera). Had a strong chemical-type odor on the inside (we guessed perhaps it had been smoked in by a previous renter, and they were doing their best to cover that up). Whatever had occured in that vehicle prior to our rental, our son had an asthma attack and difficulty breathing every time we rode it in. The only rental where we have not been permitted to pick our own vehicle from the available inventory from the class which we reserved. We did like being able to go straight to the garage with Fastbreak.

Dollar - a very acceptable experience. The car was well appointed but did show some visible wear to the exterior. The interior was clean, though a water bottle (not ours) rolled out from beneath the passenger's seat. We didn't check to see if there was anything else lurking under there . We did get to choose our vehicle. All of the others on the aisle showed more exterior abuse than the one we selected. It was great to go straight to the garage as well.

Alamo - consistently satisfied. We have rented everything from a compact to a van. All in good shape, clean, good standard features. We love being able to pick from their inventory, and there always seems to be lots of choices (and sometimes an even an upgrade). If you have to go to the counter here, the lines are always LONG. We usually use the kiosk in the terminal (quick and easy) and then head to the garage.

 

[bumbershoot]

We rent mainly from national and sometimes from Alamo. We always choose our own vehicle and have never been disappointed. Last car dh rented from national (locally not Florida) had 3 miles on it.

I really have to be able to choose the car because I tend towards asthma and am very chemically sensitive. Also dh and I are of rather different sizes so we have to be sure the car is comfy for both of us.

And I've just answered my wondering why it always takes us a good while to get to our resort from mco. Fussy car choosers!