Summarised by Centrist
Hertz is rolling out AI-powered scanners at its US rental locations to automate vehicle inspections.
One customer’s USD$ 440 (NZD$ 725) bill for a minor scrape has raised questions about cost, fairness, and transparency.
The company is partnering with Israel-based UVeye to install the technology at 100 airport locations by the end of 2025.
The system uses cameras and machine learning to scan the car’s body, glass, tyres and undercarriage before and after rentals.
Hertz says this increases “frequency, accuracy, and efficiency” compared to manual inspections.
A report by The Drive shared one renter’s experience in Atlanta, where he returned a Volkswagen and was almost immediately billed USD$250 (NZD$ 412) for a one-inch wheel scrape. Added to that were a USD$125 (NZD$ 206) processing fee and a USD$65 (NZD$107) admin fee. The customer had rented through Thrifty, one of Hertz’s brands.
Hertz offered a discount for paying within two days, and a smaller one if paid within a week, before any proper dispute process had taken place.
A Hertz spokesperson told Car and Driver that “it’s fairer to address these costs directly with the customers who cause the damage rather than folding them into the base rental price for all customers.”
Read more over at Car and Driver
Image: UVeye
