Accidental Discoveries

Re: “Making It a Policy to Know Your Rental Car Coverage” (Insider, July 20): It has been my unfortunate experience that it is the lesser of two evils to buy the CDW coverage and not rely on credit card coverage.

I was in an accident in Eureka, Calif., in a rental car that I paid for with my credit card. I declined CDW and assumed all was fine. The horror was in dealing with the insurance company that provides coverage for the card. Settlement took over eight months and many calls and letters.

In a second case, my sister visited, and I rented her a car at the Ontario airport. I purchased CDW, and she was involved in an accident. We filled out an accident report with the supervisor, and she boarded her plane home with no worry about future settlement or increased insurance [premium] charges.

I have found that finding the true cost of rental cars is the most frustrating part. On a recent trip to Austin, I was charged a $12.95 CDW per day, an 8% airport access fee, $1.50 per day county surcharge, $2.50 per gallon for fuel and a 10% city sales tax.

What is needed in the car rental business is truth in advertising.

JAMES HAJNOSZ

Rancho Cucamonga

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Re: the pros and cons of adding auto insurance for rental cars to an already expensive vacation: No budgetary reason should prevail over the good sense of having every manner of accident protection.

On our last trip to Europe, I reserved a new Mercedes sedan at the Frankfort airport and initialed the boxes for full coverage.

Twenty minutes east on the autobahn to Wurzburg, I entered a long sweeping curve at the typical high speeds driven there. Ahead were highway police running toward me with flags--right there was a pile-up of cars that we later learned had 15 vehicles and trucks. The drizzle had wet the roadway, so when I slammed on the brakes to stop, the Mercedes rammed into another slowing car, this one a brand-new BMW driven by a fellow from Offenbach. I knocked the BMW off the road and stopped just clear of the road edge.

I was very glad I had more coverage with the extra insurance. It saved a six-week vacation.

JOSEPH S. RYCHETNIK

Palm Springs