Road Trip from Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles

Rented the car early in the morning. There were three groups at the office but no waiting was necessary, the process was very smooth. Original driver's license and its translation are sufficient. A kind and patient elderly gentleman assisted us, and the entire process from rental to picking up the car took less than 20 minutes. Very efficient!

The service during the car pick-up was very attentive.

Professional and efficient.

Very professional. Since it's full coverage, no extra check-in or check-out inspections are needed, similar to the no-liability insurance in China. The car was very new, just over 5000 kilometers, much better than the typical 20000 kilometers in China. However, others picking up a car at Franklin Hertz should be aware that the cars are parked in a garage, and you need to drive them down yourself. It's tricky if you're not used to right-hand drive cars yet. You can ask the staff to bring the car to the ground level before handing it over. At Melbourne Airport, there's a dedicated return lane for rental cars. It's a shared lane for all rental companies and not the entrance to a private car parking. Please pay attention to this.

Although I had some reservations about HERTZ pushing me to upgrade the car, to be fair, their service was still pretty good. The wait time in line wasn't long, and while communicating in English wasn't as convenient as in Chinese, I couldn't expect too much while abroad. At pickup, the staff informed me that my reserved Corolla wasn't available and suggested I upgrade to an Audi Q5 by paying extra. I thought it was an additional 18 AUD per day, so I accepted. Later, I found out it was actually 45 AUD per day, totaling 180 AUD for the 4 days. While I was okay with the cost, suggesting a luxury car upgrade immediately did feel a bit pushy. The Q5 was in excellent condition and very new, but there was no manual with the car, making opening the fuel cap a bit challenging. The car was great to drive, and I had no issues, making the rental experience smooth overall. I was in a hurry to leave and didn't have time to argue, so I took the risk and accepted the luxury upgrade. The 3 AUD per day charge for roadside assistance added up to a small amount, and since I realized this after the fact, I won't dwell on it.