Who can help me? I was cheated in renting a car at Victoria sixt store.

[eeoo]

I rented a car from Sixt UK (Booking No. 9727011442, Plate RV75YZB) via Booking.com on 29 October 2025 at Victoria Station.
The vehicle had a strong burning smell and unusually high fuel consumption shortly after pickup.
I contacted Sixt several times but received no timely assistance, losing three full days of my trip.
When I later went to the Battersea branch (as arranged by Sixt), staff spoke in a rude and dismissive tone, which made me feel racially discriminated against as a Chinese customer.
Sixt denied any issue, claiming it was “a new car smell,” and refused replacement or compensation.
All this is like a scam. I booked an Audi, but when I arrived at the store, I was told that it was only Volvo or I had to pay more to change cars. I checked Google's comments, and most of them accused this store of being a shameless liar. I still have a deposit of 500 pounds. How can I defend my rights?I think maybe I don't buy insurance at the store, so give me a broken car on purpose?

Please help me, I am a foreigner tourist visa, and I am helpless.

Find the number for their head office and call to complain? Or customer service at least - say you continue to be unsatisfied and think the car is unsafe. Decide what you want them to do and request it. (Of course I've no idea whether your car is damaged or not).
I've often not bought the extra insurance when I hire cars and have never been given a dodgy one.

I contacted the headquarters when I was on the scene, but it didn't work. Don't admit it's the car.

Well if they're 100% that the car is fine, could you just drive it and try to enjoy your vacation?

Why would you jump to accusing them of racially discriminating you when a big part of their business is renting to foreigners?

If the car is working ok then just drive it and enjoy your trip.

Post a review on their page on Trustpilot. They haven't go a good rating but they will hopefully get in touch if you post there. You can see all their contact info there too

@ChilliMochaCocoI've alreadyI have written a comment, but unfortunately I didn't get any reply.

I used them about 7 years ago and found them very rude and unprofessional.

Try posting a 1 star review on Trust pilot. Keep it factual but make it clear what you think. This has worked for me multiple times in terms of getting an instant response.

I think it’s quite standard to get a different car to the one you booked. It’ll be similar or, my pet peeve, an “upgrade”. It’ll say something in the small print.

It usually says xxxxx car or similar so getting a Volvo instead of an Audi, if they’re similar size then that’s perfectly acceptable

why do you think they’re racist?

Because the staff greeted people from other countries with smiles, they obviously felt impatient and vocal about my tone of voice. I don't think I made any mistakes, but the staff lied that there was nothing wrong with his car. Because I didn't buy the insurance they promoted.

Why have you given us your booking number and reg plate?!

How on earth did you come across mumsnet as a place to express your dissatisfaction?!

You book a class of car e.g. small, medium, large, people carrier. When you book it gives you an example of the type of car that's in that class but there's no guarantee you will get that specific make and model. The words "or similar" are crucial here.
Why have you lost 3 days of your trip due to this? What sort of fuel consumption is it doing? Is it possible it's just a higher fuel consumption car than you're used to or you're driving it in the wrong mode?

How have they lied? They say nothing is wrong - you’ve no proof there is

it could have been your tone rather than your nationality?

My tone is very sincere, because I always smile. Because this is a local forum, I hope others will not be cheated in this company. Besides, I have evidence, but I don't know how to send it out in this forum.