Extending a rental or returning late: how it works

How do I extend my rental?

Ask before the car is due back, not after. An extension agreed in advance changes your return date; turning up late without one is a late return, which is handled differently (see below).

1. Ask in time. Request the extra time from your booking at least 24 hours before your return time. Closer to the return than that, call us on 0413 479 606.
2. Wait for approval. Our team approves each extension first. Until it is approved, your original return date still stands.
3. Pay the difference. Once approved, you pay for the added days before the extension takes effect.
4. Check the new return time in your booking. It has to fall inside opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

What to have ready when you ask

• The name on the booking and the booking reference.
• The new return date and time you want, checked against the yard's hours.
• That you're still the only driver: only the hirer named on the booking may drive (clause 2).
• A way to pay the difference once it's approved.

What does the extra time cost?

Rent is charged for your dates: whole weeks at the weekly price, and any other days at the car's extra-day price, never more than a week's price for those days. An extension adds days to that calculation; it doesn't restart it. Added days that make up another full week are charged as a week: ten extra days count as one week and three days.

For example, a car at A$229 a week with an extra-day price of A$32.71, booked for 8 weeks and extended by three days, comes to A$1,832 plus A$98.13 for the three days, A$1,930.13 in all. Your own car's prices are in your booking.

• Price basis: the added days are charged at the prices you booked at, not at today's prices.
• Weekly rent: under clause 3, rent on a weekly rental is paid weekly in advance, due on the same weekday the rental started.
• Rent owing: if rent is overdue (not paid within 3 days of its due date), clause 3.4 lets us decline to extend.

If you don't know how long you'll need the car, compare booking a longer stretch with extending as you go; weekly vs monthly car rental works through that choice.

Do I need to extend an ongoing weekly rental?

Not in the same way. Clause 3.5 says an ongoing weekly rental continues until you give notice, and rent is payable until the later of the end of any minimum period and the notice end date. Keep paying each week's rent on time, and tell us when you want to stop.

Each car has its own minimum rental, shown with the car (at the moment 8 weeks for every car). The minimum on your car is in your booking.

I'm going to be late on return day. What happens?

Ring us before the agreed time. There's a 30-minute grace period; after that the return is charged as extra rental time at your rental's rate (clause 6.3). If you know early in the day, ask whether the extra time can be agreed as an extension instead.

The agreed time is the return time in your booking, or the new one after an approved extension. The terms state our hours in Brisbane time (clause 6.2), which matters if your phone is still set to another state's time.

Remember the yard's hours. A return is only taken while we're open, so missing closing time isn't a few minutes late; it means arranging a new time with us. There's no after-hours drop-off.

Late because of a breakdown or crash

Call us from wherever you are. A car that has broken down or been damaged is handled under the breakdown and accident clauses, not as a late return; see breakdowns and flat tyres.

What if the car isn't back within 24 hours?

At the time of writing, clause 6.3 says a car not returned within 24 hours of the agreed time, without our agreement, is treated as overdue. We may then recover it and report it to police as unlawfully retained, and you are liable for the cost of recovery.

That is the reason to answer our calls and keep us informed. Clause 11 also lets us end a rental early and recover the car if rent is overdue as clause 3.4 describes.

Can I return the car early and get money back?

The ACCC lists this among the questions to ask before you hire: if the car is returned early, is there an entitlement to a partial refund?^[1] The answer depends on the company's contract, so check before you book, not on the day.

Cancelling before you've picked the car up is a different case, covered in cancelling a car rental booking. For the return visit itself, see returning your rental car.