So rental cars. Do you look forward to seeing what you get?

Mc Love · 15-02-2019 1:01am

Worth booking an automatic when booking a rental car in the hope of getting a better upgrade?

CrankyHaus · 15-02-2019 12:16pm

"Free Upgrade" from a SEAT Ibiza to a Citroen C Elysee. Citroen's developing markets car.

The first response on google search for reviews of it is "The worst car I've ever driven". I couldn't disagree.

Drove it from the multi-story to the roundabout at the edge of the airport and went back to tell them I didn't want an "upgrade".

_Kaiser_ · 15-02-2019 1:15pm

I never rent cars but usually get something nice as a loan when I have my own car in for servicing... highlights over the years have been:

- 2009 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI Quattro.. like driving a tank!

- 2006 Mercedes E320 CDI.. like driving a very comfortable couch
- 2007 BMW 630i.. I'm not really a coupe guy (like my big saloons), or a BMW fan, but this wasn't bad!

One of the benefits of not having driven a manual in over 15 years is I usually get something nice!

irlrobins · 15-02-2019 1:20pm

Most of my rentals in in US for work, so I've gained status with National. Highlight has been a well spec'd Chevy Suburban. Complete land yacht! Bit nervous parking it, and it had crap MPG. But hey, when in Rome....

Alanstrainor · 15-02-2019 1:40pm

I always just go for the cheapest rental possible, generally in Europe somewhere. Often hoping to get a Fiat 500, but I've yet to get one. They always upgrade to some other rubbish. Worst was a Grande Punto 1.2. Jesus that car is rough, that was only last year and it was a brand new car. Hard to believe they are still selling them new. Although I did have a Fiat 500L which worked well, I can totally see the appeal for a family car. The 1.3 diesel is a great engine.

theteal · 15-02-2019 1:40pm

Some people have had some proper vehicles so. And there's me getting a little excited about a feckin' Tucson

dastardly00 · 15-02-2019 2:54pm

One of my poorer rental cars....

I had booked a Focus/Golf or similar but I ended up with a Renault Scenic.
It was a work trip in Germany and I was on my own. Cruising on the Autobahn in style I was not :pac:

V8 Interceptor · 15-02-2019 3:10pm

zilog_jones wrote: »

we went with the Chrysler 300. Only had the "small" 3.6 V6 but RWD (the other options weren't) and about 290 bhp, and surprisingly still did over 40 MPG (it's got cylinder deactivation and other fancyness

I presume that was our MPG otherwise it'd be around 50!

V8 Interceptor · 15-02-2019 3:34pm

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

BMW oxford used give mini out as courtesy car. Got a cooper s once. Loved it.

L1011 wrote: »

Turned down a Mini Cooper S upgrade once due to the weather being so bad that I thought I'd be better off with a slower car - the Corsa I'd booked was what I got then!

:eek:

zilog_jones · 15-02-2019 4:35pm

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

I presume that was our MPG otherwise it'd be around 50!

Yes, surprisingly for a car never sold around these parts (2nd gen 300 was never sold in RHD markets), I was able to set the displays to imperial MPG and celsius - and I didn't change it back afterwards, so hopefully the next customer had fun

I think I got about 44 MPG (imperial) one day. Between that and petrol being around $2.50 per (US) gallon at the time (in CA/AZ), fuel costs were quite reasonable.

ednwireland · 15-02-2019 10:04pm

poland last summer booked a micra got a vitara

iceland in the late nineties got a micra to drive from keflavik to akuyeri mainly on dirt roads

grogi · 15-02-2019 10:12pm

BobMc wrote: »

Tenerife one christmas for Scuba Diving, biggest piece of sxxt ever, White battered Clio with dodgy gears, drove the crap out of it from Las Americas to Los Gigantes for the Week - Survived alright, my passenger still has the death grip in his hand from the door handle

In canaries always rent with CiCar...

grogi · 15-02-2019 10:14pm

Booked Seat Leon once, around xmas in Berlin. The stuff at the desk were buffled, how the hell I got that booking, they had virtually nothing available... Drove away in an E-Klasse, only had to swear for the soul of meine Mutter that I will not be late on return

Other time got 1er for an Aygo booked...

peasant · 15-02-2019 10:51pm

Worst rental car ever was a BMW 3 series (many years ago)

Nothing wrong with the car per se...but I had pre-booked Golf or similar with winter tyres and the one and only car left in the lot was said three series on summer tyres....in a blizzard, about three inches of snow on the road and another 100 km to go on hilly and bendy country roads.

The joys of business travel to remote German Ryanair airports (no spare set of underpants either...could have done with those too

)

Johnnyhpipe · 15-02-2019 10:54pm

If they ever keep pushing you to upgrade, dont, you’re getting it anyway!

dastardly00 · 16-02-2019 12:47am

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I always just go for the cheapest rental possible, generally in Europe somewhere. Often hoping to get a Fiat 500, but I've yet to get one. They always upgrade to some other rubbish. Worst was a Grande Punto 1.2. Jesus that car is rough, that was only last year and it was a brand new car. Hard to believe they are still selling them new. Although I did have a Fiat 500L which worked well, I can totally see the appeal for a family car. The 1.3 diesel is a great engine.

I got a Fiat 500 when I rented from Brussels airport last year. I had a good bit of driving to do around small towns and narrow roads so it was perfect. Nice car

whippet · 16-02-2019 12:55am

Booked an insignia estate or similar in Germany last summer .. for a poxy Mondeo 1ltr petrol .. horrific thing ... useless out side of the urban centres

road_high · 16-02-2019 12:56am

My experience of rentals is if you don’t ask you won’t receive. I had a boring older base model Insignia lately and I’ve this car for an extended period- told them I wasn’t happy and if something newer better comes in give me a shout. A few weeks later a brand new model Insignia swapped over. It’s no odds to them as they’re generally charging the same for a certain car class so try get as best you can within that. Just ask!

NSAman · 16-02-2019 1:05am

It is fun to arrive into LA and rock up to the counter only to be told that the actual car you ordered is unavailable. They gave me a lovely S Class Merc drop top. Last visit was a Range Rover. Pheonix were having a special on super cars one time, for 80 bucks a day you could choose your "super car" which ended up being a Chevy Corvette SS... hated it, I looked like a frigging pimp in a bright canary yellow drop top,,,, was a fun couple of days.

Wishbone Ash · 16-02-2019 1:34am

NSAman wrote: »

It is fun to arrive into LA and rock up to the counter only to be told that the actual car you ordered is unavailable....

Don't think I've ever got what I booked in the US. Love when they try to sell an upgrade and have to give it anyway at the same price when you stand your ground.

A few years ago we ended up with a 5.6 litre 4x4 'up grade' when we booked something fairly ordinary. Can't remember what make/model it was now but it was a mixed blessing as we did a lot of mileage on that holiday.

V8 Interceptor · 16-02-2019 1:46am

whippet wrote: »

Booked an insignia estate or similar in Germany last summer .. for a poxy Mondeo 1ltr petrol .. horrific thing ... useless out side of the urban centres

I wondered how bad that car might be but with 120+ hp I figured it can't be that bad???

road_high · 16-02-2019 3:16am

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

I wondered how bad that car might be but with 120+ hp I figured it can't be that bad???

How gutless are they? The Mondeo is such a big car

Savage_Henry · 16-02-2019 12:53pm

I had to google to actually confirm, that there is 1.0l Mondeo

road_high · 16-02-2019 1:05pm

Savage_Henry wrote: »

I had to google to actually confirm, that there is 1.0l Mondeo

There was a big hullabaloo about it a few years ago- I don’t think they sold it here though?

bazz26 · 16-02-2019 2:49pm

I had a Ford Fusion 2.0t ecoboost as a rental in the US. It's basically a saloon version of the current Mondeo sold here. Performance was ok but nothing to blow you away or say wow. I'd hate to think what the 1.0 litre would be like in them.

Mondeo was/is sold with a 1.5t ecoboost engine in Europe too.

V8 Interceptor · 16-02-2019 3:50pm

road_high wrote: »

There was a big hullabaloo about it a few years ago- I don’t think they sold it here though?

Surprisingly they didn't.

123hp is the very same as the 1.8L Mk3 from the noughties, a few of which you still see driving around today. The current car though is a couple of hundred kilos heavier so I suppose it would feel pretty slow by today's standards.

bazz26 wrote: »

I had a Ford Fusion 2.0t ecoboost as a rental in the US. It's basically a saloon version of the current Mondeo sold here. Performance was ok but nothing to blow you away or say wow.

It'd probably feel nippier on our roads I'd say.

16-02-2019 4:31pm

I visited both Donegal and Kerry by Air last year and hired a car on both occasions when I got there. A world of difference between both experiences. In Kerry got a beautiful BMW 5 series that made light work of driving g down the little lanes to discover new places and Avis were extremely efficient and courteous going out and returning. I got the car fully explained to me and when I returned the man came out of his cabin, gave tbe cgdck-around and said “good to go, madam, and thank you very much for your custom”. They had a beautiful fleet of great cars at the airport, all ready to satisfy the fussiest market and plenty of automatics. Donegal Airport is one of my favourite arrival points anywhere on the planet. It is a sheer pleasure flying into such amazing scenery on a runway parallel to a beach. A keen walker could walk with back back to nearest hotel and enjoy a good holiday without hiring a car, but I wanted to visit a few more places whilst I was there. It was sheer chaos, was the girl’s first day working with Enterprise and they hadn’t provided her with as much as an inventory of available cars. With a big queue, and a defunct computer she was left to do a kind of lucky dip with the keys and the assistance of a guy whose job it was mainly to deliver cars between HQ in Letterkenny and the airport. He would come in and say “anyone for an automatic” or “anyone for the MPV?” taking into account the number of people in the party etc. I ended up with a Corsa, about the worst car imaginable for the Donegal hills. It had been hired in Dublin and left off there so wasn’t in the local fleet per se. I was terrified for every minute I drove it with it’s big loose steering requiring several turns of wheel to negotiate a bend, a horrible type of automatic gear change that Opel does, and a tendency to come to a halt on any steep portion of a hill.

16-02-2019 5:53pm

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

whippet wrote: »

Booked an insignia estate or similar in Germany last summer .. for a poxy Mondeo 1ltr petrol .. horrific thing ... useless out side of the urban centres

I wondered how bad that car might be but with 120+ hp I figured it can't be that bad???

Whats the torque specs on it . In comparison to a 1.8 or 2.0.
Remember the 1.6 levin that were 175bhp but you had to redden tgem to get it

V8 Interceptor · 16-02-2019 9:36pm

The wee ecoboost has 23 more torques than the Duratec.

grogi · 17-02-2019 11:36am

9935452 wrote: »

Whats the torque specs on it . In comparison to a 1.8 or 2.0.
Remember the 1.6 levin that were 175bhp but you had to redden tgem to get it

How is that relevant? Absolute torque figure is absolutely bonkers, it can be multiplied or divided at the gearbox if you wish.

Important figure is max power at particular engine rpm. Average Joe would determine if the car is powerfully or not by sensing how much power it has between 1500 and 2500 rpm.

So a 1.8 n/a 125bhp will have around 30 bhp in the band mentioned above. A 1.0 turbocharged 125bhp will have 40-45bhp... It will feel much much nippier .

V8 Interceptor · 18-02-2019 1:10am

9935452 wrote: »

Whats the torque specs on it . In comparison to a 1.8 or 2.0.
Remember the 1.6 levin that were 175bhp but you had to redden tgem to get it

That's what the Levin was for to be fair.

Padkir · 18-02-2019 10:46am

I used to travel a fair bit with work and always just got the standard for what I had booked - nothing too bad but nothing too great (apart from someone trying to persuade me it was amazing to be upgraded from a Focus to a Nissan Juke...:rolleyes:).

But then once I was away for personal reasons and booked the smallest class of car (it was a bank holiday weekend so everything was really expensive and I only wanted it for a reasonably short drive for a few days). Ended up getting upgraded in Birmingham Airport to a new A4 s-line with all the trimmings because they were all out of cars in every class lower than that! Felt like a bit of a king swanning around in that!

H3llR4iser · 19-02-2019 12:54pm

Only rented a couple of times...

In New York, I had booked "VW Jetta or Similar", ended up with a Jeep Compass which according to them was an "upgrade". It wasn't bad per se, comfortable, decent power (I believe it had the Fiat 2.4 multiair), but the auto gearbox...absolutely terrible, it was one of those tailored for comfort - if you floored the pedal, the engine would rev up and the 'box would slowly catch up, as if it was asking "are you really really really sure you want to overtake? all right so..."

Last time in Italy, I had booked an Alfa Romeo Giulia...ended up with a convertible Audi A5 (the Giulia, believe it or not, had been rear ended in the morning). The Audi only had about 350km on the odometer - nice car to drive on the costiera, if a bit more "sedated" in terms of handling than the looks would suggest (way more of a cruiser than a sporty open top). The gearbox, at least, was excellent.

At some point I will plan an "on the road" US trip - proper american car, interstate, NASCAR race et all.

Gravelly · 19-02-2019 1:21pm

Padkir wrote: »

I used to travel a fair bit with work and always just got the standard for what I had booked - nothing too bad but nothing too great (apart from someone trying to persuade me it was amazing to be upgraded from a Focus to a Nissan Juke...:rolleyes:).

But then once I was away for personal reasons and booked the smallest class of car (it was a bank holiday weekend so everything was really expensive and I only wanted it for a reasonably short drive for a few days). Ended up getting upgraded in Birmingham Airport to a new A4 s-line with all the trimmings because they were all out of cars in every class lower than that! Felt like a bit of a king swanning around in that!

Birmingham airport is one of the best in Europe for getting upgrades - for some reason they have loads of Audi's, Mercs and Beemers, but few small cars.

theteal · 10-03-2019 9:10am

Arrived yesterday. Got a brand new Kadjar, it’s got 16km on the clock, nice enough but a bit meh. It looks like the left side steering controls don’t work (unless I’m doing something wrong but what looks like the volume notch does nothing) and I’m struggling with the handbrake, don’t know if automatic or not, give me the old manual handbrake any day. I also specifically booked a diesel (had originally planned on doing quite a bit of driving) but the the lady on the desk was having none of it, “we only do them by category” or something to that effect. Had my originally expected mileage not reduced substantially I’d have raised an issue on that, her tone wasn’t great either.

tcawley29 · 10-03-2019 2:39pm

theteal wrote: »

Arrived yesterday. Got a brand new Kadjar, it’s got 16km on the clock, nice enough but a bit meh. It looks like the left side steering controls don’t work (unless I’m doing something wrong but what looks like the volume notch does nothing) and I’m struggling with the handbrake, don’t know if automatic or not, give me the old manual handbrake any day. I also specifically booked a diesel (had originally planned on doing quite a bit of driving) but the the lady on the desk was having none of it, “we only do them by category” or something to that effect. Had my originally expected mileage not reduced substantially I’d have raised an issue on that, her tone wasn’t great either.

Did you book directly or by third party?
Did you get any paperwork to specify that it was going to be a diesel car?

theteal · 10-03-2019 3:40pm

tcawley29 wrote: »

Did you book directly or by third party?
Did you get any paperwork to specify that it was going to be a diesel car?

Booked through the Ryanair site. It was specified Diesel as one of the main features in the list of cars that I selected from. Again, not an issue now as plans have changed but we had originally planned a few east to west trips which a Diesel would have much better suited for.

I figured the steering volume control out, it’s on a separate arm behind the wheel on the right hand side that I didn’t see until this morning, d’oh.

BailMeOut · 10-03-2019 3:46pm

booked a Punto at Naples airport and got a lovely brand new Alfa Romeo Giulietta which was a lot of fun on the Amalfi roads.

tcawley29 · 10-03-2019 3:49pm

theteal wrote: »

Booked through the Ryanair site. It was specified Diesel as one of the main features in the list of cars that I selected from. Again, not an issue now as plans have changed but we had originally planned a few east to west trips which a Diesel would have much better suited for.

I figured the steering volume control out, it’s on a separate arm behind the wheel on the right hand side that I didn’t see until this morning, d’oh.

Even still on the diesel side of things I don't think this is the anyones problem but Ryanair's.
Most cars usually are rented by group and not petrol/diesel.
If you're bored some day you may be able to chance complaining to Ryanair and getting some sort of compo for this.

dastardly00 · 13-03-2019 10:31pm

I have the 'pleasure' of driving a Qashqai for the next 24 hours

tuxy · 13-03-2019 10:41pm

9935452 wrote: »

Whats the torque specs on it . In comparison to a 1.8 or 2.0.
Remember the 1.6 levin that were 175bhp but you had to redden tgem to get it

I remember the 1.6 4age that was rated at 163 hp by toyota on 100 ron petrol.
They usually got around 140 bhp on the dyno here in Ireland.

Maybe you are thinking of the 1.6 that was in the civic type r that was considerably more powerful.

bpmurray · 13-03-2019 10:50pm

I arrived in Boston once to a Ford Escort. It was tiny - could barely fit in it. And I was supposed to drive it on US roads among the vicious Massachusetts drivers. UNfortunately I was a company booking, so I had to make do. I was absolutely delighted when, on my way through the airport, I realised that the indicators didn't work, so I had to bring it back to them. I can't remember what they swapped it for, but it was a more normal US-style car.

And the best one was when I went to pick up the car in San Francisco and they gave be a Pontiac Grand Am - not as impressive as the Transam, but it was a 2-seater with a real growl in the engine compartment. THe hotel was only about a mile from the office so I had to head out every evening on the freeway just to hear the growl clearly.

Eric Cartman · 13-03-2019 11:07pm

was in munich 2 weeks ago, had an e-class booked for 4 days for 160 quid on an offer on rentalcars.com, got there, no e class for me, free upgrade to a heavily loaded 730d x-drive , some upgrade and some quality car for 40 notes a day.

Mc Love · 13-03-2019 11:22pm

BobMc wrote: »

Wife suffered this being given crap cars while car in for warranty repairs (frequently) eventually pulled them on it
I'm leaving you in a practically brand new motor and you're giviing me a heap, no thanks, get me something decent

Went to Cavanaghs for a service and had asked for a courtesy car. They gave me the receptionists car which was a piece of ****e that she was obviously using as her car. Last time i got my car serviced there.

Noveight · 14-03-2019 12:49am

I've a 2005 Civic Hybrid as a courtesy car until Friday evening. Cool little motor, quiet as a mouse and gets punchy enough around 3000k!

Esel · 14-03-2019 1:15am

If you're willing to take the risk, always book a cheap car, and hope for a free upgrade because none of them are available.

If the cheap one is available and you don't want it, you can upgrade at that point.

tc20 · 14-03-2019 11:55am

Worked in Germany on contract for a couple of years in the early/mid 90s.Part of the gig was a rental car, and a flight home once a month.
I'd hand in the keys on a Friday, fly back over on the Monday morning and pick up what was waiting. My boss at the time generally had a Vectra B 2.0.
I usually a Mk3 Golf, 1.8 or 2.0 (non-GTi). Bummed out with an Astra F for a month, but most certainly lucked out with a VR6 :cool:

mikeecho · 14-03-2019 2:19pm

I'm usually satisfied with what I get, but never overly delighted, unless I'm in the US/Canada, each time I've been given an option at the desk, last time I was asked if I wanted the Cadillac, the Taurus or the Maxima.

I took the Taurus.. should have gone for the Nissan.

In Europe.. I get roughly what I booked, but a buddy who rents a car every second month (in Germany), gets some serious upgrades, .. he books the cheapest possible and often ends up with a 3er BMW convertible or a C class Merc, despite paying for a fiat 500.

RiseToMe · 19-03-2019 11:19am

Usual trip to Gatwick (every five weeks or so) and rented a B class with Hertz for the princely sum of £42.00 for three days and just got my carfirmation email of a GLC 220D 4MATIC, that'll do for 40 odd quid

neris · 20-03-2019 5:50pm

didnt think you could get smaller then a ford ka till Friday when I was given the keys to a Toyota aygo for a few days.

So rental cars. Do you look forward to seeing what you get?

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