Rental-car satisfaction chugging

Michael Klatt misses the days when rental cars were shiny and new.

In June, he rented a Ford Taurus in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that had loose steering and stained seats. "I was literally touching it to see if it was wet," he says. The car, which had 20,000 miles on it, also had brakes that were a little wonky — he had to push down hard on the pedal to make them work.

"Before you didn't get a car with 20,000 to 25,000 miles," the New Hill, N.C., resident and longtime Hertz customer says. "You can tell: They ride rough; they have a shimmy going down the road; the seats have stains on them. It's like rent-a-wreck."

Paula Rivera, a Hertz spokeswoman, says the company's fleet age — typically 8 to 12 months and 16,000 to 20,000 miles — hasn't changed and that its cars are maintained in accordance with manufacturer guidelines.

But while customers and car-rental companies debate whether the quality of rental cars is sliding, the rental companies are indeed implementing stingier policies as they look to cut costs. Vanguard Car Rental, which operates National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car, says that there are about 2,000 more miles on its vehicles on average fleetwide now compared with a year ago. Hertz is being less generous with its loyalty program and after-hours drop-offs. And some customers say rental-car companies are being more nitpicky about where they refuel, with some renters being slapped with fuel fees if they fill up more than a few miles from the airport.

Rental-car companies have been pinched because auto makers, desperate to get their own finances under control, are curtailing the practice of selling less-profitable "program" cars to fleets. Program cars are vehicles that rental companies buy at a reduced cost, then resell at prearranged prices through auction lots, usually after around nine months. The auto makers used that avenue to rid themselves of excess production. So rental companies are now filling their fleets with a larger share of "risk" cars — cars they ultimately have to sell themselves, possibly at a loss.

Companies say that consumers shouldn't notice a difference in their rental cars — even if they have more mileage. Vanguard, which Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. recently bought, says the additional 2,000 miles on its cars is nothing dramatic. Also, the cars are maintained by manufacturer-certified mechanics and generally disposed of before they reach 20,000 miles. Industry observers agree. "The cars are maintained fairly well," says Chris Brown, managing editor of the trade publication Auto Rental News.