Car rental with automatic reansmission

Posted by Jerry (Stockton, CA) on 08/25/14 08:41 PM

We'll be traveling in Scotland/England in October, and will have a car part of the trip. Because of some physical limitations, I can no longer drive a manual transmission. I've reserved cars with automatic transmissions, for Perth to Perth, Scotland, and Middlesbrough to Newcastle, England. I went with National, because an additional driver is free. I do not use pre-paid plans.

I know that what you "reserve" and what you "get" are not always the same. Since I must have an auto transmission, I will phone the pick-up location to plead my case. Would anyone recommend hedging my bets? Reserve another car with another company? Pick up in a larger city (Glasgow) or airport that might have more cars?

I notice that when doing a search, say Kayak, a number of choices come up, and that often multiple companies have the same pick-up address. Do they share the same inventory of cars, or just share a big lot/facility?

Thanks.

Posted by Ed

Pensacola

08/25/14 08:51 PM

9110 posts

You'll have a better chance in a bigger pool such as the Glasgow airport.

The same address means that they're all in a rental center conglomerate of some kind, but each agency has its own cars.

If you don't prepay and the place you made the reservation doesn't have an automatic, walk over to the next counter and that agency will match your deal.

Posted by Jerry OP

Stockton, CA

08/25/14 09:06 PM

152 posts

Ed, Thanks for the reply. We last rented a car there in 2010, and there was no problem picking up at Heathrow. I'm just concerned about smaller locations, with limited inventory, either having no automatics, or only a luxury SUV available.

I'm surprised to read that another agency would match the deal I have as a walk-up customer. My past experience has been that they try to sell all kinds of add-ons, larger cars, etc. But your info is encouraging. I really don't like anything about driving over there, and try to minimize the stress and surprises.

Jerry

Posted by Ed

Pensacola

08/25/14 09:21 PM

9110 posts

I rent a lot of cars all over the world. Every once in a while I get screwed because they don't have what I want -- in my case, small/manual/cheap. They people next door have always matched it, or so close you can't tell the difference.

You're not a walk-up. You're a guy with a bird in hand that's started a little bidding war. That's how commerce works.

It ain't that bad. Last year, alone, I spent two months motoring around Scotland in four trips. If my leader will let me off the leash I'm going back in a couple of weeks.

Posted by Irv

Beverly Hills, MI

08/31/14 04:22 AM

813 posts

I had the problem 10 years ago with Hertz but I had prepaid and knew that at that time they had to deliver what was on the reservation even if it took a free upgrade. This was at the Frankfurt airport, a large facility. After three rounds of "Do you really want an automatic?" and my graphic description of what would happen to their manual transmission if my wife ever had to drive it, our compact gasoline automatic turned into a very nice mid-size (Opel Vectra) diesel automatic although the friendly smile had disappeared from his face. It was a great car with fantastic fuel economy and good performance. I don't know how policies may have changed since then as we switched to leasing which I find to be superior to renting for cost and reliability. If you reserved a compact be prepared to find your self between a rock and a very hard spot as the number of compact automatics in the rental fleets is very small. If you play the I will go elsewhere game at the counter, you will likely find that that cost as a walk-up will be much higher than a pre-booked customer. Were I in your situation, I would contact National, explain the situation and get a written statement of their corporate policy in the UK and proceed from there.