Post here your rental cars. Include if you wish a brief review of the car, alongside the details of your trip. Kicking it off we have:
2009 Ford C-Max, rented for a 3-day drive through Switzerland from Geneva to Zurich. Honestly, not a bad car, despite its size. Handled itself surprisingly well on Alpine switchbacks, and wasnt too much of a pig in city.
Next was a pair of Toyota Yarises (Yari?) in Iceland, for a days drive from Reykjavik around some of the Golden Circle stops, including Geysir and Gullfoss. On the whole, though burdened by 4 people each, the two cars performed admirably, even handling the dirt roads deeper in the countryside well. Both were stick, and the trannies seemed a bit... disconnected, and a tad sluggish.
Then, two days later, a shiny (not for long ) new Land Rover Discovery 3. Decided I should rent a 4x4 and drive to/on a glacier. So I did, and 4 of my friends decided to join me. A very nice vehicle, very comfortable, well-appointed interior, and very capable off-road. the only time I got at all bogged down was when I hit a patch of snow while still in highway mode. I kinda want one now.
I flew down to the Festival of Speed this year instead of driving and paying too much for a rental car seemed a bit pointless.
I got excited when I thought I saw BMW M written on the form but my heart sank when I saw the Nissan badge on the keys. I momentarily kidded myself with the thought of a GTR but knew exactly what was coming...
I've never been so embarrassed before in my life. That includes the wardrobe malfunction at a school disco. The worst part is that I have to admit it wasn't too bad to drive. Sure it was ugly and proved that there is a car out there with worse performance than my Land Rover but it was comfortable, quiet, took corners alrightish and had air conditioning. Won't shed a tear if I never drive it again though.
Wooo! Revival! Nothing of much note, was in Texas a couple of weekends ago (got to meet up with Mav and Foe while down there with my brand spanking new rental, a white 2011 Nissan Versa with 62 miles on it when I picked it up. Still had temporary tags and all. Let's just say it had an interesting break-in period... No pics of it and my overall opinion of it was that its a fine car for a first car or for a transportation appliance. No giddyup, no zip, no zazz, not much of anything really. So yeah, not recommended. Yaris still is king of the small cars for right now in my mind (and this from a Mini owner!)
Actually I'm somewhat surprised that this thread hasnt had more activity what with the number of incidents our garage folk seem to have with their cars... not more rentals and loaners out there? I find rentals to be an interesting method of reviewing...
I have National Emerald Club, so when I reserve a Medium Size car I can walk directly to the Emerald Aisle and pick any car available. They had a Challenger, but we had plans to pick up my mom and step dad for an entire day of being in the car so i got something a bit larger and more comfortable for 4 adults.
Not necessarily a rental but more of a "borrowed..."
I got to drive a GMC Denali today while dropping off my roommate's mom, roommate's mom's boss and 9 other people [all in the Denali] at the Cowboy's Stadium today for the Texas A&M-UArk game. It's very... squishy... There also seems to be a bit of lag between when you hit the gas to when you actually go. Also, fully loaded with 11 people, it didn't have enough torque to move forward. Like at all. And these weren't big people... lol It was very nice though. The interior was quite comfy and I have to say, the back-up camera that came up in the touchscreen navigation/radio screen was incredibly handy. Though the back-up sensors were very sensitive and alerted me to the building 25 feet away from the back of the truck.
Had three different Zipcars in the last week: Volvo S40, Mazda3, and Nissan Sentra.
S40- No frills, nice enough for a "luxury" car, but still pretty pedestrian. Cheap plastics and fabrics, cramped cabin, cramped rear seats. Absolutely hate the floating console thing. Drives okay, but sluggish throttle response, loose steering. Smooth ride, not too much noise, but it feels a bit unsettled at a lot of speeds.
Mazda3- Boring, but zippy enough to have fun in. Many of the same issues as the S40, but seems more appropriate for the price range. Much more of a driver's car, nimble and planted, but still smooth and quiet.
Sentra- So boring and uninteresting It barely merits mention. Seems solid enough, a decent transportation appliance.
I've had the exact opposite experience with my rental Nissan Sentra, it's a 2011.
It's zippy. Like, it goes and the brakes definitely work, really well. The interior is pretty awesome. Obviously econobox-ish, but good digital gauges, very good sounding stereo [I'm very particular about my stereos too, so I was pleasantly surprised], even an iPod in connection and an aux in connection. Maybe I love it because our other option was a Chevy Aveo and I'd want to kill myself for two days if I had to drive that, so I'm just overly happy about a Sentra, but I actually really like it.
Went to Oakland for business 2 weeks ago and made sure that I rented the car with my National Emerald Aisle Club card.
Booked a regular $49.00 per day car and with Emerald Club you can walk the Aisle and pick anything that is sitting there, so we went big pimping in a Yukon with leather and all the bells and whistles for the week. It was weird using a back up camera, felt very awkward.
) new Land Rover Discovery 3. Decided I should rent a 4x4 and drive to/on a glacier. So I did, and 4 of my friends decided to join me. A very nice vehicle, very comfortable, well-appointed interior, and very capable off-road. the only time I got at all bogged down was when I hit a patch of snow while still in highway mode. I kinda want one now.
