The strangest items left behind in rental cars

Have you ever left something in a rental car? It's all too easy to forget your belongings when you're rushing to the airport or hurrying to an important meeting.

But what are the weirdest things people have left behind in vehicle hires? We've scoured the internet to find some of the strangest lost property ever found.

Prosthetic limbs

Forgetful types often say, "I'd probably forget my head if it wasn't screwed on!"

Well, it might surprise you to find out that people really have.

OK, they didn't actually forget their heads. But many prosthetic legs and arms have been lost and found in hire cars. We hope they were all safely returned to their owners.

A toddler

You may have left keys or loose change in a rental car, but have you ever left a child?

In Florida, a grandfather left his nearly two-year-old grandson in a rental car – and was promptly arrested.

He left the child in a locked rental car for 45 minutes at Florida's Daytona Beach International Airport.

The child was recovered by police deputies. Fortunately, despite the car being very hot, the tot was OK.

A chocolate box with a surprise

If you're married, you'll never forget your proposal. Was it on a sun-kissed beach? At the top of the Eiffel Tower? Perhaps it involved something elaborate, like a chocolate box where one of the treats had been replaced with a diamond ring.

That's how one person planned to propose – but their plans must have gone awry as the box had been left behind in a rental car.

Maybe they forgot the box. Or perhaps the gimmick didn't go to plan and the proposee said no.

Believe it or not, this isn't the only case where an engagement ring has been left behind.

An urn

When emotions are running high after a funeral, it's all too easy to lose track of things.

Perhaps that's what happened to the folk who left an urn full of ashes in their hire car. Let's hope the ashes were safely returned and got the send-off they deserved.

A skull

Yes, a real skull has been left behind in a hire car.

It's not as grisly as it sounds, though. The car had been on hire to a group of students at Liverpool University medical school. Presumably, the skull was intended to be used in their studies.

Weirdly, however, the lost skull was never claimed…

A skeleton

You thought a skull was odd? Wait until you get a load of this.

A car rental employee must have thought they were the next Sherlock Holmes when they found a skeleton in the back of one of their hire cars.

The full-sized, fully dressed skeleton was found in Seattle in the boot of a Toyota Camry. Thankfully, it was only a prop from a classroom training session. No murder mystery to be solved here. 

Goat doo-doo

Car hire firms often ban pets from vehicles as they tend to make a lot of mess. However, one person obviously didn't get the memo, because when their car was returned, it was littered with suspicious-looking droppings.

When tested, the little nuggets turned out to be goat droppings. Un-baa-lieveable!

You can only hope the car hire employees didn't assume they were chocolate…

A strange CD

Imagine the scene. A man has hired a car, got dressed up and headed to a bar with romance on his mind.

Half a can of beer later, he plucks up the courage to go in and try out some new pick-up lines. Did they work? We'll never know. The only evidence of his escapades was a half-drunk can of beer and a CD entitled, The Art of Speed Seduction.

Both items were found abandoned in a rental car, leaving a cliffhanger that will never be resolved.

Animal parts

Car hire employees have found mice in cages, snakes in tyres and plenty of dog and cat hair. (And goat droppings, of course.)

But the employees must have been too stunned to speak when they found – brace yourselves – a container full of pigs' eyes.

Thankfully nothing sinister was at play, as the gory globes were being used for research.

An interesting accessory

After a group had hired a minibus from a hire company for a stag do, employees were probably expecting to find a few empty beer cans and perhaps a lost phone or wallet. They certainly didn't expect to find a chastity belt.

Yes, a chastity belt! It must have been a weird night…

The bottom line

Next time you rent a hire car, be sure to check that you haven't forgotten anything strange or important.

At least if you hire a car with us, you'll soon find out whether you've lost something. We thoroughly check and clean our vehicles with every rental, so you won't have to worry about your valuables (or not-so-valuables) going walkies.

Situated near Newcastle Airport, Newcastle upon Tyne City Centre, Gateshead and all of South Tyneside, Metro Vehicle Hire offers everything from private hire to all types of business hire and leasing.

Hire a vehicle in Newcastle today and expect friendly, efficient service from our experienced staff. (And no weird stuff left in the boot.)