Rental cal alloy wheel damage

patchquinn

Hi all,

foreign visitors of mine rented a car from h ertz, and the tyre burst while passing thourgh a narrow gap while under guidence of a third person. (they do not appear to have gotten the contact details of the third person...I know...)

looking at their policy it says tyres/wheels/alloys are chargeable if damaged... any one experience something similar?
W hat kind of charges might be involved? I s there anyway to reduce or remove payment?

T his is the one bad expereince they had in an otherwise successful holiday...(not mentioning the weather.. ;-) I would like to help minimise the negative impact.

rgds
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Gavman84

Hi Hertz will have a price for the alloy wheel and tyre to be replaced they have a book with prices for certain parts like mirrors wheels etc. Is the alloy wheel actually damaged or just the tyre? The wheel to be replaced could be couple of hundred I imagine but it might just need to be straightened which would be less if i remember right? The only option would be to have the wheel repaired somewhere and have a new tyre fitted. Then they wont charge them then and say nothing either.
Gav

Nonoperational

Don't see what the third person has to do with anything... anyway they'll just replace whatever needs to be replaced and take the money from the credit card used for booking. It will probably be a few hundred. I'd imagine they will jut get a new wheel and tyre from a dealer, I can't see them straightening a buckled alloy really.

scotty_irish

they generally only glance at the car when you return it, get it working, say nothing and hope for the best!

patchquinn

Hi all, thanks for repsonses...
third person was the reason their was a gap.. but you are right it was not relevant given they did not follow up at the time.
Actually I just checked the wheel, the tyre is rippes and the alloy is scratched but the scratch is clearly on a different side to where the tyre ripped and it is an old scratch.
I think it will just be the cost of a tyre...
thanks for help
rgds
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dr.fuzzenstein

patchquinn wrote: »

Hi all, thanks for repsonses...
third person was the reason their was a gap.. but you are right it was not relevant given they did not follow up at the time.
Actually I just checked the wheel, the tyre is rippes and the alloy is scratched but the scratch is clearly on a different side to where the tyre ripped and it is an old scratch.
I think it will just be the cost of a tyre...
thanks for help
rgds
P

Go to any tyre place and ask if they have a second hand tyre similar to the one that's burst.
Max 20 quid and I doubt the rental company will start comparing makes of tyres when you return it.
And most minor scratches are overlooked, also check if that scratch was marked as existent beforehand.
So, put on second hand tyre, hand the car back and say noting.
But come come clean to them and they'll clean you out.

Gavman84

Hi In that case I would advise them to get a tyre put on the wheel and put wheel back on car as Hertz will charge them a lot more for tyre than they will get one for themselves. And say nothing about getting a burst tyre or say got a puncture and replaced a tyre!
Gav

Gophur

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Go to any tyre place and ask if they have a second hand tyre similar to the one that's burst.
Max 20 quid and I doubt the rental company will start comparing makes of tyres when you return it.
And most minor scratches are overlooked, also check if that scratch was marked as existent beforehand.
So, put on second hand tyre, hand the car back and say noting [sic].
But come come clean to them and they'll clean you out.

This attitude is reprehensible. If the renters of the car need to replace a tyre then they should not "put on a second hand tyre"!
What would they save? €30?

As for handing the car back and saying nothing?

It's this attitude that is far too evident especially when one sees damage being done to property and the perpetuators not having the balls or decency to own up.

dr.fuzzenstein

There are good second hand tyres available, also the tyre that was on the car wouldn't have been brand new either.
I'm not saying to put something on that's illegal or dangerous.
As I said, something as close to what was on the car as possible.
Would have been different had he damaged some bodywork and patched it up using chicken wire and newspaper, that would be going too far IMO.
As for saying nothing, if only the tyre was damaged and then replaced, there is nothing to say, unless you want to invite hassle.

patchquinn

Hi all, so here's what we did so far.
Went to a dealer got him to price new tyre of equivalent quality. 70 euro. Also got him to check alloy an he said scratches were clearly older than rip, unrelated and cosmetic. So scratches don't come into it anymore. Rang h ertz told them we ripped a tyre were at a dealer and wanted to replace it but wanted to know what they would prefer. They said they were happy with replacing it with tyre of equvaleny type and quality. Tyre dealer also said that they were an approved tyre replacement supplier for h ertz in mid west region and often put different brand but same quality on cars brought in by h ertz customers and never had an issue with that.
So couple happy with this price( maybe a tenner too high, my op.. ) hertz get brand new tyre so should also be happy. (i get what last post says about inviting hassle, but don't think it would be reasonable to replace with second hand tyre: not in hertz interest and not in friends interest to go looking for exact model with equivalent wear on the sunny day that was yesterday ;-). This way all interests met.) thanks for all advise will keep you updated on outcome. When they drop it back next week..
Rgds
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Henry Ford III

Sounds good.

One question. Did the hirer check body and wheel damage before taking the car, or was it pointed out at handover?

Tazio

Insurance cover this?

Anan1

patchquinn wrote: »

Tyre dealer also said that they were an approved tyre replacement supplier for h ertz in mid west region and often put different brand but same quality on cars brought in by h ertz customers and never had an issue with that.

That's bad practise, except in an emergency. Different makes of tyres have different handling characteristics.

dell1211

Tazio wrote: »

Insurance cover this?

.

patchquinn wrote: »

looking at their policy it says tyres/wheels/alloys are chargeable if damaged
rgds
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