Burning Man car rentals: Check out these hefty cleaning prices

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Camps are set on a muddy desert plain on September 2, 2023, after heavy rains turned the annual Burning Man festival site (Photo by Julie JAMMOT / AFP) (Photo by JULIE JAMMOT/AFP via Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO - Car rental businesses in the Bay Area are keen to cultural events – and protecting their livelihoods when customers drive off in their vehicles, especially when they're driving straight into a dry, alkaline salt flat. 

For example, Alamo Car Rental at the San Francisco International Airport issued a specific Burning Man car rental warning for the devoted attendees of the massive, desert art festival held Black Rock Playa in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, where the event ended this week.

Any car that enters the "playa" violates Alamo's rental agreement, the company stated, and will be subject to a cleaning fee of $350 – even if the car is returned clean. 

The company stated that "it's very obvious when the tires are shined and the car is dripping with Armor All." 

Playa dust is mostly clay and is as fine as talcum powder; it's also mildly electrically conductive and can cause all kinds of electrical faults in cars and electronics, the Alamo warning read.

Plus, the alkaline dust can corrode and damage a car's insides and upholstery, and often require the car's engine to be steam cleaned and carpets shampooed. 

Alamo isn't the only car rental company to address the Burning Man silt.

Hengehold Truck Sales and Rentals in Palo Alto reminds customers to return their rentals in good condition after Burning Man, and tells them to wash their vehicle at a truck wash before returning it. If it's not clean, the company will charge $500. 

And a post on Reddit in 2023, showed a Penske memo stating that it would rent trucks for Burning Man, and if a truck does go to the event, the customer would be liable for up to a $5,000 cleaning fee. 

Last year, an especially wet fall turned the Nevada site into a mud pit, stranding many guests and their cars in the sludge. 

Some companies embrace Burning Man drivers, though.

 U-Haul’s website has an entire page dedicated to renting a vehicle for "Burning Man the right way."

The company offers decal kits to obscure the logos covering truck and van exteriors since Burners are expected to cover up logos on everything from clothing to cars, as per the event’s "decommodification" principle.

KTVU's Jana Katsuyama contributed to this report. 

Vehicles line up to leave the site of the annual Burning Man Festival on September 5, 2023, after heavy rains turned the site in Nevada's Black Rock desert into a mud pit. (Photo by JULIE JAMMOT/AFP via Getty Images)

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