I guess I'm used to high end

[Jamesp]

I'm on a business trip and rented the low end Nissan rental (whatever model it is). An absolute gutless wonder that gets blown around by trucks on the freeway. Terrible.

[GTA_G20]

Hahahhaha so funny my last rental was a kia...the smaller one. Scary driving that in the highways and bridges.

[thstone]

From 2014-2017 I took driving trips all over California at least once a month for business. Over that time I was able to rent almost every mid-size/full-size/CUV/SUV that Enterprise had in their inventory. I uniformly disliked them all.

Over the past year, I've just driven my 911SC. The gas mileage sucks on a 900 mile trip but it sure is a lot more fun and even a nearly 40 year old Porsche sure can haul the mail on the I-5 autobahn!

[BoxsterSteve]

During our family foray to Florida two years back for March Break we had a nearly new Hyundai Sonata as a rental.
It had been driven hard and put away wet. What a poor abused pile.
As far as generic family transportation goes, it was more than adequate, with lots of interior space and a cavernous trunk.
Nothing to love, just a decent transportation appliance.

[itsnotanova]

I tried renting a economy car from Payless a few months back in Atlanta. I showed up and they didn't have it. After about an hour of waiting I gave up and went to the booth next to them which was Alamo. Alamo has their rentals grouped in types of vehicles. You walk out and they direct you to the row of vehicles you can choose from. I went to my row and started walking. Accord, Accord, Camry, boring family car, boring family car, Dodge Charger.....Charger? That's when I also noticed it had the Hemi tag on it. Bingo! It was the only one there and I grabbed it before anyone else had a chance. I even double checked it was available with me rental plan. For someone whose newest vehicle is 15 years old, it was a nice upgrade. I really enjoyed my rental car for the week and returned it with less rubber on the rear tires than the fronts.

[BoxsterSteve]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

... and returned it with less rubber on the rear tires than the fronts.

Isn’t that what “drive it like a rental“ is all about?

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Jamesp

I'm on a business trip and rented the low end Nissan rental (whatever model it is). An absolute gutless wonder that gets blown around by trucks on the freeway. Terrible.

+1...

Hello James,

Last week I got the same POS as you did, and drove it from DFW to Fort Worth with winds blowing from 25-35mph and I had a hard time staying on my lane and keeping up with the TX pick-up trucks and semis doing 80 on the I-30.

When I first saw the car, I thought about walking back to the Avis Preferred booth but it was pretty chilly (20F) so decided to keep it, boy did I regret that decision..

[flynavyj]

I've always had the task of being on the road constantly for work, each year there's a few consecutive weeks where I was either in Tucson, Dallas, or Wichita for training and for each of these trips I always tried to reserve a rental that I wouldn't hate driving for 3 weeks. Three of those times were in 2015+ Mustangs (the ones with the IRS, have had the six cylinder and turbo four cylinders) and in Dallas I had a Chrysler 300 (v6) with a decent option list (leather, sunroof, power shade, heated seats, cooled seats, navigation, auto mirrors, etc...was a comfy family sedan, and bounds ahead of the Chrysler Town & Country we haul our family in!

The car I love to hate is the Nissan Altima (every airport uses it as their crew car - car for pilots who are buying fuel on a layover) have also seen my fair share of Corollas, and tiny Hyundai's and Kias.

I definitely prefer my own garage, that has a Town & Country Minivan, a VW Beetle Turbo, and now a Porsche Boxster....could be MUCH worse!

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

Dodge Charger.....Charger? That's when I also noticed it had the Hemi tag on it. Bingo!

Yes! I got a Challenger with the V8 Hemi (the "standard" one, not the big 392) and it was awesome! I think I burned 2-3 tanks of gas the weekend I had it. I've also gotten a few chargers but only the V6 ones, which were still pretty good.

Lately I seem to always be getting a Kia Soul, at least I know where all the controls and stuff are now, and it is small so easy to fit into crowded parking places...

One of these days I'm going to get one of these cars... Not to replace the Boxster or take to the track, but just because...

[dsallean]

Earlier this week on a business trip to AZ I rented a Buick Encore from Hertz. Not really bad per se but I did open the hood to see if it had a 3 cylinder engine. Turns out it is a 4. Made in Korea and Spain I think. It got blown around quite a bit on the Freeway as well.

I also rented a Skoda Citigo in Ireland a few months ago. That was quite an experience!

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I tried renting a economy car from Payless a few months back in Atlanta. I showed up and they didn't have it. After about an hour of waiting I gave up and went to the booth next to them which was Alamo. Alamo has their rentals grouped in types of vehicles. You walk out and they direct you to the row of vehicles you can choose from. I went to my row and started walking. Accord, Accord, Camry, boring family car, boring family car, Dodge Charger.....Charger? That's when I also noticed it had the Hemi tag on it. Bingo! It was the only one there and I grabbed it before anyone else had a chance. I even double checked it was available with me rental plan. For someone whose newest vehicle is 15 years old, it was a nice upgrade. I really enjoyed my rental car for the week and returned it with less rubber on the rear tires than the fronts.

I hate Payless tried them twice but never again!