Book Budget car rentals in Los Angeles

Cons: A random $391 dollar charge

Cons: We first waited about 45 minutes for a shuttle from LAX while probably 20+ buses from even one of the other agencies had shown up. When finally getting to pick up the car, there was a 1.5-2hr wait in line to get to the desk....at which point they said that not only did they not have the car we reserved (or many other customers reserved), but also that they had no way of knowing if or when such a car might be available to rent and offered a worse car that wouldn't fit our needs for essentially the same price ($8 off over a whole week). After additional hassle not worth describing, when we did eventually get a car it was barely cleaned and I later discovered that it inconveniently had no wiper fluid. When we returned the car a week later the line only looked longer than before. It would be hard to imagine many ways to make a worse car rental experience.

Pros: Drop off receipt showed a different amount than the amount shown on my credit card

Cons: Better customer service

Pros: The staff in LA and Santa Barbara were very friendly and helpful.

Cons: The wait in line was very long. Once finally to my car, we opened the doors to discover that it reeked of cigarette and pot smoke. Because I had waited in line so long already, I had absolutely no time to go back inside and exchange it for another car, or I would have been late to my meeting.