rental car damage - dispute ***resolved***

[NuclearNed]

I recently leased a vehicle from Enterprise for a week. During this time I ran over something that flattened the tire - I'm not disputing this. Also, when I returned the vehicle there were some extremely light dents on the passenger side front fender that the processing agent noticed and marked. I did NOT put those dents on the vehicle, but neither I nor the agent who did the initial inspection on the vehicle noticed them (they are EXTREMELY light dents, easily overlooked). However, during the initial inspection the agent noted an extremely similar dent on the passenger door just a few feet away.

As it turns out, I have a digital pic of the vehicle roughly 24 hours after I picked it up, and the light dents on the fender are visible. Granted, this doesn't prove that I didn't do it.

I got a letter from Enterprise wanting my insurance info. I called them up to get some more info. They apparently haven't calculated a $ amount yet... they don't even know if they are going to charge me yet, but they still want my insurance info and/or a credit card #. To heck with that; I'm not going to give them any info until I know whether or not they are going to pursue the claim.

In the meanwhile, I've opened an official dispute with them over the dents. Here's the email I sent yesterday:

To Whom it May Concern,

Re: claim XXXXXXXX

I recently rented a vehicle from Enterprise, and I understand that a couple of items have been turned over to the Damage Recovery Unit:
1. I ran over something that punctured one of the tires. I am not disputing this item.
2. When I returned the vehicle, the processing agent noticed some light dents on the passenger side front fender. At that time I told the agent that I did not cause this damage, and he noted my dispute on the damage form. I repeat, I did not cause this damage. That said, I acknowledge that when I received the vehicle, neither the processing agent nor myself noticed these light dents. However, the processing agent did note on the initial inspection form that there were similar light dents a short distance away on the passenger side door. I have attached a digital photograph that shows the vehicle roughly 24 hours after I received it (digital pics have an internal timestamp that show precisely when they were taken). The photo clearly shows a light dent on the passenger front fender. While this doesn’t prove that I didn’t cause the damage, it at least shows that the damage was there very shortly after I received the vehicle. Please take this into consideration when this claim is processed.

Thank you,
NuclearNed

Any advice on how to proceed? I have no problem paying for the tire, but I hate to pay for damage (the fender) that I didn't cause.


UPDATE:
hooray! They left a message saying their investigation showed the damage was from prior use. The claim is going to be closed. That was fast!!!

 

[EagleKeeper]

How difficult would it have been to get the tire patched?

Did you get the vehicle in the same Time Zone as you setup the camera?

Talk to you auto insurance carrier

 

[notposting]

This seems like BS....I'm sure the tire incident got the whole car looked at carefully, even though in general most rentals are slightly beat up and scuffed nowadays (I will take a whole set of pictures in the lot nowadays).

That being said, assuming you rented with any decent sort of CC, it should offer rental car insurance protection. Used it once when I bashed the crap out of an Explorer we rented

Also, did you get any of their overpriced insurance?

 

[Raizinman]

I rent cars almost weekly. I’ve learned the games these agencies play in charging every customer for the same dent in the car. I’ve even heard that these agencies will put a dent in certain un-noticable places on the car (lower fender well or below wheel well) as most people will not notice this and they can charge over and over again.

As a consumer, what should you do? Get out your phone camera and take two pictures at different angles of each side of the car. If there are any tears, holes, or damage on the inside of the car, take pictures too. Make sure you take these pictures right there in the rental car lot so that the background will show that you took these pictures before you even left the lot.

I’ve also found that I have less problems with the big rental agencies such as Hertz, Avis, Budget, but the small places give me a hard time. Also, the more expensive the car, I’ve found that they will try and tack on some amount of damage. I guess they figure if you can afford $100 a day for a week of rental (Total $700), you probably won’t balk at a $250 damage claim, as opposed to a cheap wad who rents an Escort for $22 a day.

At this point, you best bet is to turn it over to your insurance.

 

[voodoojc]

I would've told them since it wasn't recorded when you turned the car in, it's not your liability since it could've happened anytime between when you turned it in and now. Also, I used to intern at Enterprise and we were told to ignore any dents smaller than a quarter and scratches less than an inch.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Basically, lesson learned to note EVERY dent, ding, etc on a rental car.

Just because you personally didn't punch the car and cause the dent does not mean it didn't happen while in your possession.

 

[Raizinman]

Basically, lesson learned to note EVERY dent, ding, etc on a rental car.

Just because you personally didn't punch the car and cause the dent does not mean it didn't happen while in your possession.

Make sure that when you NOTE IT, that it is a photograph. Can't really dispute a photo, especially when the vehicle hasn't even left the lot.

 

[NuclearNed]

How difficult would it have been to get the tire patched?

Did you get the vehicle in the same Time Zone as you setup the camera?

Talk to you auto insurance carrier

the Enterprise guy said that if they could plug the tire, there would be no charge to me. It never occurred to me to get it plugged myself

the time zone was the same

Yeah- gonna call my insurance later today

 

[NuclearNed]

This seems like BS....I'm sure the tire incident got the whole car looked at carefully, even though in general most rentals are slightly beat up and scuffed nowadays (I will take a whole set of pictures in the lot nowadays).

That being said, assuming you rented with any decent sort of CC, it should offer rental car insurance protection. Used it once when I bashed the crap out of an Explorer we rented

Also, did you get any of their overpriced insurance?

I never get their insurance - I'm covered in other ways

 

[BoomerD]

Hell Ned...that's pretty minor. This is a car I turned in to Enterprise earlier in the year:

They kind of insisted that I pay my deductible before they'd let me leave...:biggrin:

For some reason, they wouldn't believe that it was pre-existing damage...

 

[NuclearNed]

Hooray!!! They called and left a message saying that their investigation showed the damage was from prior use. The claim is going to be closed.

 

[NuclearNed]

Hell Ned...that's pretty minor. This is a car I turned in to Enterprise earlier in the year:

They kind of insisted that I pay my deductible before they'd let me leave...:biggrin:

For some reason, they wouldn't believe that it was pre-existing damage...

Holy cow... the dents they thought I caused could only be seen when the light hit them at the right angle. I don't think any amount of angling would help your dent disappear.

 

[BoomerD]

Holy cow... the dents they thought I caused could only be seen when the light hit them at the right angle. I don't think any amount of angling would help your dent disappear.

Yeah...that was about $8,000 worth of dent...on a 2011 Corolla, I was surprised they didn't total the car.
It was a hit & run rear-ended, and even though someone took pics of the other car with their cell phone, it still took the local cops a couple of weeks to investigate and find out who the owner was. Turns out, they only had the state minimum liability, ($5K property damage) so my insurance company has to sue them for the balance. The other driver was never properly identified, so he got away with it scot-free. (I saw him for about 3 seconds, couldn't pick him out of a photo line-up)

 

[Raizinman]

Lesson to be learned: Always get the rental car insurance and then run the living crap out of the car!! (Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode).