We really liked the rental on the way to our destination.....BUT two days after we arrived at our destination (Monday), we noticed our rear, driver-side tire was low; so we filled it. Three days later (Friday), the pressure was low again, so we again paid to fill the tire with air. On Saturday morning on our return trip home, we noticed it was again low; and we called the Fort Wayne (Coliseum) site and asked for advice. We were told to just fill it. After filling it almost hourly, we called the same location and again asked what to do. They suggested Fix a Flat type of product (vs having it fixed or replaced). So we bought two cans of a Fix A Flat (or similar product) and filled it (having one on hand in case the tire pressure went down again). However, within a half hour of using the fix a flat, it was down to 15 PSI.
We called the Hertz roadside assistance number and were told that since we didn't pay the extra insurance, we would have to either change to the 'donut' tire, find someone else to do it, or pay Hertz to come out and change the tire (TO THE DONUT).
When we discovered (while talking to the Roadside Assistance representative) there was no manual to show where to safely put the jack and we were concerned about the potential for injury if the car came off the jack, the representative told us then not to do it and pay someone else to do it. I told her of our concern of driving all the way from VA to IN on a donut, since you're only supposed to drive 50 mph or so and for a much shorter distance than the hundreds of miles we had yet to cover and on a major interstate. She told us once we got it filled, we could go to the nearest Hertz and switch vehicles.
Then she told us the closest Hertz location was closed for the week; and we would have to drive to the Richmond VA airport and switch cars there. But then she came back on and said that the airport only had a much smaller car (which would not have held our luggage, coolers, etc.) So we really had no recourse or assistance from Hertz Roadside Assistance.
We ended up (with the help of a good Samaritan) getting the tire switched to the donut and finding a local service station (which he had to lead us to because we had to wind around miles of country roads to get to it--so that we wouldn't have to risk going 50-60 mph on a major interstate where the speed limit was 70 mph and driving 50-60 mph could well have created a traffic accident. When we got to the service station, we had to pay to have the tire repaired; and we were informed that this was the 3rd or 4th patch/plug on the tire....making us wonder if an earlier repair had failed and caused us all this trouble.
We are so frustrated with the total lack of concern, care and customer service by Hertz and the extra time and expense it cost us on our trip home. We estimate all the problems with the tire cost us an extra four hours coming home. The whole reason we rented a car was so that we wouldn't have to worry about car issues and knowing we had resources to help us if we did. Quite obviously, that expectation was not met.
My husband stopped by Hertz the morning after we dropped off the car and was shocked that even after all we went through, all they did was reimburse $29--the cost of the tire repair and a can of fix a flat (didn't cover all we had to pay for air the multiple times we had to refill the tire on the way home). They offered him a voucher for $100 off a rental within a year; but, honestly, if Hertz routinely rents cars with tires with multiple plugs/patches (which seems like a poor practice considering the number of miles put on rentals), we hesitate to put ourselves through that type of experience again. I'd hoped a major company like Hertz could do better than that; but we're feeling like we have to warn people away from renting from Hertz based on this experience and knowledge. read more