Rental Car Roulette
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CrzRsn
So long, and thanks for all the fish
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Wanted to drive down to Indy to visit my fianc?e for the weekend. Was a bit weary about taking the Jeep since it has a less than perfect track record for long distance trips. Both times I've taken it somewhere, it left me stranded. And while I was confident that I had all the issues worked out, I didn't really want to risk it. And the Mustang and Miata aren't out of storage so I couldn't take either of those. Started looking at rental cars and turned out I could rent an economy car from Budget for $32, a compact for $34 or a full size for $39. And with the 30+mpg of a modern compact car, I'd actually come out on top over the 10-13mpg of my Jeep. So it was a no brainer - faster, cheaper, and less risky.
Budget also has this thing called Fastbreak. Basically the way I understood the program was that if you give them your credit card and driver's license information up front, you can skip the line when you get there and choose any car in the class you paid for from the lot. I signed up for it when I booked my "Ford Focus or similar." When I arrived at the rental place, the Fastbreak customers had to go to a freezing canopy in the middle of the lot rather than the warm building to pick up their car info. When I got there, it showed that I was to pick a car from "Fastbreak Zone 1." I looked outside and found the 3 spots that made up that area to be empty. There was a phone in the canopy that auto dialed the office, so I picked that up and told them my car was missing. They told me to hold on a minute. Meanwhile, looking around the lot, I spotted 3-4 Ford Focuses in the non-Fastbreak compact car section. When they came back on the line they told me they were trying to figure out what car I should take. I asked them about those cars across the lot, because you know, I paid for a "Ford Focus or similar" and those were Ford Focuses, but they said I couldn't take one of those because I had their premium service (I'm assuming they were referring to Fastbreak). They finally told me to take a car from "Fastbreak Zone 2." Walked back outside to find a Nissan Sentra and a Kia Forte parked there. Really wishing I didn't sign up for Fastbreak at this point. Thinking its a no-brainer, I got in the Sentra, was about to leave when I noticed it had no USB, no aux-in and no Bluetooth. Seeing as how I'd be driving Detroit to Indianapolis and back, USB and/or Bluetooth streaming was a must. Checked the Forte and saw that it had both of those so I switched. Pulled up to the exit gate and the guy asked for my credit card and proceeded to print a million pages of paper. I thought the whole point of Fastbreak was to get in and go (thats what it says online anyways).
When I finally did leave, I plugged my phone in the USB only to find out that the car suffered the same stupid issue as the Hyundai and wouldn't let me play Pandora because I had no music on my phone. At least I could Bluetooth stream. Started doing that only to head a noise that made my ears bleed - the front speakers were blown. Checked the sound settings and found that one of the previous renters cranked the bass all the way up and the treble all the way down. Fannnntastic. Music was out of the question, but playing with the sound settings, I was able to get it to a point where voice was tolerable (bass all the way down, fader half way back) so I listened to a new podcast all the way there and back - it was actually pretty enjoyable, highly recommended. As for the driving? Keeping the car pointing straight was a chore. I'm going to blame the alignment because I refuse to believe the steering tuning could be THAT terrible. The suspension was tuned just to that point between too firm and just right. Seats were highly uncomfortable. Gauges were dimmable to a good brightness, but infotainment screen was far too bright even in its lowest setting. In the end, I put about 600 miles on the car, averages 33mpg and spent most of the time sitting at speeds the Jeep can't even reach, so the car did its job, but man I wish I had one of those Focuses, or even spring the extra $5 for a "Ford Fusion or similar."
Budget also has this thing called Fastbreak. Basically the way I understood the program was that if you give them your credit card and driver's license information up front, you can skip the line when you get there and choose any car in the class you paid for from the lot. I signed up for it when I booked my "Ford Focus or similar." When I arrived at the rental place, the Fastbreak customers had to go to a freezing canopy in the middle of the lot rather than the warm building to pick up their car info. When I got there, it showed that I was to pick a car from "Fastbreak Zone 1." I looked outside and found the 3 spots that made up that area to be empty. There was a phone in the canopy that auto dialed the office, so I picked that up and told them my car was missing. They told me to hold on a minute. Meanwhile, looking around the lot, I spotted 3-4 Ford Focuses in the non-Fastbreak compact car section. When they came back on the line they told me they were trying to figure out what car I should take. I asked them about those cars across the lot, because you know, I paid for a "Ford Focus or similar" and those were Ford Focuses, but they said I couldn't take one of those because I had their premium service (I'm assuming they were referring to Fastbreak). They finally told me to take a car from "Fastbreak Zone 2." Walked back outside to find a Nissan Sentra and a Kia Forte parked there. Really wishing I didn't sign up for Fastbreak at this point. Thinking its a no-brainer, I got in the Sentra, was about to leave when I noticed it had no USB, no aux-in and no Bluetooth. Seeing as how I'd be driving Detroit to Indianapolis and back, USB and/or Bluetooth streaming was a must. Checked the Forte and saw that it had both of those so I switched. Pulled up to the exit gate and the guy asked for my credit card and proceeded to print a million pages of paper. I thought the whole point of Fastbreak was to get in and go (thats what it says online anyways).
When I finally did leave, I plugged my phone in the USB only to find out that the car suffered the same stupid issue as the Hyundai and wouldn't let me play Pandora because I had no music on my phone. At least I could Bluetooth stream. Started doing that only to head a noise that made my ears bleed - the front speakers were blown. Checked the sound settings and found that one of the previous renters cranked the bass all the way up and the treble all the way down. Fannnntastic. Music was out of the question, but playing with the sound settings, I was able to get it to a point where voice was tolerable (bass all the way down, fader half way back) so I listened to a new podcast all the way there and back - it was actually pretty enjoyable, highly recommended. As for the driving? Keeping the car pointing straight was a chore. I'm going to blame the alignment because I refuse to believe the steering tuning could be THAT terrible. The suspension was tuned just to that point between too firm and just right. Seats were highly uncomfortable. Gauges were dimmable to a good brightness, but infotainment screen was far too bright even in its lowest setting. In the end, I put about 600 miles on the car, averages 33mpg and spent most of the time sitting at speeds the Jeep can't even reach, so the car did its job, but man I wish I had one of those Focuses, or even spring the extra $5 for a "Ford Fusion or similar."
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I've tried to book a fusion and always get a Korean or Japanese. Which is sad because I feel like that would be ideal for the amount of shit I carry.
Try hertz next time. The first time you set that up, you have to go to the counter. Every time after that, it's just pick up your shit from checked luggage, find your name on the illuminated board in the parking garage and go to the stall location. Get in, drive to gate give the gate teller your drivers license, get receipt, go.
Try hertz next time. The first time you set that up, you have to go to the counter. Every time after that, it's just pick up your shit from checked luggage, find your name on the illuminated board in the parking garage and go to the stall location. Get in, drive to gate give the gate teller your drivers license, get receipt, go.
Labcoatguy
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Passat TSI. Quite fun compared to the usual stuff; the manual mode on the auto holds the gears and is responsive for what it is, and it's quite chuckable. Onscreen buttons on the infotainment system though are dangerously small and hard to use while in motion. Another car that I enjoy renting and would never drive; see also all FCA products.
CrzRsn
So long, and thanks for all the fish
- Joined
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- Motor City, Michigan
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- 13 Ford Mustang GT, 17 Ford Fiesta ST
Rented a compact car with Alamo for the weekend in Washington DC. The guy at the desk tried to get me to upgrade to fullsize for $39 saying "it is 70% off." First of all, had I booked a fullsize online from the start, it would have only cost me an extra $4.50 a day (or $13.50 total) more than what I paid for the compact, which is much less than the $39 more you were trying to con me into. Second of all, after declining the "discounted" upgrade, I walked to the garage where the attendant quickly glanced at my reservation and said I could take anything in spots 1-15, of which, 10-15 were designated full size.
tl;dr - I was offered to pay $39 for a $13.50 upgrade that I ended up getting anyways for free.
tl;dr - I was offered to pay $39 for a $13.50 upgrade that I ended up getting anyways for free.
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- Joined
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- Mustang SVO - Frontier Pro-4X - BRZ - D21 Hardbody
Never posted here, but for a quick job in the Carolinas dad and I got this as a rental.
It's not bad, a little roomier than my Nissan, but has awful drone at highway speeds from the exhaust. Hopefully I'll get a turn behind the wheel tomorrow.
It's not bad, a little roomier than my Nissan, but has awful drone at highway speeds from the exhaust. Hopefully I'll get a turn behind the wheel tomorrow.
D
D-Fence
Guest
Finally SIXT delivered.... 1000km old F11 BMW 520d Touring, dark blue, M-Pack, Individual dark brown leather, HUD.......what a waste for Dutch highways 
Rental Car Roulette
Got a 6,500mi old 2017 Ford Edge. Rides nice, more quiet than the Outback I had a month ago. Feels more stable at 95-100mph (allegedly) than an Outback, and has less visibility. I hopped a curb while in downtown Boise. That's 1 more than 0, can't have that. It's much faster with the base engine then I expected. It has paddle shifting available but, you cannot downshift to 2nd when you're in 3rd and the engine is at 3,500RPM. Even in 'sport' mode. Loads of trunk space and decent second row space. Drivers seat is good enough. It's just 'meh.' There's no real redeeming qualities that would make me want one. It also shares the same gauge cluster as the current expedition.
Nice thing is the latency with Bluetooth audio is perfect. Unlike Nissans or Subaru's, you can watch a YouTube video and the audio syncs up. I got to hotels earlier than check in so before requesting room at say noon or 2 PM, I'll wait an hour and watch videos in the car. Troubling thing with my iPod 5th generation is that when you hook it up to USB (no aux jack on the base radio and SEL trim) you have to select songs via the radio. You can't unplug the iPod, choose your song and then expect it to play. It disables local control when you plug it in. You're stuck with using the inferior system that shows 3(or 4?) lines of artists/album/ or song at a time. You can hold the down arrow or hit the button that has letters A-H to go from a b or c. You're still stuck sitting there constantly look up and back at the radio or stopping off to choose songs.
This is also the first car to have the windshield crack on me and almost get side swiped. I had one of those "I'm changing lanes with no signal" people in a beat up old FWD GM product of the 90s drivers swerve into my lane.
One last thing. The headlights suck. They're H4656 levels of dimness.
Got a 6,500mi old 2017 Ford Edge. Rides nice, more quiet than the Outback I had a month ago. Feels more stable at 95-100mph (allegedly) than an Outback, and has less visibility. I hopped a curb while in downtown Boise. That's 1 more than 0, can't have that. It's much faster with the base engine then I expected. It has paddle shifting available but, you cannot downshift to 2nd when you're in 3rd and the engine is at 3,500RPM. Even in 'sport' mode. Loads of trunk space and decent second row space. Drivers seat is good enough. It's just 'meh.' There's no real redeeming qualities that would make me want one. It also shares the same gauge cluster as the current expedition.
Nice thing is the latency with Bluetooth audio is perfect. Unlike Nissans or Subaru's, you can watch a YouTube video and the audio syncs up. I got to hotels earlier than check in so before requesting room at say noon or 2 PM, I'll wait an hour and watch videos in the car. Troubling thing with my iPod 5th generation is that when you hook it up to USB (no aux jack on the base radio and SEL trim) you have to select songs via the radio. You can't unplug the iPod, choose your song and then expect it to play. It disables local control when you plug it in. You're stuck with using the inferior system that shows 3(or 4?) lines of artists/album/ or song at a time. You can hold the down arrow or hit the button that has letters A-H to go from a b or c. You're still stuck sitting there constantly look up and back at the radio or stopping off to choose songs.
This is also the first car to have the windshield crack on me and almost get side swiped. I had one of those "I'm changing lanes with no signal" people in a beat up old FWD GM product of the 90s drivers swerve into my lane.
One last thing. The headlights suck. They're H4656 levels of dimness.
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- Joined
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- '10 Lulzcer GTS, '84 Porschelump 944, '71 VW 411
Finally SIXT delivered.... 1000km old F11 BMW 520d Touring, dark blue, M-Pack, Individual dark brown leather, HUD.......what a waste for Dutch highways
Damn, your rental cars are way more interesting than ours.
I've got to get Lulzcer repairs done next week. Rental incoming. Blergh.
Maybe I need to fetch the 944 and drive that.
Perc
Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object
You can rent a VW Up too if you want. Working for BMW helps you get into the nicer rentals.
Vipergts662
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- 2016 Holden Commodore (chevy ss), 2020 Explorer ST
Got stuck with a GMC Terrain....
Why do people buy these things?? The ride is terrible I am tempted to say worse than my old 2007 STi with road noise almost as bad. The engine or what ever they have under the hood is not even close to adequate for this vehicle. The blind spots are horrible for a vehicle that size as well.
Interior is not much better than the ride typical Chevy plastics and finish, I am glad Holden did not use that mentality with the Commodore (SS).
Why would anyone buy a Terrain over an Edge?
Why do people buy these things?? The ride is terrible I am tempted to say worse than my old 2007 STi with road noise almost as bad. The engine or what ever they have under the hood is not even close to adequate for this vehicle. The blind spots are horrible for a vehicle that size as well.
Interior is not much better than the ride typical Chevy plastics and finish, I am glad Holden did not use that mentality with the Commodore (SS).
Why would anyone buy a Terrain over an Edge?
Spectre
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Ask rick. IIRC, he endorsed the Terrain.
rickhamilton620
has a fetish for terrible cars
Wrong. I fucking hate the terrain. It's ugly as sin, impossible to see out of, slow, cheap and nasty inside too. The new one doesn't look any better.
Sounds like a perfect replacement to my Patriot.
Sent from my iPhone because it pisses DanRoM off.
Sent from my iPhone because it pisses DanRoM off.
Vipergts662
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- Houston
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- 2016 Holden Commodore (chevy ss), 2020 Explorer ST
It did make me feel dirty as I was getting in and of course it smelled like cheap cologne, why do most rental cars smell like cheap cologne, is that a prerequisite for a traveling salesman?
I should have done what I normally do and gone to the counter to exchange vehicles.
Spectre
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Then what terrible GM crossover was it that you did endorse? I remember you endorsed one and we all looked askance at you.
rickhamilton620
has a fetish for terrible cars
Probably the Vue which is similarly terrible and slow but at least it's not a visual abomination.
So... holiday rental on the cheap! What can one expect, when booking the "el cheapo" (it's literally called that) category that only states to be SOMETHING that has 4 doors, 4 seats and a manual and is newer than 2002?
It's a 2008 Hyundai Getz 1.4 with 250 Mm on the clock! Actually, it's not THAT bad... it has working AC at least and feels mechanically very fine for that amount of mileage. That's where the positives stop, though. Well I guess it was fairly cheap... but still. The seating possition is impossible, the engine does not have ANY power ANYWHERE in the revrange (anymore?), the electric side mirrors are broken, the interior rattles and squeaks and the position of the knob on the hot/cold settings don't seem to have any effect (I basically fix this by constantly turning AC on and off). Anyway... I only have to endure the thing another 4.5 days, then they get another chance when I switch to New Zealands north island for 2.5 days.
It's a 2008 Hyundai Getz 1.4 with 250 Mm on the clock! Actually, it's not THAT bad... it has working AC at least and feels mechanically very fine for that amount of mileage. That's where the positives stop, though. Well I guess it was fairly cheap... but still. The seating possition is impossible, the engine does not have ANY power ANYWHERE in the revrange (anymore?), the electric side mirrors are broken, the interior rattles and squeaks and the position of the knob on the hot/cold settings don't seem to have any effect (I basically fix this by constantly turning AC on and off). Anyway... I only have to endure the thing another 4.5 days, then they get another chance when I switch to New Zealands north island for 2.5 days.
Where does one go for el cheapo car rental?
Sent from my iPhone because it pisses DanRoM off.
Sent from my iPhone because it pisses DanRoM off.
GRtak
Forum Addict
You really need a hobby.