The car rental industry has seen few changes in the past in regards to how they operate and what they offer. It has now come to light that a couple of car rental companies will now be using electronic fuel metering in order to measure the exact amount of fuel used by their customers, down to the last penny. For instance, if a customer re-fills the car to what they think as full, they may be in for a little surprise on their bill; the electronic device will be used to determine exactly how much is missing from the cars full fuel capacity levels. It may seem a little petty to customers, however, these little amounts do add up and cost car rental companies millions a year.
Avoiding Car Rental Extra Fuel Cost
There are ways in which you can avoid those extra little charges after you have returned the car; prepay for a full tank through the car rental companies fuel purchase option or fill the car to what you think is the fullest level and hope that you won’t receive an extra bill. However, the bill for customers wouldn’t be all that much, but just be prepared to pay a small extra cost for the fuel that is unaccounted for.
Additional Features on the System
Not only can car rental companies account for every drop of fuel, but there are other features that the system provides to give more control to the car rental companies. These include; remotely shutting down the cars engine and the ability to operate the cars locks from afar. The system is also able to pinpoint your exact location, tire pressure and fuel level. The location aspect is perhaps taking things a little too far, after all are we not supposed to have some privacy in where we go and what we see. This could have a major impact on the numbers of people using car rental companies (or at least certain ones) and in turn could be detrimental to the car rental industry. But what alternatives are there? Well one good alternative to just renting a car is car leasing.
Car Leasing
Car leasing is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to borrow or buy a car. This is due to several reasons;
- Not being able to afford to pay for a car outright – leasing gives you an affordable method of paying to hire/buy a car
- Wanting to lease and then buy the car at a lower cost – most leasing companies offer this as an option for the end of your contract
- Better options of cars – monthly payments are more affordable than financed privately owned cars
- Cost effective – so many different cost effective options depending on whether you’re a business client or not
- Doesn’t lose value as apposed to buying a new car, in other words depreciation cost of a vehicle
- Flexibility – have a new car every 2 or three years is a popular option
- Businesses can receive up to 100% Tax relief, up to 50% VAT rebate on leased cars and up to 100% on commercial vehicles
There are many advantages of leasing a car, whether that’s for the short or long-term, business or personal use etc. There are downsides to leasing also and is not an option that everyone wants, however, it is a good option for some and is a growing industry due to the reasons mentioned.
Featured images:
- License: Image author owned
- License: Image author owned
- License: Image author owned
- License: Image author owned
- License: Image author owned
Henry is the author of this article and currently works in the car rental industry and specialises in long term car rental.