Is it possible to rent a car and use to do oil change shops? I am thinking of renting a Chevy or ford or Cadillac to use for the shops that have big bonuses which would offset the rental. Just want to make sure that I am not missing something that would give me away as a shopper.

My only concern is what happens when you return the vehicle and their oil change sticker is missing and the one from your shop is in its place?

This seems like a losing proposition. How will you explain to the service location why you are having service done to a rental company car? They will run a check on ownership. They always do this for their records. This could end up with some explanations needed. You may also have to explain to the rental company why the cars service computer has been reset. Some vehicles require full synthetic oil, which may not be covered for the report. Can't you just borrow a car from someone you know? Do your parents have any little old lady friends? They love to have someone to take their cars in for an oil change. You might even get home made cookies from a grateful grandma.

Rented a Mazda CX-E on Tuesday. The agency operator told me that the vehicle would need a "LOAFER" (Lube, Oil, Filter Change) in 1400 miles. I drove the vehicle across the street to Firestone, because the agency operator said their location uses Firestone. Told the mechanic that the vehicle was rented from Budget. He created the paperwork and all I did was sign when I picked up the vehicle.

However, one time I returned a new SUV after having put 8,400 miles on it in 4 weeks. The same agency operator told me it should have had the LOAFER at 7200 miles and that I could have taken it anywhere.

Would your situation require you to let the rental car agency operator know what you planned to do?

if you are going to take a rental car for work anywhere,
you need to tell them first. If something happens, you
would be fully responsible. Most rental car companies
have agreements with firestone or goodyear and if
you are driving a rental and it ever runs into an issue
you can just take it to any of them and they will
look up the vin then fix it and bill it to the rental company.

If you were to let the rental car agency know the why behind the shop, then you would never be able to shop that agency...and car rental video shops can be very lucrative.

aggiejim72 Wrote:
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>
> Would your situation require you to let the rental
> car agency operator know what you planned to do?

A video shopper used a rental for route of highly bonused oil change shops. I don't recall how he did it, but am fairly certain he did not tell the car rental agency.

James Bond 007.5 Wrote:
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> If you were to let the rental car agency know the
> why behind the shop, then you would never be able
> to shop that agency...and car rental video shops
> can be very lucrative.


:perks up:
:wonders where one might look for car rental shops:

Before you get too excited, you don't get to use the car. In some cases you don't even get to start 'er up.

Lisa is right, but the ones I've seen have been averaging about $40-50 for less than 20 minutes work.

And I pass many car rental type places everywhere.

Hi,

I have been asking myself this question as well. Has anyone actually rented a vehicle to do the service shops without any problems? If its the same shop that I am thinking about, you actually have the option of getting an oil change or a tire rotation. Please let me know if anyone has done it and any details would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Ive thought of this for some valet shops. Going to 4seasons in my 9 yr old minivan would feel akward. And likely might make up for the cost in lower gas milleage as they are a couple hours away. If the math worked out otherwise. Like maybe doing other shops while im in the area...would work for my now with some bonuses I saw but dont have enough to pay theexpenses up front.

I would think you would be taking a heck of a chance using a rental or someone elses car for that matter to do an oil change. It's seems like a lot of risk for the reward.

I could not recommend using a rental car for doing mystery shops and I would discourage using the same car in a loop of shops with the same brand name. I once replaced a tire on a rental car at a national tire chain location(not a shop) in Allentown, PA. I went to do an oil change with a totally different car at a sister store of a national tire store location in Massachusetts almost two years later and he pulled my info from my name. That oil change was video, but it was a different vehicle. I was assured the locations were not linked. I went to a second New England location with my other personal vehicle and again my data was in the computer. I did two other shops with the same vehicles as directed by the MSP. I believe both had information in their systems showing recent oil changes. These were not rental cars, but they track your name, address and license plate from the vehicle. The MSP and the national tire repair place do not have the ability to mask the vehicle data in the linked oil and tire service stations, even though they operate under the same brand. Some schedulers still indicate you can use the same car. For the most part if you do, you will be marked pretty much from the second visit with the same vehicle.

Separately, when I am not doing car related mystery shops I almost always use a rental car in the regions I shop in. On a rare event I use my own vehicles, but as long as rental cars are newer and less expensive to operate then my personal car I will continue to use rentals on anything more then a day or two project that is close to home.

My concern would be that the rental cars do their own maintenance. I'm fairly sure the only maintenance a rental car wants you to do is put gas into it. I've borrowed someone else's car when I needed to.

jovanyhdez Wrote:
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> Hi,
>
> I have been asking myself this question as well.
> Has anyone actually rented a vehicle to do the
> service shops without any problems? If its the
> same shop that I am thinking about, you actually
> have the option of getting an oil change or a tire
> rotation. Please let me know if anyone has done it
> and any details would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks

While I didn't specifically rent the vehicle to do a shop, I was on vacation last summer with a rental, and a tire rotation shop presented itself. It wasn't a GM shop, it was one of the lube and muffler places, and I had no problem.

That said, over last thanksgiving, I borrowed a relatives car for a few days to do a string of GM shops that were heavily bonused, did the first as a tire rotation, next day an oil change, day after that another tire rotation, and busted! They knew I had the tires rotated two days before 90 miles away. I gave them some story about road noise and I wanted it done again, and they capitulated, but I'm pretty sure they figured it out.

Last spring I borrowed another car to do an oil change, and was told that the person that owns it changed the oil 2000 miles previously and that it didn't need it. I asked her, and she said it was done at a different dealership.

With the bonuses that I occasionally see, I had actually considered buying a vehicle just to drive around and do these shops. I have been told that even without the records they can tell how old your oil is, but I was thinking I could pay off a new car just doing tire rotations, 3-6 per month when they are bonused over $100 (I've done two that high). Now I'm pretty sure they would catch on fairly quickly.

Now I did, however, have an off the wall idea in this convoluted brain of mine. Down the street from the Buffalo airport, there is a long term parking company that will change your oil for you while you are out of town. Start a business like that, and use it to do shops. Different cars every day. Not enough of those GM shops here at the beach, but quite a few within a hundred miles. Hey, think the customer would notice if I put an extra 200 miles on their car while it was parked?

Very interesting idea, Jonchance, re the long term parking. If the parking agreement disclosed that, "cars will occasionally be driven to maintain the battery charge, and fuel tank will be full upon your return" I think people would be agreeable with that.

MichaelinNH Wrote:
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> On a rare event I use my
> own vehicles, but as long as rental cars are newer
> and less expensive to operate then my personal car
> I will continue to use rentals on anything more
> then a day or two project that is close to home.

Do you pay for the LDW? I have started buying the LDW at Budget because on a month rental they only charge you for 10 days, so it costs me $296/month for the LDW. The reason I got it is because there are too many things that can happen to the car, cracked windshield that can't be repaired, car-door dings, and I was always having to park as far away from other vehicles in the parking lots to avoid the car-door dents when people open their car doors and slam your car. Now I don't have to worry about having to make a claim on my State Farm. The LDW made sense to me because I am renting year-round now, and will probably seriously damage one of the 6-12 vehicles I rent each year, because I drive 8K to 14K per month.

I never pay for the insurance; I'm already paying for insurance through my own car insurance. The only thing the LDW saves you is whatever your deductible would be. So you're paying $300 every month to save yourself $500 or $1000 if something happens. And if you rent with a credit card, most credit cards will cover the damage anyway.

Most of them don't penalize for door dings anyway. They're considered normal wear and tear, same as windshield chips. That's under comprehensive insurance, not collision.

($296 for 10 days seems a lot. I think it's only about $14 a day when I'm offered LDW.)

aggiejim72 Wrote:
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> MichaelinNH Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > On a rare event I use my
> > own vehicles, but as long as rental cars are
> newer
> > and less expensive to operate then my personal
> car
> > I will continue to use rentals on anything more
> > then a day or two project that is close to
> home.
>
> Do you pay for the LDW? I have started buying the
> LDW at Budget because on a month rental they only
> charge you for 10 days, so it costs me $296/month
> for the LDW.

I normally rent the cars for one week time periods if I am near home in NH in order to get 2400 Southwest RR Points per rental which are worth about $40. I rotate between two or three rental car companies and I don't get the other coverage because I use my Amex that covers those costs. That being said, I have replaced a tire on my own in Allentown, PA because it was too much of a bother to return to the Philly airport to exchange the car. I also replaced a wiper blade that flew off in an ice storm to the west of Appleton, WI because I was not going back to Milwaukee anytime soon. I consider them business expenses at the end of the year, like gas or tolls, because they were in a vehicle 100% owned by another party.

I almost exclusively rent cars do do shops. I use Enterprise and their rates are about $25 per day and on Fridays they are $9.99 for 3 days = about $30. Their cars are in very good shape and their economy models get about 35-45 mpg and sometimes they have Toyota Prius' which get about 50-55 mpg. I do about 8 shops a day and average about 250 +/- miles a day and I use my Amex credit card which covers all insurance costs. Their cars are always 2014 or 2015 models in very good shape. Enterprise even has a frequent renter program which gives me a free rental every 15 days or so. I doubt that using my personal vehicle would have any advantage over this. I have never used a rental car to do any automobile shops other than new car inquiries but never automobile service shops.

I rent cars for 1-3 days almost every month and do routes, as well as valet parking at 7AM in hotels, and after 6PM at the restaurants. Do shops in suburbia in the middle of the day, and gas shops late at night to fill the gas tank before returning the rental.

jovanyhdez Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
>
> I have been asking myself this question as well.
> Has anyone actually rented a vehicle to do the
> service shops without any problems? If its the
> same shop that I am thinking about, you actually
> have the option of getting an oil change or a tire
> rotation. Please let me know if anyone has done it
> and any details would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks

And there are some ultra-luxury cars that require the shopper to have a vehicle with a certain value. A rental fills the need just fine.