Call me a Luddite, but I prefer rental cars that have keys, rather than the more modern technology of "push the brake - press the button". However, I've driven several cars with this feature, and have never had an issue, until a few days ago. I picked up my Alamo rental from PDX, stopped somewhere on Alberta Street for lunch, and then proceeded to my Son's SW Portland home. After a couple short "show arounds", we piled in the car and despite my best push/press efforts, the car would not start.
I called Alamo roadside service and within say 20 minutes a Ratherbe Towing truck showed up. He treated the situation initially like a jump, which didn't work although he showed a battery charge of 6%. He tried some other stuff, and only after positioning the key fob closest to the button, did the car start. And who knows whether that was causation or coincidence, especially when the Ratherbe technician was stumped at times. In any event, I really appreciated his hard work, diligence, and professional approach.
I don't know what was actually wrong with starting this car, but that was enough for me to thank the guy and then proceed directly to Alamo PDX to get another car. In other words, there was no way I was going to trust this car to start again. Alamo eventually made things right and I appreciated their ability to put a service like Ratherbe Towing in front of me. read more
