Penske® Reviews
Penske is our favorite truck rental company. We have used them before, and their equipment was always top notch., but not this time. Our truck was a 26' GAS, nightmare. Not what we ordered, and it had several mechanical issues i.e.: backfired constantly, poor/no air conditioning, bad cupped tires, the car carrier had bad dry rot tires, one of which let loose and stranded us for 3 hours. NO FOLLOW UP call so far from Penske after submitting a request for follow up. NOT GOOD.
We rented a 26' trailer from Penske. We were traveling from Indiana to Maryland, one way was 615 miles. Each way took 12 hours to drive (regardless if I was doing 65 mph or 70mph) with very minimal stops to refuel or bathroom/snack break. I drove a total of 1845 miles. The truck was rented for a total of 7 days with 26 pads and a hand truck for a total cost around $1000-$1100. United Van Lines was the cheapest moving company of all the Big 3 and of several smaller companies like "3 Men and a Truck" (they were the most expensive believe it or not). United quoted us $10,000. The Penske truck ran flawlessly. It performed how I hoped it would (with no issues). We did have an issue with the roof of the truck leaking. There were several large holes in the roof of the truck. This of course was only noticed after we were loading the truck and a rain storm started. We called Penske and they sent a service man out to repair it. Since it rained all day, they could not get a good repair. The repair man covered the truck with a tarp and would come back when the rain stopped. Unfortunately, it rained for several days and I didn't want to wait. We covered the inside with a tarp and drove it to Maryland. After unloading in Maryland, the weather had finally cleared up. When I drove the truck back to Indiana for the second and last trip, the Penske repair man came to the house at 7pm Wednesday evening and put a permanent repair on the roof. Was this preventable by Penske? Probably not. There is no way to get on the roof to inspect it and they will only notice it if the customer complains about it. For us, I think they responded promptly. I would also recommend renting the hand truck. I wish I could buy that thing. It made moving any large object, no matter the weight, easy and quick. With the flip down bar on the bottom and the two securing straps, wow, what an invaluable piece of equipment!! This is the third time I have rented a Penske truck. Always the 26 footer. Very easy to drive. I would also recommend, buying a seat cushion to use on top of the drivers seat. Although its an air ride seat, the cushion was almost totally flat. The cushion really made a difference. Also, the truck has cruise control. But it is governed to a maximum speed of 65 mph. If you want to drive faster, you can. You just can't use the cruise control. The truck I rented also had an updated radio which was Greatly Appreciated. It had a USB charging port and an accessory port that we were able to listen to our music from our phone and audio book downloaded to our phone. It also had a CD player. Most new cars/trucks don't come with a CD player anymore, so that was a nice surprise. The truck also had 2 cigarette lighter plugs. We were able to keep all of our electronic devices nice and charged throughout the entire trip.
The truck was brand new and very clean. When I brought the truck back before I was scheduled to, they adjusted the bill and gave me a discount. I have used Penske for 3 different moves and have never had a bad experience. They might be a little higher in price but the trucks are kept in better condition than their competitors.
The size truck was not available at the time promised and in order to meet the loader's schedule, I had to drive several miles out my way to pick up a larger truck than what I wanted. The truck was missing a driver's side sun visor and there were issues with the cruise control. The truck was rented to me with only a half tank of fuel, which meant I had to fuel up before I could leave for my destination.
This company helped us to get a truck for our move at the last minute. We had reserved a truck with Budget a month in advance only to find out when we went to pick it up that there was not one available and they couldn't promise us that they would have one that day. After calling a nearby Penske dealer, they went out of their way to find us a truck and get it ready that day. The truck was in great condition and easy to drive and load. I would highly recommend this company and would strongly recommend against using Budget as they can't be depended on to honor their commitments.
My name some how got attached to another truck going to North Carolina when my destination was California, thought it was fixed until I returned it and they wouldn't take it because she saw this mix up and didnt know what to do so wanted to send me down the road to another rental place, all while my uber ride was waiting, so that was annoying!
Patricia B
Scammon, KSI rented the truck for my brother and his wife so they could move from Texas to Kansas the truck headlight would not work well enough to see the road,my brother called the roadside assist and they had a tow truck arrive with in 30 mins and sorta fixed the lights.The lights would not go passed the bumper so it was hard to see the road.
