As many reviewers have mentioned (read down and you will find them easily; in fact, if you do a Google search for "Stuttgart car rental damage scam" you will see dozens of results), this place will most likely scam you. I picked up a car upon arrival from the US and was told there was only one left and I should take it or leave it. After 18 hours of travel I was in no mood to argue, so I accepted a very dirty (inside and out) Polestar with 31K kms on it and an overdue service warning that constantly came up. The car also had multiple dings and scratches, including on three of the four aluminum rims. Upon return, the inspector IMMEDIATELY went over to the one rim that was not marked as damaged, pointed to a tiny scratch and said I would be charged for this. He did this within 30 seconds, knowing EXACTLY where to go. Late for a flight I noted that I did NOT agree with this on the inspection report and gor on my plane. Sure enough, My bill included EUR 210 for "damage" plus a EUR 68 "damage processing fee. So, they scam you and then charge you a fee for the privilege. Great stuff. I'm dealing with Hertz (will likely drop my President's Club membership now) and my credit card company now to get the charge reversed. Do yourself a favor and rent somewhere else. These guys are crooks, plain and simple. Avoid! read more

See all

The 3 stars is mainly for how confusing it is to drop off a car or pick up a car. RENTAL OFFICE: The rental offices are close to the main entrance of the train station, i.e. humans are here. RENTAL CAR GARAGE: The parking garage is way past the train station at the other end of the big block in the parking garage of the LBBW building, i.e. no humans here. When you enter the parking garage, just look for the rental car signs 2 levels below ground. After parking, I had to return the keys to the rental office - I put the parking garage ticket with the keys when I returned it. To walk from the garage to the rental office you have to walk by some tracks (I forget which one), but it wasn't the shortest walk. - The rental car spots are mixed with the other agencies and super tight. They tell you to park it in any empty spot in that area. DROP-OFF: The first time we came here was to drop off a car we picked up at another location. Where do you park the car? We were expecting an airport-like drop off area. You have to turn at the light to the parking garage at the far end of the tracks. Don't turn into the mini parking lot right next to the train station entrance - you will get stuck in traffic. I called and am glad we could drop off afterhours because we needed an extra 20 minutes to loop around and figure out where to park it, and then locate the rental office drop off box near the front of the train station. (I've attached a map of where the parking garage entrance is.) The return was processed the next day, I had booked it online and there were no surprise charges. PICK-UP: The second time we came to pick up a car - no surprise that we got the same Ford Jura SUV that we dropped off 2 days ago. Now that we knew where the parking garage was, it was much easier to find it. Note, we only saw stairs to get to/from the parking garage. If you have a lot of luggage, and you're traveling with someone else, you may want to arrange for 1 person to get the car and the other to stay with the luggage. I was late to pick up and they didn't seem to mind. The phone number to call did not work or they just didn't turn it on. read more

Hertz - Where to drop off the car? The parking garage is under the LBBW building. - Car Rental Near Me - Stuttgart, BW

What a mess renting from Hertz in Germany. Found a great rate on Expedia - 3 day rental, pick up in Stuttgart and drop off in Munich, unlimited miles, VW Passat, $80 total. Quote direct on Thrifty website was 100 euro more, so I jumped on it. Arrived on time for my pickup. Counter tells me I am blacklisted from renting from Hertz. What? Never heard that before, but no problem, I will address it with Hertz later. My reservation is through Thrifty. Same company she tells me. Hmmm. After a lot of phone calls and no real explanations she continues the transaction and completes the rental. Head out to the lot with the keys and find, no a Passat, but a Ford SUV. Not overly disappointed - there were 3 of us with a lot of luggage so the extra space was handy, but the car was a total piece of shit. A Ford Kuga. They don't sell them in the USA, and I know why. Big and clumsy and under powered. And I can drive a stick as well as anyone, but a manual transmission on an SUV is stupid. Then we get it on the Autobahn to Munich and the thing has a governor and won't go over 150kph. Sad to have the continual line of Porsche's, BMWs and even Skodas blow by you on the left as you putt along. The rental return at Munich airport was also a nightmare - the main gas station at the airport had the pumps cordoned off, so we had to back into town to fill the thing up. Then 2 days later, I check my credit card balance, and I see that at the time of rental Hertz put an $800 authorization on my credit card. For an $80 rental??!! I check Hertz policies online and see that they will authorize UP TO $300 more than the rental charge. A week after dropping the car off and the hold still hasn't come off my card. Just avoid Hertz in Germany. Stick to Sixt or EuropCar. Actually, if you are renting a car in Stuttgart, you can rent a Porsche at the museum for $100 a day and be treated like a king during the process. read more

Not a great Hertz location. First off, they close early on Saturdays, so I was unable to pick up my car when my train arrived Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, my hotel was just down the block, but seriously annoying since I had pre-paid for the rental... I basically paid for an extra day for nothing? My #1 Club Gold membership didn't really count for anything at this location, either. The actual parking lot is located at the far end of the train station from the Hertz counter, and we were told the car was in one of two rows (no exact location) ... we passed by at least 50 cars, pressing the alarm button on the car key, before we were even in range of the car, it was just so far away!! The parking lot was actually quite tricky to navigate through as well; it's actually just one of those self-park lots where you get a ticket as you drive your car into the garage, ya know? and you have to pay and put the paid-ticket in the machine in order to get out... well, the Hertz attendant forgot to give us the ticket to put in the machine to get out, so we had to go back all the way through the train station again to get a pass that would let us out of the garage! (He was very apologetic, but if you are renting here, make sure you get that exit-pass!). At least the guy at the counter spoke both Deutsch and English fluently! To be fair, it seems that all of the other car rental agencies at the Stuttgart hbf would suffer from the same faults that this Hertz location has... but if you are going to rent a car, I would try another location if possible! read more

My worst car rental experience. Terrible customer service and procedures for checking out the vehicle puts customer in a very bad position if there were pre existing damages. I've been by the Hertz counter twice, once at check out and second at check in. Both times, there was only 1 rep fielding both phone calls and customer walk ins, which is not enough reps to receive good customer service and especially by Germany's low standards toward customer service. At check out, was given the standard form to sign including damage report, which was marked clear. I found that I had to walk a good distance to locate the parking lot of the vehicle. Unfortunately, was not instructed that if I found any damages, to call them back right away. I took pictures of a damage to the front right in which a previous driver must have scraped the vehicle and drove out so I can be on time for work. There were no attendants around and exit to receive my input. At check in, the customer service rep, Claudia, was on the phone scolding a customer, saying statements such as "you will have a bad day", "you will remember my words", etc. I should've ran away fast and returned the vehicle at another time after shift change. Come my turn after she hung up the phone, I explained there was a pre existing damage to the rental and had photos to prove them. However, she proceeded to scold me on how she worked with her colleague from when I picked up and certain he had given me the instructions to call. (He had not) She continued to scold me that if I had followed normal procedures, I would have inspected and called. She wouldn't listen to me that this isn't normal procedures in which you don't go over these"normal instructions" and send them on their way to navigate through the train station to find the rental location (btw, not easy to locate). Bottomline is that I would never recommend anyone to Hertz at the Stuttgart HbF due to the piss poor treatment of customers and the confusing process and unclear instructions that ultimately puts the faultless customer on the side of owning any undue liability. read more

Kurz und Bündig:like the germans would say I needed a car in Germany from 5th of June till 8th of June,decided to rent via my gold membership.. 1)could NOT use my points overseas ... 2)did NOT give me the requested car..(i asked for Mercedes automatic in Germany -is that too much??!!) 3)location service charge 22% that was a hidden charge 4)the second star is for Isabela who spoke perfect english and set the navigation in english for me... 5)I really did not feel I used my membership somehow..i waited on the counter just someone to tell me where the car was parked...(no two counters for gold members and others) 6) the parking lot -super confusing ..I had to ask cab drivers if they know anything about rental car parking lots in my broken deutsch 7)I wasn't offered a price for the diesel fuel in case I return the car with empty tank...and it happened like that ..I got charged 4.2 EU per Litter=281EU(67Litter tank volvo xc70) 1 litter diesel in Germany -1.24EU X67 litters tank=83EU WOW it is such a PRIVILEGE to be a HERTZ GOLD MEMBER AND PAY SUCH A HIGH PRICES in Cali 2013 for example was cheaper even to let hertz to fill the tank in case you return the car empty..such a great customer service 8) I did not decline the fuel purchase option (FPO)!!!! POOR EXPERIENCE ALL together!!! read more

Counter agent charged for upgrades and insurance that were not requested. When I questioned the amounts on the invoice (could not read since it was in German) they were described as fuel deposits. Ended up being charged $100+ per day extra that was not requested or required. read more

Unfortunately very unfriendly service in Frankfurt airport and Stuttgart HBF. Nobody will pick up the phone if you try to find the parking garage. Thanks to the previous review we found the location at the end. Keep your gas bill and bring your parking ticket to the counter. Probably the most unpleasant car rental experience in Germany to date. read more

Do NOT rent from this Hertz. We rented a decent vehicle and kept it for 6 days. No damage of any kind. We filled the tank and washed it before return. We did a "Late Night Check in" meaning we dropped off the keys in the drop box. When I get back to the US I see that there are about $2000 extra charges on my card. They charged me for "Damage" without explaining what it allegedly was. There was NO damage of any kind to this vehicle. I have since read other reviews of this German Hertz and the scam is that they will add these false claims to your car if you do a late night check in since you aren't there to do any inspection and dispute these charges. Also if you decline the insurance coverage they get their additional money out of you by tacking on these bogus charges. I tried to dispute the charges by getting the customer assistance contact information from the US Hertz. The German Hertz has no helpline you have to send an email. I sent several, none were responded to and I have never received any justification for the additional $2000 charges they've attempted to stick me with me. I don't say this lightly but this is simply a scam. None of these charges are justified. Its probably a branch manager who is trying to goose the charges by resorting to these practices. Go someplace else I have nothing good to say about German Hertz. If Hertz reads this review I challenge it to actually call me and give me some justification for this fraud. They have my tel. no. and email. I guarantee I will hear nothing from them just like their ridiculous "customer service email address." read more