October Rental Rate Adjustment
Good news for our daily rental customers!! We are reducing our daily rental rates by $5/day for all classes. For example, our sedans drop from $35/day to $30/day and our minivans drop from $40/day to $35/day. The rate reductions will be effective for all rentals picked up on or after October 1, 2019. Our mileage rates will remain the same.
Shop Surveys
If you have recently had your vehicle in the shop for maintenance, you probably saw that orange hang tag on the rearview mirror. These tags are our Shop Surveys and we want you to fill them out. It is a quick survey with 5 questions regarding your satisfaction with our service. You don’t even need a campus envelope to mail it; just tear off the hanger and place the tag in your outgoing campus mail. We read each one and like getting your input on how we are doing.
Have You Ever Seen a Motor Oil Milkshake?
That doesn’t’ sound very good does it? Well, it’s not very good for your vehicle engine either. When our technicians drain the oil from a vehicle that always makes short trips, that is what the drained oil looks like. It is the result of water mixing with the engine oil. How does water get in your engine oil? Here is how it happens. As the vehicle sits, condensation forms on the inside of the engine. As the engine warms up, the heat of the engine evaporates the water. However, if the engine doesn’t reach a high enough temperature, the water doesn’t evaporate, and it falls into the oil drain pan. Additionally, as the water and oil separate after the vehicle sits, the water settles near the feed tube. Then the next time the engine starts, instead of feeding oil to engine it is fed water.
So, what can you do? It is pretty easy really. Periodically, at least once a month, give the vehicle a 20-30-minute drive to get the engine up to operating temperature and boil off any water that has accumulated.
Football Parking for State Vehicles
As a reminder, if you have a University of Iowa vehicle and you normally park that vehicle in Lots 43, 40 or 75 you need to move it on football Saturdays. If you need help finding a place to park during this time, please call the Parking Office at (319) 335-1475 and they would be happy to help you.
Electronic Parking Brakes
Most of our new vehicles, particularly the sedans, have electronic parking brakes. They operate a little differently than traditional parking brakes. They use a button instead of a foot pedal or a lever. To set the parking brake, push the button. To release the parking brake (and this is the tricky part) you need to hold down the brake pedal while you pull the release button. If you have questions or run into problems, give our office a call.
No Saturday Hours
Fleet Services will no longer have Saturday hours starting this Fall Semester. As a result, any vehicles that will not be used until the weekend will need to be picked up the Friday or last business day of the week. We can delay your charges to the actual start date of your trip if you schedule your pick-up after 5 pm on that last business day. Please note your trip start date and time in the reservation comments.
Honest Mike’s Used Cars
We have a pretty good variety this week at Honest Mike’s Used Cars. We are offering a 2013 Chevy Impala that has 93,000 miles on it. We also have posted a 2010 Ford E150 cargo van (26,500 miles), a 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan (76,500 miles) and a 2011 Ford Ranger pick-up with a topper (24,800 miles) and a 2014 Ford E350, 15-passenger van (72,300 miles). Most of these auctions end September 24 so check the GovDeals page to see these and others.
Fleet Factoid
One of our staff pointed out that every day this month from the 10th to the 19th was a palindrome. 9-10-19, 9-11-19, 9-12-19… Weird!!
Fleet Services Info
Manager: Mike Wilson
Phone: (319) 384-0564
Fax: (319) 335-5865
Hours: 7:00 a.m.– 6:00 p.m. Monday-Friday
Shop Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday
Shop Phone: (319) 335-5105
Fueling Hours: 24 hours/ 7 days a week
E-mail: Fleet-Services@uiowa.edu
Web Site: Parking and Transportation - Fleet Services
View more newsletters: Fleet Services Newsletters