AVR Los Angeles

If you want the quick take-​away, here it is: I would rent from them again, but I would give myself a lot more time renting and returning to handle the process. The van was great — extremely comfortable — but getting to the rental location, or getting through to even let them know we’d arrived, was next to impossible.
This rental I found through one of those car rental websites — this company is affiliated with Ace car rental, and they are the one that took the reservation. I’d read some shady stuff about them, so was a bit hesitant to try, but the price was, frankly, too good to pass up, so I went with it.
Into LAX, I arrived into Terminal 4, and my friend was arriving around the same time at Terminal 7, so after I disembarked, I walked my way over. We made our way outside only to realize that they don’t have vans that regularly stop picking up passengers. You are instructed to call in once you arrive to arrange pickup. Well, this wouldn’t have been a problem if anyone had picked up the phone. I was calling for about 20 minutes without anyone picking up before just trying the main ACE reservation hotline. They assured me their LAX affiliate was still in business and would try to contact them themselves. Well, they also weren’t able to get through, and I stayed on hold for maybe another 15 minutes while the main ACE hotline tried themselves to get through.
All through this process, another couple had been waiting for AVR as well — one was literally in tears — she told me they had been waiting for over an hour for the van, and had seen three pass by with nobody stopping. At this point, I also saw an AVR/​ACE van fly right pass us at Terminal 7, despite me waiving my arms. I was committed to this not happening again, so fortunately, only minutes later, we spotted another van, and I got into traffic, flailing my arms, getting this van to pull over. Finally, they did.
In the van, which, by the way, was extremely nice, the driver told me she is supposed to go only where they tell her to go — not to each terminal in succession, but when they have pickups specifically, and that I should talk to the manager of the station about my complaints.
We finally get to AVR, and it isn’t as if the place was super busy, but we had to wait a bit — there was a line of folks ahead of us, and when we finally got to a rep, we relayed our story. She, incidentally, was very, very nice to us about it. She gave me the manager’s business card and told me that I should contact him if I have any concerns, which I may still do. She offered a discount on the rental, and I told her that although that was very nice, I really would have just preferred a somewhat more streamlined experience getting from the airport, and frankly, anyone just actually picking up the phone. She said that she would pass that along and said she was going to give us a slightly upgraded van for our rental, which I thanked her for and very much appreciated.
The van had a few small little dings along it, but in all, it was in great shape. It drove beautifully, got pretty good gas mileage, and for the 10 or so of us that it took to Ontario and back from just about Hollywood, it did a very good job. Everyone was extremely comfortable, and because we were all together celebrating the life of a dear friend who had just passed, it was especially nice us all being able to be together.
The price was also excellent. Although we needed it for only one day, we took it for three and kept it parked in our friend’s driveway since, frankly, tacking on the cost of taxis to and from the airport would have exceeded the additional cost of just renting it the whole time, and then again, we would have had to get to and from the airport just for the rental. So, it was great on this front also.
Getting back to the airport, we were lucky we had a little extra time, since the return process is much more complicated than at other car rental places. At the big chains, you pull in, and get immediately checked out — from driving in to leaving, the usually 3 minutes. Here, you park then get in the normal car rental line with other renters, and wait just to return the vehicle. A nice man in front of us just starting his rental allowed us and one other group to skip ahead. On the way back, expect the process can take up to 20 – 30 minutes. Once the van was returned, we had to wait a bit more for the van to take us back to the airport, but got there finally safe and sound.
In all, I’d rent from them again — but I now know what to expect. To AVR, they need to 1. answer the phone when people are calling, 2. figure out their pickup/​dropoff service so that people don’t have to wait exorbitant amounts of time after arriving at LAX, like that poor crying woman who had been waiting over an hour, and 3. find a way to streamline the return process so folks can get back to the airport quickly.
Problems, yes, but a good, clean, safe large van for a great price. Thank you.

I had a great experience here! They worked everything out for me so easily. I was renting a 15 passenger van for a trip and they made sure I had the best deal and did whatever it took to give me exactly what I needed. There were a couple problems that came up but they took care of it right away. The customer service was phenomenal. I would definitely come here again!

I have been renting 15 passenger vans from AVR for years — mainly for church outings. Their rates are very reasonable. I have never had a mechanical problem of any kind.
Their paperwork is straight forward and the rental process is smooth (credit card and valid driver’s license its all it’s required).
Although their staff seems to be different from one time to the next — somehow I have always been able to have an overall good experience and work-​through any problems or special requests and circumstances with them.
They recently moved from the old looking building to a much «cleaner-​looking» and more spacious facility a street south.
They are now on 104^th street instead of Century Blvd.
I notice that their fleet of vans is much newer as well.
The only reason I shorted them a star is… On two separate occasions one of the seat-​belts didn’t work — and when passengers are children — it is a big deal to me. The first time it happened, I called them and they quickly exchanged the vehicle. The second time it happened — I was lucky enough to only have 12 passengers.
Moral of the story: check seat-​belts at time of check-​out before leaving their lot.
I do recommend this place. It’s definitively one of the better ones around for van rentals.

First good experience with a car rental compay… EVER! From the moment I stepped in friendly faces greeted me. I rented an 11 passenger but needed a 12 passenger vehicle and they went out of their way to find a larger van for me. For the first time I didn’t feel like I was getting taken advantage of. Van was in good shape, too. Will definitely be back.

Came to LA for a rugby match and we experienced Awesome service from pick up to drop off! it was a pleasant experience. The customers service was great and this is definitely a place I’d come to again next time I’m in LA. Prices are great and I was completely satisfied with the service and quality of the cars we rented.

I rented a van from AVR on October 17^th and returned it the same day. They took $ 250 from card and have yet to return my deposit. I had been informed by my card company that they had 30 days to return the money. When I called the company today I spoke to one of managers named Gus. he told me they don;t have the money and that I should not use a «Mickey Mouse» Card. I asked him if there was a problem with my card they sure had no problem taking my money at the time of the transaction.
I would highly recommend avoiding this place like the plague. They were very unprofessional and slow at the time of rental and then to have your money taken and then insulted that is the worst customer service. They are horrible and I would recommend staying with the bigger companies even though their rate may be good. The effective price of my rental jumped to a weekly rate as opposed to a daily rate when you consider the impact to me.

I would not recommend this place for anybody at anytime.
My family and I went to visit some relatives in the Los Angeles area, and we needed a mini van to drive around the city for a week.
I reserved a Kia sedonia through Orbitz (Ace Mini Van) and I also purchased car insurance the same time I reserved the car. Here is the lists of reasons of why you should not waste your time here:
1. Weird drop off location
We took a shuttle bus from the airport and got dropped off in the corner of an intersection and had to wait in a parking lot to get picked up by the rental car’s van. The parking lot was dark and creepy, a perfect place to get mugged, especially at 11pm. It was such a bad signal to have to wait like this. There was also a homeless man sleeping and mumbling in the van wait bench.
2. Long Waiting
We had to wait for about half-​hour to be picked up from the lot. Once we got to the rental car office, we had to wait another half-​hour to see the customer service. We didn’t get to the hotel until almost 2am to check-​in.
When we returned the car, I had to wait 45 minutes to get the paper work done. We almost didn’t make it on time to get to the airport and check in our luggage.
3. Different van than what I reserved.
We got Dodge Grand caravan with tons of scratches and dents instead of a Kia Sedonia. I marked every single thing before I drove the car and made sure they were aware of it.
4. The price was more than what I anticipated.
The price when I booked this car was $ 640, plus the additional car insurance, plus additional driver per day, plus tax. It costs me close to $ 900 for everything.
Remember the car insurance I mentioned that I bought off Orbitz? Please read the small print before you even buy this insurance. It only covers your personal belongings if someone happened to break in the car. Also, they said that if I got into a car accident and damaged the car, they won’t accept Other car insurance companies (Geico, State Farm etc). Was I gonna argue about it at 1:30am?
Anyway, I will never come back here again and I would rather go with hertz or enterprise next time.

BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!! ADAM YOU THE BEST… Having years in the hospitality and tourism industry I know what top service looks like… and this company has it. We have rented from them 3 times in the last year 2 times a regular van and a 12 passage van. All vans rented were clean and in tip top shape. I must also add they have the best prices around. (Trust I’m one of those people that are always online looking at prices)
Our Story– So we got in on a late flight and AVR closes at 12. With the traffic we knew we wouldn’t have made it to them in time. We called to inform them and they insured us they will wait for us. Once getting to them and starting the paper work we find out the car they have for us was suppose to be taken out of inventory. With them being sold out of regular vans we were in a pickle.
This is when Adam and his supervisor (yes supervisor-​I can’t belive she stayed back to wait for us to) Marina stepped up and took ownership of situation. After going over options with us they helped us come up with a purfect plan. They not only followed through on it but fallowed up with us on it as well. By the way Adam went a step further and helped us get our bags from the airport since we were soo worried about getting to them in time. Defenenly going above and beyond… We have made some new Friends here in LA… Go see them for your car rental needs. Say Hi to Adam for us.
The Malama Ohana

E V I L! I wish I could give no stars. I’ve never been treated so horribly!!! They fought my geico agent on the phone. They bullied me and my friend and the other agent started talking to our agent about our rental like we weren’t there… «Oh they don’t even realize…»
(Renting for 23 days)
— So many hidden fees and catches. The insurance they wanted to charge is $ 25 a day and refused to admit that our normal insurance covered it– they wanted to charge us an extra $ 600 for insurance.
–The the agreement they emailed us had SO many changed fees. Nothing was clear.
— called to get the back bench taken out, they said a flat fee of $ 15, then at he place he said «no, $ 15 a day»
It was like they were trying to catch us doing something wrong and ultimately didn’t want to rent us the van. After over an hour… They didn’t even have the van we reserved weeks before. HATE THIS PLACE!!! Save yourself time and go somewhere else. This place is THE WORST!!! They offered to upgrade, but it wasn’t what we needed, and they made us feel so bad that we didn’t want it. I’m pissed off just thinking about all of it. Seriously, so rude, I wish I had yelled at them.

Dealt with this company twice in the last two weeks and both times were a breeze. Jeff and Kevin were very courteous and answered all my questions and concerns. Customer support on the phone were veey helpful too! Cheapest rates I found for a 12-​seater van (Ford Transit 350) with one having only 6000 miles. Vans were clean and had no issues. Picking up and returning were easy as well. No issues whatsoever. Will be coming back for sure!

Pedro and Kevin were the best! Very seamless rental experience and very friendly people working here. we were in and out in no time and are extremely happy!

Pedro was awesome and made our experience renting a van enjoyable. He totally hooked us up and made sure that we got the best possible van for the lowest possible cost without sacrificing anything.
I would highly recommend you call Pedro if you ever need a van in LA. He will 100% have your back.
His partner Kevin was extremely funny and made us laugh while we waited for our shining charriot.

I was very nervous using this company because of all the negative reviews. My experience was very good. I needed a van for a family vacation for a week for 7 people. I live in Santa Monica so I did not need the airport transfer. We just went to Newport Beach for the week and Disneyland. When I arrived at Airport Van Rental, I waited about 20 minutes to be helped but the place was pretty busy so I understood. It took me about 10 minutes to get the van, it was a brand new Dodge Caravan. It was very clean and nice, nicer than the van I expected. When I returned the van a week later it took me about 5 minutes and I was out of there. My pick up was on a Friday night, so I didn’t think 20 minutes to be helped was a big deal, the return was a Saturday night. I will definitely use Airport van rental again if I need a van.

So far so good! Alina helped me out. Their prices are online and I booked through Travelocity. The prices are super competitive and the staff was friendly, too.

Zero stars would be clearer. When I returned the minivan I rented, they put on a great show of shock about a scratch – I did not see it until they pointed it out. They insisted that I fill out an ‘accident’ report – there was no accident. Then, two months, later they send me a substantial bill stating there was damage, that I could pay it or report it. The ‘damage’ inspection forwarded to verify their claim was dated two months after I returned the car! and included work other than the scratch.
I agree with several other reviewers that this company is far below standards and seems to engage in unethical practices if not outright attempts at fraud.

The absolute WORST rental experience we have ever had. They rented us a banged up van that we didn’t want to take but they had no others available. Coincidentally (??) Ended up with a blown tire while we were on our roadtrip and no one at their help desk to answer any of our calls or return any messages. At the end of it all they sent us a bill for the tire damages plus the existing body damage that was there when we picked it up. Had to file a claim with my insurance to handle the absurdity. Thank god for AAA — they understand good customer service unlike AVR. Horrible from start to finish — i could vent more but will sum it up to this. Avoid doing business with this company.

Longest time it’s taken me to get a rental car. So many hidden fees. Stay away.
1. We didn’t know there is no shuttle at the regular area of LAX where all the other companies come through. Other reviewers mention an email– we never got one. Waited 30 minutes before we figured out we actually had to take the LAX lot C bus, and then another ACE van after that. In that time I saw like, 7 Hertz shuttles, 5 Avis, even saw Dollar shuttle come around twice. I missed Hertz.
2. Lot C bus took 20 minutes to get to the pick up location for the ACE shuttle. ACE shuttle took 10 minutes through the ghettos.
3. Creepy area.
4. ACE became AVR. Hm.
5. It took an hour from the airport to the rental place, and another hour from the time we came in to the time we got our van. I think they were vacuuming our van. After 40 minutes I hear the counter lady speak into the walker talkie– «Just bring the van as is!!» Apparently we’re getting a dirty van.
5. Counter lady offered me 5% for waiting. 5% of my rental is like, $ 10 dollars. It took 2 hours from when we got off the plane to the rental car. I would have paid that ten times over to actually get a car in a reasonable time frame. Also I’m mad because she made it seem like such a big favor, when now I see its offered on Unilocal for all.
6. I made this reservation through Priceline and I have never paid more than what was quoted on my reservation, until now. Fees. Fees here, fees there, fees everywhere.

This company is a scam!!!
Stay away!!! Be careful!!!
I had reserved 3 vans of 15 pax. I travelled with 40 kids and when I came to pick up they dropped my reservation.
Their explanation here it was because I reserved for 7:00 am, and I arrived 7:00pm, which is a lie. They used the excuse saying they use military time and on their web page it’s not a military time!!!
Disgusting service, horrible company!

It’s a shame when you have nice workers at a, what another reviewer called it, «sketchy» car rental establishment.
All I will say is ALINA ALINA ALINA.
Great service, personable, considerate, easy-​going, person.
The rest of my experience… I just don’t know.
First of all, it took forever, to stand in line to get the van. However, they did change the van to another one for me with a slight wait. Much props to Alina and the Manager that was there (a female).
But then it took even LONGER to return it. WhIch makes NO sense being that I was only 3^rd in line. Uh. yeah, I had to walk back in to return. I mean, they always say, «End Well». This was not a great ending. Adding salt, the guy asks me AT 5:01 how long I was waiting (turn in time was 4:00 and I was there at 4:30). I said, 30 minutes (to turn in, mind you). He graciously «does me a favor» and tells me he will waive the extra day fee even though it’s 1 minute past the grace period. Are you kidding me?
Come on.
My own fault was that I didn’t pay attention to all the damn fees; airport fee, and upgrade fee (per day), and gas fee, and license fee, and concession fee, and all these fees, etc. It’s like that commercial for the bank that has all the fees, even for breathing. Well AVR is that company. Just include the fees in your price per day and advertise no fees so at least I can think I“m getting a deal. Next time, I will pay more attention.
Look, if you’re in a pinch, … uh. never mind. But if you want to be attended to by a nice young lady, then go see Alina. Actually, like i said, all the workers seem nice, even the «do me a favor» guy„ but they definitely need to problem solve on their own like Alina did and not mention «doing me a favor».
Lastly, the company needs to get rid of red vans. Really? Is it just me? I’m gonna start looking on the road to see how many red vans I see on the road.

This place is sketch! After dropping our rental van back, this employee, who looks like Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, acted all sarcastic and rude with another customer (namely an Asian guy when I picked my vehicle up) tells me that there are «2 cracks» on the windscreen. First of all there were no cracks and it appeared to be 2 chips at first. After trying to coerce me to sign a claim form, I refused until my wife came in from outside. I was furious as the van was littered with dents when I got it and the windscreen was so filthy, how anyone could distinguish «cracks» is beyond me. Also I find out we were only sold 3^rd party insurance. This was not explained to us on pick up.
After twice requesting his manager, he shockingly shouts «what did you say!». I finally spoke to Muneer, the manager, who is the only guy here with half a brain and who was very professional. After his inspection, he rubs off the dirt and states these were actually 2 repaired chips! Unbelievable! So after applying a 5% discount and receiving an apology from Carlton, I left feeling furious. This place needs either to train its staff or shut its doors. Disgraceful experience.