Someone close to me almost had a disaster with a rented car. It was rented from one of the big companies, but I don't think naming the business would make a difference here. You will see what I mean while I tell the story.
For the purposes of this accounting, we will call him Hank. So, Hank gets his rental car to go on a business trip. He picks it up from the rental lot. Sometimes, the cars are actually dropped off at the workplace.
It's winter, and he's driving out of town in bad weather. The car does fine on dry pavement, but we're talking northern Indiana here, on the way to Chicago. Pretty soon, Hank hits a downpour of rain; just a steady, light rain.
The rented car started shimmying, dancing, jiggling, and scooting - something was definitely wrong. I am so thankful nothing happened to Hank. What if he had had to brake suddenly? What if traffic had quickly slowed to a stop because of an accident ahead? He could have died in a crash.
Thankfully, Hank pulled the car over under a highway overpass. (I just heard all that over and under stuff right there.) He walked around the car, wondering what was going on. Front tires looked great, check. He went to the back of the car, bent down and looked at the tread on the rear tires, and ---
There was none. No tread. The tires were bald. He could not believe what he saw. He blinked his eyes and decided to use his hands. He ran his fingernails over the tire, and there was no edge: they didn't catch on anything. Hank was shocked. He went to the other tire. Completely smooth. How could this be happening?
The rental had only 17,000 miles. Hank made it to his destination and called the rental company. He got a different car for his drive home. Meanwhile, the rental company looked into the problem. The car had been given a full walk through at 15,000 miles. A full inspection, it was reported. After that 15,000 miles, the car had been rented seven times. The end of the story is, someone stole the tires off the car and replaced them with the bald tires.
We have discussed all this thoroughly since then. Many questions come up - were the tires replaced rim and all, or were just the rubber tires popped off? I don't know how much the rental company is looking into the whole thing, but there are definitely safety issues here. If someone had been hurt or killed, I guarantee you the police would have checked all seven of those renters, looking for that set of tires. One can only assume someone stole the newer tires and replaced them with the old, treadless ones.
Bottom line, walk around your rental car. Don't assume it is in good shape, even if the rental company tells you it is.
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