I have found the cheapest car rentals at Dollar Car Rental - in the San Francisco area it's about $200 (pick up at OAK) to $300 (pick up at SFO) versus the other companies (Alamo, National, Hertz which are at least $100, to in some cases much more than that over the price at Dollar. So - anyone have anything positive or negative to say about Dollar Rental Cars?

We always rent from Dollar when in SF, but we get the cars IN the city at the Union Sq location. The prices are way lower than airport and they do not charge extra to return the car to airport location!

I often rent from Dollar and have been happy with the cars and the service, but as with all these companies, there are differences with the cities. I don't have experience in San Francisco, but I've used Dollar in Orlando, Las Vegas, Tulsa, and a few other places with no problems.

Yes, they are just fine, and so is Thrifty. In fact, their web sites are so similar that they look like the same operation.

This week I will pick up a car from them that I booked for 13 days in California at $192 (including taxes and fees) compared to $297 and $323 elsewhere.

HTTY

Dollar and Thrift are indeed, owned together.

isabel, I always rent from dollar. I joined their 'fastlane' promotion so I can skip the lines or at least go to the front of the lines and if they are getting short on cars are given an upgrade. I have never had a problem that was not fixed immediatly.
I also rented from the union square location in SF. By not renting until I needed a car it saved $20 per day parking fee at the hotel(westin). Enjoy your trip, ziggypop

Thanks guys, I'll book a car with them right now.

Renting in SF proper also eliminates airport rental fees, another saving. And Dollar always seems to have "City Specials" a lower rate, in SF proper.

I'll echo what zippypop said. The first thing you MUST do is join the free and easy "fastlane" group with Dollar. If you don't, then don't complain later about poor service or having to wait an hour to get your car. In many cases, the difference in getting your car can be like night and day if you are a member.

Take care that your reservation is no mileage fee. I booked a Dollar car when their daily rate was the lowest at my destination and found out later that Dollar was charging by the mile.

Otherwise, no complaints. Their cars and personnel have been acceptable.

Thanks ziggypop for the suggestion. I joined Dollar's Fast Lane and Thrifty's Blue Chip.

HTTY

I belong to the Dollar "club" (fast lane - like Hertz Gold) - but forget the name.

And I always check www.carrentals.com to get the best deals.

I rented a car with Thrifty in Aruba last May, and it was the worst car rental I've ever had.

The car was about 10 years old, and looked and smelled dirty. It had too many scratches and small dents to count, and had manual windows. When I asked for a different car, the agent said that was the best one available, and took me to the lot to prove it. Amazingly, the only other car available was even worse.

They charged my CC a refundable "deposit" of $500 when I rented -- first time that ever happened. I told the agent the car was not even worth $500.

But I had no problems with the car - I just didn't enjoy driving it very much.

panecott, I find that to be the case with alot of Caribbean car rental places. The cars really take a beating, have been [ab]used as beach cars, windows left open so rain gets in or just wet bathing suits, etc.

I had a problem with a remote Avis office in Spain, but I chalked it up to a hard-to-monitor franchise rather than Avis policy.

I don't think there'a a nickel's worth of difference in car rentals except standing in long lines at the big ones like Hertz and Avis. You might look on Hotwire and see what rates are.

As far as the "bad" experience with Dollar--do you know if another company would have done the same thing? Yes, you do have to refuse the waivers and add ons, and yes, you do have to check the fine print.

I like Dollar and rented with them a few weeks ago. Although Den_Mot's rant isn't very helpful to most people, I would add that Dollar is a bit more aggressive about add-on fees (returning the car late, returning early, extra fees if you don't buy a toll-ass, though they are clear when you rent in an area that has no-cash tolls).

There are an increasing number of areas in the country where automated, no-cash tolls can be a problem, notably Dallas and Orlando for visitors. But many localities are turning to this form of toll collection. It's not a visitor-friendly policy, but you do need to do your research and decide if you do or don't need a toll pass. But that's not at all the fault of the car-rental company. Even if the fees they charge can be exorbitant, they can usually be avoided by paying a fairly modest fee (a few dollars per day or per rental for the toll pass).

Dollar and Thrifty are partners is some way or other. Using advice I received here, I joined Dollar's Fast Lane and Thrifty's Blue Chip.

I got a very good deal with Thrifty on a recent rental, and I am very pleased with the way they dealt with me and my insurance company in resolving the payment for damage that occurred when somebody put a dent in the rear bumper of my rental while I was parked.

HTTY

A word of caution to everyone, who intends to rent Dollar/Thrifty cars in Germany. Dollar/Thrifty uses a licensee in Germany with very dubious, misleading, deceptive and fraudulent business practices. When you order the car on the Dollar or Thrifty website, you will receive the usual confirmation, which breaks down the rental cost in its subcomponents such as airport fees, VAT, road tax etc. Nothing was mentioned of a mandatory insurance premium of €20 ($28) per day. For every car I ever rented anywhere in the world, the credit card paid for the insurance premium. My AMEX Gold card specifically mentioned this coverage. It was the counter agent at the airport, who insisted on another €400.- ($560.-) insurance premium. It is highly immoral to spring this surprise on customer who just arrived on a sleepless trans-Atlantic overnight flight. It made this car the most expensive car I ever rented.

In addition, the car had no air conditioning and when I started phoning the agency on the 0700 number supplied on the rental agreement, I was constantly put on hold and transferred to other agents and found out later, why. The 0700 is not toll free number, but costs appr €1.- ($1.35) per minute. Should you be in the unfortunate position to have to call the agency for help, use their German direct dial number 0203-348-5422. It will still be a long-distance call, but infinitely cheaper than the 0700 number. I spent an additional $50 in calling the agency for help, which I never got. I drove around in an oven for 3 weeks with temperatures of over 30C (85F). It later turned out that the connecting hoses for the A/C were missing.