Hertz - Full Size - Now A Hyundai i45

[lovestotravel]

So over the past few months I had noticed that my rentals were all over the place as I generally I book a Full Size and end up with a Falcon XR6 or Commodore SV6

Hertz has two Large cars in their fleet
Full Size
Premium

There was always a price difference between the 2, as you'd expect, but you'd pretty much get the same cars for both, as Hertz never seemed to order the base model Falcons/Commodore's anymore.

The theory WAS
Full Size - Base level Commodore/Falcon
Premium - Falcon G6E or Commodore Calais (But I had noticed these were disappearing....) :evil: Haven't seen or had one for at least 6-9 months now!

Now it makes sense why....

The Full Size is now an Hyundai i45 or similar :shock:
The Premium is now Holden SV6 or similar :evil::evil:

I have a rental this weekend which may either be a prestige, or I may change it to the Hyundai i45 or similar and see what's it like. As I have a ton of reservations for a "Full Size" between May-August and I'll either change to Premium or to Avis etc if the car's too small

Avis has a much better choice of cars and does also list Full Size as the i45, but then they have a Full Size Sports which is the SV6...

The purchase price is $15-20,000 cheaper than an XR6 - But that explains why Hertz has gone down that path.......... However, the price for a rental does seem to have dropped a little .... As I re-booked some of my reservations for this year and saved about $30-$90 for a 2 day weekend hire, with NO different CDP or discount codes! So I'll give Hertz credit there.

Does anyone drive on here ???? Thoughts ?

I guess it's a little sad that Hertz is not going to be buying as many "Australian" cars as they used to, but as with so many things, time change!

 

[lovestotravel]

I should add I haven't see any Hyundai's i45's at all on my last rental from MEL airport a few weeks ago!

 

[AdMEL]

Interesting and annoying! Only a couple of days ago, they were still showing Full size as Falcon XR6, but had changed Premium from Falcon G6E to Commodore SV6.

I liked being able to rent a Full size and be virtually guaranteed of either an SV6 or XR6, which are my preferred cars (handling, power, economy, comfort, space, specs, Australian). The annoying part about it is the price difference between Full Size and Premium is huge! This weekend, for two days at Melbourne Downtown, full size is $94.53 and Premium is $161.67, both without CDP discounts. Full size is the sweet spot. At least I qualified for 5* last year, so I should get an upgrade to Premium - may even get it anyway at Melbourne Downtown, where I rent often, many staff know me and I've been upgraded as just a #1 Club Gold (although when they had G6E's, I refused them, as I prefer an SV6 or XR6). If you're PC, you should get a guaranteed upgrade from Full Size to Premium, shouldn't you?

It was only a matter time though, given Avis/Budget have been charging more for SV6/XR6 for over a year! Thrifty have also recently started doing the same.

I've also noticed that all the fleets, except Europcar, now have i45's. Europcar have recently got rid of their SV6's and replaced them with VW Passat.

 

[lovestotravel]

I thought you'd be the first to respond!

Hyundai's are basically going into all the fleets here now, as they are cheap to purchase and reliable!

Yep the wording changed a few days ago and the photo/image changed this morning

As I said Full Size rental price has dropped a little which is good, but I don't want a Hyundai!!!!

 

[AdMEL]

For the rentals I've looked at (this weekend, as posted above, and a couple of others), the price hasn't changed at all.

I don't want a Hyundai either - refuse to drive them! At the rate they're going, it won't be long before we don't have a choice!

 

[lovestotravel]

Hmmm well I have a ton of rentals out of CBR airport!

2 weekend days - Previously booked as an XR6 - 137.58 AUD

I can re-book/quote it now and it's $101 roughly!

Quite a few others were similar

 

[hummel]

I noticed the same thing for my book at SYD next Friday. Would much order falcon/commodore but will probably take whatever.

 

[lovestotravel]

This weekend, for two days at Melbourne Downtown, full size is $94.53 and Premium is $161.67, both without CDP discounts. Full size is the sweet spot. At least I qualified for 5* last year, so I should get an upgrade to Premium - may even get it anyway at Melbourne Downtown, where I rent often, many staff know me and I've been upgraded as just a #1 Club Gold (although when they had G6E's, I refused them, as I prefer an SV6 or XR6). If you're PC, you should get a guaranteed upgrade from Full Size to Premium, shouldn't you?

I wouldn't count on upgrades too much....

There is only a $14 difference between Full Size and Premium at OOL this weekend & about what you said for MEL airport

I also just noticed another change

Standard Sedan Hyundai Elantra/Toyota Corolla or Similar - With a photo of a Camry... :shock::shock:

I can see the Standard sedan moving to the Elantra too now

 

[lovestotravel]

I have emailed Hertz to show my satisfaction, I'll wait for their reply, but I am just expecting the standard fob-off!

I'll see what happens with a few rentals and if I need to I'll jump ship to Thrify or Europcar

 

[kamchatsky]

I have emailed Hertz to show my satisfaction, I'll wait for their reply, but I am just expecting the standard fob-off!

I'll see what happens with a few rentals and if I need to I'll jump ship to Thrify or Europcar

Even with Thrifty I got a i45/i30s in the past. But then again, Hyundai have improved a lot in terms of their quality, it is starting to get on par with Toyota.

 

[drron]

I had noticed this with Hertz in the US.After 3 rentals booking a full size and getting a Chevvy Malibu-listed on their card at the desk as a mid size I ditched Hertz.worst was the third time when i demanded to see the manager at ORD-he told me that just 2 weeks ago Hertz had moved the Malibu to a full size car.Couldn't come up with an answer as to why it had happened 12 and 6 months previously.Complained to Hertz australia on return who were going to get back to me-obviously their reps trained at Qantas.
So I switched to Avis.Domestically always book mid size but often end up with the I45 and even an XR6 so I am happier.
I really dont mind the Hyundai.Then again i did own a Sonata many years ago.It was one of the most comfortable cars to drive.

 

[1022]

I ended up in an i45 from Avis a couple of months ago (upgraded from a C class booking - corolla/i30). I noticed quite a few people doing double takes - they are pretty good looking cars. To drive it was a bit sloppy. Very light steering, mushy suspension but I thought a bit more grunt and responsiveness than a Camry (a backhanded compliment if ever there was one!). Interior finish was also pretty decent - I'd say better than Falca/dores. I wonder what other models might find their way into this class? Camry (non hybrid), Mondeo (got one one from Europcar -not bad).

My gripe with Hertz is only getting the Manual vehicle I always book about 1 in 5 rentals. I choose Hertz because they still advertise manual corollas which sometimes (become much better focuses...)Except they keep "upgrading" me to an auto.

 

[markis10]

I am yet to get the Yaris I book, not that I am doing much with Hertz these days.

 

[openseat]

I haven't rented since November, but I did notice that XR6's are becoming less common in the Hertz fleet last year. I had a number of SV6s last year. I noticed that on a country run the SV6 uses substantially more fuel than the XR6.

 

[hummel]

Sitting at SYD atm and just dropped my hire car back. Was booked as i45 or similar, ended up with a SV6.

I wouldn't of minded the i45 to be honest.. The SV6 was a boat!

 

[lovestotravel]

OOL on the weekend, not an i45 to be seen, all XR6' in the full size, but all of them had 30k plus ..... Mine had 45k and only a 3/4 full tank...

Preston in Melbourne had 3 x i45's :shock: but I ended up with an SV6

I expect the Camry to slowly been fazed out as the i45 is really the same size as the Camry and pricing is pretty much the same

 

[Simo]

A few month's ago i was at CBR and booked a SV6 or XR6.

I got a upgraded and ended up with a Tpyota Prius.

Not an upgrade IMO.

I actually rang my person i deal with in Budget and cancelled all my car bookings while standing in front of the girl.

The girl then told me they had no clean cars that I ordered so i got upgraded.

My contact told her to get a car cleaned ASAP.

By the time I walked from terminal to rental car pick up in CBR the car was there and being dried off.

Week and a bit ago i ended up with a Ford G6E. Booked a premium car and that was with Hertz.

If you don't like the car just go to the next counter.

I have done that before and been called back and got the car i wanted within the group that i booked.

Done it twice in TSV and now I always get a SV6 as first choice an a XR6 secondly.

 

[The Rok]

OOL on the weekend, not an i45 to be seen, all XR6' in the full size, but all of them had 30k plus ..... Mine had 45k and only a 3/4 full tank...

Preston in Melbourne had 3 x i45's :shock: but I ended up with an SV6

I expect the Camry to slowly been fazed out as the i45 is really the same size as the Camry and pricing is pretty much the same

Retail pricing on hire cars bears very little relevance to the equation. Ford, Holden & Toyota have HUGE fleet discounts, sometimes up to 30% or more. Hyundai however are closer to 15% discount for large corporate fleet.

Rental companies use a whole life cost equation so even if the Ford G6E were $10,000 more to buy at a retail level than the Hyundai i45 the Ford could still end up cheaper to own.

It's a complex process they use for purchasing and is also largely based on buy back value.

I would place no bets on the car you want to rent based on its retail price to buy.

 

[lovestotravel]

Rental companies use a whole life cost equation so even if the Ford G6E were $10,000 more to buy at a retail level than the Hyundai i45 the Ford could still end up cheaper to own.

It's a complex process they use for purchasing and is also largely based on buy back value.

I would place no bets on the car you want to rent based on its retail price to buy.

Very true, and unfortunately, the popularity of the Falcon/Commodore is declining, which causes issues when rental car companies need to sell off the older models!

 

[Simo]

Retail pricing on hire cars bears very little relevance to the equation. Ford, Holden & Toyota have HUGE fleet discounts, sometimes up to 30% or more. Hyundai however are closer to 15% discount for large corporate fleet.

Rental companies use a whole life cost equation so even if the Ford G6E were $10,000 more to buy at a retail level than the Hyundai i45 the Ford could still end up cheaper to own.

It's a complex process they use for purchasing and is also largely based on buy back value.

I would place no bets on the car you want to rent based on its retail price to buy.

One of my customers they switch over there company cars every 21 months or app 40 000 km and at the end the period the cost of the car versing the resale value is app cost neutral within about 2 to 5k depending on condition of the vehicle.

They use the theory that a set of tyres last app 45 000 kms and rego is due within 3 months so if they bank that it's going to cost app 2k plus the upcoming service as well. so it can be cost neutral.

Rental car company's would use a similar formula.