Topic: Rental car thread

[PJungnitsch]

Looking into it a bit more, someone put it as the Armada is like a Wrangler Safari, while the Patrol is like a Wrangler Rubicon.

Same basic machine, but the Patrol is upgraded for offroad with heavier diffs, rear locker, disconnecting sway bar, etc

[ktm525]

Nissan likely has it right, no one is rock crawling an Armada in North America.

[Seafoam]

A real fuel sipper.

[Firm]

On the topic of rentals; I had a loaded up Expedition short wheel base a few days last week in Central Florida for work. Wanted the GM but they were all taken when I got there, so we made due. Honestly, it's quite competent and comfortable, had 4 other people with me, so we made use of the 3rd row. Even in SWB guise it's shockingly roomy inside, ride quality is a bit weird, had an unsettling shudder over certain bumps, but overall it did a great job of crushing highway miles and keeping everyone comfortable.

[Blueprint]

Ended up with this! Not overly impressed by it. But it was between this & the Durango & I thought this would give is more space, not sure in the end though because of the stupid 2nd row captains chairs. The Durango may have been better in this case because we could have had 2 passengers in the 2nd row & 1 in the 3rd. It was pretty tight with all of our luggage plus all of our ski/snowboard gear! We brought 2 boards & 2 pairs of skis with us, plus all of the boots as well. We had to get creative packing it, thats for sure! The interior is quite stunning though, in a brown & black combo, feels very upscale, especially compared to my Passport. Power was good with all of us loaded up, but it's got an awful wheel wobble on the front left, guessing an out of balance tire. Will take some interior pics later, yesterday was a stupid long travel day, left home at 3:30am EST & were at our condo in Big White by 4:30pm PST.

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Why rent an SUV when you need a minivan's room? 

Would have loved to get a minivan, but at $1,150 for the 6 days vs $454, it didn't make any sense, it would have been cheaper to go with the shuttle bus for the 5 of us.

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True, minivans are often stupid-priced at rental outlets.

By coincidence, a co-worker told me of a spring break ski trip they took out West, got "upgraded" to an Armada on all-seasons and they could not believe how skittish and useless that vehicle was on snow, and how little room it had inside (Outback owner).

[Gurgie]

By coincidence, a co-worker told me of a spring break ski trip they took out West, got "upgraded" to an Armada on all-seasons and they could not believe how skittish and useless that vehicle was on snow, and how little room it had inside (Outback owner).

Hmmm, must've been pretty tires on it because the QX-80 we had was a beast in the snow. Most of the time I had it in 4WD Auto mode, or in 4HI while in "snow" mode & I had zero issues with it's handling in the snow. It's such a heavy vehicle though, so maybe that was throwing them off compared to the Outback.

[ktm525]

Weight works for you until it doesn't. The LR4 absolutely crunches through anything with it's one Achilles heel being carrying too much speed in a descending corner. Then all the weight wants to go straight. Great winter prairie schooners though.

This winter on normal snow covered roads with up to 12" I would rank snow handling of the current winter fleet as : Volvo XC60 (Sailun WST1), Honda Ridgeline (DMV2), LR4 (DMV2). If conditions get unpacked, deeper and soft then it is LR4>Volvo> Ridgeline.


 

[draghon]

Rented a standard sedan for a recent trip to the GTA. Ended up with an Nissan Altima SR (yes they still make these apparently lol) in a very light flat grey colour. A handsome car (IMO) with a large trunk and decent interior. Power was merely adequate and the CVT was mostly ok. Heated seats and steering wheel get REALLY HOT, really fast, which was nice. I reset the odo and mileage calculator at the beginning of the trip and averaged 7.5L/100km over ~400km of driving (70/30 hwy/city) which I thought was pretty good.

Adaptive cruise was greatly appreciated in rush hour traffic on 400 series hwys until the front sensor got iced over disabling the system.

[ktm525]

Rented a standard sedan for a recent trip to the GTA. Ended up with an Nissan Altima SR (yes they still make these apparently lol) in a very light flat grey colour. A handsome car (IMO) with a large trunk and decent interior. Power was merely adequate and the CVT was mostly ok. Heated seats and steering wheel get REALLY HOT, really fast, which was nice. I reset the odo and mileage calculator at the beginning of the trip and averaged 7.5L/100km over ~400km of driving (70/30 hwy/city) which I thought was pretty good.

Adaptive cruise was greatly appreciated in rush hour traffic on 400 series hwys until the front sensor got iced over disabling the system.

The hot steering wheel is about the only thing the modern urban driver cares about. Nissan is on the right path. Nothing to see here (crappy Jatco CVT)

[Seafoam]

^^ These Jatco CVT' s. How many owners actually know to change the fluid regularly? There are actually filters that can be replaced on them.  The lifespan could have been  a lot longer.

[revalations]

^^ These Jatco CVT' s. How many owners actually know to change the fluid regularly? There are actually filters that can be replaced on them.  The lifespan could have been  a lot longer.

Had a good talk with a transmission guy this week about Nissan CVT’s (he’s doing the trans swap on my Murano). Said most only swap out the fluid and ignore the TWO filters that must also be changed out. They do plug up and starve the trans of oil. One is a very small filter.  He actually said that any V6 powered Nissan with a CVT is fairly reliable if maintained. Key is maintenance and NOT to tow with them.

[TheHire]

Was in Austin for the long weekend, booked a "standard hybrid" with Avis, was supposed to be a Prius or similar. I was excited to try the new Prius for a few hundred miles, but got an even better score.

Landed a 2024 Toyota Crown Platinum AWD with just 6 miles on the odometer. Brand new and squeaky clean.

[OliverD]

Was in Austin for the long weekend, booked a "standard hybrid" with Avis, was supposed to be a Prius or similar. I was excited to try the new Prius for a few hundred miles, but got an even better score.

Landed a 2024 Toyota Crown Platinum AWD with just 6 miles on the odometer. Brand new and squeaky clean.

So how was it?

[TheHire]

Extremely smooth, makes a great car for older folks who don't want a premium badge on the hood. Quiet as heck at highway speeds up to 100mph... lots of room (we had a few rides with five on board).

It's just ugly. The Signia will change that and give more versatility.

I like the thing a lot.

[Blueprint]

Just flew back from the UK. After 5 days on foot/tube/train/boat in London, we picked up our rental car for the road trip portion. The paperwork told us we were getting a Citroën C3, like we got in Italy, but the guys brought down a new Dacia Sandero Stepway instead, black on black, 6 speed manual, turbo 1 litre 3-pot, RHD of course. Perfect ride for the two of us, plenty of trunk space, 7/8th scale Crosstrek vibes, peppy enough and the thing nailed 52 mpg imperial, or 5.4 l/100 km over nearly 600 miles (gas being 1.579 GBP per litre, that's an important stat!). More to come once I sort travel pics.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

[ktm525]

Just flew back from the UK. After 5 days on foot/tube/train/boat in London, we picked up our rental car for the road trip portion. The paperwork told us we were getting a Citroën C3, like we got in Italy, but the guys brought down a new Dacia Sandero Stepway instead, black on black, 6 speed manual, turbo 1 litre 3-pot, RHD of course. Perfect ride for the two of us, plenty of trunk space, 7/8th scale Crosstrek vibes, peppy enough and the thing nailed 52 mpg imperial, or 5.4 l/100 km over nearly 600 miles (gas being 1.579 GBP per litre, that's an important stat!). More to come once I sort travel pics.

Could you imagine if that was the reality that faced you every day? Ridiculous taxed fuel and wiener cars? No wonder so many flee the UK to Canada in search of a better life. 

Nice place to visit but not sure you want to live there. Looking forward to some trip pics.

[TheHire]

Was in Dallas for the weekend, only had 50-60 miles to do total, ended up with a new Volvo C40 - full electric. Kind of neat, but the same horrendous Google infotainment system that plagued Mrs. Hire's '22 V90 had. Also, ride quality was extremely choppy and unsettled.

Didn't love it, but the alternative was a cool new '24 Tacoma... unfortunately we had four of us and needed luggage to be enclosed, so a truck was out of the question.

[kings10]

Rented a Toyota Noah in Japan for a day trip through the Japanese Alps; Nagano to Nikko.  My two sons had a blast on the roads.  It was a 150hp snow tire equipped minivan loaded with the five of us, but they still enjoyed it.  They regretted not splurging and renting a Toyota 86 or GR Yaris for themselves. 

[revalations]

Neat little van! Could you imagine what would be said in our markets in 2024 with that small screen?