Funkyjimmer's Blog

Friday, November 26, 2004

ON RENTING CARS -- Part 2

Another policy of car rental companies that distresses me is this: Once they get your credit card and your signature they hand you the key and say, “Have a nice drive!” There you are, left in a new car you probably have never driven before, not knowing where all the various dials, switches and other gadgets are located or how to work many of them. You don’t know how to activate the windshield wipers, how to operate the CD player, the radio or the heating/air conditioning unit or how to defrost the windshield. Sometimes you even have a hard time finding the switch that operates the windows. You are sitting there in the rental car company’s parking lot with them wanting you to move out of the way so they can help other customers. So you are forced to drive off while trying to locate all these operating controls and trying to figure out how they operate while trying to drive down the road.

It is especially bad (and I think even more dangerous) if you have rented a car at the airport and are in an unfamiliar city—at night—and maybe it is raining! I think this raises the potential for an accident to a very high level. That is why I take all of the insurance the car rental company offers, especially if I am in an unfamiliar city. I am very glad that the company I work for has already negotiated with the car rental company to take the full insurance package on every car they rent.

But I see this lack of instruction on the part of the car rental company as very dangerous. I wish there was a way that the car rental company could give you at least a brief run-through of where everything is located on the car and how they operate. I wonder how many accidents have been caused by the driver’s unfamiliarity with a car different from what he is used to driving?

Jim

posted by jim 10:30 PM 2 comments

Comments:

What I hate are the cars where there's some trick to getting the keys out of the ignition. I worked at a car wash once where the lady told us to park the car in the parking lot when we were done as she was going to go shopping - and so I was able to move the car, but couldn't get the keys out! My roommate had a car like that too, and even now I can't really remember what the trick is. But at least every car has the brake and the gas pedal in the same spot!

-Jennifer

# posted by

Anonymous : 3:07 PM

Good point about the brake and gas pedals! Thank goodness for small favors! I, too, have been in cars where I couldn't figure out how to get the key out. One time I got the key in the ignition but couldn't figure out how to start the darn thing! Someone had to come show my."All I had to do" (Ahem) was push a button at the same time I turned the key! One almost had to be a contortionst to turn the car on! *Sigh* So much for new experiences!

Jim

# posted by

Anonymous : 7:06 PM