http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jalopnik.com.png http://jalopnik.com/tag/budget http://jalopnik.com/tag/budget

On a recent trip to the airport rental counter I marveled at the ability of the Avis/Budget representative to make me feel like a criminal, a moron, and an irresponsible lout gambling with my life all in the space of about eight minutes. Welcome to modern car rental. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5819771&view=rss&microfeed=true

In addition to the increased cost of filling them with fuel, car rental rates are rising as rental companies try to squeeze profits out of a shrinking fleet, reports the Detroit News. To help decrease overhead, rental companies have removed 300,000 vehicles from their inventory, despite demand that has remained steady. To generate revenue from a smaller fleet, costs to the consumer have increased — though not as much as they could have thanks to intense competition within the industry. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=399355&view=rss&microfeed=true

Through the end of April, Chrysler had dropped fleet sales by 45,000 vehicles, a 17% decline from a year earlier, GM reduced its fleet sales by approximately 40,000 vehicles, a 14% drop and Ford posted a 9% decline in fleet sales, translating to 25,000 vehicles. Yes friends, Detroit automakers are avoiding the temptation to suckle at the teat of fleet sales, even in the face of significant sales drops. While the sales reductions will appear as another negative on an already battered sales report, fewer fleet sales — especially to daily rental fleets — should improve residual values for the "Detroit 3" in the long run. And we're all for the hometown folks taking a longer-term view of things for once — but the rental sales aren't the only part of the automakers non-retail strategy. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=396224&view=rss&microfeed=true

Is socialism staging a resurgence in Britain? We wonder sometimes. With a Labour government back in power, and gas nearing $6 a gallon, conservation may be giving way to regulatory miserliness across the pond, sold to the public with a tinge of green. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=368053&view=rss&microfeed=true

Proving there's nothing about the traveling experience that's enjoyable to anyone anymore, J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Rental Car Satisfaction Study has found that people have a worse experience renting cars this year compared to last. Based on a completely made-up scale, overall satisfaction dropped 17 points to 750 in 2007, from 767 in 2006 (which is high?). Enterprise tops the list at 777 on the 1,000-point scale, compared to 762 for Hertz and a low 731 for Dollar. The findings are below the jump: More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=322299&view=rss&microfeed=true