I rent cars through Avis on a nearly weekly basis. They have been really good to me for many years. They let me drive my rental car home right after 9/11 from Seattle to Cleveland. Pretty damn nice in my book. Buys lots of loyalty.

Today, I have my very first serious complaint. Just after I pulled out of the parking lot at Houston Intercontinental Airport, my low tire light came on. I just figured it was probably just a little low and kept going. When I finally got to my destination I check the pressure in all 4 tires. The front left pegged my old type stick pressure gauge. It ends at 50 lbs so it must have been 60+ to hit the end that hard. The back left was low at 20 psi. The other two tires pegged the tire gauge as well. These tires are rated for 44 psi.

I would not have batted an eye at plugging a tire so I don't have to bother taking the car back since I am already over 100 miles away and I don't have time to piss around with driving back to return it. What pisses me off is that they did not know which tire was causing the light to come on, so the lazy fuck who should have found the very easy to find nail in the, tire instead decided to over pressure all of the fucking tires figuring that the car would be long gone before they had to worry about it. I logged a complaint with Avis.


I plugged the tire and used a small can of fix a flat. I took me 2 mins to get back on the road and its holding air pressure no problem. The little can of fix a flat took the little tire up to 30 psi from under 20 psi after loosing some air while plugging that sucker. I don't sweat little shit like that.

CSB

you carry a tire plug kit with you?  Wow.



 

When I worked for Hertz, I went to a higher up in the rental department, and told him that the brakes on some of the cars we were getting in the sales end of thigs, had dangerously thin brake pads. He first asked me if they were "within spec". I asked what that would be and he said he didn't know. I then told him that a car that had ~ 1mm of pad remaining would be a gold mine for an ambulance chasing attorney, if they were found on a rental car. I also brought a Ford Focus, that had literally over 100 pounds of air in each tire. He said, "is that too much"? I didn't even know where to begin.

He said to forget about it, and that "we've been doing things like that for years, and never had a problem". So, as you can see, most rental car companies promote from within, and it's not always the most qualified for the position.

All that shit, and then the ending statement "I don't sweat little shit like that"

Plugging a tire is nothing. Dying in a car crash because a tire explodes at 70 mph would be a much, much bigger issue.

I didn't have a plug kit with me. I just stopped at a walmart and picked one up for around 3 bucks. Its pretty light weight so it would not bother me to keep it with me. I carry a pretty comprehensive survival kit with me in my luggage and back pack. "Be Prepared" is not just slogan.