Do It Yourself

words, to be thrifty.

Thrifty Auto Rental was born in 1958. It offered stock in the 1980′s before being purchased by Chrysler in 1989. It was later combined with Dollar, another car rental company. With one of the best known brands in the world, Thrifty continues to be tops in the car rental industry. Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep cars make up its fleet.

Thrifty does some other things outside car renting. Thrifty sells cars that outlive their rental use. It’s commonly thought that rental cars aren’t treated well by drivers. Most of the cars are treated well, however. Dealerships may be full of used cars from people who didn’t maintain them, while Thrifty cars are cared for on a clock work schedule. Furthermore, penalties for damage encourage rental car drivers to take extra special care of the car while in their charge. Thus, cars sold by rental companies tend to be in better overall condition than used cars from private owners.

Thrifty also owns long term airport parking lots. When people need a safe parking space while out of town, they turn to these long term parking lots. Thrifty operates these facilities at airports all around the world.

Here’s some more Thrifty history. Thrifty rented the Volkswagen Beetle before it became popular. The rental cost for a Beetle was $6. Single males were wooed by Miss Thrifty. This was a lady, usually young and pretty, who would drive customers to Thrifty’s off airport facilities. She wore the plaid of the Scottish for some reason.

Thrifty car rental is a serious subject. But it has a weird and wild side also. Maybe they’ll offer a free upgrade if you don a kilt.