Check Rental Cars Fuel Price Before Buying
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Written by Steve R. Lowry
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Monday, 09 February 2009 |
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As fuel prices soar, travelers might want to think twice about buying gas from rental car companies.
The price to prepay for a tank of gas is often higher than filling up at a local gas station, according to a USA TODAY survey of rental firms at 12 major airports.
The cost is exorbitant for renters who don't prepay and return a car with less than a full tank -- up to $6 per gallon, or about triple the retail market price.
Like other major companies, Budget offers renters three choices: prepay for a tank of gas at the company's set price per gallon, return the car full or return the car without a full tank and pay a premium price.
Renters who don't prepay would be wise to remember to return the car with a full tank. Otherwise, they'll be hit with a convenience charge that has escalated rapidly in recent years.
Hertz charges $5.99 a gallon at Los Angeles and San Francisco airports, and National has the same price at Boston Logan and Detroit Metro.
At that rate, an empty Lincoln Navigator with a 28-gallon fuel tank could cost more than $160 to fill up.
At the dozen airports surveyed, nearly 60% of rental companies' prices for prepaying were higher on a per-gallon basis than the average local price.
The highest prepay price among the cities surveyed? National Car Rental's $2.55 per gallon at New York's John F. Kennedy airport. It was 28 cents more than the average local price, according to daily prices provided to AAA by the Oil Price Information Service.
The best prepay price? Enterprise Rent-A-Car's $1.99 per gallon in San Francisco, where the average gas station price has shot up to $2.44.
The company's price at seven other airport locations undercut local gas stations by 6 to 32 cents per gallon.
Consumer advocates warn, however, that prepay prices lower than those at gas stations are not necessarily a bargain. To gain a price advantage, renters must return their car with the gauge at or below empty. Any gas left in the tank is gravy for the rental company.
Renters often are unable to plan their trip so precisely that they can return the tank empty.
"If you want to save money, it's best to fill up on your own," says Mantill Williams, a spokesman for AAA, which represents 47 million motorists. "Most cars give you some wriggle room, but you're taking a chance by trying to return an unfamiliar rental car on empty."
Most cars, Ford says, have 16- to 18-gallon fuel tanks, including up to two gallons after the fuel gauge hits empty.
Drivers can figure on 12 to 50 extra miles after the gauge hits empty, Ford estimates.
Prepay prices at National and Hertz Rent A Car were higher than local gas stations at 10 of 12 airports surveyed.
Avis Rent A Car prepay prices were more expensive at seven airports. Budget Rent A Car's prepay prices were higher at just five airports.
Hertz Vice President Richard Broome says the company's prepay option gives customers "the ability to know what the gas price will be" when they return their rental car.
"If the customer is only driving a little bit, it may not be the right idea," he says.
Broome says every customer should evaluate his or her own driving needs before deciding whether to buy gas from a rental car company. National spokesman Charles Pulley says gas is sold as a convenience.
"What you found makes perfect sense," he says. "Our price is in line with airport area gas stations, or could be 5 to 10 cents more than the average retail price."
The least expensive rate for letting the rental company top off the tank for you? Enterprise's $2.33 per gallon in Detroit.
Even the higher last-minute rate, says company spokeswoman Christy Conrad, might make sense for a business traveler who is driving a short distance and doesn't have time to go to a gas station to refill the tank.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 09 February 2009 )
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