Broken gear stick, worn-out seats: Man laments condition of rental car he paid $1,600 a month for

He works in global logistics and has been away from Singapore for about 10 years.

When Stomper Randy returned home and decided to rent a car, he was disappointed by the state of the vehicle he got from SGrentacar and wondered if it was just him.

So he took to Facebook on July 15 at 5.49pm to ask: "Being overseas for nearly a decade, I am not sure if it is me being overly particular, but I would like to check if it is acceptable to rent a Honda Civic for $1,600 per month based on the condition below?"

He listed the broken gear stick, the car not having been cleaned for a long time, the in-vehicle unit that worked with only older cash cards and the torn leather interior.

"According to the mechanic, this vehicle is only five years old," said the Stomper, who shared photos showing what he described.

The Stomper added that he was not allowed to inspect the interior of the car until after he signed the electronic agreement.

In response to a Stomp query, SGrentacar director Marilyn Teo said: "What happened on July 15 was that Randy collected his car at around 12.30pm and then called me around 3.30pm to talk.

"He wanted to switch to a Mazda 3, but that model was currently rented out till month's end and we were fully booked that weekend. So I was unable to offer him a replacement immediately.

"I offered him a Toyota Vios, which would be available on July 16, but he declined.

"I agreed to let him return the car and gave him a full refund of the full month's rental and security deposit.

"I’d also like to add that we did not tell him that the car was five years old as I don’t recall him asking us about the age of the car. Sauce packets pictured next to the gear stick are not ours."

Ms Teo also added: "We do accept customers’ feedback seriously and try to make sure that everyone’s experience with us is a pleasant one, but it’s really unfortunate that this happened.

"Sometimes one bad review like this can really bring us down, while some good reviews never get published online.

"We will definitely try to improve and learn from this. I’m really sorry that this happened."