Rental Car Experiences?

fintail

Needed a bath, lots of de-icer crud from yesterday's drive:



Not sure where I will go tomorrow.

iluvmysephia1

fintail what year, make, and model is that?

ab348

Geez, Fin, you're on vacation and that's a rental!!

berri

I actually think that Jag looks better with the top up. Top down it looks kind of squishy to me, like the clay prototype maybe melted in random spots by the window sun.

tjc78

@fintail
Not only is that a great trip... but what a rental.  

iluvmysephia1

fintail - what kind of car is that?

fintail

Iluv, it's a 2017 model (I assume, registered in June) Jaguar F-Type S AWD, 380hp model per Sixt.

Lots of top down driving today, it wouldn't be a practical daily driver, but it is fun:

fintail

I can't stand grimy glass, and I am a clean car geek anyway. I wiped down the switchgear and steering wheel as soon as I got the car.

And yep, it has been a fun trip. This is a case where the upgrade fee is worth the memories.

ab348 said:

Geez, Fin, you're on vacation and that's a rental!!

iluvmysephia1

That is a cool car. And it's black!

fintail

Black on black with black wheels. If you like black, I have a car for you. Henry Ford would like it

I now appreciate convertibles more, it really is nice to have the top down, especially when the car is a mobile blind spot with the top up.

ab348

I think it's a cool car to rent. But I have never understood the appeal of triple black (in this case with the wheels, quad black) vehicles. Especially convertibles.

iluvmysephia1

I think it looks good with this car, ab348. It got me thinking about the 2017 Toyota Yaris iA I'm looking at. The Stealth Toyota color would probably look good with black wheels.

fintail

Yeah, black on black is too much work for me. The exterior shows every imperfection and speck of dirt (looked bad after driving in rain today), and the interior can be drab. The highlight might be that the wheels are easier to keep clean, or really, they don't look dirty as quickly.

Rental car is now returned, no issues, put over 1000km on it in 5 days, had the top down for about an hour today in between rain. Fuel mileage, well, that's not important, and hopefully I wasn't caught by any robot tax collectors/speed cameras

berri

As long as you had a good time in it the rest doesn't really matter. That's the nice thing about a rental.

imidazol97

As long as it had cruise control, all is good.

fintail

It did, and it worked. I don't think I've ever had a rental without cruise, though. Heck, the last car I recall driving without cruise is the fintail

I think in Germany anyway, only the cheapest cheapskate rental cars will lack cruise (and they have cheaper more basic cars than available here, Smart car is generally the cheapest rental class, with a VW Up! or Opel Adam being above that, VW Polo above that, Mini above that - something Accent/Rio sized would be above the basic (yet those cars don't seem to exist in Euro fleets).

imidazol97

My son was given a Hertz Yaris without cruise in Houston months ago. Plus the lady wanted his business card. Odd.
He said that was all handled the day he got back in the office. I believe he was supposed to have an automatic upgrade. His next two trips used different agencies.

If an agency gave me a car sans cruise control, I would be back at the desk. The problem is he couldn't be sure that it did not have cruise and he was trying to find it as he drove--he thought it was hidden somehow because he wasn't ued to the foreign car.

Michaell

Just booked a trip to CA over Christmas. Looking at rental car choices, I could get:

1. VW Jetta or Chrysler 200 from Hertz for about $450
2. Audi A4 from Silvercar for about the same price

I went with the Audi.

fintail

I suspect the Hertz Yaris was the cheapest corporate rate, and maybe they wanted verification that the renter was connected to the corporate rateholder. I suspect they can be picky like that sometimes. The upgrade thing is usually given a caveat of "when available", which means they just have to claim all higher cars are reserved, then no upgrade for you.

I bet the Yaris has the same old fashioned cruise control stalk that Toyota used for maybe 20 years. Often times, the vehicle class description will list cruise, I think. If not listed, be careful.

fintail

Going to LA or SD?

No Silvercar up here yet. Check to see if it has TX plates, I read at one time all of their locations used TX plates to dodge local taxes.

Michaell said:

Just booked a trip to CA over Christmas. Looking at rental car choices, I could get:

1. VW Jetta or Chrysler 200 from Hertz for about $450
2. Audi A4 from Silvercar for about the same price

I went with the Audi.

suydam

How many days? That’s expensive! LA is always expensive to rent.

Michaell

suydam said:

How many days? That’s expensive! LA is always expensive to rent.

I am flying into LAX.

5 days, total (fly in the evening of the 23rd, fly home the afternoon of the 28th). Nothing is cheap over Christmas, it seems. Even the most basic transportation was going to run $40-50 a day. I figured, why not splurge, as a bit of a gift to myself.

Hertz did offer a C300 for a bit more, but I'm sort of looking forward to the whole Silvercar experience.

berri

Eve if they quote you a specific car, they aren't obligated to have it when you arrive and can substitute an equivalent.

ab348

fintail said:

Going to LA or SD?

No Silvercar up here yet. Check to see if it has TX plates, I read at one time all of their locations used TX plates to dodge local taxes.

Just like U-Haul. All their vehicles and trailers here in Nova Scotia have Arizona plates for that reason. I presume that is the same throughout North America.

kyfdx

berri said:

Eve if they quote you a specific car, they aren't obligated to have it when you arrive and can substitute an equivalent.

Silver A4 is the only car in the Silvercar fleet, though.

fintail

I think most fleets have special/higher cost "guaranteed" models (like a Corvette), but you pay for it.

The price on that A4 is about what I paid for the Jaaaaaag in Germany, but of course I wasn't in LA at Christmas. It'll be interesting to see the level of equipment.

I am surprised that tax dodge works.

Michaell

fintail said:

I think most fleets have special/higher cost "guaranteed" models (like a Corvette), but you pay for it.

The price on that A4 is about what I paid for the Jaaaaaag in Germany, but of course I wasn't in LA at Christmas. It'll be interesting to see the level of equipment.

I am surprised that tax dodge works.

I remember reading that the A4's used by them are sort of unique in their equipment. Website says that XM, GPS and WiFi are standard. I don't even know if they have FWD or are Quattro.

I figure it'll be nicer than my Jetta, for sure.

fintail

And no doubt more interesting than the likely modestly optioned car provided by Hertz.

Michaell said:

I remember reading that the A4's used by them are sort of unique in their equipment. Website says that XM, GPS and WiFi are standard. I don't even know if they have FWD or are Quattro.

I figure it'll be nicer than my Jetta, for sure.

Michaell

fintail said:

And no doubt more interesting than the likely modestly optioned car provided by Hertz.

Michaell said:

I remember reading that the A4's used by them are sort of unique in their equipment. Website says that XM, GPS and WiFi are standard. I don't even know if they have FWD or are Quattro.

I figure it'll be nicer than my Jetta, for sure.

Even if it's a FWD Ultra, I'm still looking forward to driving it for a few days.

berri

Always fun getting something neat as a rental car. I remember years back getting one of the early Chrysler 300 Hemi's and it was fun

Michaell

berri said:

Always fun getting something neat as a rental car. I remember years back getting one of the early Chrysler 300 Hemi's and it was fun

Last year I convinced my (then) boss to select a Charger with a Hemi in San Francisco. She liked the power.

When I traveled a lot for business (and was driving an Accord DX 5-speed as my DD), I would always look for nice cars in the rental lot.

fintail

Oftentimes, the different in price between a dull cheap car and a nicer model is a pittance - I recall renting at LAX a few years ago, where a premium car (I received a nicely optioned new style Impala LTZ) was something like $20 more than a Corolla class - for a week. If you're going to be driving a bit, I can't see why one wouldn't get something nicer - yet so many people rent the cheapest thing possible.

Michaell

fintail said:

Oftentimes, the different in price between a dull cheap car and a nicer model is a pittance - I recall renting at LAX a few years ago, where a premium car (I received a nicely optioned new style Impala LTZ) was something like $20 more than a Corolla class - for a week. If you're going to be driving a bit, I can't see why one wouldn't get something nicer - yet so many people rent the cheapest thing possible.

The drive from the airport to my mom's is about an hour, up PCH. Not sure how much running around I'll do once I'm there, but I'll try to find excuses to get behind the wheel.

fintail

You'll probably be more likely to look for those excuses than had you received a base model Sentra or something

Michaell said:

The drive from the airport to my mom's is about an hour, up PCH. Not sure how much running around I'll do once I'm there, but I'll try to find excuses to get behind the wheel.

suydam

fintail said:

Oftentimes, the different in price between a dull cheap car and a nicer model is a pittance - I recall renting at LAX a few years ago, where a premium car (I received a nicely optioned new style Impala LTZ) was something like $20 more than a Corolla class - for a week. If you're going to be driving a bit, I can't see why one wouldn't get something nicer - yet so many people rent the cheapest thing possible.

I have not found that to be true in LAX, where rentals are quite high. Before we moved, we drove a lot to see all our friends, so we wanted a car that was comfortable and also got good gas mileage. We did look for cheaper rentals because I wanted to spend my vacation money eating great food in nice places. I was lucky to find some bargains sometimes, but not always. The Costco rental seems the way to go now if you’re on a budget.

Michaell

fintail said:

You'll probably be more likely to look for those excuses than had you received a base model Sentra or something

Michaell said:

The drive from the airport to my mom's is about an hour, up PCH. Not sure how much running around I'll do once I'm there, but I'll try to find excuses to get behind the wheel.

Agreed - on one of my visits, I ended up getting a Kia Rio without cruise control. Once I got to my mom's, I parked it and drove her car.

fintail

I usually book well in advance, which might help. LAX is indeed expensive, similar to Seattle - probably more expensive than some European areas, which is funny as it can be hard to get around in the LA area without a car. I'll be more than happy to spend $10 a day to have a nicer car. On my latest European trip, I think the difference between something like a Polo and a BMW 4er was maybe $15/day. If you're going to be out on the open road, it might be worth it.

suydam said:

I have not found that to be true in LAX, where rentals are quite high. Before we moved, we drove a lot to see all our friends, so we wanted a car that was comfortable and also got good gas mileage. We did look for cheaper rentals because I wanted to spend my vacation money eating great food in nice places. I was lucky to find some bargains sometimes, but not always. The Costco rental seems the way to go now if you’re on a budget.

fintail

I remember a few years ago, a friend of mine went to Miami, and rented from an odd brand discounter. He received a Rio with no cruise - and he had to drive to Tampa. He regretted that money saving idea.

Michaell said:

Agreed - on one of my visits, I ended up getting a Kia Rio without cruise control. Once I got to my mom's, I parked it and drove her car.

berri

I find rental car prices not unlike airlines - vary and change often. So it pays to shop around and with a car you can change without penalty if something better turns up before you head out.

suydam

“ Out on the open road “ — in LA? Not so much!

Michaell

suydam said:

“ Out on the open road “ — in LA? Not so much!

Point taken. I'll be in Ventura County. Traffic there is pretty much an extension of LA, now.

fintail

If I need to be in the car for more than an hour or two, especially if on a daily basis, that's enough for me - no matter if that hour takes you 70 miles or 7

Michaell

fintail said:

If I need to be in the car for more than an hour or two, especially if on a daily basis, that's enough for me - no matter if that hour takes you 70 miles or 7

60 miles door-to-door, LAX to my mom's house. Figure 90 minutes, even at 10PM on a Saturday night.

fintail

Sounds fun in a likely battered Rio with no cruise control, but hey, I saved $7!

Sandman6472

Didn't really mind that Versa we had last month though it was a pretty light vehicle and not well planted to the ground. A Versa Note hatch would've been a bit heavier and a nicer drive. They had a Sentra also but they didn't offer it to me even though I am an employee. The mpg's from the Versa were impressive though and we only spent $88.00 on gas from Chicago to Pompano Beach Florida. Excellent mileage!
We were super busy all week and yesterday, folks were waiting for us drivers to bring vehicles to certain locations. Everything was about rented and the airport wouldn't give us any vehicles. They use some kind of percentage which is something I don't quite understand. The next few weeks though, they'll be begging us to take iron out!!
A bunch of new Kia's came in yesterday along with Chevy Eqonix's to the new vehicle area. Am anxious to drive a new Eqonix's to see how they've improved them. New boss wanted me to give him a concrete schedule so told him Friday, Monday and Thursday as my three days, but will play with the beginning of the week when I have my pain documents appointments. Luckily he's near my office so I can take a longer lunch if need be. If I can't work more than four hours in a day, I don't go in because it ain't worth it with tolls and petrol. If I go in, want to stay all day long!!

The Sandman

iluvmysephia1

Hey, sandman, let me know how the 2018 Kia Rio's test drive - the hatch or sedan, OK?

Mr_Shiftright

suydam said:

“ Out on the open road “ — in LA? Not so much!

Only in the TV commercials, which they shoot at 6 AM on a Sunday.

fintail

A couple pics of a somewhat special rental someone got from Sixt in Berlin over the weekend:





I suspect something like this is even more rare than a MB V12.

tjc78

How does that end up in a fleet? Cancelled special order?

Mr_Shiftright

Got enough badges on that thing?