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

theteal · 14-02-2019 3:20pm #1

I'm flying back in to Dublin for a week next month, looking forward to it

I've just booked a rental for the week, a "Hyundai Tucson or similar" which works out at about £80. I'd normally go for the "Focus/Golf or similar" but the crossover was only £20 more expensive and we're kind of in the market for something similar. So all in all I'm quite looking forward to seeing what I get - no doubt it'll be a boring 1.6 diesel or some such but you can never be sure.

Anyway that got me thinking of some of the stinkers I've on the past, a 2016 1.0 Corsa being the pinnacle of crapness, not far behind was a Civic I picked up in Malaga maybe 5 years ago - no danger of bumping it as there wasn't an undented panel on the thing.

So do you get a little excited by the rental game? Have you had any turds in the past? On the flip side, have you had the pleasure of anything unexpectedly nice?

Tzardine · 14-02-2019 3:26pm

Booked a Ford focus with Enterprise in the UK. On arrival I was offered a Jeep Grand Cherokee for no extra cost. It was brand new, only about 200 kilometres on it.

Fully loaded with loads of gadgets. Heated leather and heated steering wheel were great. I drove around for the few days (in Summer) with the Heated seats and wheel on full blast and the air con on to keep me cool.

theteal · 14-02-2019 3:32pm

Actually, that reminds me, my first couple of trips back after moving away, I booked the like of a Fiesta and 3 times in a row got bumped up to a Golf/Leon at no extra cost, I began to think it was the norm. Then, back for a mate's wedding, I flew in the morning of the shindig thinking a nice clean Golf etc. wouldn't be a bad way to turn up. I got some clapped out Yaris in which I had to take one of the groomsmen out to the venue, all 6'5 of him :rolleyes:

Still not as bad as the Astra though, dang that thing was slow!

Gravelly · 14-02-2019 3:35pm

I get to "enjoy" a lot of rental cars because of work travel. I can't say anything has been surprisingly good or terribly bad, other than getting a completely different type of car than I had ordered. I booked a "Golf or Astra" from Birmingham airport a few months ago, and ended up with a BMW 5 Series, but a few weeks later I booked the same in Ankara airport and ended up with a Fiat 500L so it's swings and roundabouts.
Cars that stood out as ones I really wouldn't want to own include a Lexus CT200 I got in Sweden, and a Jeep Wrangler I got in Austin.

Savage_Henry · 14-02-2019 3:37pm

I always scoot around the lot and check what they got / which car has more extras. Then at desk i ask for that particular car. I havent had any nice upgrades. Just in frankfurt city i booked manual focus and got automatic. it also had self parking and heated steering.

Wierdly enough- all automatic fords in enterprise dublin dont have cruise. I thought its given for any auto car. They had to pull out seat alahambra from very back ( they had to move a lot of cars first) instead of ford galaxies they had in front as none of them (same for focus) had cruise

Eric Cartman · 14-02-2019 3:41pm

usually I get what I book, always book something decent enough. Did book a c class merc before and got a brand new XC60 with 80 kilometers on it.

fieldofsheep · 14-02-2019 3:43pm

Seat Leon or similar in Malaga a few years ago - ended up with a BMW X1. Cue 'let's drive around Spain for the next two weeks!'

theteal · 14-02-2019 3:48pm

Savage_Henry wrote: »

I always scoot around the lot and check what they got / which car has more extras. Then at desk i ask for that particular car.

D'ya know, I might just give that a go. Although I'm booked with Thrifty, I know it's Hertz in all but name but I'm sure they don't want to give the good cars to the people who've paid less.

ohnonotgmail · 14-02-2019 3:53pm

Worst i've had was an astra as well. Couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Had to rev the ****e out of it in first before changing to second.

jimgoose · 14-02-2019 3:54pm

Last time I booked "Ford Focus or similar" I got a 2l turbo Renault Vel Satis with six-speed 'box and more room in it than a cruise liner. Fine autoroute-eater. :cool:

Had a little Corsa for a couple of days in Lanzarote last October. Not a lot of power, but adequate for the job. A crowd called Cabrera Medina are all over Puerto del Carmen - they're not the cheapest on the island, but they don't use excesses and are excellent to deal with.

BIGT4464 · 14-02-2019 3:55pm

When I go to Germany, a diesel. They dont seem to have any or you need to pay more. I have had some sillly petrols over there and on the Autobahn they are a disaster. Got a Focus ST last time for the family, a bit tight and a silly thirsty engine, cost me 200 in fuel. for 1200 km or so.

dudara · 14-02-2019 3:55pm

I always look forward, I'm usually disappointed.

Except for the time Hertz upgraded me from a "BMW 1 series or similar" to a Mercedes E 300. I also got a very sweet Volvo D40 in Spain last year.

theteal · 14-02-2019 4:01pm

jimgoose wrote: »

Last time I booked "Ford Focus or similar" I got a 2l turbo Renault Vel Satis with six-speed 'box and more room in it than a cruise liner. Fine autoroute-eater. :cool:

Had a little Corsa for a couple of days in Lanazarote last October. Not a lot of power, but adequate for the job. A crowd called Cabrera Medina are all over Puerto del Carmen - they're not the cheapest on the island, but they don't use excesses and are excellent to deal with.

As much as I have cold sweats about the aforementioned Irish Corsa, I did pick one up in Malaga not long after (I nearly cried upon seeing it) but it turned out to be a 1.4 I think, it was actually quite fun.

DaveyDave · 14-02-2019 4:04pm

I've never rented a car in Europe and from what I hear they're usually high mileage underpowered Corsas etc. Only ever do city breaks so wouldn't need one.

I rented a Mustang in Florida two years ago and was pleasantly surprised it wasn't the rental spec V6 but the Premium spec with EcoBoost engine. Decent on the inside, full leather heated and cooled electric seats, custom ambient lighting, reversing camera etc.

Renting a 'Premium' class car in Toronto this May which is the Nissan Maxima or equivalent. Base model starts from $32k but doesn't have parking sensors so hopefully they got a decent spec. Car is 300hp with a CVT so I'm curious. Looks like a decent car. I was originally renting a Luxury class which is a Cadillac XTS or similar but car is huge and the underground parking where I'm staying is a bit tight so feck it.

I suppose American cars are always going to be somewhat exciting as they have so many models we don't have.

On the flip side, my mam's fiancé is waiting for a new fleet car so in the last two months has had a Superb, Duster, MK7 and MK7.5 Golf all in paddy spec.

BobMc · 14-02-2019 4:08pm

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

razorblunt · 14-02-2019 4:14pm

Denmark last year, booked a Fiesta/Clio or similar, ended up being given a BMW 3 Series GT that was kitted out.
"Punch it Chewie".

Bogwoppit · 14-02-2019 4:22pm

Got a car after a late flight into Dubai a few years ago, no air con. Had to drive to Abu Dhabi.

Gravelly · 14-02-2019 4:26pm

Bogwoppit wrote: »

Got a car after a late flight into Dubai a few years ago, no air con. Had to drive to Abu Dhabi.

Ouch. Didn't think there were any cars in Dubai without aircon!

zilog_jones · 14-02-2019 4:45pm

I did a bit of a road trip in the US with a friend a few years ago, we booked a "full-size" with Alamo, but when we came to pick it up in San Francisco they just let us take whichever one we wanted - 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).

And for the other extreme: Last year I rented a car for a few days in Japan, and went with the cheapest option and got a Daihatsu Move (the current model). Tiny car with a 660cc engine and about 52 bhp, had to put the back seat down to fit my suitcase in, but it was competent on all the twisty mountain roads I took it on. Even with said mountains, and "PWR" and "S" mode engaged and the engine screaming away (CVT box, of course), it barely used any petrol. And it was in immaculate condition, of course.

Gravelly · 14-02-2019 4:49pm

zilog_jones wrote: »

it was in immaculate condition, of course.

Everything in Japan is in immaculate condition. I think they go out and pick weeds at night or something, everywhere is freakishly tidy and manicured.

R.O.R · 14-02-2019 5:10pm

Last rental I had was the first for a long time - picked up a new ish Astra in Manchester last November and by god was it underpowered! 1.0 petrol base model so no armrest and no android auto integration.

Thankfully, it was from the airport to the city centre where we stayed over night, then out to north Manchester to the folks (didn't drive for the couple of days there) and then back to the airport, so not much driving involved.

Not the worst experience - that was also Manchester, probably late 90's when I got some sort of Kia, before they became half decent. 1.5 Litre engine in it was quite decent, but the rest was terrible. Did my best to kill it to get it replaced, but that engine took all the abuse I threw at it.

Best hire car result was booking a Focus size vehicle and getting an MX5 for the weekend, after the guy at the desk checked whether we had much luggage with us.

stecleary · 14-02-2019 5:20pm

Not exactly a rental but got a loaner from a garage a few weeksback while mine was in for repairs.
Pulled up and saw and X5, D40, A5 and A6 with their stickers on the door and thought lovely......out came a 1L Clio, it was band spanking new but as basic as it could be. Everything just felt so cheap and good lord was it gutless! struggled to get to 120 on the M1

Gravelly · 14-02-2019 5:24pm

stecleary wrote: »

Not exactly a rental but got a loaner from a garage a few weeksback while mine was in for repairs.
Pulled up and saw and X5, D40, A5 and A6 with their stickers on the door and thought lovely......out came a 1L Clio, it was band spanking new but as basic as it could be. Everything just felt so cheap and good lord was it gutless! struggled to get to 120 on the M1

There's a story (don't know whether true or not) about a certain well-known Limerick Mercedes dealership giving a long-time customer an old Ford Ka as a courtesy car while his S-Class was in for a service. Apparently a few hours later the Ka was delivered back to the dealer in the form of a compressed cube by a local scrap merchants as a sign of the customers annoyance!

BobMc · 14-02-2019 5:27pm

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

McGrath5 · 14-02-2019 5:28pm

Booked a Dodge Charger in San Francisco 2 years ago, they didn't have one around when we showed up so I ended up with a convertible 4 series

Last year in New Jersey I booked a Hyundai i40 "or something similar", they tried to give me a rough looking Corolla but ended up with an Outlander.

14-02-2019 5:29pm

The most disappointing rental i had was for a BMW 5 series or similar.
They gave me a 1.6tdi volvo s80 automatic

The best 3 rentals ive had were
Camaro SS 6.2l v8 400hp
Dodge challenger RT 5.7l v8 375hp
Ford mustang GT premium 5.0 v8 460hp

Savage_Henry · 14-02-2019 5:44pm

9935452 wrote: »

The most disappointing rental i had was for a BMW 5 series or similar.
They gave me a 1.6tdi volvo s80 automatic

it is similar

The best 3 rentals ive had were
Camaro SS 6.2l v8 400hp
Dodge challenger RT 5.7l v8 375hp
Ford mustang GT premium 5.0 v8 460hp

what class did you book?

bazz26 · 14-02-2019 5:46pm

Got a free upgrade to a Chevy Camaro recently when in the States but could not fit the luggage into it so ended up in a Ford Fusion (Mondeo). Dejected after that.

I don't think there would be anything to get excited about when arriving at an Irish car rental car park.

Savage_Henry · 14-02-2019 5:47pm

zilog_jones wrote: »

I did a bit of a road trip in the US with a friend a few years ago, we booked a "full-size" with Alamo, but when we came to pick it up in San Francisco they just let us take whichever one we wanted - 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).

Chrysler 300 is a midrange full size car. What were you expecting? Its not even fullsize by earlier standards. Last true fullsize cars were late 90s Ford Crown Victoria

Toots · 14-02-2019 5:56pm

2 years ago in Malaga I had booked a 9 seater van - listed as Nissan Primastar or similar, manual. Arrived and was given a Mercedes Vito automatic with lots of extras, so that was very pleasant.

My husband always gets surprises when he goes to the states with work. The company always books a compact automatic for him, but last time he got a Chevy Impala and the time before he was given a Dodge Durango.

zilog_jones · 14-02-2019 5:58pm

Savage_Henry wrote: »

Chrysler 300 is a midrange full size car. What were you expecting? Its not even fullsize by earlier standards. Last true fullsize cars were late 90s Ford Crown Victoria

I was expecting a full-size, and got one, but the other options were like a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu and something even more forgettable - FWD and probably 4-pot engines (300 was guaranteed to be at least a V6), i.e. doing it wrong! Would love to drive a Crown Vic (essentially the same model was still produced up until 2012) but I missed that by a few years.

fjon · 14-02-2019 6:02pm

Last time I was in the US I was just told to go out to where the cars were and pick anyone I wanted - the keys were inside. Ended up with a pretty crappy Jeep, but it looked impressive.
Booked a rental today for another trip to the US and there was a "Mystery" option which was "Compact or bigger". Given it was one of the cheapest options I went with it. Curious to see what happens.

circadian · 14-02-2019 6:07pm

Booked a Chevvy Impala in Calgary a few years back but they offered to upgrade me to a Chrysler 300 for $20 for the week. Grand I said, seems reasonable.

I head out to pick the car up, all black and chrome. Bling looking thing and after the first drive I opened the bonnet to see what was in there since it was like **** off a shovel. Turns out it had a 5.7 Hemi V8. Great craic but I was mostly cruising so I really didn't need the power. Thankfully I was in Alberta so refuelling it wasn't too expensive considering how thirsty the thing could be.

California Dreamer · 14-02-2019 6:08pm

Florida is great for the upgrades. But you need to pay for them. Booked standard car and then haggled with counter agent for a good 10 mins and got him down from $60 a day to $25 a day extra for a Porsche Cayenne.

L1011 · 14-02-2019 6:08pm

I had the old invitational level Hertz loyalty scheme given to me as a customer care effort after a total feck up in Manchester Airport one night where it took an hour to get a car including making the one member of staff there phone *another airport* to find the codes to add the under-25s surcharge; so I still seem to get some of the benefits of it now.

Got given an Audi A1 Sportback with the 185bhp engine in Portugal last summer for a "Focus or equivalent", so massively down on size but rather up on performance. Spec was amazingly poor though. Summer tyres on it in the worst rain the area had seen in years; nearly lost it on the first motorway junction as I wasn't expecting there to be that little grip

Basically brand new and I ended up dinging the rear quarter - invisible wooden block on a corner in a carpark at night in the rain - just under the Hertz acceptable damage limit, so no charge.

When in the US, "Focus or Equivalent" got me a 3.6 V6 Dodge Grand Caravan, metallic silver with full tints and electric everything. I looked like a gangsters moll picking up the kids from school :pac:

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!

And I once booked the Corsa size from Enterprise in Donegal Airport, arrived and got offered a Micra; in which I physically can't fit behind the wheel; or an automatic Ford Galaxy 4 speed slushbox as the only cars they had - at all. I took the Galaxy.

14-02-2019 6:33pm

Savage_Henry wrote: »

it is similar

what class did you book?

The similarity ended with them both having 4 wheels.

2 of the cars were with hertz , Adrenaline collection.
The mustang cost 420euro for a week with their insurance

The challenger was avis, i cant remember the class there

CharlieCroker · 14-02-2019 8:38pm

I've had a decent mix. Hadn't rented in about 10 years up to 2 years ago.

first ever rental was was rent a wreck in Vancouver, got a 5 year old ford explorer for half nothing for a 3 day road trip. 4.0 petrol, thought I was the bomb as a 20 year old.

Booked an economy in Porto and got upgraded to a Peugeot 307. Economy in Birmingham and got a basic Punto. Did the job.

Got a Golf GTi in Munich but that was specifically booked.

Fiat Doblo last year in Barcelona which I actually liked. Handy with 2 kids.

Went to Portugal again last year,booked a galaxy, got upgraded to a €90k V250. Serious bus.

Have a Merc SLK or similar booked for Munich next month. Looking forward to seeing what's there

Bogwoppit · 14-02-2019 8:48pm

Tried the mystery car with Hertz a few times and got no real joy apart from one time I booked a polo or similar and got a Ford Galaxy!

Northern Monkey · 14-02-2019 9:16pm

Worst one I’ve had was a Peugeot 107 in Poland. It didn’t even have a radio!

Voodoomelon · 14-02-2019 9:16pm

Rented an S350 LWB in Germany in 2012, nearly turned it upside down on the autobahn when lane 3 disappeared into lane 2 at quite the speed. Zero marks for observation that day.

Have a G31 5 series touring booked for March with Avis, they normally provide what they advertise.

For Forks Sake · 14-02-2019 10:00pm

Europcar usually have a handy system where instead of handing over the keys to a specific car they send you out to the section where all the cars available in the class you've booked are and you can pick whichever you most like the look of. Have gotten a few amusing ones through that system at Heathrow

RiseToMe · 14-02-2019 10:18pm

I hire a car at least once a month with work and always with Hertz so part of their "presidents club" or some such. Only ever book a cat b or c but always given an Audi A4 s line/A6 or sometimes a Volvo. Which isn't a bad lot considering I only ever pay between 80 and 120 for 3 or 4 days.

Much like everybody else I did get landed with an Astra which was absolutely hideous.

Gotta say, I do love when the "carfirmation" email comes in, like a mini Christmas Eve finding out what I've gotten

whippet · 14-02-2019 10:21pm

Last year in the states I’d booked an Eclass or similar .. when I got there they didn’t have one and offered me some sort of Chevy or a Volvo S90 .. I went with the Volvo and it was the T5. A whopper of a car and in my experience a far nice car to any e200 I’ve driven.

dastardly00 · 14-02-2019 10:58pm

I always look forward to seeing what I get. I enjoy driving new cars. Most of my rentals are work related. Best ever was the time I got a Cadillac Escalade for four days in Minneapolis in 2017. Oh man I loved driving that thing around

dastardly00 · 14-02-2019 11:00pm

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Rented an S350 LWB in Germany in 2012, nearly turned it upside down on the autobahn when lane 3 disappeared into lane 2 at quite the speed. Zero marks for observation that day.

They don't often give you a lot of warning!

colm_mcm · 14-02-2019 11:06pm

Booked an E Class years ago, tried to fob me off with a Saab 95 first and then a “free upgrade” to an Opel Antara!

Isambard · 14-02-2019 11:30pm

i'd usually book small and hope for an upgrade....went from Corsa to Galaxy once, for two of us.... almost always got a bigger car than I booked.

galvo_clare · 14-02-2019 11:40pm

Booked my usual Focus or similar from Avis in Italy. I had a voucher entitling me to an upgrade so threw it in, not expecting anything.
He first offered me an automatic and when I said no, he thought for a second. ‘I have it’ says he and goes to a drawer and hands me a set of keys.
Box fresh Audi A4 2.0 TDi estate with leather seats and all the toys.
‘Am I the man?’ He asked. Yep, you’re the man.

colm_mcm · 15-02-2019 12:17am

I got a free upgrade to a Lancia Thesis years ago come to think of it. I booked a Panda.

antodeco · 15-02-2019 12:20am

I rented an eGolf this week in Fuertuventura. First time driving a fully electric car. I had to play "distance roulette" as went to the other side of the island. Something I struggled with was trying to remove the cable from the car after a charge. Took me a good 10 minutes to figure it out!

Wildly Boaring · 15-02-2019 12:38am

Was in Scotland for work for a few months.
Flying in every Sunday and work rented me a car.
They were renting golf.

By the end if I was only gonna be a day or two lads behind the desk used upgrade me to whatever they had.
Got same a7 several times. E class. Mainly just a golf or focus though

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

Other side.... dodge charger or equivalent... got a Chevy impala. Prob same category.....fugly!!

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

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