how do car rental companies make money?

[foadi]

Just got my all time best deal on car rental. $93/week after tax and fees. A welcome relief after spending two months in the land of high taxes (washington) wherr I avged $240/week for a shittier car. I just don't understand how the companies make any money. This is almost cheaper than leasing

[Spider]

They resell the cars at retail.

[foadi]

Most I have ever paid in Fl is $140/week. Fl has always been among the cheapest states for car rental. What happened? If you're getting for under a week then check sites like hotwire or priceline, their opaque deals are usually comparable to weekly rates. Even then just using apider sites nowadays should be aufficuent to finding a good deal. Dats just craziness.

[The Dharma Bum]

They buy the cars in bulk wholesale

[The Comrade]

what like they go to costco and buy a pack of four?

[The Dharma Bum]

They order like ten of them and get a discount

[Stratego]

They're not making money at $93/wk. They bought a bunch of cars to handle the busy summer vacation season and now they've renting at very low prices to keep revenue going while they try to sell off what they bought.

[PoS]

Optional insurance- they will always ask you to buy them along with the rental.

[exploited]

[Professor]

Their business models are like Blockbuster back in the day. Blockbuster didn't make a lot of money on rentals. They made a lot on late fees.

Rental companies make a lot of money renting during peak times. But, most of the time, they make money buy selling you insurance that you already have (most auto policies extend to a rental car), charging you $9/gallon if you don't fill it up when you return it, charging you $100 for a GPS rental, etc.