A car rental or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time (generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks) for a fee. It is an elaborate form of a rental shop, often organized with numerous local branches (which allow a user to return a vehicle to a different location), and primarily located near airports or busy city areas and often complemented by a website allowing online reservations.
Car rental agencies primarily serve people who have a car that is temporarily out of reach or out of service, for example travellers who are out of town or owners of damaged or destroyed vehicles who are awaiting repair or insurance compensation. Because of the variety of sizes of their vehicles, car rental agencies may also serve the self-moving industry needs, by renting vans or trucks, and in certain markets other types of vehicles such as motorcycles or scooters may also be offered.
Alongside the basic rental of a vehicle, car rental agencies typically also offer extra products such as insurance, global positioning system (GPS) navigation systems, entertainment systems, and even such things as mobile phones.
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Car rental companies operate by purchasing or leasing a number of fleet vehicles and renting them to their customers for a fee. Rental fleets can be structured in several ways – they can be owned outright (these are known as ‘risk vehicles’ because the car rental operator is taking a risk on how much the vehicle will be sold for when it is removed from service), they can be leased, or they can be owned under a guaranteed buy-back program arranged directly through a manufacturer or manufacturer’s financial arm (these are known as ‘repurchase vehicles’ because the manufacturer outlines the exact price of original sale and of repurchase at the end of a defined term).[1]
At the end of a rental vehicle's useful life, rental companies will often sell them into the used car market to dealers across the country via several methods, including direct-to-dealer and via specialized wholesale auctions companies (such as Manheim Auctions in the USA). Dealers generally will go through an inspection of the vehicles to make sure they comply with the safety standards of that dealership and then sell the car to the public. Many of these are known as program vehicles in the representation by the selling dealer.
A typical car rental agency offers average-priced vehicles, however some facilities may offer higher-end models of a particular manufacturer, such as Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DTS in the US. Some may also offer vehicles like Jaguar or Mustang to attract a specialty market. Most also offer SUVs in addition to passenger vans. At major airports or in larger cities, some independent car rental agencies offer ultra high-end vehicles for rent. These models can include Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Ferrari, and even Rolls Royce. This market is usually too cost prohibitive and unnecessary for the average car renter. Rent-a-Wreck got started by offering older vehicles at reduced prices.
Car rentals are subject to many conditions which vary from one brand to another. The vehicle must be returned in a good condition and sometimes must not exceed a maximum driven distance, otherwise extra fees may be incurred. Additionally, some companies set a minimum age for the vehicle driver, which in some cases is as high as 25, even in countries where the minimum legal age to hold a driver's license is much lower. In all cases a valid, current driver's license is required in order to rent a vehicle.
Recent conditions have utilized GPS technology to limit maximum speeds [2] or driving to specific regions. Renewable fuel vehicles are available in certain areas.[3]
The vast majority of car rental companies require the use of a credit card to make it easier for them to trace a person should they attempt to steal a car, or to charge additional fees at will if a defect is later found with the car.
Although frequently not explicitly stated, US car rental companies are required by respective state law to provide minimal liability coverage[4]. This covers costs to a third party in the event of an accident.[5] In most states it is illegal to drive a car without liability coverage. The rental car companies have liability with their vehicles, however some companies will charge for this should you not provide your own insurance. As an example, in Maryland the minimal level of liability coverage is $20,000 for bodily injury and $15,000 for property damage.[6]
It is typical, when renting a car, to be offered various forms of supplemental insurance and/or damage waivers as an optional extra at additional cost. There are several types of coverage:
In the USA, the sale of these supplemental insurance/waiver products may be regulated by each states' insurance departments and a special limited license may be required by the rental company in order to sell them.[12] The specific coverage offered can differ substantially depending on the State or Country in which the car is rented.
To allow for a uniform classification and easy comparison of car rental prices, the Association of Car Rental Industry Systems and Standards (ACRISS) has developed the ACRISS Car Classification Code coding system. This describes the size, door count, gearbox type (manual/automatic) and whether the car is air-conditioned, encoded into four letters. Additional classifications based on seat numbers and trunk volume were also set by the Belgian Rent a Car association in order to provide a unified system for assessing the car types in online reservation systems such as Amadeus or Argus.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Vehicle_rental Vehicle rental] at Wikimedia Commons
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