Rental Car Experiences?

tjc78

Early last year Emerald Aisle was full of loaded Malibus.

xwesx

Speaking of traveling, we rented from Enterprise again this time around. We had to walk by the Sixt kiosk on our way over there, and my wife commented on the name. She calls all of you my "car buddies," so I told her that my Spokane car buddy rents from them regularly.

I had reserved a half-ton pickup ("F-150 or similar"), as I figured we might make use of such a vehicle this go with spring yard cleanup and house projects on the agenda, but she was not thrilled with the choice. It was about three dollars a day more expensive than a compact, so I figured it was a solid value, but she said "we'll be getting 16 mpg, driving this monster around, and end up paying twice as much as a small car for no reason!"

We ended up with a Ram 1500 Classic SLT (seems like a stripper model) - sort of like an extended cab, except with all four doors opening like a sedan, and a very short bed.... maybe 5' or 5.5' long. Well, I think it is pretty small (really, about identical dimensions to my '69 C20, except it sits a lot higher up), seems to have plenty of power, drives and rides like a big sedan, and is giving us about 24 mpg so far.

She wouldn't drive it initially, but then commented yesterday while we were driving over to the Erie area that it would be the perfect opportunity for her to practice on it. I pulled over, she was a little surprised that I called her bluff, but then she swapped with me and drove the rest of that trip. Afterward, she said that it was very easy to drive and didn't seem that big once she got used to it.

fintail

Full sized pickups are effectively the 68 Coronet, Impala, and Galaxie of the modern car world now (middle rental spec examples, many out there seem to be the loaded Polara, Caprice, and LTD)..

Speaking of rental cars, I read Sixt has GLC43 AMG as a reservable vehicle in some markets, at a reasonable price. In some markets they even have things like Bentley or G-Wagen, but at prices even higher than exotic rental companies or Turo. I am not a fan of Sixt apparently moving to a business model of filing damage claims for every microscopic piece of road rash, to the point where the LDW is effectively a cost of renting now, but even with it, their premium fleet can be cheaper than others without insurance.

I have no plans to rent again until Christmas, I have cancelable reservations at National and Sixt, will likely go with the latter for price.

explorerx4

My lower line 24 F-150 has some nice features, reverse sensing with cross traffic alert, blind spot, lane keeping and collision alert.
Headlights are LED's and noticed the other night is has low speed cornering lights.
The most interesting thing is that if you shut it off while in drive, the column shift moves itself into the Park position.

Sandman6472

Renting from work next month as we take a trip to North Florida to visit the girls for a few days. Want a Rav4 size vehicle again if possible and would love to try out a new Hyundai Kona just to see how it fits my driving style. Don't want to put a lot of miles on the Golf and driving her '23 Kona is off the table it seems. Luckily we get a very generous rental rate from work so makes sense to put the miles on one of theirs. Will have to see how the price works out for a 4-day rental and a week one as sometimes, the week rental is a better rate overall. And this way, we can both drive the rental as I don't ever drive her Kona as don't want anything to go wrong. And by going through work, use their insurance and just walk away if anything does happen. We'd have to use our own insurance if we drove one of our fleet and the odds of having an accident are pretty high as we'll be in the Orlando to St. Augustine area. Lots of crazy folks on the turnpike, I-4 & I-95 area...crazy a-s drivers!!

kyfdx

We've had the Kona for our last two US based rentals. We like it a lot for two old people.

Sandman6472

Being that we're two old people here also, think it'll work out just fine. Think I'll rent again from one of the offices where I know the manager. Last time, she got me a Corolla Cross to try out so hoping she might be able to snag me a newer Kona this time.

xwesx

Having the pickup has worked out great! I dropped off a large load of yard debris at the composting site this morning, and then took another trip to the hardware store for some bulky (long) components that would have been very awkward in an enclosed vehicle......

xwesx

Turned the pickup in on Saturday afternoon at Pittsburgh Int'l. We put 600 miles on it, and had the... honor?... of turning over 25,000 miles on the odometer just before our arrival at the airport. The dash economy gauge indicated that we were on the upper end of 24.x mpg, so probably right at or a little better than 24 mpg overall. Not bad for a vehicle with that much utility (and, this was a 4WD version, too, though we never engaged it). I noticed that the "Trip B" had never been reset, and it noted a lifetime FE of 23.2 mpg.

The audio system in it was terrible, though. Even after I found the equalizer and turned the base down and mid/treble settings up to high, I still could not listen to my audio book while on I79 because the system would not go loud enough to overcome the mild road noise generated at that speed. Even music was nearing the top of the output range (32 of 38 possible volume) to be hearable, and that was the level that my wife set it (she is not a fan of loud music), so I know it wasn't just me getting old and deaf.

Sandman6472

Going to rent something next week as we're going to North Florida and it's love bug season. Happens twice a year, May & August, and it can wreak havoc with your windshield, paint & radiator. Always happened to us when we were going back to school in New Orleans back in the 70's. Had to use Pam on the front paint & windshield and buy a throw-away screen to put on the front grill. Just awful to get them all off the paint!
So, even though they haven't started yet, not going to take any chances, so we'll just rent. Looking to get a new Kona if possible but will have to look at the prices of the other classes. Being an employee, they might just bump us up a class depending on what they order for us. Would rather save the wear & tear on the Golf & the wife has already said that her car is staying home!

fintail

I think I saw a rental spec new style 4Runner today - basic looking trim, no plate frames, rental style barcodes on side windows. Driver was with car or I would have looked at it closer.

Prior 4Runner was a not too unusual sight in multiple fleets.

Sandman6472

Even though they are big, I like the 4Runner honestly. Plenty of get up & go with large windows and just up high enough. Find them very easy to drive. They seem to do everything just about right!

ronsteve

Traveled to NC in Feb, and CLT was such a cluster that we rented a car from there and drove to Wilmington. My recollection of Hertz Ultimate Choice was heavy on Kia and GM 2 row SUVs. My pick was a Camry, which was my first hybrid experience. Not terrible but not spectacular either, as you would expect from a Toyota. So much 55 mph highway that it was intriguing to see how often I could get into EV mode and hold my 65 cruise. It was a fairly comfortable drive and we averaged 47mpg in just over 500 miles with it.

This past weekend we were off to WNY for my cousin’s wedding, and the Hertz operation at ROC was more like the old days. Not too bad getting the car, and they had us in a Wrangler 4xe. I will say the ICE is not very civilized, and you use it a lot when they give you the vehicle with only 1% battery and no way to plug it in. Even with a fair amount of expressway driving out of the 60 miles we put on it, only averaged 18 mpg, but there was no EV mode above 15 mph with so little juice. Also a bit annoying that the return was completely unmanned on Sunday afternoon, so it was the first time in a few years that I had to stop at the counter when returning a car.

xwesx

That's nearly as polar opposite as you can get when it comes to back-to-back rentals! They say variety is important in life, though.

Michaell

My sister and BIL are in Spokane for a couple of days to watch their oldest get his masters degree. Budget upgraded them from a Corolla to a Camry. White, SE trim, pretty much brand new. So far, she’s impressed.

texases

Bottom of the line Camry now has the same power train as a Lexus ES350h...

kyfdx

texases said:

Bottom of the line Camry now has the same power train as a Lexus ES350h...

ES350? or, ES300h?

ab348

This is likely a sign of old age or the inevitable decline in mental acuity, but I find the Lexus model nomenclature confusing and baffling. I wish they would switch to actual names.

Or I suppose it could be just a lack of interest.

kyfdx

ab348 said:

This is likely a sign of old age or the inevitable decline in mental acuity, but I find the Lexus model nomenclature confusing and baffling. I wish they would switch to actual names.

Or I suppose it could be just a lack of interest.

I think that it's because the letters and numbers don't really mean anything, any more?

And, the parts that do mean something are still hard to keep straight.

Not just Lexus

texases

kyfdx said:

texases said:

Bottom of the line Camry now has the same power train as a Lexus ES350h...

ES350? or, ES300h?

ES300h. Odd that they use 300h for the ES, 350h for the RX, same power train.

kyfdx

texases said:

kyfdx said:

texases said:

Bottom of the line Camry now has the same power train as a Lexus ES350h...

ES350? or, ES300h?

ES300h. Odd that they use 300h for the ES, 350h for the RX, same power train.

Yup

fintail

At least MB is consistent with its now-meaningless numerical designations.

New Camry has received some praise, even in rental form I would call that an upgrade from a Corolla.

ab348

fintail said:

At least MB is consistent with its now-meaningless numerical designations.

New Camry has received some praise, even in rental form I would call that an upgrade from a Corolla.

I was behind a nice-looking newish M-B today, a rootbeer brown metallic coupe with E53 and AMG badging on the trunk, very snazzy. Driver was likely of dubious taste though as he pulled into a Wendy’s. I figured driving something like that meant Five Guys at a minimum.

fintail

ab348 said:

fintail said:

At least MB is consistent with its now-meaningless numerical designations.

New Camry has received some praise, even in rental form I would call that an upgrade from a Corolla.

I was behind a nice-looking newish M-B today, a rootbeer brown metallic coupe with E53 and AMG badging on the trunk, very snazzy. Driver was likely of dubious taste though as he pulled into a Wendy’s. I figured driving something like that meant Five Guys at a minimum.

Probably eating at Wendy's because of the car payment, Five Guys can be pretty dear! That with an AMG would mean a real tycoon.

xwesx

Well, just eating at a restaurant means they can't be too far upside down. One could get weeks of Ramen from one such visit to a Wendy's!