Car Rental Etiquette

Hmmmm, I say the two should split the cost of the rental and the gas, regardless of whomever rents it in their name, since they both are being sent and need to go out to the site. I would.

If it's a job related expenses then it should be totally covered by their employer. Otherwise they each need their own vehicle. That way if one wants to go running around and sightseeing and the other doesn't they don't have unfair payments.

"Also, it was my decision to rent."
So ALL expenses are on you.

I feel that the company should be paying the cost of the rental and the gas. What's up with that? Since the company is not paying this work expense, you may be able to write it off on your taxes as a non-reimbursed business expense.

You are inviting the 2nd coworker to ride with you to a places you are already going to go, so you don't actually have an incremental expense by the coworker going with. It would be nice for the coworker to offer up some gas money, if the coworker realize that the company isn't paying for that. However, the coworker should not be EXPECTED to pay all of the gas when they are tagging along in a car that they cannot drive, cannot take whereever/whenever they want and did not make the decision to rent. It would be polite for the coworker to pay for gas sometimes, and I think they should definitely pay gasoline if they ask you to make a special trip somewhere. However, I think you should be prepared to pay the gasoline for a vehicle that you decided to rent and haver total control over.
Does the hotel have a shuttle that would've taken you to the job site free of charge? Would the company reimburse taxi expenses? In other words, are the other transportation options free of charge?

Gas is often far more expensive than the rental.

I rented a LOT of cars this winter. On average I paid about $20 for the rental, and $50 for the gas.

Why not just split the total cost?

Or, to be more to the point, why isn't the company picking up the tab?

A couple of thoughts here....

1. A choice was given to rent a car or not... you chose yes so you accept responsibility for all fees incurred with the rental.

2. If you are on company business the company should be paying for the rental, UNLESS, you opted to take it on for yourself to get a car because you just wanted one.

Bottom line... your responsibility. If someone chips in on gas that is very nice but I would not expect it.

I think out of common courtesy the rider should offer to pay for some gas, but it sounds like it was your decision to rent the car, you should pay for all expenses related to the rental car.

it would be nice if the 'rider' offered to pay for all the gas. but i wouldn't make a fuss about it. if they split the gas, it's still a help.
khairete
S.

It's not entirely clear if your coworker had any say at all in the car rental. That makes a big difference, I think

If your coworker was NOT part of the rental decision at all, but you alone made the decision to rent a car, frankly I think the rental cost is on you and so is the gas. Your employer gave you another option (taxis) and you made a personal choice not to take it and to spend your own money for your convenience. Fine, I'd do the same.

If, after you arranged the rental, you invited the other person to ride with you -- did you do so expecting payment of at least gas if not some of the rental cost? Sounds like you did. It would of course be polite of the coworker to offer to pay something toward gas (and he or she really should) but you seem to be expecting that he or she will pay up for half the gas as a matter of course. Not really. If you decided alone on the rental and the coworker was fine with taxis, it's your choice and your nickel.

If the coworker is now seeing you have a rental, and assuming he or she gets to ride with you all the time -- I would definitely ask if he or she can kick in for HALF the gas (not all--again, renting at all was your choice). It's up to you what you do if the answer is no. I guess you can say, "Fine, you take taxis and can't ride with me" but I'd just provide the ride and let it go unless you want animosity when you're back at the office. Yeah, it would be good of the coworker to pay and you'll remember that he or she didn't. But it's also asking too much, on your part, to expect the coworker to pay 100 percent of the gas for a rental that was your choice.

All this is based on the assumption that the coworker was not involved in the rental decision at all. If that's not the case, and the coworker was asked before the rental was arranged and gave a vague "OK, I'll help out" or whatever -- then it sounds like the communication before the fact wasn't clear enough between you.

Expenses of the car (rantel & gas) should be calculated and split. I'm not sure it should be 50/50 - that depends on if both parties use the car evenly. If you're the driver and renter on the contract and use it in the evenings while the other person doesn't then you need to estimate the split. On the other hand, if the rider doesn't want to split expenses then let her arrange her own transportation.

But frankly, I'm so puzzled about the kind of job that requires you to travel with another person, for months at a time and doesn't reimburse expenses... I hope you're paid well!

The owner should be responsible for all expenses since they chose to rent the car. If they want to share car with other co-worker and co -worker offers gas money, that is nice but not required.

I'll bet this rider is the same gal who wants to eat your snacks and make use of your pawn money.

And I'm guessing that she doesn't want to pay for the gas. She's STILL trying to get your pawn money, isn't she...

If she is not willing to do this, then figure out how much the taxi fare for everywhere you went would have been, and tell her that she has to pay that (if it's more than half the gas.) My guess is that she would be saving money paying for your gas, rather than taking taxis.

Dawn

I am probably not fully understanding the entire scenario, but it SOUNDS like:
2 folks were required to do on the road/location work for an extended period.
One person opted to rent a car instead of rely on taxis. The other person had no say in this and is not contributing toward (nor is expected to contribute toward) the rental costs. But someone thinks they should be expected to pay 100% of the gas costs for driving said rental vehicle around.

I say no. The cost of fuel should be split, unless the "owner" is driving around a lot (not involving the other worker) in their free time. In which case, they should be covering the costs of THAT fuel on their own.

I would just have a conversation with the other person..."Jill/Joe I have decided to get a rental car...I am happy to take you too and from work and "share" the car with you after work hours....would you feel comfortable kicking in for gas since I will be picking up the rental car expense."

See how she/he responds to this question. If they say yes they will contribute..then ask what they are comfortable contributing and how they will pay you. Iron out ALL of the details in ONE conversation so that you don't have to keep going back and forth about details. Figure out with them how they will contribute and follow up with something like.....okay you will fill up the gas tank on the way to work on Fridays, or you will give me $40 a week on mondays or whatever you agree to. This way you are not wondering and having to keep revisiting or being a collection agent.

Good luck.

The 'owner' would have to pay for gas no matter what or wouldn't get anywhere, right? It was after all your decision to rent the car...if 'rider' wasn't with you, who would be responsible for the gas???

Now, with that being said, the 'rider' needs to pitch in for gas otherwise they are just being a mooch and getting a free ride!!

~If it were me, I would tell 'rider' "You should pitch in for gas OR you can start taking a cab"!

i think from what you say it would be common sense and good manners for the person to offer you gas money. and as the renter i would feel obligated to drive them places, rather than going places and leaving the car-less person sitting there all the time.

Half - it was YOUR decision to rent because they didn't choose it. If you both had made the decision, both would have been split in half.

If they were home, they would each have the cost of gas to commute to and from work. Therefore, they should split the cost of gas for commuting to and from the site each day. Beyond that, it should be base on the travel that each requires (if it is close to equal then they can alternate on fill-ups but if it is where only one uses for extra trips beyond work, that person should cover that).

I would ask the rider to pay half of the gas.