Has anyone rented from Dollar Car Rental recently?

I am curious to your experience. How long was the check in line. Any issues when returning the car?

Many thanks

 

I rent from Dollar exclusively, most recently June 13-18.

I never wait in a line. I get off the shuttle, proceed down to the garage, find my name on the digital board, check out the car and drive out. A simple 7-10 minute process.

No issue returning the car, ever.

 

Join Dollar Express. You can skip the counter and go right to the booth by the cars. Drop off is very fast.

 

I would definitely join so you don't have to wait in the line. The last time I used them the line didn't seem too long, but it seemed as if multiple employees took their breaks at the same time, which made the process very slow. I had no issue returning the car.

 

Rent a car in Europe and you'll have a whole new outlook on returning rental cars. I returned a $50k Mercedes to the airport in Munich a few months ago and there was no place to park it and no one working there from the rental car company. I had to just leave it in the middle of the parking garage along with everyone else returning cars. Everything worked out.

Returning at Dollar in Vegas you drive up to a Dollar employee with a portable electronic device who does some binking, checks the odometer, gas gauge, and that you didn't crash it. Then they print you a receipt and you're on your way.

 

Just returned a car from dollar a few hours ago. Be sure to sign up for express, makes the process painless as your car is waiting in the garage. When I arrived last Saturday there were less than 10 people at the counter in the rental car center. Return has always been painless.

 

I've been avoiding Dollar (in LV that is) ever since one total jerk agent gave me a hard time for not taking their overpriced extra insurance!

 

I also. Since thrifty is their sister company I will rent from them over dollar every time. I haven't rented from dollar in a couple of years because of the guy.

yes, I would recommend joining dollar express to avoid the rental clerks. Otherwise if you want to go the counter route I would recommend using thrifty instead.

 

Ive used Dollar twice never Las Vegas,2 times once in San Diego and once in LA.Both times there were problems SD Was they did not have my reservation for some reason and in LA The customer service people were very rude and mean I do not know why I am a very Friendly person. So that was late 90.s and I have never used them since.When going to Las Vegas I always use Alamo.The lines are sometimes very long but I love there Kiosks and usually get thru very fast.

 

Would it be fair to say that you do not need to deal with "jerks" if you had Dollar express and went right to your car? Especially if it was the cheapest?

 

Most of the time. As with many rental agencies, some counter salesclerks are rather aggressive with trying to sell you the "extras" like insurance and so they act like obnoxious jerks to try to get you to buy the extras (not like we would be more likely to purchase the extras). With Dollar in Las Vegas one counter clerk asked about my insurance and what limits I had. I tried not to respond but he kept prying and wouldn't take "not interested" for an answer until I told him (I lied) how much insurance I had. He made suggestions about increasing my coverages but basically tried to convince me why I should purchase the extra insurance, then he gave me the third degree scare tactics about what happens if I got into an accident and also about having to pay for the car while it is out of service (loss of use). I kept saying that I wasn't interested and he finally gave up and gave me my rental car papers but that was after about haggling with him for 50 minutes.

After that experience I usually let others go in front of me so I wouldn't have him as my rental clerk (even then I'm usually out the door before the people who go to him). Nowadays I rent from Thrifty just to avoid that guy at the Dollar counter (I still see him working there). They belong to the same company and usually their rates are the same.

But anyway, it is best to sign up for the Dollar express so you can avoid the rental counter.

But be aware that you can also encounter a "jerk" of an attendant outside but at least you won't have to worry about him trying to upsell you any extras (he could be a jerk in other ways).

 

I've rented from dollar at least 20 times in LAS and never had a problem. I am a member of dollar express.

TomTWI

 

I rented from Dollar last month, picked up car from TI, booked a premium and got a 2013 Maxima with 48k on the clock, bit of a shed really, but did the job. I usually avoid picking up from LAS due to a long flight (boozy) from UK, so usually pick up next day from a hotel or from Swenson St, not had any problems other than the crappy Maxima last time.

 

Hertz owns Dollar and Thrifty.

I've rented from Hertz about 10 times during the past year. I always reserved the car and paid for the rental with a credit card that offers free Loss Damage Waiver so you don't have to worry about being responsible for the value of the car. Or your own car insurance may cover damage to the rental vehicle. Read the small print on your car insurance and credit card agreements.

Sometimes I'd receive an email about an hour before my reservation time, telling me the make and model of car I'd be getting and the license plate number. Sometimes not. One time they didn't have any cars so I kept the one I already had (Memorial Day weekend.)

Hertz rules are that they're supposed to charge you for damage to the car if the damage is "larger than a quarter or over an inch long."

However, I had a front bumper on a car come loose on me once and nothing happened. Minor damage is most often going to be considered normal wear and tear.

Picking up and returning can be as fast as one minute if you join Dollar Express (which should be equivalent to Hertz Gold Club.) You fill out a profile indicating what type of car you usually rent and what other options you usually want, and those are used as the defaults so you can totally skip the line at the counter.

Also, do not take the fuel purchase option, they overcharge. If you get the car with a full tank, bring it back full, or they charge you $10 per gallon for "refueling."

 

It's easy to return the car full, because there is a Gas station just past the car rental center on Gilespie. Make sure you have a receipt and offer to show it to the attendant when you return the car. I remember at least one rental agency would automatically charge you for gas if you had driven less than 75 miles and didn't show a receipt, even if the guage showed "full".