A viral TikTok recently highlighted how important it is to check a car rental before leaving the lot.
Posted as a PSA, TikToker Designs by Mushu (@22mushu) shows how one of the rental’s back tires had a blade embedded in it and two sidewall plugs sitting side by side. The video was viewed over 326,000 times as of publication.
According to Autobody News, U.S. car rental companies raked in a record $38.3 billion in 2023, beating 2022’s numbers by $2.2 billion. This is even though growth brought about by the end of the pandemic shrank from the 23% and 30% year-over-year increases witnessed in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
For a few years, demand outstripped supply. Yahoo Finance explains how in order to buoy themselves during the pandemic, major car companies sold approximately one in three vehicles that were previously available for rent. Then, in 2021, rental prices spiked due to surging demand and a severely diminished rental fleet. This caused average rental rates to jump from $76 per day in 2019 to $90 per day in 2022. According to Nerdwallet, rental prices in 2024 have stabilized somewhat, with Enterprise charging an average of $68 per day on the lowest end and National with $99 on the high end.
This is why it’s important to know whether or not you’re working with a good rental company. Some companies may be cheap, but they cost more in the long run. For instance, in 2019, E-Z Rent-A-Car settled a lawsuit accusing the company of overcharging customers who damaged their cars for $4.6 million. Unfortunately, reviews may not always help because even some of the best companies can end up over-charging their customers.
Avis, for example, controls 10% of the market share, and is the third-largest car rental company, according to Insider Monkey, but even they’ve received serious complaints. One woman alleges the company charged her husband $1,900 in fees due to a technical error.
Luckily, this video had a happy ending, according to Designs by Mushu as they shared how the company refunded him the cost of the rental.
@22mushu We got our REFUND. Always check the car youre renting out, you never know! #cars #carsoftiktok #rentalcar #travel ♬ MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS) – Tommy Richman
Commenters had a lot to say about his short PSA. Some offered advice, and others shared horror stories.
“It’s always good to triple check rentals. They don’t check fluids or tires after it has been rented. Good way to get into a upgraded car class,” one said.
“Also check the expiration date on the tags!! They gave my friend one with expired tags before!!” a second added.
“Before and after pictures people. it will literally save your a**,” a third remarked.
“One time we kept find tiny little spiders in our rental car. Turned out there was a spider nest in the car that had hatched,” a user said.
“My sister had a ford fusion from hertz with bald tires, she hydroplaned, wrecked. She’s okay but it was so scary,” another said.
“Yep had tires blew out on the highway all four had the metal showing on the back side of the tires,” a commenter described.
Daily Dot reached out to Designs by Mushu via TikTok comment for further comment.
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