Rental Car Roulette

That looks suspiciously like a german numberplate (oh - if you open the picture full size it clearly shows it is indeed), and going 160-180 surely doesn't sound like any other country than Germany... ;)
So, what brings you to U-Rope?
 
That looks suspiciously like a german numberplate (oh - if you open the picture full size it clearly shows it is indeed), and going 160-180 surely doesn't sound like any other country than Germany... ;)
So, what brings you to U-Rope?

Work with a side of Ringmeet
 
This has to be the only Citroën C3 in existance that has ever been above 90km/h.
 
It's a C4
 
- I see, the stupid trend with fake square exhaust has now reached the side and front of cars.
- What's with the Duplo connectors on the dashboard?
- Also the front looks like made by three different design teams, with all the results just stacked on top of eachother.
/rant ?
 
It feels like Citroën kind of lost the plot when they discontinued the C5.
 
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Sadly not the red one.

Not confident inspiring above 180, and downright scary above 160 in curves.

Engine is surprisingly peppy. Transmission in Sport mode is extremely jerky, but in normal mode it's on sedative.

It has Android Auto, but won't connect to my phone.

No ACC, no tachometer, no keyless entry and start

Visibility is horrible, specially with the placement of the rearview mirror.

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4/10, would not recommend.

Due to some rules at Avis.de about not renting cars for longer than 30 days, the ? was replaced with a Seat Ibiza for the rest of my stay.

The Ibiza was better equipped, had better handling, a manual gearbox, and a working Android Auto.

It also had an anemic engine, and apparently winter tires on, as I discovered on my way back to FRA when I got warnings whenever I would drive above 150.


Cue a second short trip the last week of August, where I was given this gem:

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Opel Grandland 1.4

To go with the anemic engine, it had a manual transmission that had the worst clutch pedal in the world. My Logitech G27 had better feel.

Similar road handling to the ?, unstable above 180, and scary in fast sweepers above 160. It also seems to be limited to 184.

It had a working Android Auto, but with the worst implementation of safety inhibits I've seen.

To allow unlimited inputs on the touch screen, parking brake needed to be on. Since it's an electronic parking brake, this was doubly annoying.

I'm pretty sure on my car it's purely speed based, so I can even be in gear, as long as I'm stopped I can input whatever I need.
 
The Grandland is one of those Opels that were built under GM but using Peugeot bits. It feels like they still were trying to figure things out.

It really looks like they're finding their mojo with the new Astra and Mokka that just came out. Don't know if they are any better to drive, though.
 
150 sounds like a weird winter tyre limitation, at least outside the Nordics, maybe a previous renter just set the limiter manually :dunno: the lowest speed rating is usually T / 190.
 
2021 GMC 3500 chassis 16’ box truck.

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Drove this yesterday because it was more affordable and reliable than having a freight company at the moment to deliver some time sensitive stuff to a customer in Iowa. 524mi or 843kms done yesterday. Stuff I was delivering was around 2500lbs/1.5 tons. Truck has a payload capacity of 4300lbs. So nicely loaded. Having less than 20,000mi on it this had to be the newest, least abused moving truck I've ever driven.

Being newer but still a very old design (we're talking mid-2000s refresh GM chassis) this surprisingly had decent power and very good brakes. They were of course hydraulic but not of the usual GM truck brakes where they feel scary to use as if you have air in the line. Road noise was there and so was the wind noise. I could also hear the bugs hitting the box as I drove along. I was surprised to find the radio while no having bluetooth, had USB input so I wasn't left listening to bumps in the road and or a crappy radio station. That said already there was a problem the door speakers, the drivers side would go in and out depending on how hard you took a corner or hit a bump in the road. Ride was rough because leaf springs, it already needed an alignment, and there was something out of balance while driving. The engine had plenty of power and you hit the limiter of 75MPH (120km/h) quickly. Drivers seat was flat and the armrest helped keep me in the seat. No back support so I had intense tailbone pain after 2hrs, and I spent 8.5hrs in this thing. Cruise control engaged below 70mph and if you accelerated over 70, the cruise would switch off automatically, not like any car where you can exceed the setting, then let the car coast back and the cruise control will pickup once the speed gets low enough. Fuel mileage was 11.4mpg or 20.6 l/100km. Surprisingly, this has a backup camera (screen is in the rearview mirror!) collision warning, and lane departure. I would recommend over U-Haul any day. Newer truck, less beat.

All in all, I was out of the office for a day, and hardly talked to anyone, so that was nice.
 
When I saw the printout of the rental agreement I was all geared up to hate on this in a thermonuclear fashion.

Four days in and I love the bloody thing! My only gripe is that every day around mid afternoon it forgets it has Android Auto and of course being French the gearbox is notchy even when warm but that's to be expected.

The blown three pot pulls brilliantly above 2500 revs, ride is firm enough to feel secure but not so much that it shatters your spine, body roll is less than expected, turn in is crisp without a hint of understeer even on wet roundabouts, plenty of feel through the steering wheel, brakes are good and not at all snatchy and it's well specced. The lane keeping system is hilarious on the motorway; it drifts from centre line to hard shoulder and back again like the old lady at the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off!

Would I buy one? With money? Of course not. It's a Renault. Values go down faster than a porn star on performance pay.

Would I be happy with another one for enjoying the B roads of Eire? You can bet your bollocks to a barn dance I would.

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This being the only appropriate brand of car for the most famous road in Romania, I can’t really complain. Could have been a Sandero, but the luggage for two people and two weeks fits better in this Logan.

What can I say? Apart from the electric front windows, air conditioning and possibly the stereo (whose Bluetooth function was sort of hidden), it’s absolute poverty spec. But you can’t drive very fast on Romanian country roads anyway and it’s alright for the A roads and occasional bits of motorway.

I drove it hard for the first couple of kilometres up the northern part of the Transfăgărășan and it didn’t explode, so I parked it with the bonnet open for about half an hour while the wife and I took a walk. I slowed down for the rest because I don’t have a nearby mechanic on speed dial.

It likes to give amusing shifting recommendations, the throttle response tends to be somewhat erratic, the steering is best described as “functional”, but the brakes are alright. Which is nice because some of the local drivers are a bit… adventurous.
 
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2021(22?) Infiniti QX 80, basically a Nissan Armada I think.

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Somehow I got Hertz Presidents Circle and being Tuesday, the weekly rental choice was thin so it was this, a Chevy Impala (already had before) or a Ford Escape/Kuga (curious, but not big enough). But, what do you want from the Newark airport.

Rides well enough, though it seems to go any direction it feels when you hit a pothole, it rides smooth enough, though I think that's because of the thicker (taller) than car tires. It has great acceleration and shifts well. This model has radar cruise control and it does traffic pretty good. If you stop though, you have to give the throttle a tap, it beeps to remind you. Auto climate control worked well enough, but it's not great at filtering outside air. Downtown Newark had a lot of weed smoke, vape clouds, and cigar smoke. Basically 1:1 for what you smelled outside versus inside... gross.

This also has wireless carplay but no wireless charger that I could find. It has a power lift gate and a very high load floor. The liftgate I don't think goes up high enough that someone taller than me would be able to handle.

The engine has good power as I said, but it's not isolated well. You feel it through your feet and when sitting still, can feel with the A/C compressor engages as well as the engine RPMs go from 800-1100 which you feel the whole vehicle vibrate when that happens.

On the interior, It's nice enough but feels like 2000s Chrysler, plus most of the things inside can be had a nicely spec'd Altima. One thing I don't like on the exterior, opening the doors and letting the door handle snap back is what snaps you back to reality. You hear a metallic smack as the whole door radiates the noise of the door handle snapping closed. It's like a cheap Nissan Note, except this QX80 starts at $70,500.

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This also suffers from Mustang brightness syndrome.

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Somebody didn't figure out how to match display brightness between gauges, center disply, and lower display with the backlit buttons. So your car play screen is eye searing at night while everything else is reasonable. That lower screen sucks as well, but not as bad.

A well spec'd Golf or Tiguan feels more solid than this thing.
 
Having to tap the throttle to get going again is probably a safety feature. My car is the same and it's probably because there's a big chance the driver will fall asleep after sitting stationary in traffic for several minutes.

Mom's Suzuki, on the other hand, starts beeping like a microwave a few seconds after stopping. It wants you to put a foot on the brake which obviously cancels the ACC altogether so you have to manually start off again and enable ACC again. I don't get it.
 
Gena and I recently took a trip north for an end of the race season getaway. We flew to save time and give us more time at our destination. This required the hiring of a rental car. Since we knew it would be snowy, I rented a mid-size SUV (Nissan Rogue or similar it said), but instead, got this...

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Just moments after getting the keys to what the lady behind the counter described only as a "Brown Jepp". I was surprised to find a Grand Cherokee, expecting a Renegade or Cherokee, but secretly hoping for a Wrangler.


What we had was a Jepp Grand Cherokee Limited (2020 or 2019, I believe by the mileage of 37k miles/~60k km), with the 3.6 V6 and automatic transmission. A little bigger than I really wanted, but was glad to see 4x4 on the hatch. Although, I never once figured out how to engage 4wd and assumed it was actually AWD. What I was less thrilled to see was the half worn all-season tires (more on that shortly). We had it booked for nine days and the total was something like $750, without the extra insurance.


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Our first day in Marquette was boring stuff, like getting supplies for the AirBnB and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. The next day found us at the Forest Dam Falls for an extended hike up the Dead River.


There was plenty of power from the V6 (but I would bet the Hemi would be even more fun), it rode nice, had minimal wind noise (something I hadn't realized until I got back in my Frontier ? ), was an easy vehicle to maneuver in tight areas, despite it's size, etc.


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One of the day trips found us heading south and east to the shores of Lake Michigan to see the Cut River bridge. On the return trip we found ourselves in the tiny community of Naubinway for a lunch at the Moofinfries restaurant.


Fuel economy of the 3.6 V6 impressed me as well. Knocking back something in the 22 mpg range on the long straight flat roads of the UP. I loved the combination of the analog tach, temp and fuel gauge with the large clear screen in the middle. Radio/infotainment was adequate, but the lack of Andriod Auto/Apple Carplay and the fact I had to connect my phone each time through the menu was annoying. The rest of the interior was nice, nothing hard except the wood trim that ran from through the front doors and dash. Tan cloth seats wouldn't have been my first choice. Cargo area was huge and backseat space looked very plentiful, but I never sat back there.


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Our Thanksgiving day was spent entirely in the AirBnB watching it snow, eating turkey and passing out. The next day was reminder to me why, if I lived up there, I would want some covered parking.


Let's get back to the worn all-seasons for a second. The extra snow we got on Thanksgiving had me ready to get out and explore some of the lesser known roads of the Marquette area. We took off without a plan and found ourselves on some lesser traveled roads that led to bicycle trails (I wish I was riding, but I was barred from it on this trip). After turning around from one trailhead and headed back for town, while descending a short incline on a gravel road covered with snow, the Jepp refused to stop. I wasn't going fast, it wasn't that steep, but it was instant lockup and now we are sliding through the stop sign and headed for a very steep ravine. Luckily, releasing the brakes and giving the wheel a quick turn got us turned and pointed down the road.


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Sadly the engine bay is like most and mostly plastic to obscure what things actually look like. Plenty of room for that optional Hemi.


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The last day of our trip before we flew out early the next morning we found ourselves again, just driving around. We came across the Little Presque Isle state park. A short hike through the snowy forest brought us the small isle and a frozen beach. Quite the contrast to what the area looks like when we have been there in the summer. A beautiful wild none the less.

Overall, I really liked this one. If it were mine, I'd go for the darker interior (leather with seat heaters would be nice) and if I were living up there, snow tires. If it weren't a Mopar, I might consider adding one the Blanton fleet.
 
Very like pics/text mix reports like this. Just a good write-up. Nice car too.
 
What we had was a Jepp Grand Cherokee Limited (2020 or 2019, I believe by the mileage of 37k miles/~60k km), with the 3.6 V6 and automatic transmission. A little bigger than I really wanted, but was glad to see 4x4 on the hatch. Although, I never once figured out how to engage 4wd and assumed it was actually AWD. What I was less thrilled to see was the half worn all-season tires (more on that shortly). We had it booked for nine days and the total was something like $750, without the extra insurance.

This is usually "time to sell it off" mileage. Rarely do I see an over 40,000mi rental car from the big names. Makes sense the tires were dead, shitty though. I had a Nissan Versa Note like that a few years back while in the NYC suburbs during a particularly slushy snow storm that closed the Palisades Parkway for the night.
 
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