It Isn’t Just Wealthy Who Are Renting Luxury Cars

The clientele for high-end rent-a-cars is a fairly even mix of locals and out-of-towners, according to Presidential Limousine’s Mark Kasmer.

Many out-of-towners rent the automobiles in order to “impress their clients (while) others have Porsches or Mercedes back home in Chicago and New York and they don’t want to give up the kind of ride they’re used to,” Kasmer said. “Still others come to California just to play in the sun, so they rent a sporty convertible.”

Local customers include big spenders who “want to impress a girl on the first date, husbands who want to surprise their wives on birthdays or anniversaries, and others who want to show up in style at their class reunions,” Kasmer said.

Upscale car rental agencies also serve as a testing ground for “people who are thinking about buying a Porsche or Mercedes of their own,” Kasmer said. “And they don’t have to put up with a salesman sitting beside them.”