If you want a high mileage, unreliable car with no air conditioning in the middle of summer then Advantage is the place to go!
I don’t know about you, but I had the unfortunate experience of using Advantage Rent a Car on a business trip in Austin Texas recently. I booked my hotel stay online and then I found that Advantage car rental had the best rates for a full-size car for a week’s rental in Austin Texas.
I looked him up online and couldn’t find any bad reviews and so I went ahead and reserved the vehicle. So I had a flight out on USAir to Houston Texas where I picked up the rental car and then drove from there to Austin Texas. When I picked up the car in Houston it seemed they were closing down for the day and they closing early for the day for some reason that I can’t remember, so they just gave me the keys and told me where the car was.
When I got to the car I found out it was a piece of crap Chrysler with almost 90,000 miles on it. When I started the car its shutter for a moment and then cranked up but sounded like it was idling fast and of course the check engine light was on. I went back to see if I could get a better or different car, but they had locked the front door and left for the day.
So basically I was stuck with this car and I had to be in Austin Texas early the next morning. So I just got back in the car and took off and headed for Austin hoping for the best. I noticed that the air was not working or at lease was not blowing cold as of yet so I decided to give it a little more time to see if it would kick in. It never did the whole way to Austin and that’s a 2 to 3 Hour drive.
Now, I don’t know about you, but can you imagine driving a vehicle with no air conditioning when it’s 102° outside and in the dead heat of summer in Texas. That was crazy. I couldn’t get cool with the windows down and when it finally arrived in Austin I looked like I had just gone for a swim I was so sweaty.
And now I was stuck with the same vehicle for the whole next week. At least I had a good hotel and a cozy suite to relax in. At least the car never broke down the whole time. I was amazed at that fact, because I had been worried ever since I left Houston that I would be stranded on the side of the road with this thing. High mileage Chryslers are not known to be reliable vehicles, especially when you’re speaking about one with the check engine light on, where it’s revving or idling high and the air conditioning doesn’t work. At least the turn signals and brakes worked. The brakes did squeak, though, every time I applied them which meant the brakes needed to be replaced very soon.
When my business trip was done and I drove back to Houston to return the rental car I plan on giving them a piece of my mind and telling them about my horrible looks great without air conditioning in hundred degree plus Texas summer weather. But of course, when I got there it was closed and I had to just drop off the keys. I later e-mailed the folks at Advantage car rental to tell them of my experience, but they never returned my e-mail. I also sent them a letter and have yet to receive a response to that.
In my opinion, Advantage car rental is no advantage. All I did save in the end was $5-$10 a day and I would’ve gladly paid that or more than that for a more reliable and newer car that had cold air conditioning and was more dependable. On all future trips to Houston and Austin Texas I have gone with Hertz and Avis and fared far better. I don’t believe I’ll be using Advantage car rental ever again.
