Book early to ensure car hire availability

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Book early to ensure car hire availability

The peak summer periods often cause issues for car hire companies in terms of vehicle availability, but this year looks likely to be worse. Anyone looking to hire a car this summer is advised to book early to avoid disappointment and possible rising car hire charges.

The reason behind this problem lies with how rental companies run their fleets. Cars are taken on in one of two ways. The preferred method is on a guaranteed buy back from the manufacturer. This is where the manufacturer agrees to take the car back at an agreed age and mileage and in a certain condition. In the past this was great news for the manufacturer as lots of nice easy registrations and, with a newish car, the chance to get it out and seen on the road; plus it generates some nice nearly new stock. The rental companies liked this as they didn’t pay for the depreciation and had nice new cars. The second way is where the car hire company buys the car and then disposes of it themselves. The manufacturers have had to give some eye watering discounts to make this work in the past so the daily “holding” cost of the car allowed the rental company to run its business and make a profit

Both methods cost the manufacturer a lot of money and as the economy has bitten they are less ready to dig deep. They are also all cutting back on production in order to avoid creating excess stock, thus tying up precious cash reserves in idle metal. This naturally leads to fewer cars being made available to the rental companies and could also start to push prices up

Add the scarcity of cars to the peak periods and it is clear to see that some people may find themselves disappointed if they leave hiring their car to the last minute. Don’t think this will lead to free upgrades. The rental firms with fewer cars available to rent out will want to ensure they maximise their revenue

Our advice? Book early to avoid disappointment Alamo car rental