A couple of months ago, I wrote about how Hertz is rolling out new AI technology to detect vehicle damage. The idea is that Hertz is installing a bunch of cameras when cars are picked up and returned, which will instantly spot any damage, and then bill renters for it.
Continue reading: Hertz’s AI Vehicle Damage Detection Is As Shady & Unethical As You’d Expect
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I recently had a major wheel ding on my BMW buffed out at the dealer for $100. And BMW dealers are not exactly known for their low pricing.
This is really no surprise. Hertz has been running an unethical damage-billing scheme for years; they've tried to get me for several times for damage that either didn't exist or was caused by someone else.
Everyone should be putting Hertz on their "DNR" list.
Of course they won’t take the car out of service to repair for a scuff, but in addition to what already been outlined, they’ll charge the renter for “Loss of use,” which is basically the imagined lost revenue (at full cost, of course) from taking the car out of service for multiple days.
That little scratch won’t impact the resale value of the car at all (most of the time auto auction) meaning Hertz will never get it fixed. Hertz biggest competitor (enterprise/national) specifically tells customers if the scratch/dent is smaller than a golf ball don’t worry about it you won’t be charged because we won’t fix it. Much more honest.
The renter deserved it. After everything that we've heard about Hertz, the public in general and not just the hobby, anyone who still chooses Hertz has it coming to them.
"This makes me less likely to rent from Hertz" Why would anyone rent from Hertz if you can rent from National? I have been renting from National for over 20 years and never ever had a single issue with them.
SIXT @ AMS is doing the same thing. There is a checkpoint with cameras at exit and another one at reentry that automatically determines damage.
Extortion with lack of transparency. Plain and simple.
The one time I got hassled for supposed damage to a rental vehicle it was with Hertz. Which they backed down after I showed them the slip of paper they provided when I picked up the car to document how the supposed damage was already there from a prior rental. This is just more reason to not rent with Hertz. There's nothing that can convince me to rent with them again after their "stolen car" scandal.
No matter where you rent in Europe, you will get scammed. Thus, I only rent with full insurance no matter what. Last year I rented a BMW from Sixt in Italy and the paperwork I had to sign had 3 pages of damages listed. I paid full insurance but guess what? When I returned the car, the agent found a "new" scratch on a 80% scratched wheel. I knew I had not added another scratch since I was the only driver of the car and never hit any curbs. Whatever, he showed me the "new scratch" and I told him to check the contract and see I had full insurance. He looked surprised, I smiled and left. If renting in Europe, either pay for full insurance or be prepared to get charged for damages that were already in the car.
you are missing the point.. Hertz will be able to make this same charge to the next 15-20 renters of this same car. Real big profit, all to the bottom line.
That's why most people avoid SIXT. I would never rent from them even if they were the only company with cars available.
The customer should be able to see the AI scan of the damaged area when the car was returned from its last rental, as well as a scan when the rental in question was checked out. Only then would the customer know that the damage was neither pre-existing or caused by a Hertz employee while preparing the car for the next rental.
These scans (date marked) should be supplied up-front. In fact, Hertz should be required to supply a scan of the car after payment was made showing the damage to have been repaired or the payment required to be refunded.
It's just AI time - nothing that would cause Hertz substantial costs.
This makes me less likely to rent from Hertz
Less likely? Avoid Hertz, they are repeat offenders when it comes to ripping off customers. Less likely? Geez...
Almost all rental agents have said they're not really worried about small scuffs and scratches. If Hertz is gonna charged you several hundred $$ for small rock chips, AVIS and even UBER may be looking better in some cases. As a credit card question for @Ben, would CSP (for example) cover for something like this?
I rented from ATL right after they installed these. When you pick up the car you personally drive through an exit scan and then upon return you personally drive through a return scan, so it is clear if it happened on rent.
I switched to Avis due to AA LP earnings and... it's not much better there. I spent a week fighting windshield damage that was already on the car. Fortunately I took pictures and could prove it, but they willfully ignored my pictures for a long time. People with financial interests aren't much better than AI, it seems.
Hertz is absolutely the bottom of the pack, followed by Avis. I find Sixt to be decent (at least by the very low, shady standards of rental car companies).
Can you imagine...an OMAAT reader just happens to rent that vehicle in the future, gets charged for the same scuff, and realizes it's from the same vehicle in this story.
The lawsuit could be epic.
If they will commit to a full scan of the vehicle before I take it, documenting all pre-existing damage and providing me with the data in a useful format, I have no problem with this. I agree that the "admin fees" are skanky but I know I won't damage their car. My problem is being blamed for damage that they "missed" in the pre-rental inspection. I do a very thorough walkaround on any rental car and i insist on documentation from staff before I depart. I guess I'll insist on that from Hertz, now, using their wonderful tech. If the whole convo breaks down, I'll walk next door to National.
All the more reason to drive through some muddy puddles so that all the return camera sees is a dirty car and if they claim they re-photographed it after cleaning you were no longer the last driver.
And to think that Marriott will use AI to assign rooms. And to think insurance companies will use AI to approve or deny claims.
What could possibly go wrong...
I would never rent from Hertz but National has given me headaches as well. Especially if you try to drive between US/Canada, their billing is completely screwy and their customer service just hands you back and forth between incompetent and rude agents on each side. I was on a Do Not Rent list because of a whole saga last fall over their billing mistake, it was a nightmare to fix. The Executive area and ability to drive off the lot with any vehicle is industry-leading, I will give them that.
TL;DR: I miss Silvercar.
This company needs to be investigated by the Federal government and shut down! Honestly.
Rented a vehicle in February for 1 day, returned at airport - got an email 2 months later saying there was some damage and asked for my insurance information. Completely insane, but after I asked for more details Hertz said they would 'waive' the damage as a courtesy. The alleged damage was a chip in the windshield but I'm sure that vehicle was rented out multiple times after I returned it.
The last time I rented from Hertz the lady (who was Muslim) tricked me into prepaying for gas. Even though I said I return the car full. I drove less than 50 miles for theee sales appointments.
What do you recommend in Europe? They are all awful. At least with Sixt the existing damages are minor and I know if I pay their full insurance they won't bother me. I once rented from Hertz in Europe and the car had been in an accident and a rear door would barely open because of a huge dent. I told them I didn't want that car and they said my options were that car or no car.
As has been mentioned elsewhere, won't the renter's insurance companies start demanding real evidence that the renter caused the damage before making payouts to Hertz like this?
I recently made an account with Hertz because they're running a very good promo with Flying Blue at the moment (20 miles per euro). It felt like a trip to 90's, which is seemingly when the interface got its last update. It was so frustrating that I gave up on booking car with them, even though those miles could come really handy. The idea of this company trying to implement AI solutions when they can't even get their website to meet today's standards makes me laugh almost as much as this company claiming they're premium.
Top prize for ignorant comment of the year.
Muslims have a specific accent now?
What a bigoted moron
Eh, last year in France, Sixt tried to charge me for damage that I could prove that I didn't cause. When I reached out to them their answer (after several days) was not to worry about the alleged E600 of damage because I had taken out the necessary insurance. Whom, I think they were going to charge for damage that THEY did after I dropped the car off.
They're all sleazy. My experience has been that National is the least bad. Hertz used to be the top of the top, just as their spokesguy OJ Simpson was at the time. They've both chosen downhill paths since then.
@Santastico, see my comment above. SIXT pulled that excrement with me in Mulhouse. I had full insurance, and their answer was "don't worry about anything, you're good!" They were charging the insurance to pay for stuff that they did after I dropped off. I literally had pics, which (shocker) they weren't interested in.
Sleazeballs. But all of the agencies are now. I'm with you, outside the USA: buy full insurance.
The government's job is to protect corporations. You are of no value to the government. Hertz can donate meaningfully to political campaigns. You cannot.
I've rented with National/Enterprise in Spain, Cyprus, Ireland, Estonia, Bulgaria, and numerous times in Germany. I've never had any issue. I generally photograph the vehicle, but I've never had a single mention of damage. Germany especially fees just like renting in the US.
I've said this elsewhere, but I can imagine that the rental insurance underwriters are going to end up suing Hertz, because one $440 claim is an annoyance but ten thousand claims will bring in the lawyers.
It's going to be REALLY fun once someone puts together an LLM to file claims and appeal denials. It's going to turn into computers arguing with one another.
Why do you think that the Before they show is you going out, rather than some earlier scan?!
It would be an interesting exercise for a law firm or newspaper to rent a car, drive it around the block, and return it (ideally with full video documentation of the whole "trip") and see if anything gets flagged.
@Santastico
The response to that is to say that they are in breach of contract.
So either they get a car from one of the other companies and deal with paying them, or you will go to the other company and charge them the difference.
I had to do this a couple of times when only certain car classes could be driven over the old Iron Curtain.
One time they found the car, the other time they paid the difference.
Hertz used to be the best and the most prestigious, sort of like the Emirates or Singapore Airlines of car rental companies. Now, it's trash, like Spirit or Frontier.
National's pricing has been crazy since the pandemic. Anytime I compare rates they are often 2-3x more than Hertz.
And one needs the Before and After before one leaves the dropoff location so one can inspect the car to see whether the damage is really there.
Hours later is no use - one cannot dispute.
Ironically in Europe, I've found Hertz to be amongst the best with Europcar.
Sixt is universally bad around the world. I've had as many claims with them as rentals, no claims with any other rental agency and I was renting cars in Europe every weekend.
I would rather walk 500 miles than ever rent with Hertz. If they are the only option at the airport or location I need a rental car at, I would literally change my itinerary.
Agreed, National has been really good for me as well. I've only had one problem with them, they only had one SUV available when I rented from Fairbanks AK pre-COVID. There was a crack in the windshield, and I informed the agent with photos before I drove off. I still got billed for the damage after I returned the car, but followed back up and they dropped the damage charges with no pushback.
About 7 to 8 years ago Hertz tried to scam me about damages I had not done to my rental for the day...
I have not touched them ever again. And I will never will. I will walk if I have to. I'll take a ride with a trucker and do whatever I have to do, but I will never rent with them again.
I almost exclusively rent from National. Never had a problem with them. Used domestically many times and in Scotland and New Zealand. Hoping my good track record continues when I head to Italy in a few weeks!
I remember rental companies having a little card with a hole the size of a quarter or something similar. They say if the damage can fit in the circle, don't worry about it. I wonder if the Hertz AI is programmed to do the same. Maybe not according to the article.
I did the Porsche 911 2 hour rental with Lufthansa back when it was offered in Frankfurt. I went down to Hertz after landing at FRA, got the keys to a C4S, blasted down the Autobahn, then turned around and returned the car (and walked shakily back into the First Class Terminal from the adrenaline). The first class terminal offered to return the car to Hertz for me. After a few Coke Zero's and gummy bears I received a notification in German that I later learned read that there was damage to the car just below the threshold that I would be billed. It was my first and only time renting a car in Europe, and I am not excited to have to do it again.
I just rented from Hertz in Ireland. While they didn't have this AI scanner gizmo, at the counter, they did show me pictures of the damage they identified, and they also emailed me the pictures with a link to upload my own pictures. I took a whole bunch on the lot before leaving, so I sent them a few dozen :).
If you have credit card vehicle coverage, will they cover the ridiculous administrative and service fees?
American voters clearly voted for less regulation and less government "interfering" on corporations.
The people in government who cared about consumers lost the vote, so get used to this as it's what voters want.
Well, good luck with that when you land in Sicily after almost 24 hours flying with connections, kids tired, 100F outside, etc… I tried talking to Hertz in the US but no success. Ended up getting the car and later received a refund for 1/2 of the rent but had to drive the crashed car for 10 days.
I prefer renting from Enterprise and they have inspired me as a golfer. I now make sure that all the golf balls I buy are no smaller than a car dent.
Hertz is the British Airways of car rental agencies, it was once the best by far, now it's barely better than the discount companies. I'm sure they will recoup the costs to repair everything from a minor scratch to a major dent, plus make money with the fees to handle the claims, but they will lose market share. Customers will realize that renting from Hertz costs more when factoring in the cost of insurance or paying for repairs. Another instance of a company tripping over a dollar to save a dime.
In years of renting cars I think I've discovered the secret of Hertz and others.
The rental rate barely covers the cost of handling the car. All profit is made selling insurance/cdw/etc. This just adds to that situation. If you haven't paid for their overpriced "insurance" then they'll find a way to bill you for "damage", real or not. BE careful...take careful photos of the entire car, including the glass and interior....and the headliner. Then be prepared to argue.
Agree with the general sentiment here that Hertz sucks. I rented from them for work because they were consistently among the cheapest and I had President's Circle through my Amex Platinum. Their website/technology is awful. Most of the time nowadays the President's Circle vehicles are 90 percent Malibus or Equinoxes. They nickel and dime like no other, and reaching a human to dispute any charges with them is nearly impossible.
National defines normal wear and tear as anything that doesn't exceed the size of the Damage Estimator plastic tool (of which a kind manager gave me one a few years ago) and any scratches smaller than a US One Dollar Bill are considered normal wear and tear. Also, dings smaller than a US Quarter Dollar coin are normal wear and tear. What a difference
I have been frequently traveling to Italy over the past several years, and now live in Italy, and currently have ongoing monthly rentals so I can use my credit card primary insurance coverage.
I have rented with more agencies than I can name, including all the ones that have been mentioned in other comments (especially Sixt, Hertz, Avis and Europcar).
Never had an issue. Even with some of the bargain basement ones at Rome FCO airport, who have the 1 star reviews. Never a problem upon return. Am I just lucky? Probably… but during every rental I take an extremely thorough video of the car and speak the date and time while I make the video so it’s part of the record. More often than not the counter agents see me doing this. Do they notate my reservation record, who knows?
I used to rely on CC insurance (luckily without issue), but lately I have decided to go "super coverage, zero deductible" insurance on cars in Europe. Yes, it costs more but not having to worry about every little ding (or made up damage) is worth it. I do buy it upfront through Autoeurope, because it costs a bigger fortune at the counter.
The faster Hertz goes out of business the better. Expiring points without notice and many other poor decisions by management have led them down the path to liquidation.
Just had two wheels refurbished here in England. I only paid £80 because I chose the express service (1 working day turnaround)- the slower 'standard' service is just £30 per wheel for a full refurbishment.
Sixt is decent? Seriously. A friend of mine rented an electric car from them. When he got home, he found they they added a charge for filling up his tank with 10 gallons of premium. Tell me again that Sixt is decent, NOT.
The Hertz name is global, but local businesses aren't all run the same way. I have rented from them in places like Greece where they are up there with the best (i.e. Sixt).
I've had great experiences with Sixt all across Europe and even a in few more exotic locations (e.g. JNB, SJO, MEX). I always, ALWAYS, take photos of the cars at the beginning of the hire, but haven't had any reason to rely on them. You need to be super diligent when picking up a car, last year at MAD I found 3-4 bits of damage that weren't in the form when hiring from Goldcar. It was well worth spending half an hour going through everything with a fine toothcomb as I only paid €85 to rent a decent car for a full week.
This is the play and I have always done this; we also do a full video record of AirBNBs and Vrbos when we stay at them upon check-in and check-out. Maybe extreme but I have never had an accusation/question of damage I couldn't disprove.
I get the strategy for using CC insurance coverage but at least in the US I will always be leveraging my personal auto insurance policy. Damage/Collision is one thing. Liability is another. I have an acquaintance who is currently awaiting a six-figure outcome in their favor for a minor traffic accident in Manhattan. It's a cottage industry and you better CYA.
Sixt in Austria shafted me for $2000 for some scratches they found in the interior door frame (so I didn't have pictures). It was absolutely not me, and was no where near 2k regardless.
I told them to sue me. Haven't heard back (10 months). Won't EVER be going back.
I had a Hertz car reserved for a future rental at Atlanta Hartsfield but after reading your article and a few others of this incident I cancelled my Hertz reservation and booked a car with another agency.
I've rented almost exclusively from Hertz for over 30 years but I'm not going to put up with this new business model.
I have also alerted friends and family of this new system.
Rented several times from Enterprise at Dublin airport and have never had a problem. I like their damage template. Of course, many of their cars have small scratches on the left side caused by drivers from the U.S. getting too close to the curb or bushes on left side of the road 🙂
The question is what happens in a one way rental. Last year I rented one way MGM to ATL, car had damage all over it. How would the scanner know it was there before?
Definitely no longer renting from Hertz for business or leisure. I agree they have every right to collect for damages to their cars but this is not the approach to take. As the decision maker for travel at a major tech company we will absolutely make Hertz the last option for our employees to select as a rental car provider. I am sure our risk management group will want to cease all business with Hertz
Enterprise, part of the same family, does this also. I rent for probably three months a year total and have never had a problem.
IF I bother to rent from Hertz again, I will video tape & photograph the entire car (I often do this anyway). And minutely have the agent document every tiny scratch & ding with precision. If the form is too small, I'll insist on a more comprehensive form for my protection. If the check-in process is slowed down, the agents might complain to corporate.
The Private Equity folks who now own Hertz took a wrong turn when they bought this lemon out of bankruptcy...
Use a better car rental company and you won't have a problem 😉 That being said, car is usually unnecessary in Europe unless you go to some obscure rural areas 🙂
During return in Dusseldorf one of those contracting employees that inspect the car upon return told me never to use Sixt because they encourage the damage notifications and where a half inch or less scuff is fine at one station at another its damage. This is more of a profit maker than rentals. As I said before, if consumers at large pick one company to bankrupt it, may other companies will take notice. At which point does a small dent created in a parking lot by some person not being careful become a damage?
Recently, I returned my rental back to Avis in SFO. They evaluator started to closedly scrutinize every inch of the car and found a small 4 inch scratch. So she wrote a report. Thankfully, I used a visa infinite card so the card insurance took care of the $675 bill without any cost out of my pocket.
A few months later I saw a small dent and some long scratches. I took pictures and when I returned my car and pointed out the damaga, the evaluator ignored me and said that that was nothing.
Bottom Line: get a via infinite card (CSR, CSP, C1VX, BofA Elite, etc.)
Remember when OJ Simpson starred in their commercials before he went on to 'other pursuits' ?
.... lol....
I must have missed the part of the 'Muslim accent' ... Maybe a clue would be she was wearing a hijab ... Although it's still irrelevant as fraud / dishonesty respects no religious preferences ..,,
No... Clearly Hertz will charge the renter even more for cleaning upon return !
I’ve spent thousands with Hertz and have actually earned (not through a credit card or partner) presidents circle status. Amazingly I am treated like a bottom of the barrel customer. Never any help, never anything extra, everyone gets the same treatment even for us top tier customers. Whenever I ask for anything they always act like they could’nt care less even when calling customer service to their so called “dedicated support line.” I have decided that after next month I’m officially retiring from hertz, taking my status and going to Enterprise or National where I will actually be a valued customer.
Terry,
Although I agree with your intentions here, would it be practical to do this at 11:30 PM after a three-hour delayed flight, in pouring rain, in some dimly-lit lot, with an 8:00 AM meeting the next day? I recommend just picking a credit card with good primary LDW protection and call it a day.
I have one more reason to never rent from Hertz, and I vote with my feet. Have never had issues with National or Avis in thirty years of renting. Now, Sixt? I have cancelled my account there and asked them to remove my data.
The first time an 'in service' car is scanned by AI I am certain it would show up multiple so-called defects missed by previous eye inspections. Be prepared for four figure bills for alleged damage, or heated arguments and threats to legal recourse.
Steer clear of Hertz!
Hertz Zurich charged me over $1200 for a scratch UNDER the front bumper. Not visible from the side. Plus hundreds of dollars in Admin fees. I had clear before and after phots, but of course I didn’t take photos under the car. Communication with Hertz switzerland was useless. Disputed on credit card and lost. Fraudulent company, Hertz, and I’m even a Presidential member. I never curbed or hit anything, 100% certain. I even felt the ‘damage’ photos from under the car were actually mud spray. Insane.
I would imagine there would scarcely be a car in Italy without some minor damage or scratch, given the Italians driving habits and parking skills.
The Italians are definately not anal about such minor issues, unlike Americans.
Disclaimer: Italy is my favorite country in the world and relish every visit.
If hertz are going to charge you full whack for a repair to any damage detected on a car, regardless of size etc, then they should ensure that every car you rent should be damage free. More often than not, I am lucky if the car has even been washed properly. This is ridiculous. If the employees can’t be trained by Hertz to do their job effectively then that is a Hertz problem. Not reasonable to pass it back to the customer. This entire rental car industry has lost any ambition to deliver customer service that makes a customer ‘Want’ to use them as opposed to ‘have’ to use them. This will be a vending machine industry very soon!!
Ben, reading your articles and other colleagues, we are seeing a very ugly picture of whats to come.
Its not AI, it people with greed.
We also being President's Club at Hertz had an ordeal early this year and we quit Hertz. Other companies with better situations out there.
Its the same with Hotels. See Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen reflagging, Hyatt could care less to help those with Points reservations (Tip of the Hat to John at Lobby).
As mentioned to him, Nasetta got $28M, Capuano got $22M, Hoplamazian got $15M.
Remember Capuano choked on an earnings call and promised $100M in savings.
Thats where their focus is. For us travelers it looks to continually get worse in service. Only when the market changes, or new competitors come in with common sense for customers, then it will change, and these guys will fade away.
In the short run it does not look favorable for travelers.
I had problems with Hertz a long time ago. So, they were off my list. Now, they will never have a change to get my patronage.
Agree totally with Santastico. I now always go full insurance in Europe. At AMS, I returned the car with preexisting damage that I took pictures and videos of, and even had them notate it, and they still tried to charge me for damage. It was easy enough in this case to prove it, but they will go over the car with a fine tooth comb checking for anything. With full insurance now, they just let me go on my way and I don't have to worry.
Well, not surprised...Hertz at airport in Mexico ripped us off to the tune of $1200...controlled by cartels.
Good luck getting someone to do a walkaround before driving off at the airport. Plus do you have the time or the eye to document every half inch blemish on and under the car? Can your camera capture all of that? Posts on reddit already show fraction of an inch "dents" that easily could be blemishes or reflections getting billed. Basically, they're now charging normal wear and tear as damage now.