Thrifty Car Rental

June 2009. We went to pick up our 'Toyota Yaris, Chev Aveo or similar' from Thrifty LAX. Our rental was fully paid with all insurance, CDW etc - yet he still tried to sell us, pushed and cajouled us, to buy TRIPSAVER® 24-hour Roadside Assistance, which was included anyway, but didn't cove if you lost your keys ETCETERA - an extra $5.99 per day - I asked for a brochure as to what the ETCETERA was and he slid open a few drawers and 'can't find the brochure' - A COMPLETE RIP OFF an extra $84 plus tax for 2 weeks in case you lose your keys. (There was a spare key in the glove box anyway which we carried separately) The Yaris does 42mpg so is not so bad for the environment given we were to drive over 3000 miles in 2 weeks.\r They ONLY have Chryslers, which was confirmed later by Thrifty staff. There are NO Yaris or Aveos available. The smallest available was the Dodge Caliber or, as we know it, the Dodgy Low Caliber - a truly dreadful car - that does less than 30mpg at best. Such uncomforta more

It's a bit tricky to find this place if you're not taking a shuttle. There is no parking, thank God I was dropped off by a friend. When I got there, I handed the guy the printed out reservation and he pretty much ignored me. I asked if there was a problem, and he seemed to be annoyed that I wanted my car. Anyway, it was my first time renting a car and I could tell he knew that. He told me, "You have to get the supplemental car insurance, or else I can't rent you the car." It was about 15 dollars a day, and I was renting the car for a couple weeks so that meant I was gonna have to pay well over $200. So I'm about ready to change our entire vacation plans because of this but I call Thrifty's 800 number and explain what is going on, and when the guy hears me... he yells out, "NO, I never said I wouldn't rent you the car without the insurance! I just meant, that you should get it!" Anyway, I hang up the phone... look him in the eye.. call him a flat out liar.. and demand my car. more

We had some problems with our car rental here. The shuttle bringing us from the airport took twenty long minutes to arrive, and then *rear ended* a car, delaying us much further. The staff seemed distracted with personal business and the person checking the car out to us seemed she could not be bothered from the personal phone call she was on. However, the car we reserved was not available and we got a better one-for a good price. The car was good and the charges were as described. We had a difficult time finding it to bring the car back. It is not easily located on the way back from the airport and directions are not provided. more