Here are five common sense tips for inspecting rented 15-passenger vans:

1. Make sure that you lead the inspection, not the rental agent employed by the van rental company.  You as the renter are responsible for all damages to the vehicle, regardless of fault.  Therefore, you must take the initiative to protect yourself with a detailed and precise damage inspection prior to leaving the rental office.  The rental agent will not be as careful to note previous damages as you will be.

2. Inspect the entire perimeter of the van thoroughly, looking for dents and scrapes of any notable significance.  Look at the front, back, and sides of the van from several different angles to avoid missing any damages.  Do not accept a van that has not been completely cleaned and washed so that no previous damage will be hidden or concealed from your view.  The van must be totally dry and spotless before you walk around it.  All damages, tar, and scratches should be noted and initialed on the rental agreement without exception.

3.  Inspect the front windshield from the outside of the van first, noting all chips, stars, or cracks. Do not overlook or consider anything you view to be too insignificant.  Lift up both wipers and look under them because many times missed chips or stars show up there upon return.  Next, step inside the driver door and climb into the driver seat.  Scan the entire windshield from left to right, looking for anything you may have missed on the outside of the van.  Make sure everything has been noted on the agreement once again.  Do not accept a van with a big crack!

4.  Open every door on the van.  Step up inside the van, propping yourself up to view the roof.  Look for scrapes and dents from as many angles as possible to make sure you make an accurate assessment of anything you see up there.  Repeat this same step all the way around the van from every door.  The roof takes 30 days to replace and costs more than any other part of the vehicle.  Again, all damage must be noted, agreed upon, and the roof must be dry.  You must get this done correctly as the rental firm will charge you for loss of use as well!

5.  Climb inside the van and make sure that all the bench seats are there.  Look at all the seats, carpet, and the headliner very closely.  Make note of all stains, cigarette burns, and holes.  Check the steering column and make sure that everything looks normal.  Make note of any damage to the dashboard or any missing knobs on the control panels.  Do not accept a dirty van or one with a missing seat.

5.5  Walk to the rear of the van and drop to one knee.  Look underneath the van and make sure the spare tire and jack are both there.  If they are not, ask for another van!  Take a look at all four tires on the van, looking for nails or screws.  Make note of any excessively worn tires or those with low tread.  Finally, if the tires look like they are deflated, ask the rental company to get them up to the correct tire pressure.

If you will heed my advice regarding the points above, you will never be charged for damages you did not cause when you return vans!

Please visit our new motorcoach rental page at http://www.specktransportation.com/speck-transportation/

Here are four horror stories and extreme situations with past trips that you can learn from others mistakes!  These will save you time, hassle, money, and possibly even some lives!

1. Never allow anyone or anything on the roof of a 15-passenger van or minicoach that you rent and drive yourself!

A few years ago a church rented seven 15-passenger vans during the week of July 4th.  They took the vans to a local event and watched fireworks.  Instead of bringing their own seats, they decided to let the kids use the roofs as stadium seating!  They jumped up and down on them and sat on them for the entire time!  When they returned the vans, the roofs were extremely damaged, and the church insurance had to pay to replace the roof on each van!  In addition, and because replacing a roof on a large van takes a month at minimum to complete, they were charged for loss of use.  In a nutshell, they had to compensate the rental company for the daily rental rate of each van for 30 days!

2.  Never place unleaded gasoline in a vehicle that has been clearly marked for diesel fuel only!

One church rented a 24 foot box truck for a week that had a sign right above the fuel tank that said DIESEL FUEL ONLY!  During the entire week, the driver put in unleaded gas several times with little or no effect on the engine.  Upon return, the fuel system had to be flushed and the glow plugs had to be replaced.  The total damage to the box truck turned out to be $2000.  In addition, the driver for the church was a professional truck driver by trade and should have known better.  Fortunately, this church appealed to us and we got the bill settled for half of the original total.  Since the sign was clearly marked, and the smell of diesel fuel has a very distinct odor, how could the guy not know wht type of fuel he was putting in there?  He told my church contact that he never saw the sign!  Open your eyes and just look!

3.  Never cancel an existing order with a motorcoach carrier just to get the cheapest package without consideraing all other factors!

Back in 2003, a church in Dallas charted a coach with a carrier that was reputable and had older coaches in the fleet.  Just a few days prior to the pickup, the church decided to go with a carrier that gave them an offer $300 less than they would have paid with the original one.  They removed their reservation and decided on this carrier that they had done no research on before making this decision.  At the last minute, the new carrier subchartered to another carrier who had multiple driver violations and expired tags on their coaches.  On the way back home, the coach crashed into a bridge killing the driver and four passengers.  Multiple lawsuits were filed and lives lost because someone was trying to be cheap and skip their homework.  Do your research before you travel on a coach as your lives are riding on your choice!

4.  Never withhold payment from a coach carrier in an effort to gain the upper hand in negotiations or to try and lower the investment!

One church in 2003 rented three coaches and went to Florida during a summer trip!  Instead of sending the final investment to the carrier prior to pickup, the client took the final check with them to Florida in an attempt to negotiate the toal investment with the carrier!  This caused the owner to become very angry and threaten to leave the group in Florida.  After many hours of negotiation with the owner of the carrier, and many phone calls to the church administration, we got the coach paid for and the group was returned home safely.  Many hours were wasted in solving a problem that could have been easily avoided.  Both sides had tempers flaring and the whole situation could have easily been a disaster!  In conclusion, if you hold back the funds from a coach agreement, you can be charged with theft of service and will not have a leg to stand on as you have autographed a legal binding agreement.  My lesson personally was never do a three way call when tensions are high.

If you need a van rental or a coach with a driver visit us at http://bit.ly/niLh6m

Two safer and better controlled alternatives to towing trailers with vans would be to remove back seats or rent a cargo van for the luggage!

Would you like to overturn your organizational ban against renting 15-passenger vans?  Show this video and get it done! 

View my newest video article, “13 Ways To Remove Hassles When Renting Vans”, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV6Mo_A36Y8

Did you know if you drop off rental vehicles after office hours, you are responsible for any damages that may occur until the next biz day?