Absurd: Hertz Keeps Charging Tesla Renters Hundreds Of Dollars For Not Filling Up Gas – View from the Wing

Absurd: Hertz Keeps Charging Tesla Renters Hundreds Of Dollars For Not Filling Up Gas

by Gary Leff on May 18, 2024

A week ago I wrote about a Hertz President Circle member charged $277 for returning a rented Tesla without filling it with gas. That’s the second-most Hertz thing ever, after getting arrested because the rental company reported the car you rented stolen.

And just like getting arrested just for being a Hertz customer – and Hertz refusing to admit its mistake lest the police stop believing them when they file false police reports – appears to be anything but a one-off. Being charged exorbitant rates for not filling up the gas on an electric vehicle seems to be a systemic problem for this very broken rental car agency.

Hertz Tesla Model 3

It turns out that Hertz charging Tesla EV customers for gas wasn’t a one-off. They’ve been doing it for ages, and frequently. Sometimes customers get the money refunded because EVs don’t take gas while other times customers bang their head against the Hertz customer service wall, being told that charges cannot be adjusted.

• A customer returning their Tesla with 21% battery expected to pay a $25 fee for not charging. Instead they got hit with a $340.97 ‘Skip the Pump’ fee, “Hertz’s customer service was difficult to reach, and that it took making a ruckus on social media to get Hertz’s attention.”
• A Presidents Club top tie elite member was charged $475.19 for fuel in addition to the $25 charging fee, and was also “rebilled” $125.01 for Supercharging that should have cost $15.

This second case was just over a week ago.

Here’s a Facebook post showing Hertz charging for refueling a Tesla over a year ago, so the issue seems to have been going on for quite some time.

Hertz is in the process of unloading many of its Teslas. They’ve proven much more expensive to maintain than the company expected, and much less desired by customers. They are very good cars, but they take some adjusting to – which isn’t something you want to do for a single trip. Plus charging takes time, and you don’t want to go out of your way and spend 25 minutes charging on the way to the airport.

My advice is not to buy a Hertz Tesla, and not just because buying used ex-rental cars is always dicey. Rental cars get beaten up by drivers and even by staff and aren’t as well cared for as a car owned by a single individual.

The condition of Hertz Teslas is apparently worse in particular battery wear. These are high mileage vehicles for their age and when I rented one it was charged to 98% at pickup. Recommended battery care is charging to 80% for regular driving and 90% for occasional long-distance driving. Plus nearly all charging will be done with high speed chargers on a rental vehicle.

And I guess the biggest reason not to trust a Hertz Tesla is because, based on their customer invoicing practices, they seem to be filling the EVs with gas?

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