Alamo rental car
 

Anyone have any success renting a vehicle with Alamo? We have always used National, but last year, we tried 4 vehicles before leaving the lot.(1-no a/c!, 1-without the seats attached!, 1- with vomit on the rugs sweltering in the heat) . Wasn't a very good experience. Although the 4th vehicle was ok, & they reduced the rate after lugging luggage for about 1 hour.Please share your experiences. Thanks.Fort Myers area.

I've never used Alamo, but I've used Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz and Avis many times and never had an experience like the one you described with National. In fact, I've only ever had a problem with 1 car I rented from Enterprise a couple years ago. It had a slow leak in one of the tires so I exchanged the car and got a free upgrade for my trouble, but that was it.

Renting a car is a hit or miss proposition. The best car rental company on one trip may be the worst the next trip. Go with the cheapest rate amongst the major companies and hope for the best. Don't abandon a company that you have been happy with because of just one bad experience. If you have a bad experience you can usually get at least one free day on your next rental. Don't be afraid to ask.

I tend to avoid Alamo. Although I've never had any major problems with them myself, on the rare times I've been there, I always seem to see someone else going through some major hassle with them. I get the impression they pay the worst, and get high turnover in their people. I definitely inspect the car more carefully before leaving Alamo, lest I get stuck with someone else's damage bill. As Rusty mentioned, it is often hit-or-miss with rental companies; the better ones hit more often, though. I tend to think of Hertz and Avis as the top tier, National and Budget a second tier, and Alamo and Dollar third tier. I'll use any of them if needed, but I will sometimes pay a buck or two more to avoid Alamo.

I think Rusty nailed it. I'd read about some horrible Alamo experiences on this board last year. We went to Las Vegas, Zion and Bryce in December. Alamo had some SUVs at a very attractive rate. I reserved one ahead of time, figuring I could deal with any hassle. Got to Vegas, they showed me a line of SUVs, and told me to take my pick. I did, and got a 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander with 2,000 miles on it. Liked the car, and the rate. For what it's worth, I've never had a car with only 2,000 miles on it from anybody else, ever.

I used Alamo once and they were fine. I usually use Hertz b/c I'm a AAA member and Hertz has pretty nice discounts for AAA. A funny story about Alamo, when my friends were building a house in Arizona and flew there quite often they'd always rent from Alamo. Well, they'd always rent the economy size car which Alamo would always be out of and they'd have to give them mid size or higher for the economy rate.

FYI, Alamo and National are now one and the same company, but they do maintain separate counters in many places. I've been a loyal National customer for may years but had to use Alamo for a recent NYC rental because National was sold out. All went without a hitch. The only company I try to avoid is Payless, based on repeated problems with lousy vehicles.

In my case, a lot depends on the location.I avoid Alamo in Orlando as it is the preferred supplier of DeltaDreamVacations to WDW and otehr tour companies.First time there I simply turned around and walked away from the mob scene.Whta works in one city may not work in another.I have used Alamo in other cities with great satisfaction.Like some have said, car rental can be like a slot machine--sometimes you hit sometimes you dont.