When I saw the news that there would be a meetup in Detroit, I immediately thought I wanted to drive. It’s not that I have any kind of fear of flying, but if possible I try to not patronize businesses/industries that provide what I find to be a generally very sub-par experience and I like the quiet time to think about and ponder various subjects. I drove to the last meetup I attended (Auburn) and it went well, so why not do it again?
Jason Shafer and I had been talking about car-pooling since he’d be near the route I was planning to take and then it made perfect sense to invite JP Cavanaugh as well. Jim Grey could have been an easy fourth if he had been able to attend although that may have been way too many Jims all in one car. In any case this precluded the 911 from being our chariot, and driving a Toyota to Detroit just seemed like not the thing to do, so the Mercedes was called to action this time around. Hey, at least it’s built in the U.S. and sports a V8 to boot, so why not. And there was lively conversation and many moments of absolute hilarity that you probably had to be there for…
The first day’s driving saw me complete just over 800 miles from Colorado to Missouri; bright and early the next morning I collected Mr. Shafer and we set off to cover the remaining 600-odd miles. About halfway we hit Indianapolis and found JPC’s house at which we saw someone mowing the lawn and providing a deafening soundtrack. Then the lawnmower was turned off and the deafening noise continued unabated; it turned out it was the doings of a seven-year cycle of a Cicada colony in his neighborhood. It has to be heard to be believed.
JPC opened his garage door and we saw his red 1997 Miata wedged inside. Of course we gravitated to it and within minutes Jason and I were driving it around the neighborhood. It provided a fine, fun ride and we agreed he scored a good buy from commenter Sevair whom we all met at the Auburn meetup a few years ago. Upon our return we all hopped in the Mercedes, got more gas and continued on to Detroit.
After timing things just right to check in at the hotel and pick up Paul Niedermeyer at the airport, the festivities finally began as you have already read about in the trip reports of several other attendees.
JPC frantically using every available fast-food napkin in the car to dry Paul’s seat-to-be after accidentally spilling about a gallon of ice water from the cooler on it with Paul already in sight curbside at the Airport Arrivals Terminal…
Fast forwarding to Sunday afternoon, we dropped Paul back off at the airport and headed home. All of us were bone-tired and thankfully JPC offered to spell me at the wheel for the second half of the trip to his house. And no, we did not perform a Niedermeyer-esque “Rolling Driver Change”. We arrived in Indy Sunday evening and once we dropped him off, Jason immediately took a turn for the worse from a health perspective and stretched out in the back seat for the next six hours until we pulled into his driveway around midnight. After a short night’s sleep I continued west for another 800 miles until I arrived home Monday evening.
I will point out that despite warnings to the contrary from our commenters in Michigan, I didn’t perceive Michigan’s roads to really be in any worse shape overall than the other states that I/we traversed, at least the ones we were on. At various points I/we were in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. In virtually every state we hit more than one absolutely jarring pothole at one point or another along with other less than optimal surfaces. Michigan, you are not alone! And I was very glad not to have taken the Porsche, several of those hits would have very possibly done actual damage.
Overall the GL450 did great. Including all of the driving around the Detroit area it covered a total of 3072 miles in six days. I kept carefully detailed logs (OK, numbers scrawled on the receipts) and hand calculated that we averaged 18.42 miles per gallon overall which I suppose isn’t terrible for a 5350lb SUV with a 335hp V8 that we weren’t shy about using. Speeds were generally in the 75-80mph range with some forays above that and I think we were all comfortable.
First fill-up in Kansas. Timed it just right, tank holds just over 26 gallons. Next gas station an eternity away…
However, it does use Premium Unleaded which, even though gasoline prices are more than reasonable these days, often comes with a hefty surcharge, especially at remote locations along the highways in the middle of nowhere without competition. I saw a differential of up to 80 cents at several stops which is quite a large percentage differential as compared to the general asking price in the low $2 range for Regular.
So, with nothing but time on my hands while driving I started to wonder. Yes, flying would have been cheaper, but not in the right spirit and as I mentioned, not preferable. However, I have no doubt that I could have rented a car and saved money overall which I did consider as a possibility before deciding to take my own vehicle. Even though JPC and Jason very generously chipped in for gas (Gas, grass, or ass, nobody rides for free, right?) which they certainly didn’t have to and I was not expecting (Thank you, gentlemen!), for the sake of argument I’ll count their outlays here as well.
So, in total those 167 gallons of gas cost $462.72. 3072 miles of wear and tear on my vehicle extremely conservatively could be estimated at ten cents per mile for another $307.20 (and very likely much more). If I was able to rent a car that used Regular gasoline (most) and returned at least 30mpg on the highway (not difficult these days) the fuel cost could be cut to about $235.00 even. That would leave $534.92 for a 6day rental which would cover even my favored rental outfit, that being SilverCar.com with a guaranteed new Audi A4 (in silver, natch!) as my/our chariot.
So really, the rental car budget is not a problem. However, if you don’t rent from SilverCar and are looking to actually be as frugal as possible, then you wind up playing the “Rental Car Lottery”, that strange bizarro-world where a Corolla is a Mid-size, a Chevy Impala can somehow be considered a Premium Car and the words “or equivalent” are a very serious matter.
No matter what one reserves, what one gets can be quite different. I looked at the cars that the other attendees drove, two had rentals that I could see – Joseph Dennis was sporting a nice little Chevy Cruze that he can probably make look like a million bucks if he snaps a photo of it and Bill Hall from Texas (Frequent Reader, hopefully First-Time Commenter soon), scored a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both seemed to do fine in their respective lotteries. My biggest fear was probably having to pilot a Hyundai Sonata or Nissan Altima into Detroit, America’s Motor City.
So the question is: What do you consider the WORST rental car that you could possibly get that you’d end up having to drive 3072 miles to Detroit with two other people? Of course, total low-end stuff like the Chevy Spark is easily avoided by just reserving at least the second class from the bottom at virtually no price penalty, but pretty much everything else could potentially be fair game. And the only rule is major rental outfits only. (Hertz, Avis, Dollar, National, etc, not Rent-A-Wreck or Bob’z Rentalz etc.). What could I be stuck with for the next meetup?
In my defense, the load in the cooler shifted rather abruptly just as you said “don’t tip it, it will leak.” And aren’t cooled seats a thing now?
Boy, the rental car lottery. Most of my recent rentals have been minivans, so it has been awhile since I got a car. It would be my luck to get the last Saturn Aura or W body Buick Lacrosse in rental service anywhere in the northern hemisphere.
Clearly you have never tried commercial flight in Canada. You guys at least have choices, so if you’re mad at one crummy airline you can use another.
But I digress, the choice for worst rental car is obvious:
Here’s a better picture, looks nice and cosy. 🙂
Ha! That’s great, I’m surprised you’re not in advertising with your Photoshop chops.
Try Iowa gas prices sometime if you want a shocker at the pump. They prop up ethanol by sticking it to non-alcohol 87-octane buyers (like myself). Price is about $2.70 a gallon, compared to $2.39 for corn juice. Just below the state line in Mo, I paid $2.05 for the real stuff over Memorial Day.
I’m in the SF Bay Area, California where regular unleaded is about $3 or above so even Iowa seems like a bargain.
We’re at about US$3.06 per US gallon here in Toronto. By my really rough calculation the VW only got about 17MPG on the trip. Maybe a lot of energy went into pumping oil and making clattering noises?
Maybe a lot of energy went into pumping oil and making clattering noises?
lol! I said about the same of my old Escort: if it took all the energy it dissipated as noise and vibration and sent it to the flywheel, the car would be a rocket.
the VW only got about 17MPG on the trip.
Bugs, no car of that era really, delivered anywhere near the mileage that small cars do now. Even with early 70s high compression and EFI, the Bug got about the same mileage as my 08 Ford Taurus X SUV.
That bug got the same mileage as my 77 Chevelle with 8 cylinders and 305 cubic inches churning out a lazy 145 horses while also spinning the big Harrison A6 A/C compressor putting out a crisp 50 degree air. All while doing 80mph, with the ability to go on up to over 110mph.
Granted the Bug looks way cooler than a 73-77 GM Colonnade sedan.
17 mpg??? Imperial?!?? Can’t be; there’s something way off.
Having driven two 40hp VWs for a number of years, and being an inveterate mileage-watcher, I consistently got 30-34mpg, with a 32mpg average. Which is exactly what they were advertised to get, on average. Which was verified by numerous tests, and millions of drivers. That was not an exaggerated advertising number.
And if I was short of $$, and really needed to save, I’d slow down to 50-55 and get 40 mpg.
I know mileage claims are suspect, but the 40hp Beetle’s ability to pretty consistently get 32 mpg, as its ability to top out at 72 mph, were both pretty universally acknowledged.
Yes, as the power went up, and emission controls came along, mileage dropped, to 28 with the 1300, and then around 25 with the 1600s, like in the tv ad above. But I’ve never heard of on getting in the teens, never mind a 40hp. Are you sure you don’t have a leak?
I bought my 1962 VW used from a VW dealer, with a warranty. It wouldn’t go over 55 mph.
I took it back to the dealer with that, + plus many other complaints.
They did something to it, something about rocker arm studs. It then performed as Paul N describes- ~72 mph, depending on wind & such. Gas mileage 32-35 on the road.
That was in 1966.
There was something around that time, reputed to be that aluminum suppliers changed the formula without telling customers.
BMW motorcycles of that era also have problems with the aluminum of the heads. Same aluminum change thing?
I think I did that wrong. Ok, Blenheim to Dearborn to Springford is 233 miles, I used a bit more than 3/4 of a tank so let’s say 8 gallons. That’s 29mpg
I’ll try a more accurate experiment sometime. Last week I was more concerned with actually getting there 🙂
Of the rentals I’ve gotten recently — and I always reserve the cheapest thing I can possibly find, no matter the company — the Kia Soul has turned up more than once and would be the last thing I’d want to intrude on a fun-filled 3000 mile journey. A jumpy, choppy ride, with uneven acceleration, and weird sound systems have made it a miserable experience each time.
The Ford Fiesta, with it’s dual-clutch auto transmission is a terrible car in heavy, city traffic and a car I try to avoid (Dan Ryan Kennedy Eisenhower Circle in Chicago at 5 PM, anyone?), but if you are just on the expressway, you’d not be bothered by it…
Just about anything else you get from a rental these days would be manageable, especially in the relatively flat, great plains route you’ve described. If you could get a Camry Hybrid or Ford Fusion Hybrid, you would float along in comfort at over 40 mpg and get there in a calm, roomy, if un-exhilarated, state of mind at only $185 in regular gas!
Second on the Soul. We had one for a week and tried to stay in as much as possible to avoid driving it. It was really odd, considering the rave reviews in the press, just how mediocre it was.
Second also to the Fusion Hybrid. Parents had one while their briefly owned Lemon-Law-Turn-In actual Fusion was in the shop for a month. They loved the hybrid despite the trunk space.
That some fascinating stuff on the Soul. I usually see them driven by geezers. Car and Driver (among others) seem to like the Soul just fine, with the only malady being a lack of oomph which, apparently, has recently been remedied by the addition of a turbocharged engine on the top-tier models.
Ed, you could have a Rolls at 5 PM on the circle interchange and still be miserable. It’s not a place anyone should ever drive. 🙂
(PS apparently they now call that the Jane Byrne interchange. I didn’t think she was THAT bad of a mayor. ;))
Jane Byrne…. ‘ya miss clearing the snow on just one, no, two, no, three snowstorms, er, blizzards, in a row, they just never forget…
…as I’ll not forget the nausea induced by that transmission.
Made the poor choice of renting the cheapest category to drive >1000 miles in California a few years ago. Got an (American) Fiesta, not a great car. Choppy drive, pedals and steering too light, indecisive automatic – I wondered why the press was raving about the handling so much.
Then just last week I got one as a rental again back in Europe, and this was the unadulterated 5-door 3-cyl turbo hatchback. Now I get it; probably the most fun I’ve had in a small car, and practical to boot. The lack of power wasn’t much of a problem on the Autobahn either – I’d be glad to drive over the Alps and back to Munich in it.
Toyota Yaris or Nissan Versa, if those are considered second tier cars. Alternatively, Ford’s DCT is very sensitive to different drivers and would either give you no trouble at all or be a festival of shuddering, which means the Fiesta and Focus are possible contenders.
I had a new Yaris recently on a business trip. I didn’t mind it at all, and marveled at the fact that there is still one new car for which you can go down to your local box store and get a copy of a key made for under $10. We did some highway time in it but not for long distances.
The last few times I rented anything, I always went one step up. That still wasn’t enough to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Had you shown up in something a rung up from the bottom of the rental ladder, such as a Nissan Sentra, we would have been taking an F-150 instead. While I won’t say the Sentra is the absolute worst thing imaginable, my brain is focusing on those cars that are getting close to the bottom. None of them are tempting.
I would have insisted on the van. Might as well lounge in absolute comfort… But this opens up a whole new strategy. Show up on something so bad your carpooler volunteers THEIR ride!
Given the way things played out, that wouldn’t have been a bad thing. Those seats do swaddle one’s keister quite well. And then you would have had the honor of driving it back!!!
I’m picking up a 2 week rental tomorrow at the very gratifying price (for June in Vancouver) of C$343 (US$270) all-in.
I had the presence of mind to reserve it in February, so those words ‘VW Jetta or equivalent’ are on my mind today. I’m sure when they see the rate at the counter, they’ll look for something at the back of the lot. Still, I don’t expect anything worse than a Hyundai Sona/tra. How wrong could I be? At least they no longer have Mitsubishis.
I plan to be there when the doors open.
If you’re there when the doors open you get what everyone else rejected the night before :-). Been there, done that. Let us know how it turns out though!
Kudos to Enterprise – I did get a Jetta Wolfsburg. It appeared to be the only ‘standard’ class car left on the lot when I got there at 8:30. It’s a busy time of year.
Hey that’s great, congratulations! Nice to see that in some parts a “reservation” still means what it says…Cue the Jerry Seinfeld bit with him at the rental counter….
“The words ‘or equivalent’ are a very serious matter….” I have the utmost understanding for anyone bitten by this, having had the Volvo 850 I supposedly reserved swapped for its exact doppleganger, the … Crown Victoria. The Ford was actually pretty nice, I have to say, once the surprise wore off. Different, but nice.
Very sharp Mercedes, Jim. The shot at the Kansas line is a particularly good angle in my opinion.
I was somewhat shocked at the creep in the price difference between regular and higher grades of gas the other week, not sure why I noticed as I’ve only owned vehicles that burn regular. Sure makes me miss the days when the difference was almost always 10 cents a gallon (sometimes less) between each bump up in octane.
My worst rental car experience by far was a PT Cruiser with no cruise control for an 8 hour solo drive for work. Since cruise seems to be universal among rental cars now, that alleviates that concern. Second worst was being given a Mercury Grand Marquis for a 3 hour drive after 10 inches of snow had just fallen, as it was another work trip we elected to wait for the roads to get plowed and go the next day instead. Rear wheel drive in rental cars is also pretty unusual now, unless you go to great lengths to request it. Others have been largely forgettable, which is not very engaging but I’ve decided is perfectly acceptable to me for a rental car.
Worst rental car? Oh such a fertile subject for a traveling salesman.
Our company policy is cheapest rental, I use just about every company out there. Sample ’em all and never use any of ’em enough to build up much status. Although I always reserve an economy car, I rarely get one.
Quite a few years ago in San Diego, I was going through the normal drill of the agent trying to convince me to buy an upgrade. I expected this to end as it normally does with the “Since I see you’re a frequent renter, I’ll give you an upgrade anyway” speech.
Imagine my surprise when I was handed the contract and the keys to a shiny new Geo Metro. I jokingly (hopefully?) asked about my BMW upgrade. To which the rental agent responded with a smirk “We just got in a bunch of new Geos. If you come to San Diego with an economy reservation, you’ll now get exactly what you paid for.”
Driving around San Diego to the agricultural beat of its 3 cylinder engine was an experience. Merging was an adventure. Thank goodness I didn’t have to do much freeway driving. The floaty suspension did its part to give the illusion of speed, but the handling was truly treacherous. Worst new car rental ever.
I did rent a used Yugo once in Lake Tahoe. It was probably a lot less durable than the Geo and had all of its own tortures. However for sheer driving discomfort, I remember the Geo as worse than the Yugo. At least the Yugo had enough power to get me stopped by the CHP (downhill after Donner Pass naturally).
Both those were long ago. More recently, I’d have to concur with saying a Kia Soul has to be the most uncomfortable rental I’ve had within the past 2 years. Absolutely terrible ride on some of the rough roads I had to drive around Illinois. Quite a loud cabin to boot. I honestly thought the thing had an exhaust leak at first. One of the few cars where even my noise cancelling headset wasn’t quite enough to make an easily intelligible cell phone call while underway.
Almost forgot the Hyundai Excel I had recently. Nice driving car, but as you might have guessed, there is a story.
I hit a raccoon driving back to the Green Bay airport. Didn’t see much damage or anything dragging, so I continued on to the airport without incident. About a month later, I was sent a bill for damages that showed the car was being totaled. Luckily our company insurance covered it.
I was kind of stunned that a new car which still seemed quite drivable would be totaled. Although the car drove nicely, the incident did not give me much confidence in the car’s long term durability. Evidently the unibody was bent enough that the car wan’t worth repairing.
In fairness to the Hyundai, it was a very big raccoon.
“In fairness to the Hyundai, it was a very big raccoon.”
How did I miss this quote earlier? COTD.
Is the Mercedes “Premium recommended” or “Premium required”. Our Acura is the former, so we’ll use regular if the price differential is more than 10%, which is exactly the mileage difference between the two fuels. It absolutely does nothing negative to an engine if premium is only “recommended”. It simply allows the engine management to dial in a bit more advance with the premium, for that bit of extra performance and mileage, and of course is what they use for their EPA certification to get those high numbers.
I rented a brand new 2017 Cruze in Baltimore, and was quite pleased with it. Of course I only put maybe 60 miles on it. 🙂
It seems to be a requirement but I haven’t read the whole manual. Below is the inside of the fuel lid. I’m sure it’d just dial the timing back if it got lower octane gas and for driving the Plains would probably be fine, the loads weren’t too great. I’m sure they figure with what the original sticker price was nobody will bat an eye…
The SS, er, Commodore is “premium recommended,” and use of regular does exactly what you describe, Paul.
My ’15 RAM 2500 5.7 Hemi (semi) is also “premium recommended,” but it’s only seen one or two tanks of same. It *does* make a difference in MPG (measured by the tenth in the RAM) and performance/driveability, but 30 gallons at a time almost requires a second mortgage.
Oh, a second mortgage, you think? The $462 Jim Klein mentioned for fuel would, in Australia at current prices, be…wait for it.. AUD$948! (Another factor in the demise of 6.2 litre Commodores – not enough re-mortgages available). Interesting comment by Paul re: premium/standard, as that 10% thing is my exact experience in Japanese cars, however, Euro ones have been way fussier if premium isn’t used, pinging, losing a really noticeable amount of oomph and in the case of my ’97 BMW 318i, beginning to overheat if driven hard.
With modern anti-knock controls, it’s always a recommendation, the thing will still run. However, to control the knock, you get no power/performance and way reduced gas mileage … I discovered on my VW Passat that I saved $3.00 a tank using the recommended premium over regular at the height of the gas prices a few years ago….
it all depends on the engine. I assume you have the 1.8 turbo in your Passat? If so, modern turbo engines invariably need/want premium, as predetonation is a huge challenge in turbo gas engines. I never recommend using regular in one, if it’s set up for premium, as it means the turbo boost and timing get notched way back to compensate.
In our Acura, with the 2.4 L four, mileage drops exactly 10% with regular. So if premium is 10% more expensive, it’s a wash.
A very interesting point and worth investigating. My Mazda 3 with the 2L gasoline engine has no “recommended” v “optimal” set up; it’s either Super/Bleifrei 95 (which is the middle octane grade here) or higher. I did run it on 98 octane I got at Eni (Agip) once and it ran better. ÖMV, Shell and BP all offer 100+ octane, so an experiment is on the cards. If it makes no difference price-wise, I’d obviously take the better performance.
Or equivalent…… I love that term.
We requested a compact, specifically a Mini Cooper or VW Golf.
We were given an impala.
Not the best car for driving in San Francisco.
Worst rental ever was a Chevy Aveo for a trip from Charleston SC to charlotte NC.
The Chevy Aveo is one of the worst recent cars in any capacity, and rather surprising that its replacement, the Sonic, is much better and gets generally positive reviews.
I’m surprised no one has gotten either a Chevy Spark or Mitsubishi Mirage as a recent rental. It’d be interesting to know how those two rank in the pantheon of bottom-feeder rental cars.
I rented a Sonic a few years ago, in fact it may be the last car I’ve rented, Ned was quite impressed. Drove it all over Connecticut, from interstate droning to twisty back roads in the northern mountains and found it very pleasant. Honestly, a much better driving (handling, comfort ergonomics) car than the last Impala I got.
I heartily second the comments on the Nissan Versa. I was the unfortunate recipient of one a couple of years ago (yet still the same wretched POS they are somehow still fleecing poor idiot buyers with today) on a business trip to Huntsville AL. After the relatively short drive to Franklin TN to see my sister’s family, I literally wanted to kick the doors in, it was such garbage. Awful interior, nonexistent handling, couldn’t hold a line on the interstate, awful audio… I could go on.
If Nissan’s design objective was the cheapest, crummiest thing for sale in North America, then they sure nailed it.
Now, for perspective, my garage houses a 2008 Cadillac CTS4 and a 2006 BMW 330i, so it’s clear where my personal preferences lie. But Jesus, I wouldn’t sell a Versa to my worst enemy.
Irony: my partner’s baby sister just got one. In white, no less. And at an appallingly awful interest rate. No, she didn’t consult us first, ugh.
That car is junk. Brand new junk. Feels about as well put together as an old J-body GM car.
Safe travels, gents- I’d like to join for the next one!
My wife is not the least car oriented person in the world, thankfully, or she’d have a hard time putting up with me.
She is a frequent renter, and was suddenly paying closer attention to her rentals as we were seeking ideas for late model used for our college student.
She sent me two texts about a Nissan Versa:
“Driving a Nissan Versa. Little, but quieter than Mazdas have been. Not a bad little car. ”
“Versa does not have much get up and go on interstate on ramps. Kind of scary.”
When you are used to cars having competent acceleration, you tend to not realize that there are offerings out there that simply don’t.
My wife is pretty tolerant, and the side comment is telling regarding Mazdas current woes. Joe and Josephine everyperson have a pretty simple list for things they feel a car needs. In addition to a decent acceleration, it appears you can add sound insulation to that.
I have rented Skodas in Czech Republic, Peugots in France, all quite nice. The worst I ever had was a Citroen Picasso in England. Just a weird setup, the only way to adjust the seat was to angle it up or down on a pivot attached to the rear of the base. Hard enough to get used to driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road, and navigating the lovely and narrow arterial roads of Somerset. I insisted on an automatic to at least relieve the burden of shifting gears while navigating roundabouts. Next visit, I asked for an upgrade and got a Mercedes C series.
This one is easy since I recently lost the Rental Car Sweepstakes when my Passat was rear ended a few weeks ago. After waiting a week for a car since they were sold out through Memorial Day Weekend I would have been happy to have gotten the Chrysler 200 (Standard Car) that the insurance company had reserved for me but instead they gave me a 2017 Jeep Patriot Latitude in Frigidaire white. When I travelled every week I avoided these and the Jeep Compass because of the sheer awfulness delivered by their wheezy engines tied to a CVT transmission. Take your pick of which annoys you the most: excessive wind noise, road and tire noise or the constant droning of the engine and CVT. The seats could have come out of a 1987 Plymouth Sundance with their sponginess and complete lack of support. My back hurts after 20 minutes in this thing and I can’t wait to get my Passat back. There’s a reason every worst car list since 2007 has a Patriot/Compass on it.
Worst I’ve experienced recently was a Nissan Versa Note CVT where noise levels did not necessarily correlate to forward motion.
When renting on the company dime it’s even more of a crapshoot when they tick the box that says “Ecnomy Car”. Back in 2000 while out on a training course I was surprised to find they were all out and upgraded to a Buick Century 2000. I didn’t like it one bit. The car refused to do as I asked. When I pressed the lock button on the key fob it would immediately unlock again no matter how many times I pressed it or how far away when pressing it. I would eventually just forget about it and walk away. Funny it was always locked when I returned to it. Then there’s the courtesy lights… It was a nice enough car to spend a week with though.
The very next year I was hoping for an upgrade again but no such luck. A Geo Metro was gassed up and ready. I spent the week parking at the far end of the lot crouching low and standing up next to a better car or hang my head in shame. Horrible car.
Other forgettable ones are:
A 2008 Cobalt. I have long legs and long arms so you would think the two would work together when adjusting the seat but the angles were all wrong. With enough room for my legs the seatback was too far reclined for me to reach the wheel unless the seat was bolt upright. A comfortable seat angle meant that once ajusted for long arms my knees were against the bottom of the dash. I fought with that seat every time I got in the car and it was very frustrating.
A 2012 Chrysler 200. If I were 70 years old this would have been good enough. It had enough bells and whistles to take your mind off what a truely boring driving experience it was. Ok to rent but no.
A 2014 VW Jetta. I thought the 200 was boring. Appliance white and just as appealing. I feared merging with the “bro trucks” on the Calgary highways in this car. It felt slow and underpowered and I pictured it flattened by a big tired coal roller 4×4.
Now when I booked a rental car for a few days in Amsterdam it was I who checked the box that said “Economy Car” figuring with the price of gas over there it would be the sensible choice. Kia Rio is what it came up with. I suppose you have to imagine the look on my face when they brough the car around. This was no Kia Rio. It was a Volvo V40 with a six speed standard and 175km on the clock. “I hope you don’t mind. We’re all out of Kias” is what they told me. If I could only have taken it home.
My Grand Cherokee is apparently the “equivalent” to the Cruze/intermediate that I had reserved at DTW. Actually, the friendly people at Alamo indicated I could have just about anything on the lot except for the luxury row which contained a single lonely Volvo XC60.
I would agree with the previous posters that a Sentra or Soul are the worst rental cars for an extended drive.
More recently, my worst rental was a thoroughly abused Cadillac ATS that I put 900 miles on over a three-day trip to Chicago. While the clerk thought she was giving me a free upgrade to a luxury car, the whole experience was something of a letdown. The car arrived dirty and and was missing some trim pieces in the interior. The transmission constantly hunted for the right gear, especially in heavy traffic; poor visibility to the side and rear made lane changes an adventure; and the low stance gave me a panaromic view of the undercarriage of 18-wheelers in the next lane. On the plus side, the ride was firm but supple, the engine powerful and responsive, and I was able to pair my iPhone easily to the CUE system. The best part was the Cubs winning the World Series while I drove that car!
Bill! Welcome to the commentariat! Glad to see you made it home OK and yes, you did apparently score very well in the Rental Car Lottery. Great to meet you!
If your destination has a SIXT location, rent from them.
SIXT is based in Europe, but they are slowly making inroads into the US.
In 2014, I was making a road trip of the southeast US, flying in to south Florida and returning from Atlanta. Every rental company wanted about the same money, but only SIXT was not charging an additional $300 one-way fee. What the heck, I tried it.
I reserved a Hyundai Accent (or similar!) because it was just me, and I was planning on a ton of miles and wanted good MPG.
When I got to the counter, the agent said to me, “I have a MINI Cooper that needs to get to Atlanta. Would you mind taking that instead?”
Um, sure?
The car was a dog and only got about 28mpg on the first tank. I assumed the previous renter and filled it with regular, and filled my first tank with premium. The car woke right up and MPG went to the upper 30s. On a Cooper the added cost for premium really doesn’t amount to much, and you make it up, and then some, in fuel economy.
It sure was more interesting than any Hyundai or Kia. I noticed on both ends of the rental that SIXT seems to have a more interesting selection of cars. I highly recommend them.
But for your trip, 3-4 people in a Cooper would have been a bad idea 🙂
In the US, Sixt is a franchising operation. Our local Sixt is a storefront for a local multibrand car dealer.
Chevy HHR…was a car we rented on our trip in South Carolina…bone white…not our choice. Every time we came to a stop with traffic lights, you had to crow your neck forward out over the dash to look up and see when the light changed! The roof was wayyyy to far forward out over the “average” seated position. I’m 5′ 11″, and my partner is 5′ 8″…terrible experience. We had a Kia Soul too recently and it was terrific. Lots of go power and excellent fuel milage. It was loaded up though.
Most unpleasant rental I’ve had was a Dodge Caliber.
Last summer visited colleges on the East Coast with my daughter, all the way from Maine to Atlanta and Nashville. For the first bit we had an Accord that was nice enough but the trunk would occasionally pop open on the Interstate. Changed it out in Raleigh for a Sentra that was, as others have pointed out, awful.
Last month my daughter rented a car for a road trip to Zion NP. She found a local place that rents to 19 year olds and got a nice enough Corolla for $250 a week… except when sh brought it back they tried to charge her for an almost invisible scratch, plus $350 for cleaning because they saw mud in the wheel wells. She left and brought it back the next day with me in tow and they were nice as could be. Now we know how they make their money….
Worst rental car would be a 2014 Mitsubishi Lancer. Second nominee would be a Jeep Patriot. No noise insulation and constant drone from the CVT and the engine! I’ve brought it back after 50 km and exchanged it for a 2014 Nissan Frontier 4×4.
Since 2014 I’ve experienced as rentals: Ford Focus sedan, VW Jetta (2.slow, but it was okay to drive), Honda Civic (terrible seat, got a backache), Ford Fusion, Dodge Charger (Pentastar), Nissan Maxima, F-150 with EcoBoost, MINI Countryman All 4, Buick Lacrosse and Volvo S60.
I forgot to mention Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry and Audi A4. All from Enterprise.
Also BMW X1 from Discount.
And Freightliner M2 from Ryder.
I’d say the worst for your use case would be a Fiesta. Futzy DCT and worst-in-class passenger space. Make it a sedan to add ugliness too.
At Alamo you used to be able to pick out which car in your rental category you wanted to rent if they had several in stock, don’t know if they still do that because we don’t need to rent much anymore. But several years ago we walked down the line and sat in a Chevy HHR for consideration. I immediately said to my wife “can’t take this, too claustrophobic.” I really felt very uncomfortable in it despite liking the exterior look. I think we ended up with a Ford Fusion. Must have liked it because we bought Fusion Hybrid in 2014. Last summer we flew into Pittsburgh and rented a Jeep Patriot and it was really awful. You would put it in gear and maybe 30 seconds later it would engage, especially in reverse. After a couple days it had a flat tire so we took it back and exchanged it for something else, don’t remember what. Rented a Nissan Versa a few years ago to drive from LA to San Diego to catch a cruise ship and actually enjoyed driving it. I mean it was a little strange, kind of like steering a go cart but I didn’t think it was terrible.
Fortunately, I rarely am forced into a rental, the only two in the last 20 years being a Toyota Echo and a Chevy Metro….I actually sort of liked the Metro.
The CFO where I used to work had a rental Dodge Caliber several years ago, and went on at length what a terrible POS it was. His was apparently the bottom trim as it had crank windows. The Caliber is long gone, but it’s Compass and Patriot cousins were in production until last December, so there are many still lurking around, so I’ll join the two above that nominated these Mopar SUV wannabes.
To those who mentioned a 2014 Jetta, did your rental have fabric upholstery? If so, it was an S trim, which, through 14 had the ancient 8 valve 2 litre 4 banger than dates from the 90s. That car is not as slow as it seemed, it’s slower. I had one as a loaner while the bodyside molding was being installed on my Jetta wagon. That engine sounded so pathetic as it thrashed and strained that I felt guilty trying to make it keep up with traffic.
On my first business trip to the U.K. where I needed a rental, I was offered a choice of Mercedes A-class or Corolla … didn’t require much thought for this American. On my first vacation trip to Europe after marriage and children I picked my rental company based on the Alfa 156 listed as the medium 4 door sedan … no “or equivalent” mentioned. Upon arrival I was told I had the choice of Fiat Marea or Fiat Marea. I was disappointed but in fact it was a very pleasant car to explore rural Tuscany, with my wife, two kids and mother-in-law. Domestically, on business trips I usually took what was offered to our big corporate travel agency, without asking for an upgrade, and would get everything from a Yaris hatch to Chrysler minivan, to Suburban to Mustang convertible, seemingly at random. But my two favorite long-distance highway rentals have been a first-gen (ZJ?) Grand Cherokee with the 4.0 six and a V6 Chrysler 300. Quiet, comfortable, and surprisingly good highway gas mileage.
I have rentals quite regularly, and what I find is that they are all pretty decent cars. The Sentra gets dissed all the time, but I have had a couple, and they are comfy, quiet, well put together and cheap to run. I had a Hyundai Santa Fe a while back, and while it was a nice car, I don’t like the high cg of these cars, or the huge tires jumping up and down. I will always be a car guy, I guess.
The one car I don’t want anything to do with is a Mitsubishi. I had a Lancer (I think) a couple of years ago, and it was really an uncomfortable car. It rode hard and didn’t handle well, which is pretty odd. It also failed to start one time, and I had to get roadside to come and swap out the battery. This on a car with like 3000 km in it.
Glad to see some support for the Sentra! We have owned a 2010 for 4 years, and it has been a great car, every bit as good as the ’03 Civic it replaced, better in some ways. Very reliable so far and pleasant to drive, just wish the gas mileage was a bit better. We rarely get above 33 on the highway with the CVT, whereas the Civic (EX with automatic) got in the high 30s routinely.
was just joking with a friend tonight who needs to rent a car- his company has the option of a “mystery rental” complete with a picture of a car under a tarp. I joked it would be an ’86 Yugo.
I have a ’17 Grand Caravan while my car is being fixed and I like the space as I’m in the process of moving, but other than that, it’s pretty bad. The seat is suede and it grabs my pants and basically tries to pull them off when I get in.. I don’t like it at all. The brakes are the most overboosted I’ve ever seen, just resting my foot on the pedal is enough to make the front end dive. And the throttle response is odd, it has a really sudden lunge and then seems to have a flat spot as you press into it, then it seems to be pretty normal. My friend says his GC is like that. The brakes are the worst part of it. And on top of it, the stereo is just bad sounding. I didn’t realize how good the one in my Challenger sounds until I heard this one. When I tried to pair my phone to it, I had to look in the manual to find out how to do it. I never would have stumbled on the procedure by guessing at it. It’s going to be a long 10 days to two weeks..
You drove 800 miles in a day? That is quite a feat – must be good fast roads or do we Europeans just not drive fast enough? Most I can do is about 400 a day.
Jim’s route was entirely multilane or interstate highways with speed limits of 70 to 75 mph. Similar was the case from my house in Central Missouri to Detroit – all 70+ mph runs with that 650 mile leg taking about 9.5 to 10 hours.
The lead picture pretty much sums up the weather, road, and traffic conditions for 80% of the trip. See the map for the actual route (on the way back, on the way there we went further up I-69 until we headed east at I-94)
800 miles a day is true road warrior territory for a single driver, but 600 miles or so is pretty much the median for folks traveling long distances in the US. I did a 700+ mile solo run each way from South Carolina to Michigan 2 or 3 times a year for several years. It would take several big mileage days like that to get across the country, nearly two weeks to get from the east coast to Alaska.
Big vehicles shine in this type of driving, eating the miles up in composed comfort.
I drove 600 a day twice over Memorial Day weekend, cruising down into Missouri to get our granddaughter Thursday and then bringing her back on Monday. That’s getting a bit harder to do as my 60th birthday approaches.
Nissan Versa, a classic rental agency secondary offering when the car you reserved is not available and likely, never was. I don’t know if Nissan has since smoothed out the Versa’s inadequacies but the one I suffered was a horrid machine featuring a poorly matched engine/transmission where the transmission that was always late to the party leading to excessive, whining revs which recalled my mother’s Singer sewing machine; choppy and buckling ride [ideal for a highway engineer doing a expansion joint life cycle study] and perhaps the worst indignity of all, no right-side driver’s armrest.
Not disastrous, but an elantra must be the most yawn-inducing rental.
My most stressful rental was an Isuzu box van with this shift pattern. All the time I was driving it I knew I was a moment’s inattention from an embarrassing and expensive accident…
That is a good shift pattern for rocking a stuck vehicle.
That shift pattern is often used when 1st is really a granny gear and you’re intended to normally start in 2nd. Was that the case for the Isuzu?
Worst rental car experience ever involved a Chrysler product, and who is really surprised by that. Many years ago the wife and I flew to San Francisco for a two weeks vacation. I had requested a Toyota Corolla because we were going to be doing quite a bit of driving and I figured the Corolla would be reliable if nothing else. Naturally when we got to the rental car counter they were out of Corollas so we got the “equivalent”, in this case a Dodge Neon. I didn’t want to take the Neon but we were tired and just wanted to get to the hotel and unwind. During the drive from SFO to Fisherman’s Wharf the Neon demonstrated that it was a total POS; no power, it wanted to wander from lane to lane, uncomfortable seats, you name it, it was bad. When we got to the hotel I called the rental car company (and at this point I don’t remember which one it was) and complained. I must have gotten through to them because the next morning they dropped off a Corolla with less than one hundred miles on the clock and took the Neon away, presumably to be dropped into the bay and put out of its misery.
We were supposed to get a soul for our long drive to disney world from kansas last summer, but we got a cvt corolla instead so I don’t know how bad the soul is exactly. However, I can personally vouch that the Fiat 500 is an awful car for 2 adults and a 2 year old in a safety seat. I had to have my seat to where my knees were almost touching the steering wheel to fit my child in the back. It had no idea where it was shifting and got abysmal gas mileage. Enterprise seems to always have those on hand and tried to get us to take it again a few months ago but we opted for the 5 door yaris hatch instead which was a pleasant car even though it didn’t have cruise control. FWIW I honestly really enjoyed the DCT focus, even in Chicago stop and go traffic…. Better MPG and way more get up and go than the corolla, 500, yaris, etc. I would like to rent a cruze just for comparison…
I don’t have occasion to rent very often, but the worst I ever encountered was a Ford EXP (yes, it was many years ago). I drove it during a blazing Salt Lake City summer, and though I tried not to use the AC very much, the interior temperature got unbearable even for this hot-weather lover. Every time I switched it on, I could feel the engine groan and slow down as I watched the gas gauge slope ever more quickly toward “E”. I don’t need 400+ horsepower to get where I’m going, but really–what a slug.
In late April, and also in late May I rented Nissan Altimas. I normally use Enterprise, and in both long weekend rentals and a so-called full size car was only $4 a day more. I’m 6′ 2″ but all my height is in my spine. I don’t fit in a lot of rental sedans. In both cases, Enterprise said try any of these numerous cars. Well at least I fit in an Altima, and if need be, a Versa Note.
The first rental was an upmarket Altima with a very small backup camera, and blindspot monitoring. It had 5 or 6 thousand miles and was ok.
The second Altima rental was a base car with 35,000 miles and no blind spot monitoring, but outward vision is pretty good. Altima’s do not age well. The suspension was tired, and the engine had much less power. Getting on the freeway in a rainstorm and rush hour traffic took all the Nissan had. The tires must have been replaced, but the wiper blades were shot.
Both cars had an annoying reflection from the third brake haousing in the rear window.
Not sure any rental company actually has one, but a Mitsubishi i-MiEV would have to be the worst. Cramped, uncomfortable, slow, unrefined, limited range, and, of course, it would stand out in a bad way in Detroit.
When renting cars you really don’t have much choice unless you really go premium, you just get the crud that nobody buys and get slashed in fleet. Europe is the best place to rent, at least you get a nice VW or Audi product through Europcar. In the US, the best value has to be Silvercar – A4 Audi only, though the price has increased somewhat and insurance isn’t included. Audi have recently acquired Silvercar so there is obviously something good there for all concerned.
I have rented a lot of junk in the US, but I think the worst was the Chrysler 200 convertible in 2015 – almost new but the thing shook like a show ride when braking at speed. It was really horrible.
In Dubai I once had a Kia sedan from the non smoker fleet that smelt like an ashtray, apart from this the car was awful.
KJ in Oz
Of the rental cars I’ve had over the last few years, the Kia Soul would be the one I’d least want to take on this trip. The one I had with 5k miles was twitchy(it didn’t steer / track well on the interstate requiring a lot of concentration to drive the car smoothly) and slow with a thrashy engine that didn’t even provide good fuel economy in exchange for the noise and weakness. I totally get why older people like them – inexpensive, easy to get in and out of for a car, you can actually see out of it, etc. A good enough vehicle for a local runabout grocery getter. My 79 year old mother would probably like it.
The best I had would be the current generation Ford Taurus. 600 to 800 mile days would be no problem. Big, quiet, comfy seats, adequate power and fuel economy.
I have not rented a car for many, many years and the ones I did rent in the past were all – I am happy to say – utterly forgettable so presumably none was particularly horrid. I do however remember a certain English Ford Sierra I got from a Ren-a-Wreck. It drove OK but with the 1.6L small Pinto engine it was pathetically slow.
These days it would not matter what car it is – the main criteria for me would be the shape of the seat on account of my bad back. And that means I would probably refrain from renting and take my car if I needed to go on a trip similar to the one in the article (the one possibility would be Vienna-London, 1800 miles there and back).
You could have been stuck with a Dodge. Can’t get much worse than that, except for maybe a Jeep…..
At some point, my “GM Deadly Sin #7” Saturn is going to commute me to one of those functions, just so I can see the look on Paul’s face as he looks at the odometer and listens to the Twin Cam 1.9L purr like a kitten…..
Enterprise gave me a baby blue VW Bug a few years ago and I enjoyed it. I don’t know if I would own one, but it was peppy and hardly used any gas.
Thought I’d enjoy the Kia Soul more. I drove one on a roughly 3 hour trip and the seats wracked my back out. The car also had an enormous blind spot.
My most recent was on a multi part trip to Nashville and Hartford, I paid 70 dollars for a four day rental from Alamo in Nashville and ended up with a Versa. It did well around town, you just can’t have the AC on and merge really well. The gas mileage was great and it hauled 4 people around okay, if not comfortably.
In CT I paid about 230 bucks for four days with an Altima from Hertz. Very well optioned and beautifully clean, but I missed the Versa! Gas is pricey in New England.
What does a gallon of regular unleaded run, up north? We are at about $2.199-$2.319/gallon, in Ohio(depending on how close you are to an “E-Check” county)
It was about the same for Regular most of the way across I70 and up into Michigan, give or take dime or so depending on locality. The bigger swings were in the higher-octane options.
Gasbuddy.com lets you see current gas prices anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. Go to the site and type in a town, and it should show you where the “bargains” are.
‘Rental car lottery’ is a good way of putting it. The “or similar” tag gives the counter folks quite a bit of latitude in what they can unload on to renters. For a couple of years, I seemingly couldn’t get anything but a Corolla, no matter what class I rented in. That clever Corolla could pass itself off as anything from compact to midsize to full size. If I wanted anything larger/better, I’d have to go “Premium.” I also remember renting in the late 90s/early 2000s when any size got you a Pontiac Grand Am/Pontiac 6. I haven’t rented for a while now, but the local rental lots now seem to be bursting with Nissans and Kias. And every other Sentra I see on the road here has rental bar codes on the windows.