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Off brand car rental agency experience

mdurette

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I usually stick to names I know: Alamo, Dollar, Hertz, Budget etc and can usually find a good price with them.

There are other agencies though: Sixt, Fox, Advantage, EZ, Payless Online review are pretty rough. But, my thought is the average person would normally not write a review of a car rental, unless it went bad. Thus...all the bad reviews.

My question: for those of you that have rented from these other agencies, did all go well?

I'm particularly interested in Sixt as they seem to always come up with attractive pricing.
 

#1 Cowboys Fan

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I can't help, as I, too, have not yet dared to use them.
 

DaveNV

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I can look up the company, (might have had E-Z in their name?), but in San Diego once we used an off-brand. It was a terrible experience I don’t wish to ever repeat. We ended up waiting hours for them to get a car for us, long after the reservation time. “Sorry, I know you have a reservation. We don’t have any cars.” What?? Then the car we got had a huge trim piece come off the side of the windshield while we were driving on the freeway, and I spent even more hours trying to get a different vehicle. I felt unsafe in that car, feeling the windshield might blow out on the freeway. The response I got from the agent when I wanted to switch to another car was rolled eyes at their inconvenience.

I will never rent from that outfit again. Good luck.

Dave
 
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Luanne

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I was almost going to use Sixt for an upcoming reservation, but........when I was either making an inquiry about it, or trying to change it, since I'd made it through a third party (AutoSlash) they couldn't seem to find the reservation. It didn't make me feel very confident about them. I ended up cancelling the reservation I had made (they were able to find it to do that) and haven't tried with them again.
 

CPNY

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I usually stick to names I know: Alamo, Dollar, Hertz, Budget etc and can usually find a good price with them.

There are other agencies though: Sixt, Fox, Advantage, EZ, Payless Online review are pretty rough. But, my thought is the average person would normally not write a review of a car rental, unless it went bad. Thus...all the bad reviews.

My question: for those of you that have rented from these other agencies, did all go well?

I'm particularly interested in Sixt as they seem to always come up with attractive pricing.
Sixt is becoming bigger. I’ve seen them on the same lots as the big guys on airport. I’ve never rented from them but I would be if the price was right. I usually stick to Priceline express deals for a day or two rental. I use my chase card and I get the included insurance
 

Luanne

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Sixt is becoming bigger. I’ve seen them on the same lots as the big guys on airport. I’ve never rented from them but I would be if the price was right. I usually stick to Priceline express deals for a day or two rental. I use my chase card and I get the included insurance
When we flew into San Jose recently and picked up our (Alamo) rental it looks like all of the "major" rental companies are in one building, including Fox and Sixt. San Jose was where I was going to rent from Sixt, but again, their inability to confirm that I had a reservation made me nervous.
 

CPNY

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When we flew into San Jose recently and picked up our (Alamo) rental it looks like all of the "major" rental companies are in one building, including Fox and Sixt. San Jose was where I was going to rent from Sixt, but again, their inability to confirm that I had a reservation made me nervous.
Rental car companies are a bit odd in that you’re not Guaranteed a car even though you have a reservation. You can reserve and show up and there may not be any type of car you reserved. I’d be more likely to go with sixt over fox but yes they are showing up with the big guys.
 

Luanne

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Rental car companies are a bit odd in that you’re not Guaranteed a car even though you have a reservation. You can reserve and show up and there may not be any type of car you reserved. I’d be more likely to go with sixt over fox but yes they are showing up with the big guys.
Just as an aside, our rental with Alamo went very smoothly. Car available, in fact we had our pick of the size we had reserved. I think we paid a little bit more than the Sixt reservation would have cost, but it was worth it to me. When we go through Costco or AutoSlash and rent with a company we "belong" to the rental shows up on the rental car company website almost immediately.
 

CPNY

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Just as an aside, our rental with Alamo went very smoothly. Car available, in fact we had our pick of the size we had reserved. I think we paid a little bit more than the Sixt reservation would have cost, but it was worth it to me. When we go through Costco or AutoSlash and rent with a company we "belong" to the rental shows up on the rental car company website almost immediately.
Right. I stick with the big guys too
 

sjsharkie

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Sixt is huge in EU. They have one of if not the largest overall EU market share for rental related services.

They are expanding in the US. I would have no issues renting from them as long as they are on airport (ie. I dont want to take a separate offsite shuttle if every one else goes to a central rental center). The other smaller carriers I do shy away from.

Ryan

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easyrider

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I had to use Fox in Loreto Mexico because they were the only agency in the area that allowed a Cabo return. I used Fox in Puerto Vallata and returned the car to Mazatlan. Both cars were a couple of years old but in good condition. The rate wasn't as good but because of the return to a different location it was the only or best.

Bill
 

lockewong

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I rented with Sixt in Seattle. I was really nervous since they were the farthest in the building with a ton of "Big Names." It went well and there were no issues. I was told that Sixt is big in Australia and just making a US presence. I rented with Advantage when I forgot to book a rental during February Whale week in Maui. I was really, really nervous. I had to take pictures of the perimeter of the car. They cautioned me about bringing it back dirty...i.e. no sand...or there would be a cleaning charge. I personally went into the office to get the car. I ran into a couple who gave me tips on how to deal with the restrictions. I returned it and made sure I got the name of the person to whom I spoke who okayed the return as being clean. Then, when the credit card hold cleared, I exhaled. I would try Sixt at a airport again. The Advantage rental was off site at Kahului. It may have changed since they built a new structure/building for rentals at Maui.
 

clifffaith

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I usually stick to names I know: Alamo, Dollar, Hertz, Budget etc and can usually find a good price with them.

There are other agencies though: Sixt, Fox, Advantage, EZ, Payless Online review are pretty rough. But, my thought is the average person would normally not write a review of a car rental, unless it went bad. Thus...all the bad reviews.

My question: for those of you that have rented from these other agencies, did all go well?

I'm particularly interested in Sixt as they seem to always come up with attractive pricing.

In our world Advantage is as much as a name brand as Enterprise or Alamo. In fact probably more so than Alamo. We use Discount Hawaii Rentals for cars in Hawaii and the reservations seem to alternate between Enterprise and Advantage often enough that at OGG for the life of us we can't remember which shuttle picks up in front of the airport and which picks up at the side. I guarantee you we end up at the wrong pick up location each and every trip!
 

Luanne

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In our world Advantage is as much as a name brand as Enterprise or Alamo. In fact probably more so than Alamo. We use Discount Hawaii Rentals for cars in Hawaii and the reservations seem to alternate between Enterprise and Advantage often enough that at OGG for the life of us we can't remember which shuttle picks up in front of the airport and which picks up at the side. I guarantee you we end up at the wrong pick up location each and every trip!
So I guess you must do well with pricing with Discount Hawaii. I keep checking them but so far we've done better with Costco, and lately with AutoSlash.
 

clifffaith

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So I guess you must do well with pricing with Discount Hawaii. I keep checking them but so far we've done better with Costco, and lately with AutoSlash.

We don't have Costco; finally said it was ridiculous to not even be able to find a parking spot in the back forty on a weekday, and on bad pain days I simply can't walk the store, and on good days I'm likely to suffer the next day after a trudge up and down the aisles. Someone, somewhere, maybe on TripAdvisor recommended Discount Hawaii, so we were happy with the price that time and haven't looked elsewhere.

Cliff has often pointed out that I'm a buyer, not a shopper. I look at what's available, buy and move on. He on the other hand can't stop shopping even after he's bought something. The first "large" purchase he made after I met him in 1983 was a suitcase set -- large, medium, small bags and a tote. For the next ten years he was still looking at luggage prices and comparing them to what he'd bought! LOL of course wheeled suitcases (the strap kind) became popular shortly thereafter so I agitated for wheels, then as soon as we bought the strap wheelies, the much easier to use built in handle type came into vogue -- I think we are on our third set of that kind, and of course we go carry-on only now so no need for big suitcases. Oh the agony he went through when I put his suitcases out at a garage sale several moves ago!
 

Luanne

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We don't have Costco; finally said it was ridiculous to not even be able to find a parking spot in the back forty on a weekday, and on bad pain days I simply can't walk the store, and on good days I'm likely to suffer the next day after a trudge up and down the aisles. Someone, somewhere, maybe on TripAdvisor recommended Discount Hawaii, so we were happy with the price that time and haven't looked elsewhere.

Cliff has often pointed out that I'm a buyer, not a shopper. I look at what's available, buy and move on. He on the other hand can't stop shopping even after he's bought something. The first "large" purchase he made after I met him in 1983 was a suitcase set -- large, medium, small bags and a tote. For the next ten years he was still looking at luggage prices and comparing them to what he'd bought! LOL of course wheeled suitcases (the strap kind) became popular shortly thereafter so I agitated for wheels, then as soon as we bought the strap wheelies, the much easier to use built in handle type came into vogue -- I think we are on our third set of that kind, and of course we go carry-on only now so no need for big suitcases. Oh the agony he went through when I put his suitcases out at a garage sale several moves ago!
Try AutoSlash. You can register your rental with Discount Hawaii and then they'll notify you when they find lower prices. You can choose to book one of those lower prices, or not. Cliff will love it. :)
 

canesfan

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We just used Sixt in Poland. It was easy and the agent was friendly and helpful. They did go over the car throughly, but we had no problem with extra charges afterwards.


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isisdave

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Sixt is big in Europe and we've used them with no problems.

Suggestions:

1. Be sure you have a copy of your booking either on paper or in your phone. I once arrived at a small, in-town place (Bristol, I think) where I had booked either Sixt or Europcar through Priceline, and their computer wouldn't bring it up. But since I had the evidence, they honored it, and later called their support line to figure out what they weren't doing right.

2. The first time or two, or where you're booking in a low-volume place, you could make a backup reservation with another company.
 

Grammarhero

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I use Next Car Rentals in MD. They are affiliated with Toyota, so it’s easy to get approved. I’ve never had a problem with them, as I have comprehensive car insurance coverage.
 

Luanne

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I use Next Car Rentals in MD. They are affiliated with Toyota, so it’s easy to get approved. I’ve never had a problem with them, as I have comprehensive car insurance coverage.
I've never heard of Next.
 

sfwilshire

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Fox, one and one. Never ever again would I even consider them. Horrible service at LAX. Long lines. Unfriendly clerks that didn't know what they were doing.

I've had good experiences with Sixt, though check-in seems slow and clunky in some locations. I rented several times from them at DFW, from the time they started operations there. They almost always gave me really nice complimentary vehicle upgrades. Once they even talked me into taking a Mercedes. I was hesitant because I was afraid I'd get car jacked or have a fender bender with a huge repair bill, but they practically insisted. It was a very nice car once I finally found all of the buttons on the dash.

Sheila
 

easyrider

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Years ago I rented a 4x4 Land Cruiser from a company in Cabo called All Over Baja. We had planned to use this for shore fishing and would be driving on some area beaches. The website looked good.

What we got was an old beat up Land Crusier that had the front differential drive line missing. No 4x4. I burried this suv on the first beach. Lucky for us a bunch of Canadians were fishing this beach and they helped us out.

I gave the Land Crusier back and took a Suburban. I was nice enough. Leather interior and only a few years old. I had permission to use it on the beach and on the road to the beach the front bumper fell off. It was tied on with a shoe string. We tied it back on and hit the beach. As soon as I hit the sand we were stuck because the 4x4 didn't work right.

Now I stay away from local car rental companies every where. I see some rates in Maui from some locals that seem pretty good but I don't want to be spending any time dealing with car problems on a 10 year old car.

Bill
 

Luanne

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Years ago I rented a 4x4 Land Cruiser from a company in Cabo called All Over Baja. We had planned to use this for shore fishing and would be driving on some area beaches. The website looked good.

What we got was an old beat up Land Crusier that had the front differential drive line missing. No 4x4. I burried this suv on the first beach. Lucky for us a bunch of Canadians were fishing this beach and they helped us out.

I gave the Land Crusier back and took a Suburban. I was nice enough. Leather interior and only a few years old. I had permission to use it on the beach and on the road to the beach the front bumper fell off. It was tied on with a shoe string. We tied it back on and hit the beach. As soon as I hit the sand we were stuck because the 4x4 didn't work right.

Now I stay away from local car rental companies every where. I see some rates in Maui from some locals that seem pretty good but I don't want to be spending any time dealing with car problems on a 10 year old car.

Bill
This story reminds me of a rental my bil had one year on Maui. Bil is forever looking for a "deal" and he rented with some "rent a wreck" company. We had also rented a car, but his car would hold 6 so we'd take it when we all went out together. First, he'd have to go down early to get it started up. Then the part I remember the most was when he went to adjust the rear view mirror and it fell off in his hand. I guess you get what you pay for. :rolleyes:
 

BJRSanDiego

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About 35 years ago I used Robert's Rental car on Maui. They have subsequently left that business in favor of shuttles and tours.

But my experience with Robert's at the time was funny. We were driving from Kaanapali to Hana, where we were going to stay for a couple of nights. We had a small, faded Japanese car that had a bunch of dings and more miles on it than most other rental car companies. As we were driving the winding roads to Hana, I could feel the car pull to the right when I applied that brakes and could hear a grinding sound. I asked my wife to look out the window and take a look as we were driving. She saw sparks when I was braking. So we continued for another 1/2 hour or so and stopped at Hasagawa's store to pick up provisions for our evening. I also called Roberts and explained my experience. The fellow said that they had just done a "brake job" on the car and that something must have gone wrong. (Note: the car had enough miles that it already needed new brake pads). I was "going with the flow" and suggested, jokingly, to the guy that I would like a replacement car the following morning in the color, red. He said that it wouldn't be necessary and that he'd drive up with the parts that he suspected were affected and effect the repair himself. The fellow showed up with a replacement brake caliper. Apparently they forgot to put in a bolt that should hold/retain the caliper. But it was missing and the caliper was free to rub against the inside of the wheel rim. He put on the replacement caliper and had me be the pedal pusher pumping the brakes as he was down below and bleeding the air out. At the time I thought that the whole thing was kind of funny and didn't go ballistic. So Roberts was pretty responsive and we continued on our vacation.
 
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