Rental Car on Auto Train, Anyone Do It?

[fairviewroad]

RyanS, on 09 Mar 2015 - 12:01 PM, said:

When you're returning a car at a location 1,000 miles from where you picked it up but only have 25 more miles on the odometer, they're going to wonder what the heck happened.

Well, in theory yes, though I suspect most people would actually use it for more than 25 miles, unless they were specifically traveling from Sanford to Lorton. For

instance, the OP states:

I would use the rental car in the northeast for six days and drop it off at New York airport.

If OP plans to use it in the northeast for six days, and at a minimum is driving from northern VA to the NYC metro area,

that would most likely add several hundred miles to the odometer, if not more. I doubt in this particular case, it would

raise any red flags.

 

[jis]

A car that was picked up in Orlando and is dropped off in New York would be expected to have close to a thousand miles on it, not a few hundred.

 

[Bob Dylan]

A car that was picked up in Orlando and is dropped off in New York would be expected to have close to a thousand miles on it, not a few hundred.

Not if Michael J.Fox was driving/flying it! .

And since most rentals have " Unlimited mileage" included, the car companies shouldn't mind fewer miles on the odometer, they get their money anyway!

 

[Ryan]

I'm not saying that they would mind, just that they'd be a little curious if $MILES_DRIVEN < $MILES_BETWEEN_LOCATIONS, which it most likely be if you skip the 800 or so miles done on the train.

 

[fairviewroad]

A car that was picked up in Orlando and is dropped off in New York would be expected to have close to a thousand miles on it, not a few hundred.

Again, the OP says he is planning to "use it in the northeast for six days". I take this to imply some non-insignificant amount of driving.

Whether the extra driving adds up to the same amount of miles from Orlando to New York is almost beside the point. Do you really think

that at a busy NYC airport, where returning a car involves an agent scanning a bar code and spitting out a receipt--a process that takes

about 10 seconds--that the agent is really going to take the time to do the math or be cognizant of the actual expected miles from

Location A to Location B. Do people really know that it's 1000 miles from Orlando to New York, not 500?

Now, of course the computer system might flag it. But I'm guessing if the credit card clears and there's no damage to the vehicle, it's not

going to raise any alarm bells.

 

[jis]

I'm not saying that they would mind, just that they'd be a little curious if $MILES_DRIVEN < $MILES_BETWEEN_LOCATIONS, which it most likely be if you skip the 800 or so miles done on the train.

It would be 855 miles for Auto Train as that is the credit that PRR gave me on the OTOL Amtrak mileage registration.

 

[Ryan]

I was too lazy to look it up.

 

[Dovecote]

Ok, let me chime in. My main concern happens to be returning the vehicle less than 1100 miles driven. That is the approximate miles from Orlando to New York LaGuardia airport. I anticipate putting on no more than 400 miles on the odometer if I utilize the Auto Train. This does throw out a red flag to the rental company in my opinion when returning the car. The manager of the car rental agency at the Sanford Airport doubted it would cause any issues at all when I discussed this matter earlier today. Then again it was his opinion and not a fact.

 

[jis]

Ok, let me chime in. My main concern happens to be returning the vehicle less than 1100 miles driven. That is the approximate miles from Orlando to New York LaGuardia airport. I anticipate putting on no more than 400 miles on the odometer if I utilize the Auto Train. This does throw out a red flag to the rental company in my opinion when returning the car. The manager of the car rental agency at the Sanford Airport doubted it would cause any issues at all when I discussed this matter earlier today. Then again it was his opinion and not a fact.

I would be very surprised if anyone will be able to give you a sworn fact on this one, unless you ask for a legal opinion from their lawyers through your lawyer, or something absurd like that.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Since its been done before by AUers ( and I'm sure others) you probably should just go for it if you can get a good Bucket for the trip! ( Northbound is usually High Bucket this time of year as the Snowbirds return Home)

Keep you us informed and have a good trip!

 

[fairviewroad]

Ok, let me chime in. My main concern happens to be returning the vehicle less than 1100 miles driven. That is the approximate miles from Orlando to New York LaGuardia airport. I anticipate putting on no more than 400 miles on the odometer if I utilize the Auto Train. This does throw out a red flag to the rental company in my opinion when returning the car. The manager of the car rental agency at the Sanford Airport doubted it would cause any issues at all when I discussed this matter earlier today. Then again it was his opinion and not a fact.

Returning a car with 400 elapsed miles is routine. It's only a red flag if the return agent makes the mental calculation about how many miles "should" be

on the car. And again, unless the computer flags it, I think it's a moot point. The real concern is the time the vehicle is out of your control, either in the

hands of an Amtrak employee or on the train itself. I'd guess that statistically you're more likely to damage the car during the six days of northeast driving.

 

[MikefromCrete]

There seems to be no set answer to your question. My guess is that the employee at the end of the rental would not even notice the difference in mileage. The last time I rented a car, the return employee was a guy in a garage with an electronic gizmo that printed out a receipt. I doubt if he even noticed how many miles I had driven. Chances are that the odds are your side.

 

[lo2e]

If you're worried about what the return mileage looks like, just drive around the Beltway a few times after you arrive in Lorton to gain some miles. Problem solved! h34r:

 

[FormerOBS]

lo2e:

Yeah. Problem solved at the expense of your sanity.

Tom

 

[neutralist]

(including having a non-authorized driver operate the vehicle though most include provisions for emergencies and "valet" parking).

Loading and unloading from the train probably qualify as "valet" parking.

 

[jis]

(including having a non-authorized driver operate the vehicle though most include provisions for emergencies and "valet" parking).

Loading and unloading from the train probably qualify as "valet" parking.

Specially compared to valet parking that is five blocks away, loading and unloading from the train is much less risk prone anyway.

 

[me_little_me]

Returning a car with 400 elapsed miles is routine. It's only a red flag if the return agent makes the mental calculation about how many miles "should" be

on the car. And again, unless the computer flags it, I think it's a moot point. The real concern is the time the vehicle is out of your control, either in the

hands of an Amtrak employee or on the train itself. I'd guess that statistically you're more likely to damage the car during the six days of northeast driving.

Mental calculation? You are assuming that rental car return agents can do more than plug the numbers into the computer correctly and find the most minute scratches that you missed when you signed for the car and for which you are now blamed. :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: [ Three smiley sarcasm]

 

[MARC Rider]

Most rental agreements forbid any other person from driving the vehicle, unless such is declared when renting. Therefore, you can't as the renter sign any AT agreements that allow AT employees to drive the rental car on/off the train.

That's interesting. Does that mean you can't use valet parking if you're driving a rental car? Sometimes valet parking is all that's offered by hotels, restaurants, parking garages, etc.

 

[MARC Rider]

Most rental agreements forbid any other person from driving the vehicle, unless such is declared when renting. Therefore, you can't as the renter sign any AT agreements that allow AT employees to drive the rental car on/off the train.

That's interesting. Does that mean you can't use valet parking if you're driving a rental car? Sometimes valet parking is all that's offered by hotels, restaurants, parking garages, etc.

Oh well, I see others have beat me to the "valet parking" issue. That'll teach me to read the whole thread before I post.

 

[Train2104]

Found this dash cam video on YouTube of the car loading/unloading process:

 

[Ryan]

That's an awesome video, thanks for sharing.

 

[fairviewroad]

Yeah, that was a cool video. Having never been on the AT, I had no idea that they drive the cars "through" the train like that...but

it made perfect sense once I thought about it.

I wonder what the speed record is for driving inside of a train. :blink:

Seems like the employees in the video were doing a good job, though. It's funny that the guy turned

on the radio at the end so he could listen for all of 20 seconds or so.

 

[lo2e]

I wonder what the speed record is for driving inside of a train. :blink:

Haha, I had the same thought - at one point it looked like it was going along pretty quick inside there!

It almost looks like there are tracks inside the car carriers for the car wheels to go in so that the car stays away from the sides of the carrier. Can anyone confirm whether this is the case?

 

[FormerOBS]

The "tracks" are a sort of trough.

 

[lo2e]

The "tracks" are a sort of trough.

Thanks, that's what I meant to say, but the word "trough" just wasn't coming to me.