I won a one day rental of a Porsche 911 in a charity auction. While the process of lining things up was very smooth, in the end, the overall rental experience left something to be desired. There was an abundance of attention paid to the condition of the car (aka - walkaround) before we left, yet when I got in the gas tank wasn't full (close to 7/8ths). Not a huge deal, but turns out it was not the only thing not checked or topped off. About 70 miles into the drive (we headed to the mountains to enjoy the day) the 'low engine oil' light came on. We pulled over, pulled out the manual and executed the oil level check (newer car = no dipstick), and the result was 'add oil immediately'. We were out of cell coverage so after some internal debate about what our options really were at that point, I started the car up, put it in neutral, and coasted ~14 miles down the mountain to the nearest gas station (which also coincided with regaining cell coverage) and tried to call Drew. After leaving a message, waiting 10 minutes, calling again and being put on hold, I finally got through to Drew and his response was 'That's not a big deal, just put some synthetic oil in and you'll be fine'. When I mentioned that it had made for a significant disruption to our day, his response was 'I'm not really sure what we could have done.' We added a quart, went through the procedure again, and the level was now in the acceptable range and after assurances it was no issue to the car, we set back out on our way and had a fun afternoon. Upon returning, we got a bit more in the way of excuses for why it wasn't really their fault and that there was really no way to know that was going to happen (seems like, I don't know, checking it before you send it out would be one way....) we set about finishing up the paperwork. They asked if I had the receipt from the oil, and I did, but instead of offering to reimburse me the $10 for the quart of oil, they told me they 'weren't going to charge me tax for the rental' which was 'normally $35' so really, I was going to be ahead by $25 and we would could just call it good. In all of the auctions I've won at charity events, this was the first time someone tried to charge me tax on it after the fact. In the end, the company is donating a service or goods, so it shows up on their books as a loss or as an expense, not as income. So the idea that I (or anyone) owe taxes on that seems like something of a stretch (either that, or they're doing some interesting accounting). What was clear to me was that, for whatever reason, they were not going to reimburse me in any way. I shook my head, said 'whatever', and we left. In the end, the lasting impression is a bit of a lack of transparency but of more significance, a general lack of accountability for things under their control. With that in mind, and given the amount of liability they transfer to you when you sign their rental agreement (and the value of the cars involved), it's worth your time to check around and consider other options if you can. read more