Budget Car Rental — Local services in Los Angeles

I don't rent cars often. But since I haven't had a car since the end of last year, this is has been my only resource for much-needed transportation, especially for special occasions.

So, I rented a car from Budget Rent-A-Car in April for my daughter's prom. First of all, let me tell you that calling the main toll free number I received completely wrong information regarding using a major credit card versus a debit card, and if there were to be a deposit involved. I was told repeatedly that there would be no deposit ever since I was using my Platinum Visa major credit card, however, after I prepaid for the car online and went with my daughter to pick up the car the morning of her prom, a couple hours before her 9:00 am hair appointment I discovered that I needed to have had an additional $200 for the deposit. After calling all over the city of Los Angeles, it was Miguel who chimed in and said if I couldn't use my debit card, but knew someone with a license who would be willing to help me with the deposit, all I would need was $100. Nearly 2 1/2 hours later and late for my daughter's hair appointment, a long time friend of mine came to my rescue and we finally got the car. The young lady at the counter with Miguel must have been new because she didn't know much of anything about the process and kept giving me mixed information. I wanted to tell her to shut the hell up and stop speaking!!! Trust me, Miguel is the one you want to talk to.

I gave this review a "GOOD" rating because the only upside to this is Miguel was very knowledgeable, and extremely helpful inspite of the huge set back my daughter and I experienced. He helped to clarify all misunderstandings I had and he explained everything in full detail to help me in my future rentals with them. I was extremely pleased that they didn't cancel my rental registration, and waited for me to get the deposit. It was an added plus when he even remembered my name when I returned the car the next day ahead of schedule, and he took the time to remind me of what I needed to do going forward.

In short, the car (Ford Taurus) was beautiful!!! Talk about a smooth ride!!! The kids really loved riding in it to their prom. They and the car were extremely beautiful. They had a wonderful evening.

Will I rent from them again? Sure. You just have to be ready, have the money available on your card, pass a credit check if you're using a debit card, and once you know the process, everything is smooth...

Was worried after reading reviews because I needed a rental car, and all the companies have pretty bad reviews. So I just went with Budget. And, I'm glad I did. I reserved a "Premium" online a week in advance. I picked the car up at 1:00pm on a Saturday (November 2, 2013). There was a man and a women working behind the small counter. They were both very friendly throughout the process. I was told I would be using a 2013 Chrystler 300. After signing the paperwork (bought full coverage insurance because my credit card or regular car insurance didn't cover rental cars, and I was driving the car around San Francisco the following week for a few days) I was led to my car. It looked brand new, perfect shape. (It was a fun car to drive) Drove it for 5 days.Returning the car at the San Francisco airport was a breeze. I handed the key over to a lady in the parking garage and she mentioned the scratches on the car from me driving it. I told her what happened and she said not to worry because I had full coverage. There was a 1 foot by 2 inch scuff on the front pumper, it would have to be painted over. There was another scuff in the rear about 4 inches by 8 inches that was less noticeable. Both happened while parked in San Francisco. I was worried they would charge me for it anyways because of horror stories I've heard about rental companies. My credit card was finally charged for only what I was told I would be charged with. It cost me $550 for a week, but I only used it for 5 days (discount for weekly rental, was cheaper to do the week than 5 days) Wonderful experience, I hope everybody else has the same.

I feel bad that this place has such a low rating. One of the other reviews is a one star based on Budget's hours not fitting their schedule (they close at 2pm on Saturdays, why give them a one star review because of this? Geeze.) Another one star review doesn't even describe what happens and then tells you about Hertz. Seems like a Hertz employee...

I'm writing about 800 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, US (Union Station). They set up a car wash business at their car rental shop. I mean that they actively used Customer Notice in the rental agreement about EXTENSSIVELY DIRTY, STAINED INTERIOR, PET HAIR or AROMA OF SMOKE IN THE INTERIOR. We have returned our car after around 3 weeks of usage. Of course it wasn't perfectly clean. There was dust on the outside and some sand on the floor of the driver side and on the floor of the front passenger side, which can be easily removed with a regular vacuum cleaner. The worker said that he will charge us $75 to clean the interior and showed us that same red colored Customer Notice in the rental agreement. We showed him that it was only dust and sand. It is easy to remove and is a common dust from normal use. He said it's dirty. Then we said that we will clean the car ourselves. A vacuum cleaner can't cost $75. He said us that he will charge us for 1 day extra if we late. In our car agreement was specified returning time 12:00 PM. The time at that moment was 11:00 AM. We tried to find car washing, but there was hard traffic. We didn't find a car wash during that 1 hour. We just shook the sand off the carpets and returned the car, but the worker still insisted that the car was dirty and will charge us extra money. Then we went to another worker who gives out the keys. But when they started talking to her, she didn't even look at the car. She showed us the same clause of the lease agreement. We realized that they were colluding because she very quickly found that same agreement with red letters and even did not listen to us. I'm very sure they do this with many other people and they set up a car wash business. We saw that worker with a flashlight examining other cars and having long conversations with...