Looks like Hertz is in trouble.

I wonder when the rental car prices will drop. Good time to get a "beater".

This could be bad news for the OEMs as well. Not from the loss of fleet sales, they are low low margins. There is cautious optimism in the the industry that there is strong pent up demand when things start to recover. But if Hertz go under there could be half a million late mode cars hitting the market which could steal some of that demand. 

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

Personal observation...

2019 Dodge Caravan GT

Hertz w/ 36k miles: $16,840

Enterprise w/ 31k miles: $19,249

I have a 2017 GT and love it.  While I didn't see the $16.8K van mentioned, they do have a few '19s with around 40K miles in the $15K range.  Which is less miles than mine has now.  Trading up a couple of years before mine is totally worn out and worth nothing is tempting... 

Anyone got ~$60k around

Hertz Just Dumped A Bunch Of Cheap Z06 Corvettes Onto The Market - Jalopnik

johndej said:

Anyone got ~$60k around

Hertz Just Dumped A Bunch Of Cheap Z06 Corvettes Onto The Market - Jalopnik

Only driven by little old lady to church on Sundays .................

californiamilleghia said:

johndej said:

Anyone got ~$60k around

Hertz Just Dumped A Bunch Of Cheap Z06 Corvettes Onto The Market - Jalopnik

Only driven by little old lady to church on Sundays .................

And automatic

I am one of Hertz's president's circle guys who travels and rents a lot.  I was talking with one of their general managers a couple years ago and he was telling me how hard the ride share business has been on the rental companies.  In a 2-3 year span they lost a huge percentage of their business.  They have been trying to shed costs everywhere they can.  With COVID, just how many people are going to want to get in a small confined space with some random person.  Even if the driver is healthy the Uber/Lyft car may have just has someone sick in the back seat who was sick a few minutes ago.  

I am wondering if and when travel starts to pick up will the rental car companies be ina better position to compete against these ride share companies.  I like the convenience of the ride share but I have been in a position a few times where they are just not available like early AM to catch a flight or being in the outer suburbs early ot late.

I doubt the banks will just let this go to bankruptcy as there are still tons of assets that cannot just be liquidated like cars can.  Who needs a rental desk and parking in the rental car center in a major airport?

In reply to Scott_H :

One of the Rental car problems for businessmen is the hotels charge a lot for parking , 

Yeah Uber - Lyft  killed them but I am with you that you never know who was the last customer , just like a taxi.....

The BigTechCompany that I worked for gave everyone Lyft accounts and encouraged us to use them, and they weren't the only company to do that.  Given the number of people traveling all the time, that has to have an effect on the rental car companies.

Uber is the transportation provider of choice for my company, as well. I'm sure it saves them money, and the added bonus is it limits their liability (zero drinking and driving on business travel).

I rented a car once instead of taking a flight, and I had to go through an exception approval process. I think there was already a nail in the coffin when it comes to the rental car companies, and Covid-19 is only going to accelerate their demise. I could be wrong, but I don't see air travel returning to anywhere near pre-Covid levels anytime soon, which will put additional strain on rental companies.

johndej said:

californiamilleghia said:

johndej said:

Anyone got ~$60k around

Hertz Just Dumped A Bunch Of Cheap Z06 Corvettes Onto The Market - Jalopnik

Only driven by little old lady to church on Sundays .................

And automatic

But that 8 speed is a darn good one.

johndej said:

Anyone got ~$60k around

Hertz Just Dumped A Bunch Of Cheap Z06 Corvettes Onto The Market - Jalopnik

I was reading another story about this and they referenced back to the original story that they did back in 2018 about Hertz buying these in the first place.  At the time, they said that they expected to resell them as used cars after 6-8 months' time in the rental fleet.  I also see that KBB is saying $68k, so doing their "no haggle" $63k doesn't seem like a fire sale or particularly "cheap" compared to that. 

fanfoy said:

After years of avoiding Hertz for my car rentals (because of multiple bad experiences), I rented with them for my last trip in November....I say let them die.

Yep, just another 40k people out of a job, no big deal!

I (used to) travel a lot for work.  I am still dedicated to Hertz and President's Circle or whatever, but I was increasingly using Uber vs renting in the last few years.  

I have a huge bank of points to dip into whenever I need a personal rental -- a one-way trip to retrive a car, family vacations, etc.  

Hertz has always treated me better than the other agencies and I hope they make it.

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

From my experience traveling for work, and using most all rental car companies over the years, and when it comes to customer service Hertz is no Avis, and Avis sucks compared to Enterprise.  Let Hertz fail, in the same way their customer service has failed me in the past.

Agreed. Screw Hertz, they sucked. National has been my go-to for years.

Agreed that National is the bees knees for rentals.  Had hoped for stupid priced Z06's...

Tyler H (Forum Supporter) said:

I (used to) travel a lot for work.  I am still dedicated to Hertz and President's Circle or whatever, but I was increasingly using Uber vs renting in the last few years.  

I have a huge bank of points to dip into whenever I need a personal rental -- a one-way trip to retrive a car, family vacations, etc.  

Hertz has always treated me better than the other agencies and I hope they make it.

Yep.  Far from perfect but their customer service is far better than most of the others. Hope they pull out of it.

Hertz has filed for bankruptcy

In reply to docwyte :

Yep, but it is chapter 11 so reorganization rather than going under.

z31maniac said:

fanfoy said:

After years of avoiding Hertz for my car rentals (because of multiple bad experiences), I rented with them for my last trip in November....I say let them die.

Yep, just another 40k people out of a job, no big deal!

So be mad at Hertz for those lost jobs, not the guy saying they sucked. If they sucked less, they wouldn't be in this situation. Other rental agencies are figuring it out. 

I have nothing but good things to say about my only recent Hertz experience, which was at the Montréal airport location immediately before the world stopped.  Friendly, competent, knowledgeable people, and an excellent Kia Sorento (which was a free and spontaneous upgrade because they thought we'd be more comfortable in it than in the full-size sedan we had reserved.)

The only car I've owned that i knew for sure was a rental, was one of the nicest condition cars I've owned. 

Isn't Hertz another company that went through a private equity buyout and got saddled with a crippling amount of debt?

I can't say it's a hard and fast rule but it sure seems like P.E. firm involvement is often a harbinger of bad times for a company.

pointofdeparture said:

Isn't Hertz another company that went through a private equity buyout and got saddled with a crippling amount of debt?

I can't say it's a hard and fast rule but it sure seems like P.E. firm involvement is often a harbinger of bad times for a company.

I subscribe to and frequently read the comments section of the Wall Street Journal.  Even those types are aghast at what PE firms do and are allowed to get away with.  I sense a change in the laws.  Hope so anyway.  It amounts to a fully legal shakedown right now.