Here's the full story:

So I recently rented a vehicle (Ford Edge) from Budget in Washington DC. We picked up the car from the airport and all appeared to be fine. This was around 6pm and we drove straight to our hotel a couple miles away. I parked the car at the hotel garage and we walked to dinner.

The next day, we toured the national monuments. I parked the car on the street and immediately noticed the front bumper cover had came loose so I snapped it back on. I had not hit anything and it was very obvious that this corner of the car was repainted before. I thought it'd be fine and later drove to lunch and parked it in a garage (the attendant parked it). We came back to the car after lunch and the attendant gave us the keys. I walked up to the car and the front bumper is half way off the car. The attendant didn't do it and again there was no point of impact, just a very poor previous repair job.

I call Budget and tell them about the issue and they tell me to keep driving it if its drivable or come exchange it at any time. So, I used duct tape to put the bumper back on and exchanged it late that night since I didn't want to waste my day. They made me fill out an accident report form and said they will get back to me.

Fast forward. I get a letter from them stating that they need more information about what happened so I write them a whole letter with details. They now just sent me bill for $2000 (for a stupid bumper cover?) and state that I am responsible because I didn't buy their insurance.


The car "looked" fine when we got it although it was a dark parking garage. Also, no sane person is going to pull on the bumpers to see if they are loose.

Not sure what to do here. I drove the car less than 40 miles. Call my insurance or take them to court? Please advice.

 

wow, that is wrong.

Did you happen to snap any pictures of it?

 

Unfortunately, only when I returned it. I didn't think of taking pictures when it happenned. Maybe the garage has a security camera that I can access?

 

Get your insurance involved. This is what rental companies do. They pull bullshit.

I got hit by a guy in a rental car and HIS rental company tried to come after me for money.

My insurance said NFW, and they're handling it for me.

 

Call insurance and file a claim with the local Better Business Bureau for that Budget rent a car shop where they are located, not where you are.

 

I don't ever buy their insurance policy because mine covers me. Call your insurance.

 

If you declined the rental INS you ARE responsible for any damages. An incident may have occured in the garage of the Hotel. Next time be sure to add the rental car to your TL insurance policy. In addition, be sure the coverage will pay for loss of income on the rental, as you may also have to pay for the time period that the rental vehicle is out of commission. Ie; lost renal income: $140.00 per week

I have been in this situation. I had a rental that was struck by another vehicle while parked on the street in front of my workplace. The damage was mostly to the RR bumper. I decided not to tell the dealership about the damage and take my chances. Fortunately for me, when I was returning the car another rental pulled up for return and parked about a foot away from one I had just returned. The CS rep did a walk around but did not see the back of the vehicle because of the other rental. Immediately following my check-in the vehicle went to the shop for routine maintenance.
I got a call/message about a week later asking me "How the loaner was?" Needless to say, I never returned the phone call.

 

Unfortunately you filled out a report. That was the the mistake. You discovered damage after you took it out off the lot. It wasn't caused by you & only appeared after you drove it(the bumper coming loose). I have rented Budget & others before & had trim pieces falling off & returned them to exchange. There was never any report I had to fill out. Sounds like they suckered you into saying you damaged it. Check with the CC company. They may have rental damage coverage you don't know about. Mines does.

 

I'm sure no one hit me while it was parked because it was in between two pillars and parked against a wall. If either I or someone else had wrecked it, there would have been some sort of damage to the paint (scratches, scrapes, dings), but there is nothing, just mismatched paint from a previous repair. A bumper just doesn't fall off like that. When I tried putting it back on, all the clips were missing and the tabs were broken off.

They're saying there is also damage to front metal bumper support and ac condenser (sent me pictures from shop).

 

fuck that!

I'm documenting all previous damage before I leave the lot.

 

I do too, but the mismatched paint could have only be seen in direct sunlight. It was dull and had lots of orange peel.

 

if you paid by credit card, most of them add the coverage for you
you can give them a call

 

You'll probably be the 3rd or 4th guy to pay for that bumper.

 

Rather than just making things up, you really shouldn't respond if you don't know the right answer.

 

Should I get a carfax report for this car? I feel that if I can show them the previous accident report, then they might believe me.

Budget just sent me an email stating that I caused the damage and I am responsible. This is really pissing me off. There is no way I'm paying them a cent.

I'll see what AAA ins says.

 

what about the fact that you called the company (Budget) and told them about it?
Did you get a name from the person you talked to?

keep your story straight and insist that you talked to someone and they instructed you to keep driving the vehicle.

 

Did you rent it with your Amex?

You should have.

If you did, just call them and they will take care of it all.

 

No, it was through Capital One Business (Visa) and I reserved the car through Costco.

 

The last time I rented through Budget they had the 'out' mileage as 6,800. I got in the car it was 18,600. I let the lady know when I checked the car back in and thankfully they didn't give me any grief about it. Guess they figured there was no way I did 12,000 miles in two days.

 

Unfortunately I was not able to get a name, but I do have a record of it in my cell phone bill. You don't really think of these things when it happens.

 

^^ If your insurance covers rental cars, the don't worry about them.
....just hand the whole thing off to your insurance company.

 

It is important to get 3rd party validation when dealing with rental car companies. I rented a car in New Mexico a few years ago. Whie driving in the mountains, I slid on a patch of ice going about 10 mph and hit the guardrail. I think the damage estimate was around $2,500 or so. When I got out of the curves, I pulled over and found the tires were bald! I took photos and went to a tire shop to get a written statement of the tires' tread depths. When I talked to our insurance adjuster and told him what happened, he wasn't impressed until I told him about the photos an the statement. He later called me back and said the rental company backed off and dropped the claim against me!

 

 

What a headache. Sorry man.

 

A/C damage, yep that is not cause by someones careless park job in a Hotel garage. Bummer, sounds like someone else did the damage and pulled the old bubble gum fix.

 

Called Budget and they offered $200, then another 50% off the repair. That's a whole $1000 off the initial estimate. This seems really shady for a national rental company.

Anyways, I called AAA and they are taking care of it and told me not to speak with Budget again. I also called my credit card company and they will cover the deductible if I have to pay that.

 

Yes, for there to be damage that severe, the bumper would have had to have some sort of mark. But there were no scratches, dents, or cracks in it. None. It looked flawless other than the poor respray on half it and the right fender.

 

Yep, someone was covering up their little mess...

 

Now you are playing the game in the best way possible.