What To Do When A Rental Car Company Is Out Of Cars

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We don’t rent cars all that often. We’ve become more comfortable taking public transportation to/from the airport in major cities like New York and Chicago and then using Uber/Lyft/taxi and sometimes public transportation to get around whatever city or town we’re in. We only need a rental car when we go to places where public transportation isn’t an option (like when we flew to Charlotte, NC and then drove to South of the Border).

So how can it be that occasionally, there are no available cars when we get to the rental car counter/garage?

I get the concept of overbooking because airlines do it all the time. Hotels even do it, but not as often. Rental car companies seem to plan on people not showing up for car rentals.

I understand that not everyone will return a car when they say they will. People sometimes run late, and companies charge you for an extra rental day when you do.  This fact makes it difficult for rental car companies to schedule when a car will be ready to rent to a new customer. However, this doesn’t explain why I’ve shown up to rental car lots with no vehicles. None. Zip. Nada. While I wanted to re-enact this Seinfeld scene, I remained calm and kept my mouth shut.

This is our reality, so we must learn what to do if this happens. Hopefully, you won’t need to be somewhere right away (like you planned your flight THAT CLOSE to a wedding or graduation). If you do, you must weigh your options and act ASAP.  This may mean renting from another company if any cars are available or taking a car service. If getting to your destination is more important than the money it’ll require, bite the bullet and worry about the rest later.

Things To Consider

If you have the time to wait it out, here are some tips based on our rules for being a better customer:

1. Let the staff know your requirements. When we had to wait for a car, we were upfront about what we would and wouldn’t accept. Would we take a bigger car? What about a smaller one? Do we need room for luggage? If you’re traveling with four adults with luggage, you won’t be happy about getting a compact car when you reserve a full-sized one. We were very frank with the staff when we were taking a car for a one-way rental, saying that whichever car they gave us would not be coming back.
2. Be friendly. It’s not the staff in the garage who rented too many cars. They’re not any happier about dealing with unhappy customers than you are that they’re out of cars. Being “that guy” won’t help you get a car any faster. Having them on your side at this moment will be a plus.
3. Be flexible. Work with the staff to reach a reasonable outcome. You might not get the car you want, but you’ll have a car. Can you come back tomorrow to exchange the car for one more like the one you reserved? Would that be OK with you and with them?
4. Be patient. You can’t wish a car back to the garage, nor can they. If you’ve decided to wait it out, then wait. No tapping your foot while waiting; just wait. Play a game on your phone. Catch up on your Instagram posts. Watch TikTok videos. Have a nice chat with the staff. This was how we discovered why there were no cars in Phoenix. It was Parents’ Weekend at the area colleges, and every one of those parents needed to rent a car. Lucky us for THAT excellent timing, huh? Even with the staff driving 4-5 times a day to area locations, they still couldn’t get enough cars to the airport.
5. Check if other agencies have cars available if you need to cut and run. You may even get the difference in cost refunded by the original rental car agency. Just be prepared to stand your ground, and if you make a reasonable request for compensation, you may be able to get something back in return.

So, what happened during our rentals? Remember, these instances were on the first day of a trip where all we had planned for the evening was to drive to our hotel and get something to eat before heading to bed. For our first rental, we needed to sit for about 20 minutes before the desk agent walked to us and handed us a set of keys. She asked if it would be OK for us to take a Jeep Cherokee even though we rented a mid-size car. I said we’d be OK with that, and it must have been karma since the reason we were in town was to visit the Jeep-boree (Note from Sharon: No dear, that’s what YOU call it. It’s the Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion.) (Note from Joe: I know. But my name for it is faster and funnier.).

The other time we were “carless” was, as I mentioned above, in Phoenix. We waited in the garage with the staff for about 20-30 minutes. Several options floated to us, and we were willing to go with whatever solution they came up with. Eventually, a manager approached us, thanked us for our patience, and asked if I would be okay with taking a Dodge Charger. I asked if they considered that a “sport” car, but he assured me it was categorized as a mid-size. I’d never pay to rent a sports car, but who am I to turn it down if you give me one? It was nice to have the extra pickup when passing cars driving along the desert roads between Phoenix, Sedona, Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. I had to be extra careful about watching the speedometer because it was very easy to look down and see a speed I had no business driving.

Final Thoughts

It’s clear that overbooked rental car agencies are a thing, just like overbooked planes and oversold hotels. Unlike those situations where compensation is spelled out in advance or is governmentally regulated, there’s currently no requirement for a rental car company to do anything if they don’t have a car. Knowing the possibility exists, weighing your options and working with the staff is always the better way out of these situations. Don’t lose your s**t and become “that person” at the counter.

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