Chaser destroys rental car in hail storm

[Sean Ramsey]

This forum makes zero net money. It survives almost exclusively on donations, minimal ad revenue, and is paid for out of pocket by me, the owner. This thread is part of a website/forum that is built to discuss events like this and other things. I highly doubt that Reed Timmer was motivated to destroy a car with hail so that it could be discussed on Stormtrack. So this thread does not prove why anyone would engage in this behavior.

I was more speaking generally about an audience and people's tendency to not be able to look away, whether it's here, FB, YT, X, etc. and not really about Stormtrack or this thread specifically. The fact is that he did it, we're talking about it and the same happens on other venues as well. It makes money for him. I watched the video linked in the thread. Think of how many shares that video gets across all social media and the compounding views.

I don't know what his motivations were or if he had any at all, but it's on YT with a title that is made for eyeballs.

He does it, we (the public) watch and talk about it. Simple as that. Doesn't matter where it's discussed.

Edited for clarification.

 

[JamesCaruso]

FWIW, if you go back to my earlier post about rental experiences and hail damage charges, it was Hertz that charged me and Avis that didn’t (but Avis did ding me for an “excess cleaning” charge last year). Also, Avis provides rentals with unlimited mileage too, not just Hertz.

Since we have gone off on a slight tangent about rental experiences, I will note that almost every time I rent a car I end up going back to the counter to ask them to swap the car out because of low tire tread or a tire that appears to have a slow leak because its pressure is substantially lower than the others. Despite belonging to the preferred status of both Hertz and Avis, it doesn’t help, because so is everyone else, and the wait at the counter ends up being longer than at the regular counter. I am extremely cautious about not wanting to have a flat tire in the middle of nowhere while driving thousands of miles, so if three tires are at 40 psi and the other is at 35 I am instantly concerned and will not accept that vehicle. For this reason I will not fly into a smaller airport that has a smaller selection. Swapping out vehicles when this happened just this trip at KC airport probably cost me seeing the Russell tornado on 5/19, which I missed by 15 or 20 minutes after a 5+ hour drive.

 

[Jason N]

so if three tires are at 40 psi and the other is at 35 I am instantly concerned and will not accept that vehicle. For this reason I will not fly into a smaller airport that has a smaller selection. Swapping out vehicles when this happened just this trip at KC airport probably cost me seeing the Russell tornado on 5/19, which I missed by 15 or 20 minutes after a 5+ hour drive.

interesting, did you rent out of Wichita? I have before several times, no issues there. I rented out of Dallas to, lots of selection but ran into Tire pressure issue there with the truck they gave me, but I always bring a pressure gauge with me lol (nerd alert), lol .I don't trust the on-screen pressure monitors, but they aren't too far off either. you just don't always get them on every car you rent. I can't tell you how many times I have check pressures that have been dangerously low or high.

 

[Jesse Risley]

Okay, well given that the video has been posted and there is some context, I would logically deduce that there are two possible answers to the question posited earlier. First, there are enough different rental companies that he hasn't been blacklisted by all of them and, therefore, is still able to secure rentals from certain companies. Second, it's possible that another individual is securing the rental under their name and turning the vehicle in with damage having secured the proper liability waivers for full coverage that doesn't go against one's own auto insurance (The primary renter may or may not be listing other drivers as secondary drivers and even if they are, that doesn't mean the rental company is going to know who was driving when the damage occurred).

To go along with the latter point, the fact that everyone in this ethosphere is aware of what happened doesn't mean that anyone employed by a rental company was aware of the YouTube video or knows the circumstances. These are fairly large corporations that are very bureaucratic with a lot of lower-level employees who simply do their job with a certain degree of automaticity. I'm guessing with large volume rental companies there's a certain percentage of vehicles that come back damaged everyday that, while not infinitesimal, is enough that they just become cogs in the normal paperwork process. With rentals in similar areas like Texas, it's probably not all that uncommon to have some of them come back with substantial hail damage. As long as someone else's insurance policy is covering the damage they probably aren't viewing this as something out of the ordinary like many here are.

 

[JamesCaruso]

interesting, did you rent out of Wichita? I have before several times, no issues there. I rented out of Dallas to, lots of selection but ran into Tire pressure issue there with the truck they gave me, but I always bring a pressure gauge with me lol (nerd alert), lol .I don't trust the on-screen pressure monitors, but they aren't too far off either. you just don't always get them on every car you rent. I can't tell you how many times I have check pressures that have been dangerously low or high.

We are of the same mind on that, I pack a tire pressure gauge too and obsessively check the on-screen pressure monitors as well. I have rented out of Wichita in the past, but on Sunday the 19th I purposely flew into KC to have a better selection (and I did have a problem there, but got a better/newer vehicle). IF you have a problem at Wichita, there are not that many alternatives to choose from. Unfortunately, that choice and distance from the day’s target, and time wasted swapping vehicles, may have cost me the Russell tornado and structure before it turned HP. But this was after having *another* tire pressure problem on my April eclipse trip, and having to wait 45 minutes at the Hertz Gold Club counter for a replacement! So I didn’t want to take any chances…

 

[Mike Smith]

IF you have a problem at Wichita, there are not that many alternatives to choose from.

Have you tried ICT in the last five years since we opened Eisenhower National Airport? We have five rental car companies. That seems like a reasonable number of choices.

 

[JamesCaruso]

Have you tried ICT in the last five years since we opened Eisenhower National Airport? We have five rental car companies. That seems like a reasonable number of choices.

No, but it’s not about the number of rental companies, it’s about the selection at the company chosen. In other words, having a reservation, finding a problem with the vehicle, and being able to easily get a different vehicle. I would not want to have to entirely switch to another rental company at the last minute and hope I could find the type of vehicle I want without a reservation.

 

[Mike Smith]

I invite anyone who has not tried Wichita's Eisenhower National Airport to do so. It has won numerous awards.

 

[Warren Faidley]

As noted in previous discussions, the individual(s) who perform these publicity stunts are protected by a rabid fan base, often supported by people who actually believe the chaser(s) are preforming noble and just deeds to save lives. I use to call out the offenders by name, but not anymore. I got tired of death threats, insults and business attacks.

 

[Jamie H]

If anyone wants to see the aftermath:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tornado/comments/1d46xws/so_reed_timmer_came_by_my_work_yesterday_and_left

 

[Jason N]

I invite anyone who has not tried Wichita's Eisenhower National Airport to do so. It has won numerous awards.

totally agree.

 

[Warren Faidley]

The bigger question is when do social media outlets like YouTube and X stop allowing extreme video of such destruction, which only greenlights and encourages others to emulate the behavior? It seems like ever year the bar is raised to find more extreme antics for social media stardumb.

 

[Jason N]

The bigger question is when do social media outlets like YouTube and X stop allowing extreme video of such destruction, which only greenlights and encourages others to emulate the behavior? It seems like ever year the bar is raised to find more extreme antics for social media stardumb.

A question I think we'd been discussing in the Social Media thread before.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

If anyone wants to see the aftermath:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tornado/comments/1d46xws/so_reed_timmer_came_by_my_work_yesterday_and_left

So they do know who he is...

Perhaps there will be a picture posted behind the counter. "DO NOT RENT TO THIS MAN!!!"

 

[Jesse Risley]

So they do know who he is...

Perhaps there will be a picture posted behind the counter. "DO NOT RENT TO THIS MAN!!!"

In the comment section, someone claims that the rental was made under another name or rented by another individual (on paper). Who knows whether that's accurate or not, but if it is, it would explain one way around a blacklist.