Rental car dealers charging up to $9 a gallon for fuel

[webby]

The price of gasoline has reached more than $9 a gallon for drivers who don't pay ahead of time and who return their rental cars without a full tank.

A USA TODAY survey of auto rental gas prices at 13 big airports on April 25 found Hertz was charging $9.29 a gallon at all 13. Dollar and Thrifty were charging $8.99 a gallon at two.

At $9.29 a gallon, Hertz customers renting a Ford Club Wagon, which has a 35-gallon fuel tank, would owe Hertz $325.15 for gas if they returned the wagon with a nearly empty tank and hadn't prepaid for the gas.

Renters who pay ahead of time for a tank of gas from Hertz or another car rental company, though, may find the per-gallon price cheaper than at many local gas stations.

Of 102 prepay prices charged by the eight big car rental companies at 13 airports on April 25, 54 were cheaper than the average price at local gas stations that day. Forty-three prices charged for prepay gasoline were higher, USA TODAY's analysis of rental company prices and the AAA auto club's gas-station data found.

Most or all rental companies' prepay prices were less than the average at local gas stations at Chicago's O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York's JFK and LaGuardia and Seattle-Tacoma airports.

Though renters who prepay may pay less per gallon than at local gas stations, it's questionable whether they save money by doing so.

Prepayment is for a full tank of gas and can benefit renters who return vehicles with a nearly empty gas tank. But many renters who pay ahead return vehicles with a substantial amount of gas in the tank and are not credited for it.

Most or all prepay prices were higher than local gas station prices at the Atlanta, Denver and Miami airports. At Boston, San Francisco and Washington Reagan, prepay prices at four rental companies were lower than the average at nearby gas stations, while four were higher.

Although the prices anger some travelers, rental companies say they're not in the fuel business and offer gas as a customer convenience.

paying $9 dollars a gallon is a pretty big convenience

 

[Twistedframe]

I don't doubt it. When I worked for U-Haul in high school and gas was less than $2/gallon we charge $5 per gallon if they didn't bring it back with a full tank.

 

[webby]

not in the fuel business though? When you're more than doubling the cost of gas per gallon, I'd say it's a bit of a gouge.

 

[LizBot]

I thought you had to return the car with the amount of gas that is in there when you first get it? (At least a 1/4 of a tank?)

 

[webby]

whatever the gas level is at the time of rental, is the amount you have to have when it's returned or they charge you the 9 dollars or whatever per gallon to get it back to the level you rented it at.

 

[LizBot]

Yeah that's what I was trying to understand.. Thanks.

 

[bootyluvr]

Just rented an intermediate SUV from Enterprise (in Phoenix) from last Saturday to Friday (yesterday) and I noticed if you don't fill it up before returning it they charge $6/gallon for gas.

I paid $4.05/gallon at a gas station semi close to the Rental Car Return Center.

 

[bootyluvr]

This is the GMC Terrain that we got. It wasn't bad. It was either the GMC, Nissan Murano or Dodge Journey (no thanks). It was colder at the town/area we were staying at so the wife liked that the GMC had heated seats and also heated steering wheel.

She took the picture so she could remember what we had... I'm like why? She didn't want to buy one just wanted to remember lol

 

[Nomar06]

Surprised they aren’t charging $10 a gal

 

[webby]

I rented an aerator a few weeks back, and it was $10/gallon if you didn’t fill it up when returning the machine.

 

[FooBird]

When I was in California at the beginning of the month, gas prices at the stations was $6.60/gallon but the rental only was charging $7.50 for gas. A more reasonable markup.

I’ll be in Charleston for a week in December for work, I’ll have to see what prices look like at that point when I get a car.