For the first time renting a car, I damaged it. Just scuffed the paint on a front corner (thought probably would have dented it if it weren't made of plastic).
When I returned it, the employee asked for details of how it happened. Is this typical?
Even after I told him I hit a post and no other car was involved? Even though the post is 6" thick and I didn't damage it either?
They have to fill in the blanks on the form. Also want to be sure it was not a pedestrian you hit and the police will impound the car.
Yes, it is appropriate to fill out an accident report. It will likely cost the company several hundred dollars to repair the damage.
If you didn't purchase the insurance from the rental company, you can expect to be contacted about this. Hopefully you have current automotive insurance that covers damage to rental vehicles.
I didn't mean this was the first time I rented a car, just the first time I damaged one.
Good to know. It surprised me.
Well, no it doesn't, because it doesn't cover damage to my own car either.
I bought the $500 deductible collision insurance, which I think they insist on unless you have a letter from your own insurance company or credit card company saying you are covered with rental cars.
But they charged me only $105 for the repair.
I have to think back. No, no pedestrian. It was actually a 3' 6" diameter post meant to keep cars from driving onto the sidewalk. (It was a T-intersection, I was in the center-line of the T, and there was a sidewalk ahead of me.) I started to turn left, noticed that even though there was no sign, the oncoming traffic was in one lane and all coming toward me, so turned right instead, but by this time I was so close to the post I coudln't see it.
I think this was partly because I'd had their smallest car for 5 weeks and only got a bigger one a week earlier. With the smaller car, i would have made the turn. But I had seen that coming and I told myself over and over, the car is bigger. Probably kept me from several other accidents but not this one.
I had had a Nissan Micra, then a Hyundai i10, and the new one was a Honda Civic, which is 2 sizes bigger than the Micra. And it was 2 feet longer and about 8" wider than the Hyundai. So that's proably part of the reason I hit the post.
I had to return the Micra because they said it was due for its (annual??) inspection, but I wish they had told me that earlier, or even given me a car that wouldn't have needed ispection during the time I was scheduled to have it. If they'd given me more notice, I probably drove right by the airport, which I think has lots of cars, but they only gave me two days' notice and where I was, there was only one car in the same class, the Hyundai i10, which was no way near as nice as the Micra. Smaller "trunk", manual side mirrors (and when you're alone y ou can't ajust the right one), and it didnt' seem to shift well, up or down, when the shift lever was in the "choose your gear" position. What do you call that? Plus it didn't have bluetooth like the Micra and the Civic had.
The bluetooth worked fine in the Micra, and in the Civic at first, but after a couple day, it worked with phone calls but wouldn't play the other sounds my phone was making. it said the phone and radio were connected (and it would answer the phone), but nothing came out. I had to use the AUX cable and turn the volume all the way up to the top. Even then I had to close the winddows to hear the sound.
OTOH, the Micra bluetooth worked fine** but it had NO AUX input at all!
**Well, it played fine but was not strong enough to charge the phone, which got weaker and weaker as the day went on. When I noticed, I switched to a USB adapter that plugs into a cigarrette lighter, and that did charge the phone. .
If you paid for it with a credit card, check the coverage you get with that. Some will pay that as part of their benefits.
That $105 was a good deal. You got off lucky. I had a rental car once where the windshield just spontaneously cracked. I had declined coverage. But Citibank VISA covered it. They paid the shyster rental car company a reasonable amount, couple hundred as recall, but the company wanted payment for a couple days of having the car out of service, so they tried to make me pay it. I told them to provide me with their rental records that proved that all similar car were rented out during the days in question. Never heard from them again.
None of my credit cards would pay.
LOL.
I also went swimming with the ignition key. I'd had the car for a week before I even noticed the buttons on the key, and when I went swimming, my only thought was to not lose the key. If I put it in my shirt and left that on the beach, a dog might have walked off with it.
The key worked fine the first evening, but I did it again the next day and while it would open the door, it wouldn't start the car.
I was in a hurry to get out of town, so I wouldn't have to take that crummy second car, so I took a taxi to a jewelry store, that sold me the right battery for only $3, but when I told him the reason, he said I was optimistic. And indeed the new battery didn't fix it. AIUI, I probably ruined the whole key. My only defense is that they didn't warn me, but if they charge me, I'll be okay with that. So then I had to wait for them to bring me the other car, which took another hour or 80 minutes, and I didn't get out of town until the next day.
I actually haven't looked at what they sent me about that (that would be in an earlier eamil), so i don't know if or how much they charged me. But it seems clear that they make their profit on the rental itself and they're not trying to get rich on my misfortune.
micky posted for all of us...
You were lucky. They could have tagged you $572. Loss of use, post damage, etc.
micky posted for all of us...
HAAA, they make money any way they can and damage is a major way.
You can say that all you want but they only charged me $105.
Going through trying to collect on a claim against a shyster here right now. BMW X5 got hit from behind while stopped, scuffed up about a foot of bumper cover, plus it has multiple hairline spider cracks. I'm betting that could be $750 to $1500. Right now the problem is, so far, her mother, the auto owner, is refusing to answer calls, emails, etc from her insurance company so they can process the claim. I never really thought about this before, but looks like even if the other part is totally at fault, has insurance, but won't talk to their insurance company, many insurance co mpanies, maybe most, won't pay the claim. This will be interesting.
Once't upon a time years and years ago... :)
I took a rental up the Skyline Drive in UT off UT31 N from Huntington which is a 4WD track. Wasn't too bad just being certain to not get high-centered by falling into the ruts until came to an old mud sink that was nothing but ruts and wallowed-out holes no way a little rice burner was going to jump. By that time I'd already spent half the day poking around so wasn't all that interested in back-tracking so rummaged around and found enough loose rock and all to fill in the worst of the holes and gave it a run...got across but hit hard enough on the way it killed the engine; got out and looked underneath expecting to not see an oil pan, but nothing actually leaking...so cranked 'er back up and seemed to run just fine and went on in to SLC to catch the plane home.
Stopped for fuel first and noticed what had actually hit on was the lower wind dam, corner panel under the bumper and had rolled it neatly back up under. So, when got to the checkin, spied a row with several already behind the last one in the row on either side and the nearest guy w/ the checkin box a few rows away and just put it nose-to-tail to the last one in the row and was out and unloading from the trunk by the time he got there. Punched in the arrival time, gave him the keys and went on my way...I fully expected a bill for months but never came... :)
At least it seems the insurance is valid. Do you have any photos of the other car or from the scene? It would be a help in small claims court. Not sure if you can go after both the owner, driver, and insurance company at the same time.
Let us know when you are going to be on Judge Judy.
Maybe it will get there. Yes, I have pics of both vehicles, their license plate, insurance card, etc. If I have to sue them, I'll sue the driver and the owner of the car. Another interesting question is if they refuse to cooperate with the insurance company, then the insurance company denies the claim, and I sue them and eventually, like two months later, they decide to cooperate with their insurance company, I wonder if the insurance company will then pay the claim. Insurance policies have a duty to cooperate clause and if they don't, I think the insurance company could say, too bad, you're on your own now. As of now it's 3 days and no response from the owner of the car. Nor did the driver return my call. Their insurance company says that they wait 2 weeks from the filing of the claim. If the insured hasn't responded by then, they will review it and make a decision at that point.
The reason you hit the post was you were inattentive. You were not paying attention to where you were going OR what you were driving.
And the bluetooth is just a distraction NO car you drive should be equipped with. Sorry, but I have to call a spade a spade.
You need something to complain about. You come up with some REAL DOOZIES!!!!
That's one advantage of "no fault" insurance. You get your damage covered and the insurance companies fight over it later.
If someone hits my car, my insurance pays whether I have collision insurance or not. My insurance goes after their insurance - their insurance handles the "risk management" by raising the rates if they want to.
But you need a police report or pictures or whatever to provewhat happened.
As far as I can tell that describes Micky's entire life.
If it looks, walks,and quacks like a duck - - - -
And so do you.
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