Making a ‘Wreck’ Out of Car Rentals
Many Americans undoubtedly have heard of the “used car” rental company Rent-A-Wreck, whether as customers or having read about it or possibly heard about it in a joke. After all, anyone who names a company something like that is just asking for it, right?
Well, snickering aside, at age 26, the Maryland-based company is doing well, thank you, humming along with nearly 500 franchises in 48 states, plus a smattering abroad (in Scandinavia and the United Arab Emirates, of all places).
Jalopies formed its fleet for years after it was founded by a Los Angeles used-car salesman--vehicles that, some said, merited the “wreck” moniker. These days, its franchisees generally offer late-model cars in fine condition (though not always).
On a recent trip to Los Angeles, we rented cars twice: from Rent-A-Wreck, a shiny red 1998 Geo Metro; from a leading and better-known company, a 1999 Chrysler Cirrus that was scratched, dirty and sported several nasty-looking holes and burns on the front passenger seat.
And even while now offering safe cars, vans and trucks in fine condition and generally no more than 2 years old, plus a national roadside assistance program, Rent-A-Wreck still proudly embraces its fairly obsolete name.
Its president, Ken Blum Jr., even declares it a great marketing tool: “It sounds fun. People love to talk about us.” He adds that it also lowers expectations in Rent-A-Wreck’s favor: “We can only do better than our name suggests.”
The reason anyone would rent from them is price. So how is the company doing on that score? The answer is a mixed bag. That Geo Metro in Los Angeles was $24.95; a local Budget Rent-a-Car’s rate was $35.99 for a Ford Escort.
In many cases, Rent-A-Wreck can offer significant savings because it costs the company less to buy its slightly older vehicles (usually at auction) than it does Hertz or Avis to buy theirs brand new.
Another area Rent-A-Wreck saves on is advertising, relying mostly on Yellow Pages listings and word of mouth. It doesn’t have high-rent airport locations, and overhead is further lowered by the fact that franchises are frequently run not as a primary business but as a sideline to another business, such as a repair shop or used-car dealership.
It’s not always the cheapest game in town. In certain high-volume markets like Florida, some competitors manage to offer better deals. In Orlando, for example, depending on the time of year, you might get a two-door Chevy Cavalier from Alamo for as little as $109 a week; that’s just a bit more than $15 a day, and with unlimited mileage. By contrast, the best deal at Rent-A-Wreck was a Geo Metro for $119.99 a week with 1,000 miles free. The mileage charge is one of the main minuses of Rent-A-Wreck. Typically, one of its rentals will come with 100 to 150 free miles a day, with additional miles costing 20 to 35 cents. The bottom line is that you still have to look ahead, analyze your driving plans, shop around and do the math.
Other minuses: Because each franchise is essentially an independent business, you can’t drive, say, from Los Angeles to San Francisco and drop off your “wreck” there; vehicles must be returned to the lot where they were rented. For more information on prices, policies and locations, telephone (800) 535-1391, Internet https:// www.rent-a-wreck.com.
