Hertz Blames Me For Pre-existing Damage That Was Documented At Pickup, Rental Was Two Years Ago In Illinois, $8,660 Claim Revived In 2026 And Collections Threatened.

Location: Illinois. The rental was at Chicago Midway Airport in August 2024.

What happened

1. Aug 29 to Sep 2, 2024, Hertz rental. The first car assigned to me was a red 2022 Tesla Model 3. Rental charge was $559.44.
2. At pickup, before the car left the lot, I filmed and photographed it. My video and photos are timestamped Aug 29, 2024, 4:55 pm, Chicago Garfield Ridge, and they show the car on the lot with a reduced acceleration and top speed warning on the screen. I exchanged the red Tesla and drove a black replacement Tesla for the rest of the rental.
3. Hertz said in 2026 that the high voltage battery pack for the red Tesla was damaged and wants $8,660.34, which is $8,371 damage, $139.34 loss of use and a $150 admin fee. https://imgur.com/a/g5mzMMc
4. The Tesla repair estimate in Hertz's own demand packet describes the problem in the same words, customer states alerts, drivability, acceleration and top speed reduced, performance may be restored on next drive. Hertz says the high voltage battery pack was damaged.

What I did

1. Sep 15, 2026, after Hertz provided the claim with no explanation for the roughly two year gap, I sent the return video of the replacement car, denied liability again in writing, and copied Executive Customer Service and Customer Relations.
2. Sep 23, 2026, I provided the pickup video and explained in writing that the warning in my pickup video is the same warning quoted in Hertz's repair bill and that it was present before delivery to me.
3. Oct 9, 2026, after receiving a Sep 28 letter threatening referral to collections, I disputed the claim in full in writing.
4. Oct 12, 2026, I filed a consumer complaint with the Illinois Attorney General, asking for cancellation of the full $8,660.34.

My questions

1. Collections -- I know we can dispute the collections in 30 days -- but how does dispute verification work? Do I need to exaplain the story to dispute agency again?
2. Liability. Under 625 ILCS 5/6-305.2, does Hertz have to show the damage happened during my rental period? I am glad I took those videos and photos two years ago and still kept them (thank you iCloud).
3. Anything else I should be doing? Their customer service is not helping as well. I dont think they care about any complaints as there are already tons of them.