I can’t believe I’m saying this but we’ve had good experiences renting from Hertz over the last three years. Being able to find decent rates with my corporate discount during “The Great Car Rental Shortage” and saving 33% on a rental by using my AMEX Platinum discount, I’ve rented with Hertz more than any other company.
For an upcoming rental, I started looking a few months before the trip. Once again, Hertz had the best prices. I set up a search with Autoslash and I’ve received regular updates about lower prices. I’d always click to see who had the lowest prices this week.
Initially, the lower prices were only with lower-tier companies (like Ace or Fox) but more recently I’ve seen lower prices with Dollar and Thrifty.
However, the biggest savings were if I prepaid for a rental, which is something I never like to do. While I’ve had decent experiences with them, I’m renting at Newark Airport (my previous hometown airport) and I know I want to escape that counter, even if it means paying more money.
That’s where having Hertz President Circle status from my Capital One Venture X comes in handy. It allows me to pick a car from the Hertz lot and drive away without having to stand in line. For this trip, that’s worth an extra few dollars.
But this recent Autoslash update offered a Hertz rental for $25 less. Saving money while keeping the same benefits is always a winner for me. That was until I clicked on the rental page and saw the lower price was for a Tesla Model 3 (or similar.)
When I mentioned to Sharon that we could rent a Tesla for cheaper than a regular car, she said, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!”
I have to admit that I agree with her. While I’m not against EVs, I don’t want to drive one, for the first time, on the New Jersey Turnpike. Not to mention having to worry about where to charge it during our trip.
Hertz allows you to return the vehicle with as low as a 10% charge with no recharging fee, so I’d hopefully be able to manage our usage. On the other hand, I don’t want to ask my family that we’re visiting if they have an extension cord to plug in our rental car (if that’s how it even works).
If you already own a Tesla, renting one is not a big deal. However, if you’ve never driven one it could be a deal breaker. Even more so if you’re going to drive on roads where you already have to have hyperawareness of your surroundings, like every road in North Jersey.
So it’s no Tesla for us on this trip, and that’s fine by me, as I’m going to be the one driving and I’m a bit rusty in NJ driving etiquette.
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6 comments
If you rent a Tesla, couldn’t you use ultimate choice and get a different car?
I rented a Tesla from Hertz in CA – the range is 300 miles
There are plenty of charging stations – I took it to one the first day as a test run when I reached my destination
NJ is not the boondocks. There are 57 charger stations in NJ – very close to one another
So there is no issue unless you are traveling during a snow storm you should have no worries
I thought you’d say you were concerned about being arrested while driving a hertz or ashamed to be driving a tesla and people think you liked a-hole musk.
Hertz now requires a return to have a 70% charge state, not a 10%. The charge if returned at less than 70% is $35. The exception is if the car went out with a lesser charge than that.
Also, I have rented one at PHL to use in the ACY area and had no issues with chargers. There are plenty around NJ.
I’ll have to check out that change from Hertz on recharge fees.
Hertz now requires a return to have a 70% charge state, not a 10%. The charge if returned at less than 70% is $35. The exception is if the car went out with a lesser charge than that.