If you’ve ever booked a rental car (oftentimes at an airport), your final bill of sale can leave you scratching your head. After fees, surcharges, and taxes are incorporated into the grand total, you may find yourself paying close to double what your daily quoted rate was. That’s what TikTok user Taylor Rowe (@taylorrowe36) says she experienced after booking a car from Avis. She begins her video by replying to one user who commented that folks can rent from Hertz for $25 a day. Rowe says she went down this rental route herself but wasn’t too thrilled with how much she was ultimately charged for her temporary wheels. “I did it. I rented from Avis,” she says, before pulling up her receipt from the popular rental agency. Her clip then transitions to a screenshot of the amount she was quoted for her ride. The Pay Now amount was $27.53 per day for a “Hyundai Venue or similar,” the bill of sale read. “Avis, economy car $27.53 a day, OK,” she tells viewers. “I call; I book it. Yup, $25 a day, have to put some crazy deposit down of like $200.” According to the booking site Hotwire, car rental companies will often charge $200 to credit cards as a deposit hold on vehicles. Another car rental service, RentCarla, says that these deposits can range from $200 to $1,000, depending on the value of the vehicle. And Final Rentals writes that individuals booking their cars with a debit card may have to shell out a bit more. Avis Car Costs Double: “I Don’t Know Why” Although Rowe was confused by the rental deposit amount, she went ahead and secured her rental. Next, her video transitions to the final amount she was charged for the car, which is $495.98. It’s a figure that the TikToker says doesn’t add up for the daily price and duration of her booked rental. OWNERSHIP STORIES Viral stories from across the web Our team of experts tracks what owners are saying about car-shopping, repairs, the daily driving experience and more on social media. “OK, so can you tell me why I rented this car for four days—what do you think I should spend? Oh, probably over, just over $100. It’s $25 … a day. OK, maybe taxes, fees, maybe $200,” she says. Following this, she moves her levitating head out of the way of the final receipt, showing she was charged nearly $500 for a four-day car rental. “Five hundred dollars! $495! Why? Why did they charge me so much a day?” Next, she highlights the surcharges appended to her rental amount. As per the itemized receipt, Rowe was charged $88.99 per additional day of her rental, amounting to $266.97. On top of that, she was hit with yet another $88.99 charge that was simply titled “Period.” However, she did enjoy a 10% discount of $35.60, bringing her extra expenditures to $320.36. Then there were a slew of other monetary values that added over another $100 to her rental. And finally, all of that was taxed at 10.2%, along with yet another $32.39 charge, which gave her her grand total. Gallery: 2020 Hyundai Venue: Review Turo: a Better Option? Toward the end of her clip, Rowe compared her Avis rental experience with another popular option: Turo. According to her, using the app, which lets drivers rent privately owned vehicles, doesn’t contain surprise costs. “There’s no hidden fees in Turo,” she says. “I know that’s right. So, if anybody else has any actual proof that the cars are really only $25 a day, I would love to see it. Because I was sold the dream that it was $27 a day, and I did it for four days, and it was $500. So, if someone can math that math, I’ll wait.” In other videos, Rowe shared that she regularly rents her car out to others on Turo. The TikToker showed off her Super Host status on the application here. And in another, she showed off how she was able to earn $599 for the month of October, renting her car to other drivers. However, there have been reports from Turo customers who’ve aired the same grievances that Rowe expressed with Avis. One Reddit user who posted to the r/Turo sub stated that they found a $90/day rate for a vehicle. Initially, they were fine with this amount, but then they saw the per-day Turo fee, which came out to $80, effectively doubling their car rental expenditure. Turo says on the help section of its website that it actively participates in “price transparency … the prices Turo shows for your trip search results include all mandatory fees.” Additionally, the application wrote that guests will see all of the charges they’ll incur prior to booking a rental. Moreover, Avis, like many other car rental businesses, offers drivers unlimited mileage with rentals. This isn’t always the case with Turo, as car owners can set mileage limits for the vehicles they offer customers. The app provided some analytics for prospective Turo renters, stating that hosts who put a 500-mile threshold will open them up to “93% of guest bookings.” Avis Class Action Lawsuit On Tuesday, The Street reported that Avis lost a $19 million class action lawsuit “for improperly charging rental car ancillary fees.” The judgment indicates that an Avis subsidiary, Payless Car Rental Inc., wrongly slapped renters with Gas Service Option and Roadside Protection add-ons. Travel website View From the Wing also commented on Avis’s pricing practices, highlighting final price differentials with offerings from the Avis Budget Group. “It’s only several pages into the check-out process before the full cost of a prepaid rental is disclosed,” the outlet wrote. Opining further on the pricing controversy, View from the Wing wrote that “the extra cost [of vehicle rentals] is misleadingly disclosed as taxes and fees.” The piece adds that “Budget doesn’t make clear that not all of this additional cost is mandated.” Motor1 has reached out to Avis via email and Rowe via TikTok direct message for further comment. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team