Tired of your car? Try a rental and feel better ! ;-)

[Deschodt]

Familiarity can breed boredom and it's possible to get bored even by your fantastic (but aging) german steed. I've got the cure right here: Go get a cheap rental, it'll fix you right up.

While my car is in for service, I have the pleasure of driving a Dodge Avenger as a "courtesy" rental. I’m pretty sure it’s not named after the torpedo bomber of WW2 nor the marvel merry band of super heroes. It’s a world class piece of **** ;-)

That thing is equipped with 2 primary features: Where the gas pedal is, they have something that we shall call “the noisemaker” - press it and presto, more noise. Nothing else happens, but it’s louder for sure. #2: Variable steering: you turn the steering wheel, and the results, well, vary. Sometimes the car turns a little, sometimes not so much, sometimes it makes a “clonk” sound thru the wheel.

A few weeks back while travelling I also sampled a Chevy Aveo. Yowsa! Listing in turns more than the costa concordia, and another cool feature I called "vortex of mediocrity": the A/C would somehow make the airflow cavitate around your ears, as if the windows were open at 80 mph. Amazing cabin design, I guess...

Is there a point? Other than I'm amazed car companies still produce such pieces of crap, yes: I understand now why people flock to hondas and toyotas at that price point, and I think if my car budget was Aveo or Avenger sized, I'd rather buy a 10-15-20y old german car for the money and take amy chances on repairs. Either way, I'm really gonna be happy to have my car back, if the front wheels remain attached long enough to take me back to the dealer !

[HardDrive]

Well said. I was given a Chrysler 200 as loaner...when my 997 was in the shop

It really was a Soviet era POS. The most joyless, ugly, appliance one can think of. And it was almost new!

[wildthing]

Enterprise had a $10 dollar a day weekend promo on a Sonata. My friend took it. I got to ride in it. Very different experience than yours.

[Scott R]

Porsche dealer of all places gave me a chevy cobalt with 29k hard miles on it, now that was a POS.

[speeder]

Hilarious write-up, thanks.

[Tilikum Turbo]

2013 Nissan Altima....


100% Garbage...my 1977 Rabbit felt a million time better than that POS.

[Jim Richards]

About 20 years ago, I had a job interview with a west coast start-up company. When I arrived at the airport, I went to get the rental car that they arranged for me...it was a friggin Geo Metro! At that moment, I decided I was absolutely going to pass on the job opportunity.

And yes, the Geo Metro was my worst rental car ever.

[flipper35]

On the Avenger, get one with the nearly 300hp six and the go pedal will actually work.

We had one as a rental in CA for a couple weeks. Wasn't all that bad but not a drivers car for sure. It had the 4 banger and it was eager in the same way a cat is when connected to a sled.

[Rikao4]

another Chrysler 200 here...
feel's like I'm 13 and learning to drive all over again..
steep on the gas and you wait...and wait...
and watch the Yugo's and Trabbi's fly by....
the seat....
marshmallows offer more support..

Rika

[coldstart]

I had a Ford Mustang GT (5.0L V8) as a rental in Las Vegas last December. Sweet!

A lot of fun but poorly put together (ventilation fan was whining, truck bits came off, etc.) I also would have prefered a manual transmission....

[porsche4life]

I had a versa a few weeks ago. Pathetic little car! I had rented a corolla or equivalent, versa was a total downgrade. Made me enjoy my POS trailblazer DD.

[Laneco]

Have to 2nd the Chevrolet Aveo as a puss-tulous pile of crap. In a cross wind at freeway speed, twitchy as a crack whore on ice skates. At lower speed, flopped and wallowed about like a dying fish.

Was also SLOW and for the amount of craptastic available, didn't even get particularly good fuel economy.

Gotten a lot of good rental cars, but that DEFINATELY wasn't one of them.

angela

[dtool242]

I travel and get rental cars quite often and I don't think I've ever had the same make/model twice. Best one was a new Challenger R/T. Rained the whole time I had it though and the wheels would just break loose anytime I tried to get up on it. Biggest surprise was a Kia Sedona mini-van. Groaned when I saw what I got but that grocery getter has a lot of pep! Was going down the free-way at 100 mph and it was only turning 2900 RPM, with a 6700 RPM redline. Of course it handled like a minivan, but getting some wheel squeeling when taking off the line is not what you expect from a rental, much less a minivan.

[dtool242]

BTW, you can pick this up as a rental in Atlanta, $1500/day if I recall correctly.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by flipper35

It had the 4 banger and it was eager in the same way a cat is when connected to a sled.

lol!

[LakeCleElum]

Turning in my car at a crowded rental desk: In a Loud voice, the person behind the desk sez: "Sir, how did you like your Gran Prix?"......In a louder voice, I say: "If that's a Gran Prix, I'd hate to see a Regular Prix".

Biggest POS I ever rented was a brand new Chev. Cobalt.....Had the suspension of a Covered Wagon...