Bad Experience with Auto Europe and Hertz

Thanks for sharing your experience! I think the avenues you're already pursuing are the most promising. Other notes:

When booking on line with Auto Europe, it's easy to see which rental company is being suggested, and there usually are several, but choices may be less in a small town, or if you need an automatic transmission, and/or if you want to drop the car in a different country.

I don't think they owe you for loss of use during those 17 hours before they replaced the car. Within 24 hours sounds fairly reasonable, but should also be addressed in the contract of coverage. The contract is king, and if it promises a faster replacement, then do point to that.

Without being a car expert, it seems to me that re-setting the slipping sensor could be necessary regardless of whether the stall was caused by wrong fuel or other issues. Those scenarios don't sound mutually exclusive.

Are they saying it was a diesel car (usually the black pump handle) and you put in unleaded (usually the green pump handle) or vice versa?

"My future trips to Europe will not include a car rental!"

Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience renting a car in Europe.
Over the years a number of travelers have reported here that they were blindsided by unanticipated problems, of various types, renting a car in Europe; unfortunately, sometimes it's not the convenient, easy, affordable, and uneventful experience that renting a car usually is in N. America.
Sometimes, of course, there is no convenient public transportation where you want to go.

Good luck getting some kind of satisfactory resolution of this.

Celeste,

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience, but thanks for posting. I'm a bit perplexed about the "car slipping" icon that you mentioned. I have one of those in my car and it lights up frequently especially in the winter, and at no time does a "relay have to be reset". It sounds like kind of a goofy arrangement to me and I suspect there's more to it than that, and possibly this wasn't the problem that caused your rental to quit.

Based on your experience, it sounds like it might be prudent to even take photos of each fuel fill when using rentals in Europe.

Good luck!

Or keep the receipts to prove what fuel you put in the tank.

If you used a credit card it should be very easy to prove the fuel that you put into it. We have never had a problem renting from Hertz directly in Europe and all of our cars have always been diesel. Did you pump it yourself or did someone else? I doubt if Hertz offers insurance to cover engine damage cause by wrong fuel so they are not unscrupulous to say that your extra insurance didn't cover the engine. You were buying damage insurance and liability not wrong fuel insurance. Most diesel engines have a water sensor in the fuel line and I am guessing the orange light was the detection of the gasoline in the line and not the slipping. Water in a diesel engine causes lots of problems which is why the engine shut off and stayed off.

Shame on AutoEurope for not trying to straighten this out. They used to be a very good advocate for the renter, but I noticed a change in attitude a few years ago. Keith has very good suggestions, looking on the rental agreement and the fuel receipt. Then I'd press AutoEurope to get on the ball. They have a Hertz representative in the office with them in Maine who could settle this immediately.

Now if I am right (and I stress "if")- putting even 10 litres of
petrol into a diesel car can cause serious damage, especially to a
fuel pump, and especially if driven for long enough (ultimately you
can destroy quite a bit of the engine because of the debris). $800
isn't an excessive charge for an actual "repair" if that is what
happened. In fact it is quite cheap if they really had to do any
repairs - I suspect all they actually did was drain the fuel and
refuel - in which case it looks like they have added a fair bit for
"administration". Perhaps you could query with them what it is they
actually had to do to fix the problem

When I switched to a diesel car I was warned by the dealer about putting petrol in it. Putting diesel engine is a major (expensive) inconvenience, putting petrol in a diesel and turning the engine over even for a short time according to the dealer requires an engine rebuild. On my model about £1000.

Allow me to clarify... I have photos of the interior and exterior of the car showing there are no labels requiring diesel or any other special fuel. Their replacement car had a total of 11 labels on it saying to use diesel. The amazing thing is Hertz says they don't have to provide proof this was the repair done on the car. They also say they don't have to explain what kind of fuel the car was supposed to get. They do admit that in the absence of labels to the contrary, you use senza piombo - which is what I used - but keep insisting that "must not have been the right fuel." No one has been able to state to me what type of fuel it was supposed to get.

This rental car was a 2013 with 50,000 kilometers on it, which I think is high for a rental car. It didn't run that well when I picked it up, so it could have had other problems that contributed to the breakdown.

Celeste, from what you said the car does sound like a petrol model, so unless there was a grade issue, which is highly unlikely - it needing 98 Octane not 95, ordinary unleaded should have been ok. My diesel car comes with warnings in the filler flap and on the filler cap itself. Based on what you've said if I hired the car I would expect it to be a petrol model.

Was there a model badge on the back giving a specification clue? 1.6 GT would be a petrol, 1.6 GTD would be a diesel.

Did you dispute the charge with your credit card company? Believe it or not often times they will absorb the loss in a "he said/she said" type dispute. They want to keep both the customer & merchant happy. They may also require Hertz to prove their claims or deny the charge.

Celeste

Two things should straighten this out. Your photos, all around as you say, of the back of the car. What is written on the back of the car? Brand, model, specification? As above it will clearly indicate what that car needed to be fed. Car you share with us?

Then your receipt for the fuel you bought. It will show how many litres and what grade fuel you bought. There are Italian speakers here, if you will share.

If they match, send both (copies of) to the credit card company and demand restitution.

If they don't, Houston we may have a problem....

But folk here will do everything they can to help you....

It is odd that there were no markings at all around the car's filler cap specifying the type fuel. I remember noticing it many times but I am not saying all vehicles are marked. What was the make and model of your car, Celeste?

A lot of people recommend diesels as a way to save money in Europe, but the potential risk is the reason I try to stay away from them. The one time I specified a diesel rental, I found out it was gasoline when I stopped for fuel, opened the car's trapdoor and saw 1. the benzol (sp?) marking around the filler tube and 2. the diesel nuzzle was clearly too big for the tube. The difference was obvious, so I did not pump the wrong fuel; but I can see how it would be easy to do so by mistake if the situation were reversed. Or, if the station had replaced the nozzle with the wrong kind.

Americans don't usually drive diesel cars in the U.S., so, even when we know for sure that our rental car is a diesel, it is just too easy to forget when road fatigue sets in, and we reach for the gasoline hose out of habit. And the nozzle fits! I am not saying Celeste did that, just that I regard the risk of an absent-minded error to be greater than the reward of saving with a diesel.

I'm not so sure there's alway a neck/nozzle differential -- since I've given a little bit of a wrong squirt in both directions. A little wrong diesel make lots of smoke, a little wrong gas makes it run hot.

When unleaded petrol was introduced in Europe, the specifications were changed that the aperture for the nozzle was only large enough for the nozzle so that leaded petrol could not be put in by mistake. The aperture for diesel is much larger. It is difficult to put diesel in a petrol car, and very easy to put petrol in a diesel, which is the way round you do not want it to be.

Thank you for all the advice. My photo of the back of the car shows 1.6 GT which would indicate gasoline, which is what I used. And someone told me the type of fuel is supposed to be listed on the contract, but it is not. The contract for the replacement Volvo they gave me clearly states "Gasolio" which is diesel, and as I've said, there were diesel stickers all over the car.

I have disputed the charge with Bank of America and they have given me a temporary credit. Meanwhile, Hertz keeps mailing me bills. I had sent them a certified letter requesting proof of the repair, and they just keep sending me bills. Bank of America personnel told me to cease all communication with Hertz because if they don't reply to Bank of America with proof within 45 days (we're at day 20), the credit will be made permanent.

Celeste (and all those who replied with suggestions), thank you for posting this.

I would never have thought to take photos of the actual refueling of a rental car, but that will now become standard operating procedure in the future. And, it will become standard operating procedure to have an employee of the rental firm write out what type fuel is needed and then sign it (with their full name).

Gosh, I would never have guessed this kind of hassle could happen, and I am so sorry you have had to go thru this. While asking for help, you have given us all a good warning about dealing with rental firms.

Let's hope Hertz is unable to respond correctly to BofA's requirements, and you will be able to put this issue to bed.

I hate renting cars because of issues like yours. Please let us know how it is resolved (or not).

Thank you so much for posting. We are all learning from your experience. I hope it turns out in your favor.

I have ESP on my Honda Accord diesel 2.2 and have never had a problem with it. I have a switch near the door which I can switch on or off the system, makes for more fun, and the system helps on slippery surfaces.

The GTI, GT, GL or CL especially on older series Golf/Jetta/Bora/Passat are the trim version (seat fabric, extras etc differ from version to version). In most cases that gives no indication on what engine is built in. So it's very common to see Golf III CL with diesel or otto engine. There are exceptions (GTI has only Otto and GTD is Diesel only). The Turbo Diesel engines are called TDI (a VW trade mark), that sign is a clear indication.
The whole thing is confusing even for a native. The registration paper shows the engine and fuel type, and usually there is a sticker inside the fuel tank cap. The manual is (at least in my Golf V Variant) is not engine specific, so that does not give you the information. Putting Otto engine fuel (gasoline) into a Diesel almost totally destroys the motor.