Do Car hire companies now have Fuel data loggers?

[V8 Stang]

So hired a SUV from Budget (part of Avis) out of Denver, on return i filled up in Denver rather than at the airport, as knew it would be cheaper With the intension on topping up when i got to the airport.

However when i got to the airport, the gauge in the car was still showing max, so didn't bother topping up.

To my surprise, 30 mins after dropping off. I get an email invoice from Budget.

Showing Fuel out of 17.2 Gallons, and return of 15.8 Gallons.

So charged me 1.4 gallons at $9.99/Gallon. So charged me $15.

Not the end of the world, as it was a very cheap hire. But did not realise car hire firms are now using fuel data loggers?

Is this now the norm?

[Dingu]

Have they not just tried to fill it from their pumps and it’s taken the difference?

[Truckosaurus]

I suspect there is just something that plugs into the OBD port which logs the mileage and fuel levels.

[alangla]

Never had that from a chain, but an Indy in Glasgow had (probably still have) a bunker in their depot that was price matched to a nearby petrol station and their practice was to put any returned vehicle on the pump and charge you if it took anything more than a thimble full, so it’s always been a practice that’s existed. You don’t mind so much if you’re paying a reasonable price for it like the above example (and they actually encouraged you not to bother refuelling so they could do it) but it stings a bit if you’re being gouged for nearly $10/gallon, especially if there’s then service charges added

[Chucklehead]

Dingu said:

Have they not just tried to fill it from their pumps and it’s taken the difference?

It's absolutely and irrefutably this.

[oyster]

Chucklehead said:

Dingu said:

Have they not just tried to fill it from their pumps and it’s taken the difference?

It's absolutely and irrefutably this.

I suspect not, there's more likelihood they are just adding a nominal 1/8th of a tank top-up charge. The next customer will not start with a brimmed tank.


OP - always - Always take a picture of the fuel gauge at collection and drop off.

[soxboy]

Chucklehead said:

Dingu said:

Have they not just tried to fill it from their pumps and it’s taken the difference?

It's absolutely and irrefutably this.

Agreed. There was a place in Leeds that I once returned a car to with a full gauge, but their policy was for it to be topped it up in front of you to work out how much was actually needed.

Turned out it was a fair amount if they had diesel gushing out of the filler rather than relying on a click of the pump.

[Guyr]

oyster said:

I suspect not, there's more likelihood they are just adding a nominal 1/8th of a tank top-up charge. The next customer will not start with a brimmed tank.

OP - always - Always take a picture of the fuel gauge at collection and drop off.

I disagree with the above.

I've hired cars 50+ times in many countries, have always filled up within 5 miles of the drop-off point and have never either taken a photo of the fuel gauge or ever been charged a single penny/cent/euro.

[scot_aln]

Guyr said:

I disagree with the above.

I've hired cars 50+ times in many countries, have always filled up within 5 miles of the drop-off point and have never either taken a photo of the fuel gauge or ever been charged a single penny/cent/euro.

I'd agree with this too excepting just one incident in Athens where they did as above and put pump in the car and managed to get a few euros worth in or around the side of the car. It just wasn't worth the debate.

[oyster]

Guyr said:

oyster said:

I suspect not, there's more likelihood they are just adding a nominal 1/8th of a tank top-up charge. The next customer will not start with a brimmed tank.

OP - always - Always take a picture of the fuel gauge at collection and drop off.

I disagree with the above.

I've hired cars 50+ times in many countries, have always filled up within 5 miles of the drop-off point and have never either taken a photo of the fuel gauge or ever been charged a single penny/cent/euro.

It’s happened to me 3 times. But then I have rented 50 times a year in the past.

[bad company]

I returned my car to Hertz at Fort Lauderdale airport a couple of hours ago. I filled the tank about 15 miles from the airport. No additional charges.

[Rough101]

They don’t give you evidence that it’s brimmed other than the gauge on the way in, so I’d argue it if you have before and after on the gauge.

[DJC76]

Chucklehead said:

Dingu said:

Have they not just tried to fill it from their pumps and it’s taken the difference?

It's absolutely and irrefutably this.

Yep, I had it at Boston. I argued that they were being petty because it would be impossible to fill up in the Avis drop off line so some fuel must be consumed in order to return their car to them. They refunded it.

Had similar at Cape Town, they charged for 1.5L of petrol plus a refuelling fee which being ZA was a pittance, total cost under a fiver. I told them not to be so pathetic and that I knew in that instance they didn’t have fuel pumps on site so logically only half of the consumption was mine seeing as we’d both likely used the same petrol station on the perimeter road. I received an apology and a refund.

[Truckosaurus]

I once rented a car where they had a rule that you had to show a fuel receipt from 15 minutes before the drop off to prove you'd filled it up at one of the petrol stations in the surrounding area. (Although that was before the days of pay-at-the-pump)

[andy43]

All the cars we hire at Faro in Portugal are ‘return with the same level’ so there’s room to manoeuvre a bit, or more usually cock it up completely and return it with 1/8th of a tank more.
Goldcar are full to full with what looks like an excessive charge if returned a bit light - the fuel station at the airport regularly has streams of Goldcar employees filling cars up presumably to fleece their customers credit cards later.