Rent-A-Wreck Review

Rent-A-Wreck is a bit of a maverick among car rental companies. They do things a whole lot different, and those differences often make them a good choice when you need a quick back-up car in your own hometown. Unfortunately, Rent-A-Wreck is generally a poor choice for a traveler because the company has far fewer locations than major rental companies, their rental offices are almost never at airports or central downtown locations, their hours are mostly limited to basic business hours, so you can't pickup or drop off cars late in the evening or on Sundays, and their cars aren't as upscale as the major companies.

If you happen to have a Rent-A-Wreck location in your area, they're worth checking into on those occasions when your car is in the shop and you need some wheels for a couple days, or when the in-laws are coming for a holiday visit and your 2-seater Miata just won't fit your suddenly extended family. At times like that, Rent-A-Wreck CAN save you some green.

Rent-A-Wreck's rates are usually quite reasonable. They always beat Avis, Hertz, National and Budget, and I find them to even beat Enterprise and Thrifty on small economy cars, though they don't seem quite as aggressive on full-size cars. At least that's my experience with locations in the Houston area. Each location is an independent franchise, and they set their own rates, so your mileage can vary. One thing I like about Rent-A-Wreck is that their prices don't seem to have wild swings like they do from the majors: at Rent-A-Wreck you won't find that an economy car costs $21.99 on Monday but $43.99 on Tuesday. At Rent-A-Wreck, if they tell you it's $21.99, it's going to be $21.99 tomorrow too...I like straightforward pricing. It smacks of honesty and integrity.

And while the name might turn you off, the cars aren't really "wrecks" at all. They've usually got a year or two under their tires, and they've got at least 25-30K on the odometer, but they're not junkers by any stretch of the imagination. The fleets are another thing that can vary widely. There's no "standard" car at Rent-A-Wreck, and if you reserve a mid-size car, you might get the same kind of basic Malibu you'd get from Avis, or you might end up with something unexpected, like a Nissan Altima (a car you don't see too often on rental car lots).

There's not many truly "fun" or "luxurious" cars on a Rent-A-Wreck lot, but the locations in Houston at least always had several full-size pickups for rent, plus a few mini-vans. I like renting pickups once in a while, for things like moving stuff to storage units or picking up large purchases.

The cars are usually pretty decent, and the rates are too, so I do recommend checking out Rent-A-Wreck if you have a location near you and you just need temporary wheels. I don't think they're worth going out of your way to visit though, and I think companies like Enterprise will sometimes still beat their prices (particularly for weekend rentals), but they're okay. I wouldn't ever think of using them when I travel though. They just don't have enough locations to warrant my attention, they don't do airports, and their hours are inconvenient as can be for a person trying to catch an early morning flight or coming in on a redeye.