Common Canadian Rental Cars

Andeh

Andeh

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Hey all,

We're renting a car in Calgary for 3 weeks this weekend, and it's booked in as 'Ford Fusion or similar'. Just wondering what the similar cars in the class are, and which to avoid if given an option.


2010 Edit: Well, my trip to Calgary never actually went ahead last year, so it's been rebooked for this year. Again the rental car is 'Ford Fusion or similar'. What are the chances of getting one this year? *Fingers crossed*
 
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When it comes to rentals, I mostly see Toyotas, Hyundais, Chevrolets and Dodges. Of the lot, avoid the Dodge since you'd be looking at an Avenger and that's less than good, the rest should be quite alright.
 
I'll just list what my own branch offers:

Compact: Suzuki Swift+(Chevrolet Aveo rebadge), Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent
Intermediate: Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5(the most common car in every rental fleet in the country), Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Dodge Caliber, Kia Spectra, Suzuki SX4
Standard: Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, Mazda 3, Pontiac G6, Dodge Avenger/Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler PT Cruiser
Full size: Chevrolet Impala(very common), Pontiac Grand Prix(used to be common all old now), Nissan Altima, Hyundai Sonata, Buick Allure, Mitsubishi Gallant, Ford Fusion(2010 models)

If you're able to, depending on the company and how busy they are avoid the Swift+(Aveo, Wave), the Caliber, and the Avenger/Sebring. Most rental branches carry GMs, so there's usually a whole bunch of Cobalts, G5s, Impalas and depending on the branch maybe Grand Prix. Japanese branded vehicles aren't as common, if you have a selection of Hyundais try and get a 2009 Sonata its actually good.
 
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Andeh said:
Hey all,

We're renting a car in Calgary for 3 weeks this weekend, and it's booked in as 'Ford Fusion or similar'. Just wondering what the similar cars in the class are, and which to avoid if given an option.
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You could allso buy a used car. :)
 
Avoid the Dodge at all costs. My car was in the shop for 2 days, and we had an Avenger as a replacement. We didn't use it once. When I pushed one corner (rear right or front left, ect.) the car would continue to wobble for approximately 5 or so seconds.

I've also seen Mazda 6 rentals, and I'm assuming its in the same class as the fusion. That is also another nice car of the class.
 
nouseferaname90 said:
I've also seen Mazda 6 rentals, and I'm assuming its in the same class as the fusion. That is also another nice car of the class.
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Indeed the Mazda 6 is in the same class as the Fusion, the only thing is there are fewer of them than say last year when there were several. I'm not sure why but our group hasn't bought a single 09 Mazda, so were all still on our remaining 08s and with more Mazda 3s available...a lot of our Mazda 6s are retiring from rental service. Heck my branch is on our last one.
 
I booked a compact (or sub-compact) about a month ago in Toronto, and I got a Toyota Matrix...which was pretty good. I was surprised that they wanted to charge like 10 or 20 dollars extra per day for additional drivers. I used Dollar Rent a Car/Thrifty, which worked out cheaper than the others.
 
I forget what class the likes of which the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, or Town Car are in, but go for those for some old fashioned RWD shennanigans :D
 
Sounds like you booked a full size.

The fleets can be very different from region so theres no way of knowing for sure.
The Fusion and Sonata are quite nice. The Allure is huge and drives like a 1970's chesterfield but that also makes it fun at slower speeds. The Impala is okay but very boring.

Try and be first at the rental counter, they may try and give you a specific vehicle. Ask (politely) if there any other options in the class and you should be able to pick and choose. Or you might be able to bump up a class for little to no cost.

If there are any Crown Vics, Town Cars or similar go for them. They are a blast. Turn of the traction control and they drift/powerslide very easily.
 
Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5(the most common car in every rental fleet in the country)
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Ha :lol:

That reminds me of the summary Car & Driver gave of that car. It said: Rent Me.
 
epp_b said:
Ha :lol:

That reminds me of the summary Car & Driver gave of that car. It said: Rent Me.
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Ours come with roll up windows and manual locks. People really enjoy locking all 4-doors and using arm work to make the window go up or down. :p

Funny thing is GM Canada insist we only give GMs...well they sold us a whole bunch of Cobalts and G5s...so the GM customer gets to see us renting things like a 2010 Ford Fusion, Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Outlanders while their car is a pre-determined Cobalt/G5, they might get lucky and put their family in a 2-door one. :lol:
 
Andeh said:
Hey all,

We're renting a car in Calgary for 3 weeks this weekend, and it's booked in as 'Ford Fusion or similar'. Just wondering what the similar cars in the class are, and which to avoid if given an option.
Click to expand...

I have seen a ton of Ford Fusion rental cars. So I would think your going to end up with a Ford Fusion:

2010-ford-fusion-hybrid.jpg


Great car.
 
It depends on the company. Hertz still is pretty Ford biased even though they were spun off years ago.
 
dino_martini said:
I have seen a ton of Ford Fusion rental cars. So I would think your going to end up with a Ford Fusion:

Great car.
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Yep, we started getting a whole bunch of 2010 Fusions last month. Just got another brand new one today. I agree these are very good cars, a little spongy but overall clearly the superior choice between GM, Ford and Chrysler.

argatoga said:
It depends on the company. Hertz still is pretty Ford biased even though they were spun off years ago.
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Hertz in Canada is actually more Toyota based here. They have the largest amount of fleet Camrys and have a lot of business with Toyota dealers.

Andeh said:
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, it's AVIS if that helps anyone.
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I'm not sure what AVIS has in fleet, unlike the others they seem to hide their cars. Discount has lots of GMs and Dodges, Budget is the only one with Sebring convertibles(I laugh every time I see these things), I work at Ecars and we buy...almost everything depending on what dealership each branch deals with. Mine for instance has lots of Nissan business so we have the most amount of Nissan Versas, Sentras and Altimas.
 
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I'm going to be heading to Toronto in a few weeks, and we've requested a Corolla from Hertz. The question is, is it going to be the current generation Corolla or the last one? I was really hoping to drive the newer one around (and write up a goold old fashion review on it).
 
Wizegui said:
I'm going to be heading to Toronto in a few weeks, and we've requested a Corolla from Hertz. The question is, is it going to be the current generation Corolla or the last one? I was really hoping to drive the newer one around (and write up a goold old fashion review on it).
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Its most likely going to be a 2009 since they actually sold the 2009 all the way back in May 2008. We sold all of our 2006-2008 Corollas last September.

I personally thought the 2009 Corolla was worse than the previous 2003-2008 ones in several ways. The Prius was more fun to be perfectly honest.

Edit: Oh be prepared for roll up windows, a 2009 Corolla CE still doesn't offer power windows as standard equipment.
 
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Bit of a bump, but my trip never went ahead this year, so it's happening again this August. Again the rental car is 'Ford Fusion or similar'. What are the chances of getting one this year? *Fingers crossed*
 
Which Avis branch are you going to rent from, the one at the airport? I could call them for you and find out if you want. (assuming you're still heading to Calgary)
 
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