Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and it is better not to think observations through. Such is the case if we notice rental cars full of happy vacationers returning from a day on one of our hot tropical beaches. Males especially don't seem to have a problem driving shirtless, rubbing their sweaty backs on cloth car seats, which soak up this mixture of body fluids and sunscreen chemicals.
Better to not think much more about it…but too late. Your mind is already like on rails into a direction where there are no happy conclusions possible. Because now you start wondering about the hygiene of rental car seats and if or how often the rental car operators are shampooing the upholstery.
If the average rental car seat is not cleaned between renters, simple math tells us that this is the equivalent of staying in a hotel bed, where the sheets were not changed for up to one-hundred guests. It is evident that the shirtless drivers don't seem to be sensitive to this issue, but what about others, about people like you who read these words? And is there a difference in how the rental companies are handling this hygienic issue?
We talked to several rental car providers and learned that seat cleaning is handled very differently. It turns out that the leading professional equipment of German manufacturer Kaercher is not available as a 115-volt model for the US market, which in this case is also affecting the Dutch side of St. Maarten. These expensive machines thoroughly deep-clean the cloth material with hot liquids and chemicals so that no germs or substances foreign to the chair can survive. The top car rental brands of French Guadeloupe and Martinique use such machines.
There are 115-volt substitutes for Kaercher units available, and some of the local providers use them; sometimes only after a seat is visibly filthy, sometimes on a monthly schedule. There are workers of world-renowned brands who inform us that they have never seen a chair being shampooed or deep-cleaned. Ever. And then there are companies which clean seats every week; it is these organizations who also inform that they try to change most of their fleet to leather or vinyl seats for the sake of hygiene if the market accepts the additional expense.
Small local rental car providers handle cleaning very differently; some are very conscious about it and make every effort to keep cars in tip-top shape, even sanitize them, others don't care at all. It is all pretty much up to the personal standards of the owner. It turns out that cars which are frequently rented to cruise ship passengers have the highest level of pollution; these cars are only used for a few hours per renter, almost always include a trip to a beach, where the passengers continue their island tour now with wet bathing suits and sandy feet.
Competitive rental car rates have reached a point where the companies have hardly any wiggle room to provide additional services. If - as a renter - you go for the absolute lowest rate, please don't expect that all your sensitivities can be addressed. But if you pay a few dollars per day above the minimum rate, you could also ask for acceptable cleanliness.
In closing let's talk about a policy of our web portal, ST-MAARTEN.COM: Before publishing an article, which addresses a service challenge, we ascertain that the companies which we promote through our web portal are not part of the problem. So, rest assured that rental car providers listed and recommended on ST-MAARTEN.COM are offering reasonably clean vehicles.
