Economy Rent a Car — Local services in Fort Lauderdale

You're reading this because you are considering Economy for a car rental because they are the cheapest price. A few things to consider here:

They are charging you a mandatory $6 fee per day even if you self insure. So, add this to the price because there is no avoiding it. This "insurance handling fee" is required if you are using your personal liability/credit card collision. They also require you to pay a $1000 deposit for any small scratches dings that would cost less than your deductible. Even though it says "up to $1000 deposit based on your deductible" they said that the deposit is $1000 for out of state and $2000 for locals. My credit card collision has a $0 deductible, and even though it says up to your deductible in their terms, they refused to honor that. You can pay $8/day and not pay the deposit, but this whole fee is a little shady.

You need to take the bus to the rental car center, then they have a shuttle bus to their facility. I happened to have an economy shuttle waiting for me at the stop, but the bus to the rental car center had a pretty decent line that i had to wait for 3 busses, and it was 11pm. It took me about 1 hour from getting outside to walking into economy at 11pm.

TAKE PHOTOS OF EVERYTHING! They wrote on my contract that the tank was full, but it wasnt. It was late and I had already signed everything before they gave me the car, but that was a little shady. Also, the car had a weird musty smell which i just had to deal with for 4 days. It was a 2024 Toyota corolla.

All in all, the next cheapest non-double-shuttle was about 20 bucks a day more, so after the $8 I paid I still saved money, but if I was in a rush or with my family I wouldnt go here. Between the extra travel time picking up and dropping off, and factoring in the required fee, it may not be worth it...

PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COST. Here’s what happened: As much as the prices might seem good. This company will scam you and lie to get as much money from you, especially after you drop of your car back to them. Firstly the prices you see on the website aren’t the real prices , they will add extra charges for anything possible , the total will be 2 to 3 times the amount displayed on their website.

My experience:

I dropped off my car one hour before the required time. And the next day I get 130 usd charge on my card and an email with a receipt saying I dropped it off a day later than I was supposed too . That is a complete lie because I was on a flight 3 hours after dropping it off back to my country. At 11:50 am when I dropped off the car , The lady that checked the car for the check out process told me everything looks perfect and I don’t need to sign anything, I can just leave since there was no damage and the fuel tank was full. Then at 6:50 am the NEXT day (once I’m already landed back in Canada) I get an email and a 131 dollar charge stating I brought the car back at 6am the day after , which is completely impossible.

I called the office and the lady that answered was absolutely rude and useless. She didn’t want to help me and all she said is that the manager will call me back . Finally I get a call back saying they were at fault for charging me and after checking evidence I did indeed bring it back on time . They eventually refunded me. But just to note they probably do this very often to customers , expecting people not to catch it and let it go . So please be aware if you do go with them , do always check for extra...

Terrible experience with this agency and I would never recommend. When arriving to pick up my car, while the service was friendly and prompt, I was hit with multiple additional fees that more than doubled the price I had secured when booking the vehicle. Renting from a reputable agency on premises at the airport would have been less expensive and more convenient (Economy is a shuttle ride offsite.) The agent at the check-in attempted to upsell me on an 'unlimited toll package' because Economy will charge $50USD in an administrative fee for every toll incurred and stressed multiple times that I would not be able to travel to my destinations without traversing toll roads. After being told the gross additional charges that they were already putting on top of my rental cost, I declined the toll package and, unsurprisingly, encountered no issues in avoiding toll roads while there.

The car we received was less than mechanically sound (it began shuddering when hitting the 70 mph speed limit on the I95), the key fob battery was low, multiple warning and engine lights appeared during our rental, the side mirror was shaking so badly I thought it would detach, the audio crackled, and the interior of the car was moderately clean.

We returned the vehicle and were told all was good to go but an additional charge has inexplicably appeared on my credit card.

I have rented from multiple car agencies in many different countries and have never had as many issues. Stay far away from this unscrupulous...