Topic: Rental car thread

[TheHire]

Wait, question. When you say 2014 Impala, do you mean the fleet-only previous generation car? Or the redesigned new one? I've driven the new one a couple times and I rather like it.

The fleet version is known as the Impala Limited and that's what I drove.

So the old one then. Carry on, your complaints aren't unjustified! 

[wing]

I'm not tall and I've noted that in a few reviews.  If I notice it is extremely short, if Jacob notices there is no seat.... Luls

[ArticSteve]

Had a rental Elantra then a rental Sonata.
Didn't like either. Why are the seat bases so short? Plus they don't tilt upwards at all.

Because the Japanese econo cars are designed for ppl averaging 5 ft 8 inches.  One really needs to hunt around for a seat that has a relatively decent base and a seat rail that has good extension rearwards.  Essentially the large units with 10 way power.

[Solstice2006]

Had a rental Elantra then a rental Sonata.
Didn't like either. Why are the seat bases so short? Plus they don't tilt upwards at all.

Because the Japanese econo cars are designed for ppl averaging 5 ft 8 inches.  One really needs to hunt around for a seat that has a relatively decent base and a seat rail that has good extension rearwards.  Essentially the large units with 10 way power.

Remember Hyundai is a wannabe Japanese car company! They are Korean! 

[DriverJeff]

I had a Chevy Orlando rental turd... errr car last week and was reminded how spoiled I am to have press cars that don't smell like ...  well as unpleasant as that rental did.  Not to mention dealing with the detritus that was working in the rental place.  Plus, that was my first -- and God willing -- last experience with the Orlando.  I didn't realize GM was using mashed potatoes for brakes on some of their cars.  Now I know.

[TheHire]

I had a Chevy Orlando rental turd... errr car last week and was reminded how spoiled I am to have press cars that don't smell like ...  well as unpleasant as that rental did.  Not to mention dealing with the detritus that was working in the rental place.  Plus, that was my first -- and God willing -- last experience with the Orlando.  I didn't realize GM was using mashed potatoes for brakes on some of their cars.  Now I know.

The Orlando still exists?!

[rrocket]

I had a Chevy Orlando rental turd... errr car last week and was reminded how spoiled I am to have press cars that don't smell like ...  well as unpleasant as that rental did.  Not to mention dealing with the detritus that was working in the rental place.  Plus, that was my first -- and God willing -- last experience with the Orlando.  I didn't realize GM was using mashed potatoes for brakes on some of their cars.  Now I know.

To get away from that, any time we've had to rent a car we ALWAYS request an "import".  Has worked well so far.

[Trainman]

Had a black 2014 Dodge Charger in The Pas a few weeks back, not impressed.  Poor sight lines, poor fit and finish, lots of hard plastic, a weird combo of knobs and touch screen controls for the HVAC, and why an 8 speed transmission?  No proper on-board computer to tell you fuel consumption or anything else either.  And power was not what I was expecting from the name/image.

Liked the heated seats and steering wheel that warmed up quickly, hmm, not much else to praise.  Oh, except for the red interior (think bordello ), it looked very nice.

[DriverJeff]

I had a Chevy Orlando rental turd... errr car last week and was reminded how spoiled I am to have press cars that don't smell like ...  well as unpleasant as that rental did.  Not to mention dealing with the detritus that was working in the rental place.  Plus, that was my first -- and God willing -- last experience with the Orlando.  I didn't realize GM was using mashed potatoes for brakes on some of their cars.  Now I know.

To get away from that, any time we've had to rent a car we ALWAYS request an "import".  Has worked well so far.

I simply asked for the cheapest thing they had, hoping to get the new Yaris that was out front.  Unfortunately, the desk jockey was "kind" enough to "upgrade" me to the Orlando.  Admittedly I didn't protest at first since I'd never driven one before and was curious. 

[jww]

We were in the UK for a couple of weeks from the end of October to mid-November. We purposely had pre-arranged a Fiat 500L as I intentionally wanted a sense of how good, bad or indifferent I would be towards this car. Our model was a scaled back UK Trekking version with the diesel powerplant. Random thoughts and comments below.

Size:
I was shocked at how large this vehicle is inside. We had my brother-in-law and 14 yr old footballing nephew in the back, when my BIL exclaimed that you could hold a 5-a-side football match in the back. Seriously it is that large. We had two large suitcases, two of the biggest carry-ons allowed by airline standards (needed all that extra baggage space to bring back chocolate), as well as a couple of additional dufel bags and we still had ample space (with the seats down) for shopping, etc.

Interior:
It's not an Audi, Lexus or VW, but it's also not a low-end Chevrolet either. Plenty (and I do mean plenty) of storage bins and such so no issues there. The size of greenhouse makes everything feel absolutely huge and I didn't have any blind-spots at all. I found the A-pillar windows to actually be pretty slick -- I used the one on the driver's side for mounting my Garmin (with UK maps, of course). Other than the traffic and charge cable running over the steering column, it worked fine. Generally all was good, the seats, which are constantly getting dissed in North American reviews were decent, not great, but decent. I only noticed the seat depth being smaller than what I am used to when we returned home and I got into our 09 Santa Fe. The furthest single journey we made was typical for the UK -- about 3 hours or so (with some motorway queues) from Grindleford in Derbyshire to Staithes in Yorkshire -- including the drive right up across the North York Moors National Park (what a drive that was -- watch out for sheep on the road). Neither of us experienced any fatigue per se -- although I did wish for an armrest as well as some better ergonomics on the view of the gauge cluster which gets seriously hidden when you tilt the wheel downwards. Speaking of armrest -- the armrest in the door is quite distant from the side of the passengers so as to render them essentially useless -- this is especially true for the driver. The steering wheel itself was just ok -- and felt somewhat plasticky to me. Grip was good though. Drive height is great -- not too high, but not low-slung on the road. As a result, entry and exit angles were perfect. Width-wise, this car was a squeeze into a couple of parking spots, but it's ease of maneuverability made it a cinch to park in even the narrow spots at the local Tescos in Droylsden.

The tumble-forward seats took a bit of getting used to -- I had expected some kind of lay-down system, don't know why, because the tumble-forward is the best solution for this car. It does impact, however, how far you can put your front seats back, but because of the height of the vehicle and seating position, we were fine in that department. Oh - and the cup holders were "meh" but the in-door bottle holders were "yeah".

Performance:
The diesel was phenomenal -- incredible mileage as we averaged a whopping 50mpg for the trip. Even at a higher cost to fuel up then petrol, it was definitely the right engine choice -- we could have had a Lounge, but that was petrol so for the added sunroof which we wouldn't have used anyway, and other "features" for a rental it was perfect. Pick up as for any diesel was excellent. Motorway cruising likewise was excellent. The stock tyres were nice and grippy on the wet pavement. This vehicle was equipped with Auto-Start which I wasn't aware of at first -- I thought I was stalling at the stop lights until I saw the little icon go on and off as I stopped and started. Once I got the hang of it, I actually liked it quite a bit and think that every car ought to have this feature if possible. We opted also for the 6-speed as I dislike automatics when we visit the UK. Manual transmissions seem to give me a more connected feeling to the road, and with the narrower lanes, faster, and more erratic drivers, higher speed limits, etc., I wanted that feeling all the more. This little mixer shifted effortlessly, and worked well with the mated diesel powerplant. Wish they did more diesels in Canada.

Summary
Overall this was an excellent rental experience. So would I buy one of these? Hard to say -- there are a number of niggly things that I would have to take into account before I signed up for one. I did quite like the cladding of the Trekking -- it helps to deflect road debris, and gives a certain air of appearance that I liked -- rugged-ish, but not bull-ish. Having said this, I find the Lounge to be a far more compelling package. Multi-stage heated seats would be nice (we didn't even have single stage bun warmers) as well as a much better set up for armrests for both the driver and front passenger.  When we go down to a single vehicle in a couple of years, we are still going to consider one of these. Having said that I found myself commenting to my wife that this vehicle needed an AWD option. Of course I must admit that the newly announced 500X really has my interest. Fiat fun and flair with Jeep AWD -- how good could that be?

[TheHire]

We purposely had pre-arranged a Fiat 500L

 

[tortoise]

I had a 2015 Sonata base model for our drive from Calgary to Lake Louise to Kicking Horse and Back.  It had all of 900 km on the clock when I picked it up.

Likes
A refined highway cruiser.
Good ergonomics and interface.
Handling was surprisingly competent.
Trunk was massive.
Fuel consumption was 7.8 and I drove it like a rental should be driven.

Dislikes
Seats were uncomfortable (this coming from a guy who likes the seats in a Mazda5)
Steering had no on center feel (more on that)
Surprising amount of road noise
At slow speeds the brakes were really sensitive.
Plastic steering wheel felt cheap.

General Comments
Overall I was pretty impressed by it.  Overall it was quite refined and still handled reasonably well.  A good all-around car.

I wish there was a way to decouple the steering setting and the driving mode.  By selecting "sport" the steering firmed up nicely but the transmission would hold the gear longer and the throttle response was sharpened.  The steering in Normal or Eco mode was way too boosted.   Eco mode also killed the throttle response, I treated it as a "snow mode" for getting going but in general just defaulted to Sport mode. I would have liked to have the firm steering and regular mode for everything else.   Regardless of the mode, there was no on center feel or any feel at all really. Bleh.

When in sport mode the sensitive throttle made it feel like there was all kinds of power.  However, the closer your foot got to the floor the more you realized nothing was there.  Power is adequate but with 3 people + 200 lbs of gear at a decent altitude I was left wanting for more.

It was between the Sonata and a new Altima, I stand by my decision to rent the Sonata.

Of course this thing had all season tires.  I nearly rear-ended a car on the way back into Calgary.  Traffic went from 80-40 in an instant for no apparent reason.  I was on a slight decline and pressing brake pedal just engaged the ABS.  ZERO traction.  I had to do an emergency lane change to avoid smashing into the car in front of me.

In contrast, on Saturday I drove through 6 hours of snow-storm in our WS-80 equipped car and felt confident the entire way.

I think in a slightly more upscale trim with better seats (if they exist) and quieter tires this could be a compelling car.

[ArticSteve]

Dislikes
Seats were uncomfortable (this coming from a guy who likes the seats in a Mazda5)
Steering had no on center feel (more on that)
Surprising amount of road noise
At slow speeds the brakes were really sensitive.
Plastic steering wheel felt cheap.


General Comments
Overall I was pretty impressed by it.  Overall it was quite refined and still handled reasonably well.  A good all-around car.


 




Power is adequate but with 3 people + 200 lbs of gear at a decent altitude I was left wanting for more.



Every NA 4 banger in the mid sized segment is like that, PARTICULARILY when loaded.  Although, the Accord has the most punch of the lot.

[tortoise]

No doubt.  But in sport mode the throttle mapping gave you 75% of the power in the first 45% of the pedal travel*. From there on, basically nothing.  That caught me off guard a few times.

*my numbers, based on memory.

General Comments
Overall I was pretty impressed by it.  Overall it was quite refined and still handled reasonably well.  A good all-around car.


 

The dislikes weren't significant enough to make me dislike the car.  Though the seats would keep me from buying one. 

[Agiledood]

I had a Chrysler 300 when we went to Disney last year. 

Likes:
- infotainment system was ridiculously easy to use
- didn't feel like a huge car, easy to park
- comfy seats and overall a very comfy ride without feeling overly soft
- tons of space for all the junk we collected over the week!

Dislikes:
- leather seats combined with the contour of the rear seats made my 7 yr olds booster slip around which gave her some rage trying to put her seatbelt on.

Uh, that was about it for the dislikes. I was really impressed with it, power was adequate but not ovewhelming and it's a great choice for a family car. I'd be interested to see if the Charger feels like a more sporty version.

[pi314]

Got a 2010? Ford F150 while the focus is in for a strange stickshift issue.

Thoughts:
It's HUGE. I don't know what to do with all this space. It also makes parking in standard parking lots near-impossible. Quite the pain.
I don't know how I'm going to park tomorrow (my driveway at home is quite large so no problem there).
Rear legroom is massive, and it's almost large enough to fit a bike inside the cabin!

Excellent Highway Cruiser... Nice and quiet


Even at $0.85 Gas the fuel consumption bothers me, so I'd probably never own one myself. I also prefer quick and nimble to a large brute.

[Trainman]

My ride from last week:



Picked up at the Fort St John airport, drove to Manning AB and back, a total of 814 kms over 4 days.  Some thoughts:

Cons:
Where to start 
- Poor sight lines, especially when backing up;
- Poor seat comfort, despite having power seats, peddles and steering wheel, with slippery seats and little side bolster support;
- Looked like rather poor rear seat leg room, could not even get my backpack to go behind the drivers seat when set for me but I did not sit back there (no issues with the Forester);
- Reminded me why I like the Subaru style AWD, after waiting/slipping for this AWD to engage;
- Fuel economy was 10.8l/100 kms, I was expecting better from a sedan doing the speed limits (90, 100 or 110);
- Bizarre transmission actions.  Was a 8 speed (I used the paddles to find out), would do a series of quick up-shifts and be in 5th gear at 40 kph  , and these were not very smooth with both my passenger and I moving around like it was a manual shift;
- Did not like the touch screen system: it is a big screen but in my mind too many screens and buttons/sliders on each screen, with too much time looking at it rather than on the road.  I did appreciate that some functions also had knobs/hard buttons.


Pros:
There were a few:
- Very sound car after 20,000 kms of rental use, not a squeak or rattle to be heard (unlike this weeks ride, more on that later);
- Quick to warm up;
- Good Bluetooth connectivity to my partners Samsung;
- Good looker;
- Knobs/hard buttons for key functions of the HVAC and audio system;

Hmm, not much else really.

Second time this year with on of these, the other one exhibited similar traits but as we only put less than 100 kms on it I was not sure if it was normal, but I guess it is.

Overall despite being a nice looking car it was rather a disappointment, but much better than this weeks ride    Will see what next week in Grande Prairie brings....

[rrocket]

How was it in the slippery stuff?  All seasons or winter?

[Trainman]

How was it in the slippery stuff?  All seasons or winter?

It had Hancook winters on it, and I was able to get snow to spray from all 4 tires with a bit of judicious use of the throttle.  It took a bit for the "AWD" to kick in though, and that was rather disconcerting after the Subaru.

[Trainman]

Oh, I forgot to mention that shifting from R to D was a hit and miss affair, with only getting it about 50% of the time on the first go.  A pain when you have backed into a street and sit there trying to get it into D....maybe with more time I would have figured it out to be more consistent.