The coverage from the rental-car agency is "way, way overpriced," Mr. Hunter said.

He phoned a local rental-car agency.

Hotels and rental-car agencies took the earliest steps, partly because security concerns restricted airlines' abilities to process credit-card information over the wide-open spaces of the Internet.

The major rental-car agencies operate out of Bilbao Airport.

Ford also said sales to rental-car agencies each month this year should drop by double-digit percentages, which would drag down overall sales.

It belongs to a rental-car agency.

There are other rental-car agencies besides the big names, of course.

Major rental-car agencies are in a separate area near the main terminal, accessible by a free shuttle.

"A rental-car agency might be a good start," Gamay said.

In its final years, the Taurus was merely an also-ran, available solely to rental-car agencies and other fleet operators.