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Here's How Rental Car Companies Hide The Fees That Make Renting So Expensive

Lawrence Hodge
·2 min read
Image: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)
Image: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)

Renting a car can be a frustrating and sometimes harrowing experience, full of misinformation and, most annoyingly, hidden fees. Vox attempted to untangle the confusing web of car rental fees so people will know what they’re getting into.

It’s not just car rental fees customers have to be wary of (though they definitely should be); taxes and state fees also add up fast as Vox’s Emily Stewart pointed out:

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“People are not wrong to hate all the fees that they’re hit with, but we distinguish between fees that are unavoidable and those you can potentially do something about,” said Chuck Bell, director of financial services policy at Consumer Reports.

Even looking over some of my own rentals from the past shows ridiculous fees and taxes, some of which don’t even have an explanation. For instance, In January 2022, I rented a car from Hertz for four days totaling $148.75. Not bad right? Until you look at the fees. I calculated that just over 60 percent of the total — or $89.26 worth— was just fees and taxes. Facility fee? That’s $10. Vehicle license fee? I have no idea what that is but that was a fee that was charged per day for a total of $8.12. Concession fee recovery? That’s Hertz charging me $34.22 to cover their part of the fees that its charged to do business at that particular location.