Now a days when you rent a car most of the time you have get a car with FULL tank of gas. So you are expected to return the car with a FULL tank of gas.

Best,
Rajesh

The point I was trying to make: self fill option, they record fuel meter at the time of rental(prone to visual error), and when you return the car they expect the fuel meter should close to the fuel meter reading at the time of rental. Rental car return with the same fuel meter reading is a challenge – most of the time I had invariably filled in excesss to avoid fancy charges.

To turn the game in your favor: you have to return the car with fuel meter slightly below the recorded fuel meter reading ( and hoping that they won’t notice this…) – can be tactical/costly to accomplish.

Personally I never sign up for the pre-paid option. The logic I use is quite simple (my bird brain can’t process complex logic anyway)

Option #1: Pre-paid will cost me about $45 for the full tank.

Option #2: Self-fill. The risk is that I return the car with less gas and they will charge me about $8 per gallon.

Let us assume that nine out of ten cases I return the car with full tank of gas. So I have already saved close to $400.

In the last case, if I do return with less gas, I might lose. But let us dig deeper. If I have to pay for a gallon of gas ($8) I still don’t lose. Actually I don’t lose until I have to pay for more than 6 gallons (6 * $8 = $48 which is more than $45 for the full tank of gas)

Best,
Rajesh

Frequently, I chose to fill the tank. I ended up returning the car with more gas in the tank – not by design, it just happens.
You can win in self filling option, when you return the car with slighly lower gas reading than the recorded reading when you rented
- can be tactical/costly to accomplish!

Paying for gas based on mileage used would be most desirable and it is a win for the customer. But, the rental companies do not have
business incentive to do that unless there is some legal regulation which levies hefty fines on rental companies.

In summary: I speculate in either of these options, the game is in the favor of rental companies.

I have to tell you that the odds are still hugely in the favor of the rental companies. More people who will choose pre-paid option will return with gallons of gas in the tank.

Adding to this, car rental companies can use examples (of exceptional cases) and make people feel that pre-paid option is a no-brainer.

My $.02

Best,
Rajesh

I figured this out but ended up on the wrong side of the price equation. I got caught in the valley and it took forever for me to get to the airport. Filling the tank of my rental took about 15 minutes longer than it should of because of congestion at the gas station and a weird pay model. I ended up missing the gate on my flight and had to stay over in LA!!!! It cost me hotel, taxi and a night away from my family.

I would have made it with pre-paid.

In other words, take your advice AND show up early with your rental car!

Cheers,

Brad Danks

Thank you for the comment.

I am sure we both will agree that this is an exception and even during business trips, you can opt to fill the gas yourself.

However, this is precisely the kind of exceptions that the car companies want to bank on. They want people to feel that this might happen (more often than not) and pre-paid option is a better way to go.

My $.02 of course.

Best
Rajesh