Budget head office blames franchise owner, who says he’s working on improving safety
When Norm Wylie’s 12-year-old daughter Sammy, who has Type 1 diabetes, asked if he would take her and a friend on a road trip from Winnipeg to Minneapolis, Minn., to see her favourite YouTube stars, he couldn’t say no.
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The plan was to rent a newer — and safer vehicle — than the one Wylie owns to make the almost 1,500 km drive to Minneapolis and back.
Instead, they got an SUV with tires so bald it sent them spinning out of control on a highway in a vehicle that legally, shouldn’t have been on the road. According to one automobile consumer protection expert, it’s a sign of the ongoing maintenance and safety issues plaguing some rental companies.
Wylie picked up his rental on Oct. 5 from a Winnipeg Budget Car and Truck Rental. He says the employee assured him that aside from a scratch in the paint, the 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander was good to go, and no walk-around inspection was done.
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Vehicle rental companies have a “checkered record” when it comes to maintenance, says George Iny, who heads up the Automobile Protection Association (APA).
He noted that safety can take a back seat to keeping vehicles on the road, a situation that was made worse by the pandemic and the vehicle shortage that followed.
“The difference now is the pandemic has required them to be renting older vehicles and keeping vehicles in their fleet longer. And these vehicles are going to need more maintenance and probably a more robust inspection program,” Iny said.
Go Public asked Avis Budget Group, which oversees Budget Car Rental franchise locations, if that’s the case with their vehicles…