*Google translation.
Recently, small local companies and individual landlords have begun to play an increasingly active role in the car rental market. The turbulence of the economy and global changes lead to the fact that the optimization of resource use begins to play an increasingly important role, which small companies instantly adopted and turned into their advantage.
What to choose when renting a car — the offer of a large network company or an individual landlord? This question certainly arises before a potential tenant in the process of choosing a car for rent. Let's try to figure this out together.
So, what differences can be found between “local” players and “network monsters”?
1. The pledge.
It is not news for any tenant that almost all rental companies require a certain amount of collateral when signing a lease agreement. In a large network company, these processes are standardized, while it is always possible to agree with an individual landlord on the amount of the deposit and the terms of its return.
2. Insurance.
As a rule, all large network companies have leasing supplies of equipment to their fleet, so they have to pay large insurance payments, which of course affect the price of renting a car. An individual landlord forms a fleet of personal vehicles, so the amount of insurance payments is minimal.
3. Flexible requirements for tenant documents.
The issues of restrictions on age, driving experience, number of drivers, etc. on the part of the individual landlord are solved more flexibly and individually.
4. Flexible requirements for rental conditions
In the rules of an individual landlord, there are either no restrictions on the daily mileage at all, or they are comfortable enough for the tenant. Also, many individual landlords are more loyal to the use of their vehicles for traveling outside the country of issue of equipment.
5. Fleet of vehicles.
The undoubted advantage of large network companies is a fleet consisting of almost completely new machines. An individual landlord has in his arsenal cars of 3-5 years of age, however, having all the necessary documents confirming excellent technical condition. In addition, the tenant knows exactly what kind of car is waiting for him - make, year of manufacture, mileage, color, etc.
6. Attitude to technical damage and accidents
The absence of the need to register the slightest damage in insurance companies makes the attitude of individual landlords to this kind of damage less scrupulous. In the case of small accidents, it is also possible to agree on different compensation options and resolve the issue in small amounts, since the lessor can use the services of small car repair shops, which of course is cheaper than the services of authorized dealers.
7. Places of reception and delivery of equipment.
Large network companies have a wide network of offices and representative offices, where the tenant can receive and rent a rented car in comfortable conditions. An individual landlord usually has only one office, but he compensates for this by being able to provide a car almost anywhere the tenant specifies. Here the choice is up to the tenant - what to prefer: get a car right at the door of the hotel or follow him on foot to the office of the company. There were precedents when a car was delivered to a customer for 500 and even 1000 km.
8. Additional equipment.
Individual landlords are more flexible and adapt faster to customer requests, as they communicate with them directly every day and are vitally interested in making the customer satisfied with their services. You can arrange with them in advance to install a child seat or a bicycle trunk on the car. Some landlords have even started to practice renting strollers or ski equipment. In addition, you can get a lot of useful information from the landlord about the features of the car, the route of the upcoming trip, local attractions.
9. The amount of equipment.
During the high season, there is a shortage of rental cars in large network companies, but replenishing the fleet for them is a complex process associated with many risks. An individual landlord can adjust to the high seasonal demand and replenish the rental fleet of equipment by concluding a temporary lease agreement with private transport owners. This method allows you to cover the seasonal increased demand without increasing the fleet of cars and the growth of additional costs.
10. Environmental issue.
Large network companies are constantly forced to maintain a fleet of cars using a leasing system. Such a park is used extremely unevenly throughout the year. An individual landlord owns a minimum of equipment that allows him to cover the demand in low season. During the high season, he uses attracted cars, thereby not increasing the fleet of cars, but effectively using existing equipment. This of course has a positive effect on the state of the environment.