Grrrr - U-Haul.... and Kid's Cars

[clkelley564]

Well my son was on his way from college and had to stop part way with an overheated engine. He's riding the rest of the way home with his girlfriend, no problem, but we need to go get the car.

Simple, I thought, go to U-Haul, rent a tow dolly and go get it.

Not so simple. I have an Explorer Sport Trac, and U-Haul will not rent ANYTHING that has to be towed to Explorer owners.

Budget and Penske won't rent dollys except to be towed behind their truck.

So six phone calls later, my dad in his F-150 is meeting us to go rent the dolly and go pick up the stupid car.

Ain't life grand.

[rbeemer]

Did they say why.....

If you can't tow a trailer is there something wrong with the Explorer. It just seems strange, I think they might have been unwilling to rent you anything

Inquiring minds just got to know

[clkelley564]

It has to do with the Firestone Tires blowing and Explorer Rollovers a few years back.

I guess U-Haul may have lost a few trailers in the process and prohibited renting.

Of course that was several years back and my truck doesn't have Firestones and is the Sport Trac which is on a different chassis than the SUV.

Lawyers, geez.

(Apologies in advance to any lawyers on the board).

[War Eagle]

I have a Sport Trac. I have never tried to rent a U-Haul to tow behind it but I have alwys heard this from other ST owners. And yes it is becasue of the Firestone issue.

By the way, there is a good ST web site called mysporttrac.com. Check it out. There are some good folks there with good advice on mods and repairs.

[clkelley564]

Thanks! I'll check it out. I love my Sport Trac and wouldn't trade it for anything, (except maybe an 07, but don't want another payment)

and War Eagle to you!!

[bobhenry]

As an Ex-Uhaul company store manager I can say that it is dictated by corporate. What can be pulled by what. There are multiple issues big honkin' trucks with a 2000 pound rated bumper hitchs trying to tow a 4600 pound cadillac on a 2000# auto transport and all other sorts of insanity.
An "illegal" hookup can costs the employees of an entire center their monthly performance bonus. ( some of which are substantial).
When Jeep Wagoneers downsized in 92 they were no longer able to pull the 6x12 double axle trailers. Weight differencial is the name of the game.
If you don't outweigh what your pullin' it's in control. You didn't say what kind of car but if the tow vehicle doesn't out weigh it by 30% IT WONT HAPPEN. People left mad as hell but they lived to cuss us. I saw several tore up messes and one fatality because of "illegal" ( by company standards) hook-ups. We were there to rent as many units as possible but were monitored to do it safely. The company will go as far as calling the center and we go thru the screening form to get the (customer) a rate. They would ask for a hook up that was illegal 6x12 trailer behind a pinto (generally not that subtle) and we were flunked if we didn't caution the customer that we couldn't accomidate them.

[angib]

You didn't say what kind of car but if the tow vehicle doesn't out weigh it by 30% IT WONT HAPPEN.

Interesting! That's very close to the British rule about what weight of trailer you can tow behind your car/truck - trailers can be up to 85% of car/truck's kerbweight, where your U-Haul rule works out at 77% (ie, 1/1.3). However, I would have thought that 77% of car/truck's weight was generally well in excess of the manufacturer's tow rating?

Andrew

[Ira]

Andrew, I have no idea what it's like in the U.K., but you have to see how some people drive these rented U-Haul trucks WITHOUT towing anything:

It's like a license to burn out trannies.

I can't imagine what some people would attempt with renting a car dolly:

"Tow my F150 from New York to Florida with my Beetle? WHY NOT!? I'LL SAVE ON GAS!!!"

The heck with damaging the U-Haul equipment. At least they're trying to not damage my SKULL.

[sledge]

I used to manage a Truck Stop Garage on I81 , we got a lot of U-Haul trucks and trailers. Everything from Filling up with Gas---when it should have been diesel , or the other way around, and people who had never been in a truck before and trying to pull under a 12' roof with a 13'6" truck.. I'm sure that stuff was rough on the Company..... you got to be careful who you rent anything to.... but, not to say that means everybody. then you would be out of business, or close to it..... just my thoughts on it.

[Woodbutcher]

U-haul will not rent you a trailer if you drive a Jeep Wrangler and have a soft top on. If you have a hardtop it's fine.

[Lesbest]

Rented Ryders for a year a few years back and their rule was no trailer or tow dolly to be rented by itself. Can be towed by a company truck only. All the tow balls were welded all the way around on the bumper. All 15-20-24 ft. units had tow balls, not the 10ft.

The best thing we learned was to buy the insurance they offer. WHY? When you rent it is at a special rate usually, not the daily rate. You park the truck in the hotel lot and go to bed, early in the morning a drunk hits it and drives off. You get up--oh crap--get to your destination and return the truck. They do the walk around and there is more damage than when you got it, BINGO--it goes to the body shop, who is not in any hurry and while it is there you pay the daily rate till it gets back on the lot ready to rent. Very few insurance companies will pay "LOSS OF USE" claims. This is not rental insurance which almost everyone has, which pays to rent a car while yours is being fixed.

It is a high rate to pay, but not if you have damage, we saw one claim foe $6,000.00 and there is no way out--you signed the contract when you got the keys. Hope this helps someone someday.

Les

[asianflava]

I had a rental car that got hit at the Henry Ford Museum parking lot. I didn't even notice it till we got back to the hotel. I didn't buy their insurance and relied on mine. When the claim came, my insurance fought the "Loss of Use" charges. They said that they'd only pay it if they could prove that they had no other cars to rent and the damaged one was the only one left. I only paid the deductable and I was on my way.

I was talking to my agent and she asked how long we had the car for. I said that we rented it for a week. She said that that was kind of the gray area. Any longer and you should stick with your personal insurance, any shorter and you should buy theirs.

[bledsoe3]

We go to Vegas a lot and rent a car each time. I called my insurance and they told me not to buy the extra coverage. YMMV

[asianflava]

We go to Vegas a lot and rent a car each time. I called my insurance and they told me not to buy the extra coverage. YMMV

Heh heh heh, I just made reservations for our rental car in Vegas. Instead of going to our high school reunion my friends are getting together in Vegas.

Anyway, I get e-mails from Alamo advertising their specials. I checked it out to see what the going rate was. For S&Gs I plugged aaa into the rate code and it dropped the price about $50 for a 3 day rental.

[bledsoe3]

We go to Vegas a lot and rent a car each time. I called my insurance and they told me not to buy the extra coverage. YMMV

I plugged aaa into the rate code and it dropped the price about $50 for a 3 day rental.

What size car?