Can you rent a diesel car in the US?

[jetta9103]

A buddy and I are trying to plan a road trip this summer. Short of putting several thousand miles on my own TDI, are you able to rent a diesel car anywhere in the US? I guess the most relevent location would be in/near Michigan.

Hertz does like a Jetta TDI on their website, but doesn't say where it's available. The other major companies' websites do not list any diesels, only hybrids.

[lojasmo]

Don't think so.

[adrew]

I rented a Prius from Hertz a couple years ago -- it was a great rental car. Smooth and quiet and averaged close to 50 MPG, even driving it like a jackass keeping up with Atlanta traffic. That's whatould try to get for a rental -- even if you somehow find a diesel it will be an automatic.

[gti_matt]

I'd almost say it'd be shocking to find a diesel car as a rental in the US. I could totally see a renter too easily putting gasoline in it. Seems the risk would be just too high for damage to the vehicle.

[Hurt]

I'd almost say it'd be shocking to find a diesel car as a rental in the US. I could totally see a renter too easily putting gasoline in it. Seems the risk would be just too high for damage to the vehicle.

x2

[kevin splits]

I know you can rent diesel trucks. My girls dad just rented one for his restaurant events. He does the beer vendor resilience at like rib cook offs and such. He says its cheaper to rent it for the summer than to spend 60k on one for just summer event use. I'm not sure about cars tho... When my parents went to Texas for my brothers flight school graduation they rented a JSW Tdi, dsg.

[euromaxituning]

I'd almost say it'd be shocking to find a diesel car as a rental in the US. I could totally see a renter too easily putting gasoline in it. Seems the risk would be just too high for damage to the vehicle.

This is sad but true

[phil123]

I think its in the same category as renting manual transmission in the US. Never seen one.

[bigbodybenz]

I mean this in all seriousness, who cares if you put miles on your TDI? Unless you are putting on 10K miles during this roadtrip, I guess I don't see why it matters. Resale values don't move too much on TDIs based on a few extra thousand miles; they seem to depreciate faster due to years than miles.

[TangoRed]

I mean this in all seriousness, who cares if you put miles on your TDI? Unless you are putting on 10K miles during this roadtrip, I guess I don't see why it matters. Resale values don't move too much on TDIs based on a few extra thousand miles; they seem to depreciate faster due to years than miles.

He cares, obviously. Maybe he doesn't feel like shortening the amount of time that his car will require its next service or need new tires. Or maybe he'd just like to not put any additional wear and tear on the car.

[bigbodybenz]

He cares, obviously. Maybe he doesn't feel like shortening the amount of time that his car will require its next service or need new tires. Or maybe he'd just like to not put any additional wear and tear on the car.

I don't know, I think putting thousand(s) of miles on a rental car is going to cost quite a bit more than an oil change. And for me, I'd rather drive my own car that I am comfortable in and have everything the way I want it vs. a rental car.

I'll admit that I'd consider the same thing as the OP, but I was offering the opinion that it isn't going to benefit him.

[twistedlizard720]

Only Diesel rentals I can think of.

[lojasmo]

I think hertz offers ford focus, which at 41 MPG HWY is close to the PD TDI.

[PerL]

Even though diesel cars are just as common as gasoline cars here in Europe, the rental companies still put huge "DIESEL" stickers on the fuel caps on their cars to prevent people from filling the wrong type of fuel.

[johnny_p]

My not-so-local dealership has a rental department. You can rent almost anything from the VW lineup there.

Last time my car was in for service they put me in a JSW TDI, that was a hoot to drive. I think if you wanted to rent that car, their price was like $35/day which isn't bad at all.

[jetta9103]

Thanks for the tips.

Driving my own car is still an option, but I figured I'd try pricing out a rental though. I guess it's not even about the resale, it's just 1000+ miles I keep before I need to start replacing/fixing things.

[Zstampe]

Only Diesel rentals I can think of.

Both the trucks are gassers though......

[seadoo2006]

Thanks for the tips.

Driving my own car is still an option, but I figured I'd try pricing out a rental though. I guess it's not even about the resale, it's just 1000+ miles I keep before I need to start replacing/fixing things.

1000+ miles? Hell, I drive that in a little over 9 days ... man up son.









.

[EV99]

are you able to rent a diesel car anywhere in the US? .

www.getaround.com

[Shomegrown]

Surprisingly, Hertz.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/her...sel-2012-05-23

[GolfTango]

I'm sure the fear of a bunch of numb-skulls pumping regular unleaded in diesel tanks is one of the contribution factors.

[2.0T_Convert]

I mean this in all seriousness, who cares if you put miles on your TDI? Unless you are putting on 10K miles during this roadtrip, I guess I don't see why it matters. Resale values don't move too much on TDIs based on a few extra thousand miles; they seem to depreciate faster due to years than miles.

10,000 miles is that much closer to the timing belt service.

[seadoo2006]

10,000 miles is that much closer to the timing belt service.

Which is not that big of a deal ... hell, it's only $600 OTD here in Ohio from a reputable mechanic ... and the parts if you did it yourself can be had for far less than that.

[clutchrider]

I would assume so, however it would have to be some kind of local rental place like a gas station with some used cars on the lot that let you rent them for like $40 a day. You could end up with a Mark whatever TDI.

[dmorrow]

Thanks for the tips.

Driving my own car is still an option, but I figured I'd try pricing out a rental though. I guess it's not even about the resale, it's just 1000+ miles I keep before I need to start replacing/fixing things.

For what it costs to rent a car for a week I would just take my own car. If it costs $250 to rent, it would pay for a complete oil change on your car when you only used a small part of one and you would be left with a couple of hundred dollars for other future maintenance and repairs.

[Ben.Reilly]

Talk about being smug!

The only point of owning a Diesel is for the mileage, yet you don't want to use it for a long road trip...

[MCTB]

I didnt even get one when I rented in England...




Did get a manual trans though

[mhjett]

Surprisingly, Hertz.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/her...sel-2012-05-23

There's your answer. Just call around to find the location closest to you that can rent you a TDI.

[BennyB]

a local VW dealer here (Canada) rents out cars.. not sure the terms or rates. I did notice the rental car had a huge 'DIESEL' sticker under the gas cap.

[chris@revotechnik]

For what it costs to rent a car for a week I would just take my own car. If it costs $250 to rent, it would pay for a complete oil change on your car when you only used a small part of one and you would be left with a couple of hundred dollars for other future maintenance and repairs.

A weeks rental is like 180 bucks for say a focus or altima, if you want to compare to say a jetta being similar size since he wants diesel thats basically his option (or passat or golf). Prices can also vary wildly just based on pickup locations, Airport fees and taxes can often add 20%+ vs getting it from the same company 2 miles up the street but not at the "airport".

Doing it with a friend that is 90 bucks each not to put a few thousand miles on just one persons car.

Really not as bad as it can seem at first since you get huge discounts renting a full week vs 30-50 bucks for a single day.

Not having to worry about your friend smearing french fry and potato chip grease all over, putting their feet on your dash etc, alone can make that 90 bucks worth it.

In the past I always thought it was kind of stupid, now for my past two vacations I rented cars instead of using mine and it was actually much nicer.

[amdmaxx]

Penske..

A buddy and I are trying to plan a road trip this summer. Short of putting several thousand miles on my own TDI, are you able to rent a diesel car anywhere in the US? I guess the most relevent location would be in/near Michigan.

Hertz does like a Jetta TDI on their website, but doesn't say where it's available. The other major companies' websites do not list any diesels, only hybrids.

[brentwoodbc]

move to canada brah, we love diesel
not sure about rental cars though

[Art Vandelay]

I'm having trouble understanding why the OP bought the car he did if he doesn't want to drive it and/or is afraid of it breaking.

[302W]

Why would a diesel rental be more desirable than a gas one that gets good mileage, like the hybrids you mentioned? Diesel is more expensive than gas...

[phil123]

Why would a diesel rental be more desirable than a gas one that gets good mileage, like the hybrids you mentioned? Diesel is more expensive than gas...

Proximity. In california diesel is less than gas.