Thrifty Car Rental

Worst car-​rental experience ever in the thrifty branch at Airport:
1. the bald-​guy there is a liar — in order to trick me to do a upgrade to full-​size SUV, he said that the only compact SUV they had is a high-​mileage Kia (with dents all over). Luckily I noticed a few jeep and escape in their lot and manage to get a jeep.
2. they do not keep their cars in good shape — after driving the jeep for a day, the «change oil» lit up. had to go back for an exchange. no apology from them what so ever.

I travel frequently and have always used Alamo where ever I go because I’ve alway had a good experience with them. I went on SW Airlines to book a car in Albuquerque and Thrifty had the lowest price. What a mistake it was. Sure I saved a couple of bucks, but the car they gave me had lots of scratches and dents (which of course I denoted on the form). I drove to my hotel and the following morning I left to have brunch with my family and on the way I noticed the car wasn’t driving right. I pulled over and I had a flat tire! I didn’t notice it when I first got in the car. There was no apparant hole or tear, it was simply a slow leak. I called Thrifty to see if someone could come out and give me road-​side assistance, but they said it was my obligation to change the tire. I returned at the end of my trip and to my surprise they billed me $ 177.40 for tire damage. I told them it had a pre-​existing slow leak in the tire and that I did nothing to damage it. They did not give up, threatened to send me to collections, so I paid, but will NEVER go back. Awful!

Is the Dodge Caliber really a compact car? It was monster huge compared to my little civic and it handled like a beast. Zero visibility, steering wheel shimmied over 60 MPH, pulled hard to the right and was stripped down. Not even power locks. Decent gas mileage, forget it. And what’s with the giant dashboard? I kept banging my knees every time I got in or out even though I had the seat all the way back.
I always rent an inexpensive compact car when I travel and of all the companies I’ve rented from, Thrifty managed to stick me with the crummiest car possible. At least it wasn’t the dirtiest inside. That prize goes to Enterprise, two locations.
Check in was friendly but long because their printer jammed. Returning the car was OK, but it took the guy long enough to show up that I nearly started to head for the front counter.
If the price is comparable, rent elsewhere.