The Security Deposit Math: Why It's ₹8,000 for a Swift and ₹25,000 for the Fortuner

A renter asked me directly why the Fortuner's deposit is more than three times the Swift's, when both cars run the same fuel and cancellation policy. It's a fair question, and the answer is simpler than it might sound: the deposit is sized against what could actually go wrong with that specific car, not picked to feel proportionate to the day rate.

The number is a ceiling against our own damage schedule

Look at our damage schedule and the most expensive single line item on it — a windshield crack requiring replacement — costs the same ₹6,500 whether it happens to a Swift or a Fortuner, because a windshield's replacement cost doesn't scale hugely with car segment. But a bigger, heavier vehicle has more expensive tyres, larger body panels that cost more to respray, and — on the Fortuner specifically — an underbody and off-road-oriented suspension that's simply pricier to repair than a hatchback's. The deposit needs to comfortably cover a genuinely bad scenario on that car, not an average one.

That's why the numbers step up the way they do: ₹8,000 for the Swift and i20, ₹9,000-10,000 for the sedans and the Nexon EV, ₹12,000 for the Creta, ₹15,000 for the Innova Crysta carrying six people's worth of risk exposure, and ₹25,000 for the Fortuner, our most expensive vehicle to repair if something genuinely goes wrong.

Why the EV's deposit isn't the lowest in the fleet

The Nexon EV's deposit sits at ₹10,000, above the hatchbacks despite a similar day rate to the sedans — because EV-specific repairs, particularly to the battery housing or charging port, cost more than equivalent petrol-engine work at most garages in Bengaluru right now. The deposit reflects the actual repair-cost reality of the car, not a guess about which cars "feel" more premium.

What the deposit is never used for

What happens if damage costs more than the deposit

Look at the numbers and you'll notice the deposit on every car comfortably exceeds the single most expensive line on our damage schedule — a ₹6,500 windshield replacement against an ₹8,000 Swift deposit, for instance. That's deliberate: the deposit is sized so an ordinary worst-case scenario is covered by it alone, without needing to chase a renter for an additional payment after the fact. A genuine accident, outside the flat-rate schedule entirely, is handled through the vehicle's insurance rather than the deposit — which is a separate process explained on our damage policy page, not something we'd ever settle out of a security deposit.

It's not held against fuel — that's billed separately per our fuel policy. It's not a hedge against a customer simply not showing up — that's covered by the cancellation policy's own tiers. The deposit exists for one purpose: covering genuine damage to the vehicle you drove, assessed against the same flat-rate schedule every renter sees before they pick up the keys, and it comes back within 3 business days regardless of which car you rented or how large the deposit was.