Toyota says it will be paying out a record $17.35 million — the maximum fine allowably by law — after the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the company had delayed reporting a safety defect to the government. It’s the highest single civil penalty that’s ever been paid to the NHTS Afor violations that are a result of a recall. [More]
national
5 Major Rental Car Companies Agree To Stop Renting & Leasing Recalled Vehicles
By 9.27.12
You know what’s a scary thought? Renting a vehicle from a car rental company and then finding out that it’s part of a recall, but was never brought in for the necessary repairs. Then there you are, driving a potentially dangerous vehicle. We’re kind of surprised it took this long, but now Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, Dollar Thrifty and National have agreed to stop leasing vehicles under safety recalls. [More]
National Rents You Car At Non-Existent Turkish Office
By 8.18.11
NYT’s Frugal Traveler has a funny story about how he reserved a car from the National car rental company for while traveling through Turkey. When he showed up at the rental office, there was no office and the address was non-existent. [More]
FCC Leaks Summary Of National Broadband Plan
By 3.15.10
The FCC has released a scan (PDF) of the five-page executive summary of the National Broadband Plan that it will present to Congress in two days. Although the summary is packed with recommendations, here’s a couple that a lot of broadband customers might be interested in: the FCC wants to develop “disclosure requirements for broadband service providers” so that consumers can make the best choice for service, and it wants to map broadband services across the country to better identify “specific geographies or market segments” where there’s not enough competition. [More]
Citibank Sends Nigerian Scammer $27 Million
By 2.22.09
37-year-old Nigerian scammer Paul Gabriel Amos convinced Citibank officials to wire him $27 million belonging to Ethiopia. Rather than go with the usual Nigerian nom de plumes like prince or will executor, Famous Amos pretended to be an official with the National Bank of Ethiopia. Amos forged “official-looking” documents that confirmed his status with the central bank and instructed Citibank to await faxes telling them where to send the country’s cash.
Palin Takes Protecting Polar Bears "Very Seriously"
By 9.2.08
For the sake of balance, vis-à-vis Obama’s Taking It Seriously, here’s one for Sarah Palin.
385 Car Rental Discount Codes
By 7.6.07 — Updated: 9.8.16
Here’s about 385 working discount codes and coupons for National, Enterprise, Budget, AVIS, and HERTZ, courtesy of Fat Wallet. The post says they’re all tested as of 6/30/07. If you have trouble using any of the codes, read through the pages of messages for tips and pointers.
Car Rental Grace Periods Died Graceless Death
By 4.9.07
You may have missed it, but a number of national car-rental places amended or ended their car-rental grace periods this year. These were rules that said if you returned your car an hour or two late, they wouldn’t charge you for the overtime.
