Car rental question

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Tamara D. McConnell
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Car rental question

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

I feel kinda goofy posting this, but I don't know the answer. Regarding renting a car for traveling: Are there any car rental places that let you smoke in their vehicles? I haven't rented a car in years, and I've noticed from perusing the car rental sites that smoking seems to be a big no-no now. Ain't no way I'm NOT going to be smoking while on long drives.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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cbernz
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Re: Car rental question

Post by cbernz »

It's because it is really hard to get the smell out. The only way I could imagine you'd get away with it is if there were a company that only rents cars to smokers.

Why not get an e-cig to use while driving?
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pete
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Re: Car rental question

Post by pete »

I keep the windows down and use an empty water bottle for the butts. Never been penalized yet.
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Cbernz,
The e-cigs just don't do it for me. If they did, I would have already converted to them, because they are certainly a lot more socially acceptable.

Pete, this:
I keep the windows down and use an empty water bottle for the butts. Never been penalized yet.
is good to know.
condyle
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Re: Car rental question

Post by condyle »

I've smoked Grass in them for eons and I've "NEVER" been bothered, or questioned, by any agency. Your good to go.
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chrish
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Re: Car rental question

Post by chrish »

Here's a better idea. Quit smoking.

I know it is annoying when people say that, but I figure I earned some right to nag by smoking a pack a day for 20 years.

One day I just decided it was stupid (ok, maybe on a few days) and just quit. Yeah, ok, I quit more than once, but I quit for good back in 1997. I have never wanted to go back. I figured out that I saved somewhere around $25,000 in cigarette costs since that time (really!). That $25,000 has helped take me to Africa, South America, Central America, all over Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, China, etc. Smoking a pack a day would cost me around $2500 a year right now. That's a lot of herping gear/camera gear/herp trips.

I did miss the nicotine buzz for a while because, after all, smokers are drug addicts (he types sitting with a cup of coffee ;) ). But the other consequences are so bad that it just isn't worth it and you get over the nicotine addiction.

I often tell my students who smoke that it is like hitting yourself 20 times a day in the head with a 2x4. It is really inconvenient a lot of the time, it sucks when you are doing it, and you constantly tell yourself you should stop. One day you do. And within a few weeks, you feel better and realize how stupid you have been for doing it all that time.

Sorry to be one of those annoying former smoker proselytists we all hate and I don't know you personally. But if I didn't care about you as a human being and know the rewards of quitting from my own experience, I wouldn't be some presumptuous. I want you to experience how good it feels to have quit.
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Chrish,
I don't at all mind you sharing your thoughts about smoking. This is very true:
It is really inconvenient a lot of the time...

Congratulations on kicking your habit. I'm not at the point of willingness to do the same at this time (a few failed attempts to quit have shown me this), but I do hope to get there someday. It would be cool if it was sooner rather than later. I've still got the leftover Chantix in the dresser drawer, waiting for the next attempt.
doccod
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Re: Car rental question

Post by doccod »

I do it all the time because part of my work is travel. Buy one of those little ashtrays that fit in drinkcup with a closable lid. Put a little water in the bottom so butt goes out immediately. Turn fan on high and with floor output, if it comes out the dash it will scatter ashes which is the biggest bust. Make sure the fresh air is selected and not recirculate. Do not use the AC when you smoke, it will make car smell. Roll windows down after you finish for a couple minutes to "flush" residual smoke. Make sure to go over car before you turn it in to wipe out even little bit's of ash. Been doing this 3 years now.

But yes quitting is a better option, working myself upto it.
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Thank you, Doccod.
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M Wolverton
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Re: Car rental question

Post by M Wolverton »

They don't really care all that much about smoking. Jeremiah Easter and I used to rent them for trips to CA and AZ. We'd put 6000 hard miles on them, take them off road, smoke in them, take them through standing water that is too deep, etc. They never say a word. We returned one that didn't quite sound right anymore, was covered in dust, mud, ashes, coffee stains, dirt, and had an escaped snake in it. Not a word.

Drive it like you stole it.
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Jeremiah Easter and I used to rent them for trips to CA and AZ. We'd put 6000 hard miles on them, take them off road, smoke in them, take them through standing water that is too deep, etc. They never say a word. We returned one that didn't quite sound right anymore, was covered in dust, mud, ashes, coffee stains, dirt, and had an escaped snake in it. Not a word.
This is wonderful! My mind is now officially at ease about it.
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cbernz
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Re: Car rental question

Post by cbernz »

M Wolverton wrote:They don't really care all that much about smoking. Jeremiah Easter and I used to rent them for trips to CA and AZ. We'd put 6000 hard miles on them, take them off road, smoke in them, take them through standing water that is too deep, etc. They never say a word. We returned one that didn't quite sound right anymore, was covered in dust, mud, ashes, coffee stains, dirt, and had an escaped snake in it. Not a word.

Drive it like you stole it.

What company do you rent from? That doesn't sound like my experience with rentals at all. Typically, a rental company will jump at the chance to assess more fees. Even if you get a parking ticket, they will often charge you an additional fee. Some places will charge you a cleaning fee if the interior of the car is too messy. If you smoke cautiously with the windows down and take scrupulous care of your ash, you might be able to get away with it, but if you chain smoke in a car with the windows up for a week, you're going to get charged that $250. I've smelled rental cars that have been smoked in and then "cleaned": they are essentially unrentable, at least temporarily, and both the cleaning and the smell are going to cost the company money. I have a hard time picturing a rental company turning down an opportunity to recoup that cost.
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M Wolverton
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Re: Car rental question

Post by M Wolverton »

I rented from Budget and Enterprise dozens of times from 2001 to 2006. Smoked in every one of them (with windows rolled down) and never attempted to clean up the ash bits.

Never got hit with a fee of any kind.
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Tim Borski
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Tim Borski »

I'm not a smoker but once got charged 150 bucks because my (really young) boys couldn't say no to Garter snakes. What's up with that?

Tamara, if you give up smoking, I'll give up Copenhagen. Deal? Choose a date to begin and I'll be your support group. (But you need to help me too, ok?)

Tim
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Tim,
Last time I tried (okay, EVERY time I've tried) giving up smoking, I nearly took up homicide. I weighed the two. Smoking seemed the lesser of the two evils. But thank you for the offer of support, anyhow.
Tam
P.S. I can never get garter snakes to stay lit. How did your boys manage it?
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Mark Brown
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Mark Brown »

M Wolverton wrote:I rented from Budget and Enterprise dozens of times from 2001 to 2006. Smoked in every one of them (with windows rolled down) and never attempted to clean up the ash bits.

Never got hit with a fee of any kind.
That's always been my experience. I go out of my way, though, to keep the smoke to a minimum.......put down the windows, hold the cig outside, cut my in-car smoking to a minimum, and never keep an ashtray in the car. Ashtrays create more nasty cigarette smell than the actual smoking. I keep a container of water for the butts and flip the ashes outside.

In general, I use the same smoking habits I would if I had a non-smoker in the car who said it was fine to smoke, but I still wanted to minimize his or her "experience" with it.
doccod
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Re: Car rental question

Post by doccod »

We have a standing joke with the other guys we work with: "What's the difference between a 4x4 and a rental car? " " A rental car can go anywhere! "
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Car rental question

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

We have a standing joke with the other guys we work with: "What's the difference between a 4x4 and a rental car? " " A rental car can go anywhere! "
:thumb:

Thank you all for the responses, folks, both here and via email.
Btw, I'll be smoking with the windows down. It just feels somehow fundamentally wrong to road cruise with windows up.
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