Based on my one experience, the "advantage" is all theirs. Bend over and take your punishment if you rent from these guys.

We just rented a car at Denver airport. The car had not been washed and as we got above 45 we began to hear a horrible grinding noise in the wheels. My husband said it sounded like the wheel bearings were going out. As we were in a hurry to make an event, we didn't go back and demand another car. After getting on the freeway, my husband noticed a distinct pull to the right when you relaxed pressure on the steering wheel. We were scared to death the whole weekend that we would end up wrecking or stranded with this car. Never again will I rent from Advantage.

I wish I could have given them zero stars. One price quoted before going to Mexico. Then FORCED to buy insurance when I picked up the car, although the price quoted was said to include all fees. I said my personal insurance and credit card was sufficient, but they said it was required. Then it should have been part of the quoted price! Staying away from Advantage is to your advantage!

The worst Car rental Company by far.I had a reservation for a full size Car at the Montreal airport but was given a Toyota Corolla with cranck windows and no A/C, but charged for a full size car.Their insurance policy is another scam but it does not stop there.Please read the complaint I made to Expedia (who I made the reservation thru)about Advantage Rent A Car.P.S Expedia came back to me and told me Advantage told them they would get in touch with me about this matter.Guess what -it never happend.
Dear Madame, Sir
The following complaint will be taken to the better business office and was already reported to my visa card provider who has suspended my visa card until this matter is solved and they are shore that no further fraud will be committed by the rental agency that you provided me with and I made a booking with thru you. The car rental agency in question is ADVANTAGE Rent-a-Car.
Here are my complaints.
1. After asking several times what the total charge would be of the 2 day car rental I was told $15.00 a day plus $24.95 insurance a day, plus tax. It ended up being $165.67
2. I was told to sign the (and initial in some places where there is even no designated place for initials) the rental contract before any values where put on in it. The values where only put in at the return of the vehicle and that was the 2nd time the same rental contract went though the same printer with my signature from 2 days before.
3. Upon rental of the car my visa card was run thru their system and charged. But I was also made to sign an open hard copy of my visa card which was never given back to me or destroyed and that is the reason why visa has suspended the account. Also my card was run thru their system again at the return of the car.
4. After taking and only after I had signed for the LDW insurance for $24.95 a day I was told that I better not make any scratches on the car since I am still liable to pay the first $1500.00 worth of damages (With the other car rental companies there is no liability when I take this insurance).On top of that I was made BUT not told that I will be paying another insurance of $8.95 a day.
5. The full size car I reserved and payed for ended up being a Toyota Corola, which is a compact car at all the other reputable car rental companies.
I am very disappointed that Expedia is affiliated with such a fraudulent car rental agency.
This was not the first car reservation I made through Expedia and thought I was in good hands with you and could trust any of the companies that you are advertising and dealing with since that was the experience I made with you until now.
I hope you will take action in this matter and keep me updated about this complaint.
Thank you in advance

Never had a problem renting a car until this company came along! It is a pity that car rental sites are not reviewed more like hotels etc.

There is a real lack of understanding about car rentals in many of these negative reviews.
Advantage has lower prices. They do this by cutting some frills...like TV advertising. When people call in to reserve a car, they pay no money. When they arrive, they demand the car they reserved. Advantage cannot guarantee a specific car. Customers who do not show up for their reservations aren't billed..and none of those customers are mentioned in the reviews. They are flaky liars.
As for additional coverage... if a car gets hit by a drunk, the "I have insurance...I don't need any extras!" crowd begins to cry. Their "insurance" won't cover the three weeks the car is in the shop and can't be rented out. Or, the drunk opens his door, hitting the brand new Sebring and the great insurance company wants $500 for the deductible.
Advantage is far from perfect. But if you knew the theft records of locals, the jerks who drive to Mexico to ship back their relatives, the rude-ass customers that demand a ride to the hotel and don't tip the drivers a dime, or make a stink at the counter like they are the only renters who matter, you'd have a much better understanding of why additional coverages and highway helper, and sometimes grumpy service is offered.
Customers avoid the extras.... then write the bad reviews when they get in an accident. They also drive like maniacs, 110 MPH. (there is a GPS in most cars, recording speeds) and
They drive in dust bowls and smoke their stinking cigarettes, using the cars as ashtrays.
Just a little fairness is all that is asked for here.

I rented a 07 Magnum from Advantage at Santa Ana that broke down on me on the highway I15 from Vegas near Barstow and I called Emergency assistance and they said they neither had a location nor a Tow company they work with in the area and had to get a car out from Vegas which will take atleast 4 hrs. I offered to foot the bill to get a local Tow company tow the car and me to Vegas as I needed to fly back home asap. They agreed and said they would reimburse the fee in that case. I spent $700 for the towing and now having a hard time getting my money back let alone being able to speak to the "only" person that can take care of this. Everytime I call he's in a meeting or a different location and he doesnt seem to want to call me back either. PLEASE STAY AWAY From Advantage. Guess I may need legal help on this one.

I rented a car at Denver International Airport a few days before the blizzard, I was to return the day the snowstorm hit but the airport closed and it was impossible to return the car. The car was due in the late afternon, so around lunchtime when I heard the airport had closed I called Advantage and was told not to worry I wouldnt be charged since Pena Blvd was closed and I couldnt physically return the car. However, when it was possible to travel and I returned the car, they said I was lying and no one ever said such a thing. If I could have returned the car I would have,but it was not possible as they had declared at State of Emergency in Denver, the the National Guard was actively rescuing people stranded. Advantage charges me $160.00 for two extra days. They are dishonest and unethical.

My husband rented a car from Advantage at the Denver airport in September when we travelled there for several days. He waited a half hour for the Advantage bus from the terminal and another hour or so in line for a car. By the time he reached the front of the line at the Advantage store, there were no Standard SUVs (that we had reserved) available anymore. The cranky employee told my husband that she could give him another SUV but when he signed the papers, he found out that instead of being charged $197, we were being charged almost double for the car. Seeing the long line of people waiting and after an exhausting ordeal waiting to get to a car, my tired spouse did not object. After another wait, a car that did not look like it had been cleaned inside (there were pieces of tissue and wrappers on the floor and in the various compartments) pulled up for us.

Unlike Advantage, most rental companies that we (and our family) have dealt with have usually offered an upgrade for no extra cost when a particular vehicle class has not been available. I am disappointed in the business practices of a large company such as Advantage.

It seems that Advantage is taking advantage of its customers. We (as well as our friends and family) will also never rent from Advantage again.

cowboys, steer well clear. Orbitz quoted $117 US total 'including all taxes and fees' and 'unlimited mileage'. Actual total: $358C after a raft of non-optional fees and taxes. I was totally gipped, dont let yourself get the same treatment.

This company has neither the product or the service to stay in business. I reserved a SUV on their web site for their LAX location. When I arrived I was treated to a two hour wait. This is due to the fact that they never have more than two people working the 6-8 counters they have. I was first told, that I didn't have a reservation. So I showed my printed reservation with reservation number. Then I was told that I made this reservation on someone else's web site, and therefore it didn't count. I pointed out that their URL/domain name was on the bottom of the printout and I DID NOT use another web site, though even if I did? Finally, I was told they didn't have any cars left. If this all of this dodging wasn't enough, the customer dis-service lady addeded, it was my fault for not calling to make sure my car was here. Obviously, reservation means something different on planet advantage rent a car. Incredibly rude, incredibly shifty, willing to say anything to shirk their responsibilty. You do not wan to have anything to do with this company.

Rented a van in Puerto Vallarta, refused to let me wave CCD insurence as instucted by American Express then hounded to sign up for a time share presentation that required a $50 deposit, refused to refund the time share deposit when I decide I did not want to go. added all of the insurence they could which doubled my rental price they suck I tried to complain and was told by the USA Customer Service that I would be contacted by the Mexico Office with in 10 days. 3 weeks later no call

This was one of the worst experiences on any vacation I was ever on. We reserved the car for Los Angeles Lax for August 13, 2005. We had a coupon for a free upgrade so we reserved a compact. When we got our luggage we went to catch the shuttle bus to take as to Advantage, but 3 or 4 of them passed us by because they were filled. Finally about an hour later we got to Advantage. There was a huge line that went out the door. We were in line for another hour and when we finally got waited on they told us they were out of cars for the upgrade, but had a Dodge Neon we could rent. We had no choice, and the car was horrible in the California hills-- vibrated terribly. When we got the contract, we noticed it was about $30 higher than when we reserved the car, and we got some bull story why. When we got home, we found out they charged us $30 for roadside service. They never discussed that charge when we rented. We have AAA so didn't need it. DON'T USE THIS RENTAL COMPANY

This company SUCKS!!! There managment team is less than professional. I talked to the District Manager Marcy and complained that the Impala I got had bad tires and was a hazard. She said at this time this is all they had to rent. I took the car reluctantly and I woke the next day with a flat tire. I called their roadside assistance which took over half a day to repair. I called the location and they would have a car available @2PM. Me and my wife had flown to Colorado an extra day to enjoy the mountains and lost a whole day because of this company. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. They rent cars with 60K miles on them and claim that I am getting a free upgrade in a car with bad tires. I will never use them when I travel on business. If you want to enjoy your vacation I would suggest you stay far away from them. I think a one star rating is too high for this company.

I used Advantage in Denver. They upgraded me from their lowest economy car to a PT Cruiser for no additional charge. It ran and looked like a brand new car. Took it up into the Rockies with no problems at all. No problems with the reservations or checking it in. No hidden charges. Everything was very positive.

I went against my gut and rented from Advantage as opposed to a national rental company, due to a good deal on Expedia for $28/day from LAX for a full-size car (wanted an Impala, received a Dodge Stratus). I drove the car down to Orange County and parked it on a Monday night. When I was dropped off Wed. night to return to LAX, the car was completely Dead. After 30 minutes on hold, I had to have someone else take me to LAX, and had to leave the car in the hotel parking lot. Spent the entire 40 mile drive to LAX on hold trying to get through to someone. Finally got through and upon explaining the situation, was accused by Mafih that I had left the lights on or something and would be responsible for any tow/repair bills, or any damage during towing, to which I did not respond in kind. I rent a car under the premise that it is new and reliable, and if there is a problem will receive prompt and proper assistance, not paying for their junk's problems. This guy never recorded the call, never told anybody. When I called back the next day, had to go through everything all over again like the company, and the whole call center in San Antonio had Alzheimer's. Therefore they have even attempted to charge me for an extra day because they had no record of the calls and attempts to tell them the car was broken down. All that was on the rental receipt was an 800 number, and on the recording it gave emergency road side assistance number. Nothing on the agreement of who to call etc. The employees of this company are some of the worst I've dealt with, with an astonishingly uniform lack of customer service/satisfaction attitude. I spent the next 3 days talking to 3 different people, including the LAX station manager several times. It took them until Sat. to go and get the car. Unfortunately, I left my business portfolio in the front seat as it was dark and with no power did not see it when I jumped out in a hurry. Magically, not a single person who has towed the car, checked the car out, cleaned the car, found the portfolio, and it's gone. almost 10 hours of numerous phone calls, most to the branch manager, and it's still not resolved. Worst experience in 20 years of traveling

Do not rent from these guys-they will not honor their reservation when you get there.

I had a trip to Seattle for business. I decided to go a couple days early for fun. I reserved a car using Priceline and got Alamo. I reserved a midsize but they gave me a Chevy Monte Carlo. Although, others may like that I did not feel comfortable driving that big of a car. Since I had accidently made the rental for only 2 days I decided to try it out. I didn't like it so I went to Orbitz and reserved a car at Advantage for $21.50/day for a compact. I decided I'd feel safer driving that. Some other companies were around $22 or so but I thought Advantage was smaller and would be eager to please. Hah! I confirmed my rental the morning of it. I returned my Alamo car. As I was waiting for the Advantage shuttle, I called to make sure they still had my rental. They assured me they did and said the shuttle should be there any minute. Over 20 minutes later the shuttle finally arrived. I gave them all my info. THEN, at THAT time, they finally told me all they had were vans! Okay, I know they can substitute but a van is way different than a compact car. I asked if they had anything else and they said just a Jeep Liberty (smaller than the van for sure) but that would be $49.99/day. They said there was NO WAY they could give the Jeep for the same price. They then called Dollar and had them agree to give me there $52.99 Subaru for the $21.50 rate I made with them. So, they can make another company honor their price but they can't? The shuttle driver said I should try Thrifty and dropped me off there. They quoted me $57.99. I had to take Thrifty's shuttle back to the airport, beg all the rental placed for a car but they quoted me rates like $50 for an economy. I then got the Dollar shuttle to their offsite location. It was like a 3 hour ordeal thanks to Advantage! This after a night of 3 hours sleep and I had lots of work to do. They had me in tears!

This company knowingly rents malfunctioning vehicles. They will reset the battery on cars to turn off the check engine light and send the customer out in it, without knowing or caring why that light was on!!! They also fail to put insurance papers in the cars at many of their locations. To cut down on company costs, they let their cars be rented with expired registration. Sometimes they will doctor temp tags to make them look valid, and when questioned, they will tell customer that the vehicle company authorized it for a period of time. DO NOT BELIEVE THAT! What they are doing is illegal, and you may get the unpleasant experience of a felony stop! Other times, they'll just explain to customer that if they are pulled over and cited, that Advantage will pick up the ticket. Maybe so, but whose record will it go on/ and who will suffer the hassle and embarrassment of the ordeal? If that weren't enough, they like to confirm specialty rentals with a credit card. This supposedly guaruntees that the vehicle in that car class will be ready for you when you get there. They say this solely to sound professional and often do not have anything close to what you requested. If you want further info, ask me. I'll be happy to discourage anyone from renting from disadvantage rent-a car! How do I know so much? Well, I had the horrid experience of working there for several months. I quit after expressing concerns to the district manager who condoned all of the shady practices of ARAC.