Rented a hunk of junk Jeep at Hertz

We rented a 4 door Jeep at Hertz right at the cruise port. It was is terrible condition . The windshield had a big crack. The bumpers were all cracked and smashed, scratches dents and rust all over the body. Inside the clothe was filthy and the dashboard scratched and marked up. There was rust on the metal parts of the seats and the roll bar lights were completely rusted out and broken. The low tire pressure light was on and the check engine light came on after we got to the beach. I question if it was even a rental or if it was an employers own car. The guy came and took his phone and belongings out of it before we got in it. We should have refused to take it but we just wanted to get the most of our short time in port. While driving the backseat door flew open. Fortunately my 12 year old was wearing his seatbelt. I emailed hertz today....let’s see what they say.

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I would have refused the car and asked for another. Hopefully you hear from Hertz.

We have stayed on the island a few times (condo in Grand Case) and always rented a car for 1-2 weeks. For some weird reason, nearly all the rental car companies rent junk! This can also be a problem on Curacao so it does seem to be a pattern with quite a few Caribbean islands. For reasons that we do not understand, even the "majors" do not enforce their standards when it comes to island franchises.

Hank

This seems to be fairly typical for rentals in the Caribbean. They do not seem to have the same standards for vehicles as the U S, Canada and Europe. There probably are a variety of reasons - Salty air and sand are rough on vehicles, roads are not the best, most customers will never be back, they may be a franchise and not company owned, etc.

We also had a similar experience when renting in Alaska. The vehicle was older and had lots of cosmetic issues, but was dependable and served the purpose we needed.

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Well at least you didn't have to worry about buying the extra insurance!