Rent-a-Car Contract
ADM 3360A
Andrew Sarofeim
4856542
December 7, 2010
Introduction
With the ability to fly anywhere around the world at a relatively affordable price, many Canadians are finding themselves taking trips to visit family, friends, or complete strangers more often than ever before. However, the ability to travel in a given destination of choice will require the ability to drive a car. This has created a large demand for cars that can be rented, hence the large amount of rent-a-car locations being created all around the world. In order to rent a car in a given travel destination, consumers must abide by a very strict contract that consumers must agree to.
However, if the consumer does not fully understand the contract and signs in blindly, the consumer holds a very high risk of paying a lot more then the advertised price of a specific vehicle. A consumer who has the mentality of treating the rented car like his or her own car will be severely punished because the contract for renting a car explicitly states how the car can or cannot be used. For example, the Enterprise rent-a-car contract states that “Vehicle shall not be driven on an unpaved road or off-road”[1] A consumer who signs the rent a car agreement without reading the contract may drive it off-road and end up paying a large penalty fee for doing so as a result of negligence. It is up to the consumer to fully read and understand the rent-a-car agreement to avoid any easily avoidable charges that may arise as a result of operating the vehicle.
This paper will discuss the contract between the consumer and the rent-a-car business. More specifically, it will focus on the Enterprise Rent-a-Car contract that consumers must sign in order to rent a car. Step-by-step, the paper will describe all the clauses of the contract with an explanation to each clause, applying legal principles to the agreement, recommendations for what