driving from SLC to jackson? to big sky?

[BenedictGomez]

How does one guarantee a 4wd?

All I see are classes like SUV of different sizes, with notes of say “Toyota RAV or similar”

That's sort of one of the points I was trying to make. There are some (though seemingly few) that explicitly say 4WD, and I'd want to confirm that were I booking.

I had a BAD experience last year (and this is how I know about the RAV4 thing) where I had to get refunded and FIGHT Priceline.com through my credit card company, because I booked a "RAV4 or similar", leading me to believe that meant 4WD.

My assumption wasnt crazy or irresponsible, because RAV4 literally stands for "Recreational Activity Vehicle: 4-wheel drive" <--- the underlined is straight from Toyota. BUT it turns out none of the RAV4 cars in the rental fleet are actually 4WD! When I politely asked Priceline.com to please cancel based on what I thought was either a very poorly worded product description at best, or a deceptive marketing practice at worst, they told me to pound sand and that they'd fight my credit card company to force me to pay! And they did! And there were rude to the point of "ha, ha, ha, you're screwed!" arrogance about it.

Luckily I was savvy enough to screenshot their marketing info through each step of the purchasing process, as well as the online customer service chat with the Priceline underling, as well as the Priceline supervisor, but they actually took my credit card company to disputes! In the end, the credit card company sided with me based on my substantial evidence and I got my money back, but it took a few months and much frustration. Had I not the foresight to save all that stuff Priceline probably would have won and screwed me over as their "buy now and you get what you get" contract is pretty iron-clad.

Moral of the story, I will never use Priceline.com again.

 

[Jcb890]

That's sort of one of the points I was trying to make. There are some (though seemingly few) that explicitly say 4WD, and I'd want to confirm that were I booking.

I had a BAD experience last year (and this is how I know about the RAV4 thing) where I had to get refunded and FIGHT Priceline.com through my credit card company, because I booked a "RAV4 or similar", leading me to believe that meant 4WD.

My assumption wasnt crazy or irresponsible, because RAV4 literally stands for "Recreational Activity Vehicle: 4-wheel drive" <--- the underlined is straight from Toyota. BUT it turns out none of the RAV4 cars in the rental fleet are actually 4WD! When I politely asked Priceline.com to please cancel based on what I thought was either a very poorly worded product description at best, or a deceptive marketing practice at worst, they told me to pound sand and that they'd fight my credit card company to force me to pay! And they did! And there were rude to the point of "ha, ha, ha, you're screwed!" arrogance about it.

Luckily I was savvy enough to screenshot their marketing info through each step of the purchasing process, as well as the online customer service chat with the Priceline underling, as well as the Priceline supervisor, but they actually took my credit card company to disputes! In the end, the credit card company sided with me based on my substantial evidence and I got my money back, but it took a few months and much frustration. Had I not the foresight to save all that stuff Priceline probably would have won and screwed me over as their "buy now and you get what you get" contract is pretty iron-clad.

Moral of the story, I will never use Priceline.com again.

Wow, that's some shitty customer service. Sorry to hear about that experience, it sounds miserable.

 

[cdskier]

That's sort of one of the points I was trying to make. There are some (though seemingly few) that explicitly say 4WD, and I'd want to confirm that were I booking.

I had a BAD experience last year (and this is how I know about the RAV4 thing) where I had to get refunded and FIGHT Priceline.com through my credit card company, because I booked a "RAV4 or similar", leading me to believe that meant 4WD.

My assumption wasnt crazy or irresponsible, because RAV4 literally stands for "Recreational Activity Vehicle: 4-wheel drive" <--- the underlined is straight from Toyota. BUT it turns out none of the RAV4 cars in the rental fleet are actually 4WD!

I'd agree that your assumption wasn't crazy. I always wondered who bought the non-4WD/AWD versions of these SUVs other than perhaps people that live down south. Now I know...rental agencies even in snowy areas.

I also don't think the fault with the crappy/deceptive marketing is all priceline's fault as they're really just a middle-man. The rental agencies themselves seem to go out of the way to conveniently leave out that info. Hertz did list a couple SUV models specifically as 4WD/AWD so I would assume that means the others are 2WD based on experiences being shared here. Enterprise doesn't list any of their options as specifically having 4WD/AWD so who knows...you'd now have to assume they might be 2WD. No excuse for not having complete info online in today's digital world unless you specifically don't want people to know.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Wow, that's some shitty customer service. Sorry to hear about that experience, it sounds miserable.

Horrible. And I was pretty shocked, because I generally feel most companies over the last 20 years have really found Jesus when it comes to customer service. The case studies are endless demonstrating how important it is. And this wasn't just poor, it felt more like, "we GOT-cha!"

No excuse for not having complete info online in today's digital world unless you specifically don't want people to know.

That's my belief as well. Let the customer assume.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

truckin up to Montana in a Nissan versa. holla atcha boy

 

[Jcb890]

truckin up to Montana in a Nissan versa. holla atcha boy

Haha oh boy! Best of luck!
We didn't drive around much of Montana, but around Bozeman and Big Sky isn't really too bad as far as driving goes. It is relatively flat. Hopefully the road up to Big Sky isn't too snowy though, that could certainly cause issues in a FWD car.

 

[Smellytele]

On another note some rental car companies don't allow you to go over some state lines.

 

[abc]

On another note some rental car companies don't allow you to go over some state lines.

example ?

 

[thetrailboss]

That's sort of one of the points I was trying to make. There are some (though seemingly few) that explicitly say 4WD, and I'd want to confirm that were I booking.

I had a BAD experience last year (and this is how I know about the RAV4 thing) where I had to get refunded and FIGHT Priceline.com through my credit card company, because I booked a "RAV4 or similar", leading me to believe that meant 4WD.

My assumption wasnt crazy or irresponsible, because RAV4 literally stands for "Recreational Activity Vehicle: 4-wheel drive" <--- the underlined is straight from Toyota. BUT it turns out none of the RAV4 cars in the rental fleet are actually 4WD! When I politely asked Priceline.com to please cancel based on what I thought was either a very poorly worded product description at best, or a deceptive marketing practice at worst, they told me to pound sand and that they'd fight my credit card company to force me to pay! And they did! And there were rude to the point of "ha, ha, ha, you're screwed!" arrogance about it.

Luckily I was savvy enough to screenshot their marketing info through each step of the purchasing process, as well as the online customer service chat with the Priceline underling, as well as the Priceline supervisor, but they actually took my credit card company to disputes! In the end, the credit card company sided with me based on my substantial evidence and I got my money back, but it took a few months and much frustration. Had I not the foresight to save all that stuff Priceline probably would have won and screwed me over as their "buy now and you get what you get" contract is pretty iron-clad.

Moral of the story, I will never use Priceline.com again.

Wow. Good to know. I recently had an odd experience renting through Priceline where the rental agency wanted to charge me some ridiculous amount of money because I picked up my car a few minutes after I told Priceline I would. I was like, "WTF?"

 

[Smellytele]

example ?

I rented in Utah and they told me I could not go to Nevada. Can't remember which rental company but I had it happen other places also.

 

[Jully]

I rented in Utah and they told me I could not go to Nevada. Can't remember which rental company but I had it happen other places also.

Just to Nevada or anywhere out of Utah? Makes some sense if you limit people from going to other states as a rental car company. I think they don't want you using the rental car THAT much (even if you get unlimited miles) and limiting you to in-state as a general rule (obviously Utah itself is still huge) would reduce usage and risk of things happening to the car.

 

[Jcb890]

Wow. Good to know. I recently had an odd experience renting through Priceline where the rental agency wanted to charge me some ridiculous amount of money because I picked up my car a few minutes after I told Priceline I would. I was like, "WTF?"

Actually, now that I think of it, we did have some issues in DEN picking up our car. I think I screwed up on the time I selected for when we'd pick up the car and we missed that pick-up time. They gave away the original car we were supposed to get (RAV4 AWD), but we got an Infiniti AWD SUV instead, so that was fine.

 

[Jcb890]

I rented in Utah and they told me I could not go to Nevada. Can't remember which rental company but I had it happen other places also.

I don't think the airport rental companies in Denver or Bozeman said where we could or could not go. Though in Bozeman they did ask if we planned to do any off-road driving and mentioned it was not permitted.

 

[Smellytele]

They sometimes don't tell you it is just in the contract. Here is a thread where some peopl had an issue in CO.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/automotive/2255033-taking-rental-vehicles-across-state-lines.html

 

[Smellytele]

Here is an article on it as well...
http://www.elliott.org/thats-ridiculous-2/cross-the-state-line-pay-extra-for-your-rental-car/

 

[cdskier]

Interesting...the one time I had a rental car from Enterprise the plates on the car they gave me weren't even from the state where I picked up the car. Would be interesting if they say you can't leave the state when the car itself isn't even from that state. Plus in NJ I can be in 6 or so other states within about a 3 hour drive.

Reading that other thread makes it sound like it varies a lot even within a particular rental agency. If it says you get unlimited miles, I would have never even thought about seeing if there were state restrictions.

 

[jimk]

Last winter I rented a 4wd, 4dr Nissan Frontier truck at Seattle airport for a good deal. IIRC they asked where I was going and I said Whistler, Canada and they said no problem. I've rented vehicle from SFO and drove to OR, NV and CA with no problems.

 

[drjeff]

I don't think the airport rental companies in Denver or Bozeman said where we could or could not go. Though in Bozeman they did ask if we planned to do any off-road driving and mentioned it was not permitted.

Bozeman I'm guessing they expect that many rental cars will leave the state, as a decent percentage of people flying into Bozeman often go to Yellowstone, the majority of which is in WY, not MT

I know when I rented in Bozeman in the summer of 2016, that Avis didn't even tell me that I couldn't take the car out of state, and the majority of the 1500 miles I drove that week were in WY and not MT

 

[KustyTheKlown]

things are looking a little better today. a foot this weekend for the cottonwoods, and now they are saying the ridge will only dominate for 7-10 days before breaking down. fingers crossed. ideally i get to ski powder next weekend in new england, powder in Montana 12/16-19, powder in Utah 12/20-23. wishful thinking. hope's the root of fantasy.

 

[kingslug]

Not to burst bubbles but they need feet of snow to cover the rocks. But who knows. I go every year at this time and surprise storms have dumped feet instead of the inches forecast. A mountain forecast is good for maybe 4 hours before. I've been there when 3 inches was forecast that morning an 18 fell. Last year at this time thunder snow stuck us in the restaurant for a while. Either way they are going to open so anyone with prepaid tix, like our group will not be able to cancel. Let the grooming begin ;(