San Francisco to Los Angeles

Extremely dissatisfied. The store staff had a bad attitude, the reserved car was not available, and I was told to either pay extra or accept a subpar vehicle, specifically a MiniVan. The car looked terrible, with scratches all over the body. The next day, the car broke down, and the engine wouldn’t start. I immediately called for roadside assistance at 2 PM, but the tow truck didn’t arrive until 9:30 PM. During this time, the car rental company and the roadside assistance company delayed and passed the responsibility back and forth, which was extremely frustrating. The breakdown location was only about a 10-minute drive from the rental store, so they could have easily brought a replacement car, but they didn’t intend to do so and instead passed the issue to the roadside assistance company. By the time the roadside assistance company finally got us to the rental store, Budget, it was almost closing time. The staff said they didn’t have a car ready for us, even though the roadside assistance company had told me the store had prepared an SUV. However, the store staff said otherwise. Fortunately, someone returned a Toyota Corolla, which was then given to me. It was already 11 PM by this time. From calling for assistance to getting a new car, it took 9 hours. The entire day’s plans were ruined, and I couldn’t check into my reserved hotel, resulting in a no-show charge. Budget might be struggling, merging with AVIS. Many locations have either dual branding or only AVIS branding. I picked up the car at Union Square in San Francisco, booked via Budget, but the store only had AVIS signage. The breakdown happened in Monterey, and I switched cars at the local airport, which also only had AVIS signage. This might explain the bad service. I advise everyone to avoid Budget if possible.

Normal

Great service; the car was new and clean. 5 stars.

Great! I originally rented a small Hyundai, the cheapest option, but when I picked up the car, it was a new Toyota Prius hybrid. It was really exciting.

The staff were very friendly and quite professional. Noted a small scratch during the car inspection and registered it immediately.