Rental Cars

A few weeks ago, while in the US, we rented a Chrysler Sebring through Avis. Chuck insisted on the gasoline prepay ($2.68 a gallon), while this would not have been my choice, it was fine...or so I thought.

After driving the car with the gas light on for 20 miles, I pulled into a gas station and filled it up. 13.3 gallons @ $2.74 a gallon.

Imagine my surprise when I looked at our rental agreement and it stated the tank capacity is 16.9 gallons. Needless to say, in the prepay option, Avis charged us 16.9 gallons @ $2.68 a gallon.

My search online states, that indeed, the fuel capacity for a 2007 Chrysler Sebring is 16.9 gallons.

So, the questions remain...did I get 3.6 gallons of gas free from the gas station? Is Chrysler's published tank capacity wrong? Was there something in the tank that decreased the volume?

Lesson learned...don't opt for the prepay gasoline, even if it is 5 cents cheaper than at the pumps.