[lkevinl]

Ok... so my car is in the shop for a high pressure fuel pump. They put me in a 325 loaner through enterprise. On the way home last night, I hit a huge pot hole and the tire pressure warning came on and the car started having a slight vibration while driving. I pull over and see a huge gaping hole in the side of the tire. I didn't realize this thing had run flats, luckily it did.

I ALWAYS get the damage waiver when I rent a car. I don't know if it would have covered this, but this time I did NOT get it because the last time I got a loaner, it was in the shop for a lot longer than originally expected and BMW didn't want to pay for the waiver.

So.... What do I do?!?!? I'm I going to have to pay for this?? It's a 16 inch rim, so not the really expensive RFT but still expensive.

This really BLOWS! I need a loaner for my loaner! Anyone else have a similar experience????

[LEDZEP]

I'm not sure any of us work for Enterprise, so you might do better directing the question to them.

My guess (as a lay person) is that you are liable for the damages. Your insurance will most likely cover it, less any deductible you have.

[lkevinl]

Well... apparently enterprise covers tires. They said I could take it to any goodyear, pep boys, or firestone dealer and they'd replace it and bill enterprise.

Pretty great! But then I called the enterprise office in the dealer and they said to just bring it in and swap it for a new loaner. Even better!

I'd rather swap it for my poor, lonely 335. Oh well....

[montreal_bimmer]

Originally Posted by lkevinl

Well... apparently enterprise covers tires. They said I could take it to any goodyear, pep boys, or firestone dealer and they'd replace it and bill enterprise.

Pretty great! But then I called the enterprise office in the dealer and they said to just bring it in and swap it for a new loaner. Even better!

I'd rather swap it for my poor, lonely 335. Oh well....

lucky you... i thought this was gonna turn out rough for you...

[shadowcoder]

In a fair world, you should have paid for it out of your own pocket. Consider
yourself extremely lucky if you didn't and say many "thank you" to your dealer.

[lkevinl]

Originally Posted by shadowcoder

In a fair world, you should have paid for it out of your own pocket. Consider
yourself extremely lucky if you didn't and say many "thank you" to your dealer.

Well, I was thinking about this. Tires are a tricky issue. If a tire simply goes flat, it is probably not the fault of person who happens to rent the car at the time it goes flat. It's all the wear and tear from the usage over time. My guess is that's exactly why Enterprise has this policy. Maybe there is also some legal precedent in favor of renters to back that up. Beyond a simple flat, if you hit a pot hole, the fault might seem to be yours more than the standard wear and tear, but again, I could see arguments both ways. Maybe the tire wouldn't have sustained that much damage if not for the wear and tear or previous incidents, etc. If I'm in a loaner and the break light comes on, I shouldn't have to replace brakes either.

Anyway, I don't think I'm out of the woods yet. If the rim is bent or if there are other problems, I may here back from them.
For now, I'm on the road again in another 325...

[shadowcoder]

Originally Posted by lkevinl

Well, I was thinking about this. Tires are a tricky issue. If a tire simply goes flat, it is probably not the fault of person who happens to rent the car at the time it goes flat. It's all the wear and tear from the usage over time. My guess is that's exactly why Enterprise has this policy. Maybe there is also some legal precedent in favor of renters to back that up. Beyond a simple flat, if you hit a pot hole, the fault might seem to be yours more than the standard wear and tear, but again, I could see arguments both ways. Maybe the tire wouldn't have sustained that much damage if not for the wear and tear or previous incidents, etc. If I'm in a loaner and the break light comes on, I shouldn't have to replace brakes either.

Brakes are not the same as tires, right? I think we should stick to tires and
not compare dissimilar things.

If a tire goes flat while you are renting by hitting a pothole then it's that
person's responsibility to pay for it out of pocket (if he didn't get insurance
for it or is somehow covered).

You wouldn't expect the dealer to give you back your car with a flat tire
and tell you to pay out of your pocket to repair it if while in their service
department they take your car out for a test drive to check everything is
ok and they hit a huge pothole, would you?

The fact is that you hit, as you said, a huge pothole. Nothing to do with
the wear and tear from the usage over time. Or with a nail on the road.
And the tire didn't simply go flat (big name rental companies won't give
you cars with tires that are unsafe).

I bet you didn't tell enterprise that you hit a pothole but that your tire
simply went flat. Which is why they told you what they did - to bring the
car in and they will give you another one. But they would do that in any
case cause they don't want you with a car you can not use. I wouldn't
be surprised if they bill you for any repairs, or replacement tire and rim
though.

And if they don't, then they are one of the few who are going above and
beyond to keep customers happy. And as I said, you should tell them
many "thank you"s.

Originally Posted by lkevinl

Anyway, I don't think I'm out of the woods yet. If the rim is bent or if there are other problems, I may here back from them.
For now, I'm on the road again in another 325...

[lkevinl]

Originally Posted by shadowcoder

Brakes are not the same as tires, right? I think we should stick to tires and
not compare dissimilar things.

If a tire goes flat while you are renting by hitting a pothole then it's that
person's responsibility to pay for it out of pocket (if he didn't get insurance
for it or is somehow covered).

You wouldn't expect the dealer to give you back your car with a flat tire
and tell you to pay out of your pocket to repair it if while in their service
department they take your car out for a test drive to check everything is
ok and they hit a huge pothole, would you?

The fact is that you hit, as you said, a huge pothole. Nothing to do with
the wear and tear from the usage over time. Or with a nail on the road.
And the tire didn't simply go flat (big name rental companies won't give
you cars with tires that are unsafe).

I bet you didn't tell enterprise that you hit a pothole but that your tire
simply went flat. Which is why they told you what they did - to bring the
car in and they will give you another one. But they would do that in any
case cause they don't want you with a car you can not use. I wouldn't
be surprised if they bill you for any repairs, or replacement tire and rim
though.

And if they don't, then they are one of the few who are going above and
beyond to keep customers happy. And as I said, you should tell them
many "thank you"s.

I agree that the brakes vs. flat tire comparison is not apples to apples but your comparison with service returning my car with a flat makes no sense. I'm not in the business of putting my car into the hands of other to put wear and tear on it. If I drop off a car with bald tires, service will likely tell me about that and charge me to fix. By your analogy, I'm loaning them my car, they flatten the tire and I must pay to fix, just as enterprise is loaning me a car and if the tire flattens, they must pay to fix. Seems to support my argument more.

If enterprise were to try to give me a car with bald tires, I probably wouldn't take it. But they wouldn't do that. I'm sure they change tires on their own when they see too much wear as it is in their best interest not to put clients in an unsafe car. Its the cost of doing business.

All I'm saying is that it is hard for them to say that the tire was flattened by the pot hole that I hit or because it was weakened by the pot holes hit by each of the previous three renters. They walk around the car and check the body for previous damage and I sign off on it so they can't pin any damage on me that I did not cause. You don't see them checking the tires and rims. What are they going to do? Write down "bald tires" or "damaged rim" and let me drive off? Probably not.

Also, why should a nail in the tire be treated differently than a pot hole? I didn't throw nails into the roadway nor did I create the pot hole.

Regardless, I was VERY gracious for the help with resolving the issue. I'll be checking the mail to see if the issue is really resolved.