Any experience renting a Tesla

[tmorgenthaler]

Good morning,
Next week my family and I are headed out to LA for the weekend, and we are renting a Tesla Model Y through Budget. As expensive as gas is in CA, the Tesla should be much cheaper to charge than filling up even a compact car in LA. As I already own a Model Y, I know I can sign into the Tesla with my profile, and comfort settings and such should transfer. Does my charge account also transfer? When I go to charge the car at a Tesla supercharger, will it bill me, or is it tied to the account and bill Budget?

 

[EVSince2011]

Read the fine print on your reservation. Reservations normally will say something like "Tesla Model Y or similar". A friend thought he reserved a Tesla in Atlanta recently. He knew there would be plenty of Superchargers on his route. They gave him another EV and told him there were no other cars available. Things did not go well.

 

[tmorgenthaler]

Read the fine print on your reservation. Reservations normally will say something like "Tesla Model Y or similar". A friend thought he reserved a Tesla in Atlanta recently. He knew there would be plenty of Superchargers on his route. They gave him another EV and told him there were no other cars available. Things did not go well.

Ugh, that would not go well. We know the Model Y will fit all our luggage. I would hate to get a Leaf or something like that.

I know LA has plenty of chargers, and we aren't going outside the area, so no road trip concern.

 

[EVSince2011]

Ugh, that would not go well. We know the Model Y will fit all our luggage. I would hate to get a Leaf or something like that.

I know LA has plenty of chargers, and we aren't going outside the area, so no road trip concern.

If you haven't driven an EV other than a Tesla, you may not know how bad public charging can be, even in California. A trip to California is what persuaded us to replace a Leaf with a Model 3. Finding charging stations wasn't the problem. Finding ones that worked was. Starting a charge at a working station, even with the charger's app, could be a problem. Phone calls to customer support were not uncommon.

 

[tmorgenthaler]

If you haven't driven an EV other than a Tesla, you may not know how bad public charging can be, even in California. A trip to California is what persuaded us to replace a Leaf with a Model 3. Finding charging stations wasn't the problem. Finding ones that worked was. Starting a charge at a working station, even with the charger's app, could be a problem. Phone calls to customer support were not uncommon.

Yeah, I'm on hold with Budget right now, trying to find out what they actually have. If it's not a Model Y, I'll probably end up cancelling and getting something else.

 

[heavymetalm8r]

I rented a Model Y two years ago for a weekend trip out of town as a way to test drive it before I bought one. We enjoyed it and didn't mind stopping to charge so it solidified our decision to purchase. I used Turo which has an option to add insurance.

And last weekend I rented a Model X because we needed more room. It let me experience that car for the first time and made me realize that it's not as roomy as I thought that it would be. It was an OK car but nothing mindblowing compared to my Model Y.

So check out Turo.

 

[GlazedHam]

I tried renting a model 3 from hertz and they required a credit card and will not take debit cards for the deposit on teslas. I had my wallet stolen and only had my debit card so I was forced to rent a polestar 2 instead.

 

[a.deodatus]

If you are over 30 years old, renting a Tesla on Turo could possibly end up being less expensive, and you just about guaranteed know what car you are getting. I have run into issues with Model Y rentals not being available, and ending up with a different vehicle with major rental companies.

 

[drb3333]

Before I bought my Model Y I used Turo to rent a Model 3 for a round trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles with about a 4 day stayover. The lender was fantastic, which is key.

(And I learned from the adventure that I actually really needed the extra legroom on my actual purchase.)

 

[Chisale]

I second the recommendation to use Turo. I've rented Teslas on there several times and couldn't be happier. This after so many trips to the chain rental agencies and they never had in stock the size car I was trying to rent (much less the actual brand). There was twice they tried to give me a 15 passenger van as that was all they had left. For 3 of us! Anyway, Turo is great though supercharging will bill the host and then at the end of the rental they will send you an invoice to pay; which is very easy to do. Just a few clicks in the app. And, like others have said, you know exactly what you are getting.

 

[JaxonDM]

I second the recommendation to use Turo. I've rented Teslas on there several times and couldn't be happier. This after so many trips to the chain rental agencies and they never had in stock the size car I was trying to rent (much less the actual brand). There was twice they tried to give me a 15 passenger van as that was all they had left. For 3 of us! Anyway, Turo is great though supercharging will bill the host and then at the end of the rental they will send you an invoice to pay; which is very easy to do. Just a few clicks in the app. And, like others have said, you know exactly what you are getting.

Turo is highly recommended around here either.