pandemic, and now as
vaccines become more widely available, we are reporting on how our local schools, businesses and communities are returning to a more normal
future. There s never been more of a need for the kind of local, independent and unbiased journalism that The Day produces.
Please support our work by subscribing today.
Would you rent a car from a stranger? With rental prices sky high, car-sharing companies get a boost
Eduardo Maldonado and Karen Valencia, both from Dallas, are renting a car for the weekend from Avail on May 6, 2021 in Schiller Park. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
Jeffery Miller, a frequent borrower at Avail, removes his belongings from a vehicle at Avail on May 6, 2021, in Schiller Park. Miller says he uses Avail often because of their premium cars and cheaper prices. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
With rental prices sky high, car-sharing companies get a boost
Rental car companies that sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles when the COVID-19 pandemic kept people home are now struggling to bring in enough new cars.
Â
Â
Travelers walk inside Tampa International Airport s Rental Car Center in Tampa, Florida, on March 19, 2021. Rental car companies that sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles when the COVID-19 pandemic kept people home are now struggling to bring in enough new cars. [ IVY CEBALLO/TAMPA BAY TIMES | Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire ]
By Lauren Zumbach Chicago Tribune (TNS)
Published May 7
Updated May 7
A Memorial Day trip to hike and bike at Mississippi Palisades State Park seemed like an easy pandemic getaway â until Autumn Wolfer tried to book a rental car to drive there.
Car rental shortage gives car sharing services a boost chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rental companies are buying up used cars as chip crisis deepens
The car crunch is a boon for rental companies, which can probably rent out every car they own at much higher rates than they charged before the pandemic.
Vehicle rental companies including Hertz, Dollar and Budget are listed on a sign at a parking garage in Arlington, Va.
The semiconductor shortage has slashed vehicle production so much that rental-car companies cannot get the new cars they need, so they have resorted to buying used vehicles at auction.
This is uncharted territory for the likes of Hertz and Enterprise, which have made their profits by purchasing new vehicles cheaply in bulk, renting them out for as much as a year and selling them at auction. In the past, they have bought some used cars to shore up an occasional unforeseen burst in demand, but rarely for the mainstays of their fleets.