No More Cheating When Returning A Rental Car

Clark Howard and Chris Elliott both have reported that car companies are starting to install technology to track the amount of gas in a returned car down to the 1/10th of gallon. Try to cheat by not filling the tank all the way, you will get a surprise on your credit card statement a few days late.

Howard reports:

Avis is using a new technology that can read the amount of gas in the tank down to tenths of a gallon. If you return it just a hair less than full, they will charge you at just under a dollar per tenth of a gallon of gasoline. That's the equivalent of almost $10 a gallon, when you factor out the numbers they're using!

Elliott uncovered the Hertz is taking it one step further by adding technology to shut down a car for unsafe driving:

Avis isn’t the only car rental company measuring fuel down to a tenth of a gallon. Hertz is installing this technology, which is referred to by the industry term electronic fuel metering, in its fleet over the next few months in an effort to ensure that every drop of fuel is accounted and paid for. 

Mark Frissora, Hertz’s chief executive, says that his company loses $50 million a year in fuel. Its new system, called Zibox, is capable of shutting off a car engine remotely and operating car locks from afar. It relays location data, tire air pressure and fuel-level information back to Hertz, too. In other words, it will know exactly how much fuel you have in the car at any given time. “This is going to be good for customers,” Frissora says.

Personally, I have rented cars which were not quite full on gas. A mile away from the car rental place the gas gauge drops to 3/4 of tank. Therefore, I am out gas & money.

Wikipedia.org

This new technology may help bring transparency into the whole process. On the other side, forcing customers to ensure the tank is fully full is not easy. Not all airports or rental car locations have gas stations right by the airport. For instance, on my trip to Colorado Spring, the closest gas station was 1 mile from the airport. Driving that 1 mile burnt gas and help move the gas gauge slightly off of full. Under the new system, I would be hit for that 1 mile of gas.

Elliott sums it up correctly:

If you’re renting a high-end, low-mileage car, your chances of having a vehicle with electronic fuel metering are good. You can either prepay for a full tank of gas through a rental company’s fuel-purchase option and time the return of your rental to the moment the tank reaches the “E” mark, or you can fill the tank to the top just before you return it and hope for the best.

It’s always a smart idea to save the gas receipt, which should note the time and the amount of fuel you added to the tank. If there’s a dispute, the invoice could prove to be useful.

In every advancement in technology, there are winners and losers. This advancement makes us consumers the big losers.
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