Rental Car Nanny to the extreme

[reachme]

I rented a Ford something car from Hertz at the airport near South Bend Ind last month and what I got was a car with a compliance officer called "mykey". I've heard about cars with a key you can give to the kids that will restrict speed etc. and I guess that is what rental companies are doing.

To plug in my USB to charge and hear navigation on the speakers meant I had to install a phone app to subjugate my phone to the compliance officer software-not something I wanted to do in a rental nor pay for the cell data to download it. The car could do it but wouldn't let me do it. If I started moving it would not let me do anything. So I couldn't pair my phone when I get in the car. I figured this out after about 10 minutes of sitting in rental parking lot, then driving, stopping repeat. I needed nav.

So I had an AUX cable and I used the speaker jack as sound input to get navigation on the speakers and was sorry I did. First off I could not get music since you can't do radio input AND AUX. "No Radio for YOU". that took another 10 minutes while driving since messages were not clear.

Then I had to turn the volume up to hear Waze and it hit a volume limit and would not go higher. My hearing is not what it was so I had to look at the phone to see directions. Poorly thought out "safety feature" assuming volume is risk for everyone.


Finally with a speed Limit 70 open highways, so of course everyone is driving 76. But when you touch 75 there is a loud tone (not volume limited) and the main screen is taken over with a warning that you are nearing top speed. Not just once, it does it EVERY time you cross into 75 with which is so distracting. Speed then caps out at 80 even if you push your foot to the floor so it's like a mandated cruise control.


I can see this if you own the car and want to give your completely irresponsible nephew use of the car. But not for someone renting the full use of the car. I guess this is the future of car rental. I'll just Uber it from now on if I can't get a real car.

[stomachmonkey]

I would have turned straight around and insisted on a non crippled car.

[Cooper911SC]

A similar thing happened to a friend of mine earlier this year. Not nearly as crippling as your experience though...
He was in a rented car here in SoCal and when he reached 80mph the car began slowing down with the central warning screen displaying the message "Slow Down".

It seems like a risk for rental companies to force this technology. Very annoying.

Cooper

[Porsche-O-Phile]

My guess is this is being driven by insurance underwriters - not the RAC cos themselves...

They almost certainly are using GPS tracking as well to help them nail you in the event of a claim (speeding? Any erratic lane changes, etc.?) Anyone look in the fine print recently to see what you're consenting to?

[imcarthur]

Nothing new. Hertz rental late January 2013. I stared at this display for 2 hours between Vegas & Barstow (when the traffic finally slowed me down). I wanted an extra 10mph.

Ian

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by reachme

I can see this if you own the car and want to give your completely irresponsible nephew use of the car. But not for someone renting the full use of the car. I guess this is the future of car rental.

No, this is the future of all cars if the govt continues to ignore the Constitution.

[ckelly78z]

We have 4 new company cars that I alternately take for the job. I absolutely will do anything not to drive the Honda Accord, it has a NAV/stereo/interactive system that is virtually (pun intended) impossible to navigate (also pun intended). The Toyota Camry, and the Nissan Altima are better, but still take some thought to operate. I prefer the Subaru Outback.....so easy for a stupid person like me to get in and drive, and not stare at the dash.

[911boost]

Hmm, I know I can set that up on my truck, which I have never done. But I am wondering if it some dillholes idea of a prank. You know, like setting the hotel alarm clock to go off at 300 AM. It isn't hard to set it up.

[look 171]

I can just see someone not knowing about the cap of 80mph and try to overtake a truck on the hwy. They find out half way around the truck and nothing more happens as the on coming traffic gets larger and larger. fun times

[Joe Bob]

So I guess gone are the day of the Shelby 350 rentals?

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

No, this is the future of all cars if the govt continues to ignore the Constitution.

Bingo. Glad I'm an old fart. May you youngsters out there enjoy the nanny state...

[juanbenae]

^^^^ what paul said... it's the black box affect! it keeps the cars going slower, DB's are less likely to beat the snot out of them, less accidents, less claims to be paid, more money to be made. it seems this might make X rental cars a good used car value moving forward? would they redo the cars brain, or sell with the rental retarding included? I work for a bay area government agency and our inspection group are getting exclusively auction bought GM captivas, n now 2 wd jeep Cherokees vehicles with 25k miles in white issued. I was lucky and got one of the last f150s,, if driving a ford can be considered fortunate... I could see the desire of using hampered performance cars for government work.... win-win

[aap1966]

Originally Posted by look 171

I can just see someone not knowing about the cap of 80mph and try to overtake a truck on the hwy. They find out half way around the truck and nothing more happens as the on coming traffic gets larger and larger. fun times

Yep.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

No, this is the future of all cars if the govt continues to ignore the Constitution.

They will put this in cop cars first. You know, to set the example that no one ever needs to speed.

[Por_sha911]

#SpeedersLivesMatters

[dafischer]

Luckily, the Mustang EcoBoost we rented in Florida in May didn't come equipped with the nanny. Either that, or I gave her a heart attack and she dropped dead.

[Otter74]

I rented a Citroen C4 in France last month and this functionality was designed into the car's electronics. Fortunately the car was not nanny-ed by the rental agency. But you could navigate through the touch screen and do things like set a speed limiter (e.g. do not exceed 130kph). Pretty nice if you're the one that gets to choose it.

[BE911SC]

Originally Posted by reachme

I can see this if you own the car and want to give your completely irresponsible nephew use of the car.

That is exactly how the owner of the car (the rental company) sees you.