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Vegas Support Center
Clark County, Nevada
Holiday season

Rental car fees and damage charges in Las Vegas: what Nevada allows

In plain words: a Nevada rental company must quote you a rate that includes everything you have to pay except taxes, mileage and airport fees. It can't make you buy its damage waiver to get the car, can't put a hold on your card because you said no, and can't charge your card for damage without your separate written OK and an inspection (NRS 482.31565, 482.31575, 482.3157).

At the counter

The price you were quoted
  • Must include the whole amount for the rental period, except taxes, mileage and airport fees (NRS 482.31575(1))
  • Mileage limits, gas charges and where you may drive must be disclosed with the rate
  • Airport or vehicle licensing fees must be disclosed when you're quoted or reserve (NRS 482.3158(2))
The damage waiver is optional
  • They can't require it, extra insurance or any other add-on to rent you the car (NRS 482.31565(1))
  • They can ask for proof of Nevada's minimum liability insurance, and sell you a temporary policy if you don't have it
  • Ads showing a rate must say what the waiver costs and that it's optional
Pressure they can't use
  • Refusing to honor your reservation because you declined the waiver
  • Limiting which cars you can get
  • Demanding a deposit, or blocking money on your card, because you declined (NRS 482.31565(5))
Fees they can't charge
  • A fuel surcharge as a condition of renting
  • A fee for the shuttle to the car (NRS 482.3158(3))
  • Rent for time before a car is delivered to you, or after you've told them to pick it up

Extra charges Nevada allows (NRS 482.3158)

Allowed
  • Charges based on the company's reasonable age rules
  • Optional items or services you chose, insurance and accessories you asked for
  • A one-way drop fee, if you chose to return it elsewhere
  • Refueling, if you bring it back with less gas than it left with
Capped by law
  • An extra driver: $10 a day base, raised each year for inflation
  • The damage waiver: $22 a day base, or $150 a day on a car priced over $60,000, both raised each year for inflation; the DMV publishes the current figures (NRS 482.31565(3))
  • Your spouse, if licensed and old enough for the company, is an authorized driver by law, without being listed (NRS 482.31515)

A damage bill after you return it

1. Walk around the car with an agent and take photos at pickup and at return, including the fuel gauge and odometer.
2. Don't sign a card charge on the spot. To charge your card for damage, the company must get your written consent on a form separate from the rental agreement, inspect the car, and give you a written repair estimate you authorize. You may skip the estimate only when the inspection shows repairs of $500 or less (NRS 482.3157(2)).
3. Check the bill against the limits. Parts and labor at the company's usual cost after its discounts, lost rental days at your rate with options removed, and actual tow and storage charges (NRS 482.3154(1)).
The administrative fee limits
If you bought the waiver

A waiver must leave you with no liability for damage, loss or loss of use, and any exception written into it is void, except the ones the law lists (NRS 482.3155). Those include damage from reckless or intentional driving, driving drunk or impaired, towing with the car, damage caused by unpaved road conditions, use for hire or a felony, racing, a driver not authorized on the rental, false information on the rental, and driving outside Nevada, Arizona, California, Idaho, Oregon and Utah unless your rental allows it (NRS 482.31555).

The car was stolen or vandalized

You're presumed to owe nothing for a theft if you still have the key the company gave you, or show it wasn't in the car, and you report the theft to police within 24 hours of learning of it and cooperate (NRS 482.31535(1)(c)). For vandalism not tied to a theft and not caused by you, your share can be capped at $2,500 (NRS 482.31535(1)(e)). Police report steps: stolen car in Las Vegas.

When the company breaks these rules

You can sue
  • For your damages and a court order, and the winner gets attorney's fees and costs (NRS 482.31585)
  • Anything you signed giving up these rights is void (NRS 482.3159)
  • Smaller amounts: small claims court
Also

Read 2026-11-05 from Nevada Revised Statutes on this house's law shelf: NRS 482.31515, 482.31535, 482.3154, 482.3155, 482.31555, 482.31565, 482.3157, 482.31575, 482.3158, 482.31585 and 482.3159 (chapter 482, Rev. 9/9/2026).