The Rental Car Review Thread

[Casual Observer]

Growing up I wanted to be either an architect or a car reviewer, you know the guys that used to write for real magazines like Motor Trend or Car and Driver not the modern bullshit bloggers that write Jalopnick or video bloggers like the horrible youtube guy Doug Demuro whos is such a dumb millineal that he doesn't even know what a stereo equalizer is. Luckily I didn't end up an architect because I would be designing strip malls now and as a car reviewer I'm sure nowadays I'd make a great waiter since magazines are dead and I don't have the charisma of the Top Gear guys.

Anyway, in the last few months due to travelling for some job interviews, taking some weekenders to Tahoe and other parts in CA and the fact that my car's engine siezed (had oil so no-one knows why it siezed), I've had the occasion to rent a bunch of newish cars so I thought I'd give some tiny reviews and ask if you guys have any perspective about what's a great new car to buy these days, in backwards chronological order.

Note: I gave each of these a little bit of extra credit considering they're rental cars. If how I drive rental cars is any indication then these poor things have been beat the hell up before I rented them.

2018 Toyota Prius - "D-" :


God, where to begin whith this thing. My family has always been a "Toyota family" since before I was born but I cannot give this thing a pass. Every single thing about this car is somewhere on the range between Meh and WTF. I don't mind slow acceleration but this thing does everything like it's 90 years old. Quick mechanics aside: hybrids have CVT transmissions which are essentially a couple of pulleys which work out the right ratio between torque and speed. Instead of a clutch which makes a direct connection or a torque converter which spins up such that the fluid makes an almost connection (then locks up in some cars), a CVT kinda squirts power into the wheels after taking its time. So with a hybrid, when you push the gas, first the tiny engine starts to rev, then after a delay the computer tells the electric motor to give some torque, then the pulleys figure out a ratio and you start to accelerate. So whether I'm going in the parking lot at 10mph or on the freeway at 65, the torque response is just as lackadaisical.

Then there's the rest of the car, fucking quirky at best. The tires are so small that grooved roads pull you left and right like a tesla in one of Musk's bullshit boring tunnels. There's no trunk release button (base model problem probably). The headlight control is out of this world. In 30 years of driving I've never had a car that when you turn on the headlights the taillights don't automatically come on. You have to turn the stalk a second time for the taillights. What possible use case is there for this "feature"? Taillights take like 1% of the power of headlights so I can't even think of a situation where I need headlights but would be upset that the taillights are on as well. The seat controls are weird, the styling is awful, and the usb jacks are behind the center console so how the hell am I going to charge my phone while its sitting on the dash for navigation.

The absolutely only redeeming characteristic of this car comes down to one number: 41.5. This is the average gas mileage I've gotten driving around the bay area the last few days. If I was someone who thought that an extra $50 a month in gas would kill me then I might give in to buying one of these.

2017 Dodge Charger SXT (B+):


Rented this thing after my car died and I was committed to a weekend in Carmel-By-The-Sea. Carmel is next to Pebble Beach (Concourse de Exelence) and as such is a magnet for folks pushing hot cars like Ferrari's, Lambos, Porsche's, etc. I usually don't care that I drove there with a beater as I'm not like that but since I needed to rent a car anyway I checked out Turo.com to rent someone's unique car. I hadn't considered Turo before I read a Jalopnik article about a couple of "car reporters" who rented a KITT car in SoCal and planned to drive it 6 hours to San Fran for a convention. In that case the car died after 10 miles and I was impressed to hear that Turo not only flatbedded the thing but also charged the costs to the owner because it wasn't the renters' fault the car died.

I almost went with a Porsche Cayenne but the wife wanted something "newer" so went with a Charger SXT. Had to pick it up in person at this guy's shitty apartment complex in Pleasanton. Only a V6 unfortunately but it did look hot, all jet black but missing neat logos like Hemi. This one rode really smooth, the suspension must be set on "boat" but still handled pretty well. Though only a V6, it was still one of the fastest things on the road and had no problem keeping up with Porsche's and BMW's weaving in and out to move fast in moderate freeway traffic. It did 120 like nothing so that's pretty good and still clocked around 18mpg average. I probably am at fault for warping the guy's brake rotors by the end of the trip but fuck it, not my car. Seats were leather and very comfortable. Stereo was almost loud enough and the bluetooth connected automatically nicely when I started the car. Overall, if I was the kind of person to buy an american "muscle" car then this wouldn't be a bad choice (maybe paint it orange and put some stars and bars on the top and pretend I'm in dukes of hazzard).

2018 Ford Explorer (B-)


Rented this thing for an impromptu trip to Lake Tahoe for some snowmobiling. Very comfortable ride, plenty powerful (much better than the Jeep Cherokee I tried a couple years ago). My issue with the Explorer is one thing: it's way too fucking big for me. I'm not sure who came up with the cars "moores law" but someone seems to have decreed that every year every single particular car model must get bigger. The Explorer back in the 90's was a lithe little thing, barely larger than my 2003 Vibe was. This thing's big and the hood is almost flat and seven feet long so to navigate some of SF's parking garages I literally had to hang half my body out of the window and then still my wife had to get out and give me directions in one particularly small garage. Not sure why it has to be so god damn big.

2018 Toyota Rav-4 (B+):


The wife and I are probably about to buy one of these to replace my 2003 Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix). I probably have to do a Toyota because I can't get out of my head the fact that most Toyotas my family have had ran to almost or over 200k miles with relatively minimal repair costs. I'm sure American carmakers are much more reliable than they were in the '70's but I'm not sure I'm ready to take the chance yet.

Anyway, this is a cute functional little SUV. The ride wasn't as comfortable as the wife would have liked (probably rental car beaten up and base model issue, hopefully) but overall pretty capable and comfortable. Big enough inside but not such a huge truck that it pisses me off in parking garages. My main complaints are pretty common to all modern cars: It's fucking Naggy. I don't need my car to tell me if I get close to the edge of the lane, I've been driving for 30 years. I don't need it to beep incessently as I back up or if I park in a spot with a wall in front of it and the front end warning won't stop going off. Why the hell can't I get a modern car with a bluetooth stereo but none of the naggy bullshit.


2018 Nissan Altima (A):


As a child I was emotionally traumatized by my parent's horrible experience with a Datson B210 so as such I've always shied away from buying anything with a "nissan" logo on it. Their B210 had every badly engineered problem that you can think of, from an engine with too thin cylinder walls , windows that would break at the slightest slam of the door, a transmission that would make 80's Chrysler proud: bottom line this thing was reliable in the way that a Yugo was a real car.

That said, this was one of the most enjoyable rental cars I've had in the last year. Rented this thing while interviewing at Teradata in San Diego. I made it a one day fly down and fly back thing so didn't get too much time to spend in this car but just the few hours driving around San Diego were really enjoyable. The ride was smooth but tight, the acceleration was adequate, the features made sense, it was easy to park. If I wasn't committed to a SUV and scared of Nissan reliability then I would probably choose this.


What cars do you guys like? Any suggestions?

[Jizaboz]

I just pay one of those dudes in a van at the airport. Never rented a car. Used Lyft for the first time when I went to Denver though!

[Flack]

I'll try. My letter ratings are suspect.

2016 Ford Edge (B-)
In 2017 we rented a Ford Edge to drive from OKC to Denver to attend ICJ's wedding (700 miles each way), mostly because my son brought a friend along and we needed additional legroom. (Jizaboz rode in the back seat at least once, so you can ask him how comfy it was.) Our rental had the 3.5 V6 which was adequate for what we call the "flat trip" (northern Oklahoma, Kansas, and eastern Colorado). We thought the interior seemed above average, although that's really just because our daily drivers at the time were pretty plain. We were really wowed by the Sync 3 touchscreen system, although that's not specific to the Edge, and now having to use it daily in my Ford Flex, it almost seems worse than texting and driving (I don't know how constantly working a touchscreen computer is any less distracting, and you really have to configure it for night mode not to blind yourself). It's the definition of a midsize SUV, so we had no problems maneuvering or parking it, and it had plenty of head and leg room for four adults along with lots of luggage (both my son and his friend brought their computer systems along with all our other luggage). I wanted to give it a "C" for "adequate but average" but that seemed to negative so I bumped it up to a B-.

2018 Cadillac XT5 AWD (B+)
This past winter my wife got stranded in Kansas City after her flight was cancelled due to weather and decided to rent a car and drive home. All the middle of the road cars had already been taken, so AWD choices were limited and she ended up with this Cadillac. The vehicle's AWD and V6 engine drove on snow and ice like it was dry pavement, so there's that. The next day we had all day to return it, so I put some miles on it. It seemed fancy and comfortable inside to me, but again that's mostly in comparison to my 13 year old pickup. Ours had a black and tan color interior which I really liked. I just looked and depending on trim levels you can get a new one for $40k or $70k so that's a wide gap. The rear of the thing screams Caddy although I thought the profile looked more like a jacked-up station wagon than a luxury SUV. If someone gave me one for free I would probably give it an A- but I knocked it down to B+ because if I were going to get a loaded one I would just get two Ford Edges instead.

2017 Camaro w/V6 (B-)
When I graduated high school in the early 90s, our parking lot was filled with Camaros and Firebirds. One of my best friends drove a '78 Z-28, the other drove an '80 Z-28, and I was right in the middle with my '79 Formula Firebird. All of us had talked about owning one again and none of us have the time or energy to crawl around underneath a 40-year-old car at this point. Enter my S-I-L, who purchased a new Camaro (yay!) with a V6 (boo!). Don't get me wrong -- a 2017 V6 Camaro will literally run circles around the ones my friends used to own (2017 V6 will run a quarter mile in the high 13s; a stock '79 Z-28 runs in the mid 17s...), so it's "fun fast" but not "pin you to the seat" like the V8. It's a nice compromise for a daily driver; you can still have some fun while not rolling pennies to afford gas. That being said, all the newer V8 muscle cars will blow you off the road. Inside, the car feels like the Batmobile. It feels super-wide, and hers is black-on-black which adds to the attitude. The best/worst thing is that hers sounds good with a slight rumble, which is going to have every kid in daddy's car lining up to you at the light not knowing that you were beat before you ever begged those six cylinders for a bit more oomph. One of my biggest issues with her car is the lack of visibility, both over the hood and all the way around. Also, the rear seat and the trunk both have enough to hold about two sacks of groceries. The Camaro is good for haulin' ass, but not much more.

And now our daily drivers.

2013 Honda Crosstour AWD (C-)
The Honda Crosstour is essentially a hatchback body on top of an Accord frame. Due to its metallic purple color and the shape of the rear end, ours has been dubbed the Eggplant. After owning a Honda Odyssey for 10 years and nearly 300k, we thought we couldn't go wrong with another Honda, but this one has not held up well. After three years of ownership, the center console's cover is all jacked up, one sun visor had broken, and the edges of the carpet were essentially ruined from accidentally being pulled out of the side trim so many times. This car was not engineered well, and we take it to the shop on average three times a year. The thing eats brakes like Pac-Pellets, and the drive train constantly seems to be developing new ticks, grinds, and other random noises. There are so many weird design elements, like USB ports facing up in the rear of the armrest which are literally impossible to access while driving (and a lid that is designed to shred phone cables). It supposedly has an option where when cruising, two of the V6 cylinders will turn off and turn the engine into a V4 to save gas, but I don't think we've ever seen the advertised 19 mpg. I love hatchbacks and love Hondas, but the interior of this thing looks like a 15 year old car and just turned 5. It'll never see 15 years, at least not in my driveway. Honda launched the Crosstour in 2010 and stopped production in 2015, moving focus to the CR-V I guess.

2006 Chevy Avalanche (C+)
I'm going to list the good, the bad, and then the good again.
Good: It has 180,xxx miles, and all I've ever done to the engine is change the oil. It's built on the Suburban frame, so it rides like a four-door SUV with a truck bed out back. Has a licence plate that says FLACK.
Bad: The check engine light is on. One of the tire pressure monitors has failed, so it thinks I always have a flat. The nerf bars rusted through and had to be replaced. The plastic cladding on the outside has faded, changing the black/black look to black/gray plastic. Both plastic pieces that run up and down next to the windshield have broken off. Approximately 30 light bulbs have burned out in the dash, which need to be replaced individually. The lights in the steering wheel controls burned out one at a time and now they don't work. The horn switch inside the steering wheel quit working. The truck weighs almost 3 tons (5,750) and came with a 327 (5.3L) which means it's both under powered and doesn't get great mileage (17-18 mpg had dropped to ~15 mpg). I need a step stool to get in the bed, which is required if you want to assemble the jigsaw puzzle bed cover. The glove compartment rattles in 3 spots, none of which I seem to be able to fix. The headliner is starting to fall off. It does this weird thing where sometimes A/C will blow in the passenger side and heat will blow on the driver, which I was told would cost hundreds of dollars to diagnose (it only does it once every other month so I just live with it). The paint is rubbing off the dash.
Good: It has 180,xxx miles, and all I've ever done to the engine is change the oil. It's built on the Suburban frame, so it rides like a four-door SUV with a truck bed out back. Has a licence plate that says FLACK.
Oh, also -- Neutral: It has a 31 gallon gas tank. The bad news is that it's expensive to fill up. The good news is I can drive ~500 miles between fill ups.

2017 Ford Flex (A-)
It's not a wagon and it's not an SUV and it's... well, who knows what it is. All I know is, I love it. Some people love these boxy cars (I owned a Scion xB for a short period -- too small) and I really like this one. I searched for a black/black one for a while and ended up driving to Dallas for this one. If you roll with two rows of seats there's a ton of space in the second row for passengers with a lot of storage in the back, and if you set up the third row there's still enough room for some luggage in the rear (plus, less kid fighting). With tint and non-stock rims, it looks pretty good. It drives and parks like a smaller car but just has a ton of space. Ford's standard 3.5L V6 is enough to move the box around town. They also offer the EccoBoost turbocharged engine for an additional $15k, but at that point, why are you buying this? Minor quibbles: If you don't use the giant touch screen, the regular A/C and other controls are low in the dash, dimly lit, and touch sensitive, which makes them hard to see while driving and easy to hit the wrong thing. The gas tank seems small at 19 gallons, and the filler is on the "wrong" (passenger) side. Also, the stereo turned all the way up doesn't hurt my ears or even distort, which is what god intended. Other than those things, I love it in town and I love it on road trips.

[AArdvark]

I will be needing to rent a car this October so having these reviews are coming in handy.

[Casual Observer]

I just pay one of those dudes in a van at the airport. Never rented a car. Used Lyft for the first time when I went to Denver though!

Yeah, of course I do this too. I guess I could do a review of Uber ride cars too in this thread if that's valuable.

[AArdvark]

When we were down to one car last winter I would use Lyft every Friday afternoon. Most of the cars were pretty nice. I don't remember any pizza cars, they were all pretty nice.

[Jizaboz]

Yeah my first and only so far experience with Lyft was great. Left the driver chick a good tip because she got me to Robb’s house quick and didn’t ask me any stupid questions like Uber drivers did in the past my co-workers order that I rode with. We talked about the weather compared to my state a bit and that was it. Relaxing ride after me almost having an anxiety attack realizing I really had overstayed at the hotel and had to get out of there somehow.

Excellent reviews Flack. I especially like and can relate the Camero part even though I never owned one haha.

One story I like relaying about getting a ride from “random airport van” is the time I flew to San Diego around Christmas and this very quiet older Mexican dude was my ride. Get in the van and he’s got all this kind of odd Christian propaganda posted in the inside of his van. Not saying shit and not turning on the radio. Dead silence except a couple with me that talked to each other. Typical shit about clients, big company names, so and so.. Driver looks really angry at this point. We get to my destination and my bill is just sort of 15 or 20$. I pay with a card. Then as he walks off I say “Here you go sir.” Pass him a 5$ bill and say “Merry Christmas”. Then there was an instant transformation. His eyes lit up and he smiles really big and kind of chuckles as he says “Merry Christmas to YOU sir!” Made me wonder how shitty people must of been to this guy just for his propaganda and feel a bit sorry for him.

[Flack]

When my dad's company unexpectedly went out of business a few years, he needed a part time job to get him through until his retirement kicked in so he got a job working for one of those airport van companies. By all counts, it was a pretty good gig. Drivers could either use a company van or purchase one, and the mileage they earn is like double if they use their own van. The vast majority of their work comes in the morning or late at night, so that's mostly when he worked (no set hours). Within the first week or two, other drivers taught him how to cook the books so he was making pretty good money. The only real problem with the job was that at the time my dad wasn't sleeping well (blood sugar issues plus sleep apnea) and could fall asleep while sitting across from me at a table and having a conversation, so I was 100% convinced he was going to fall asleep during one of his late night drives and have an accident. He once told me stayed awake while driving by occasionally sticking a thumbtack into his leg to wake himself up. Anyway, my dad's retired now and has since got on medication for his blood sugar and got a CPAP machine.

[Casual Observer]

Ok, hopefully my final rental car review for quite some time. After my Pontiac Vibe died a month ago, we took our time deciding on what car to get and where to buy it. We just picked up our beautiful blue Subaru Outback which I'll review in a different thread. So in the meantime between car death and new lease we alternated between renting cars and Ubering, probably spent almost a grand over the month on these alternative transportation methods. Worth it though to make sure we got a good deal on the right car for us.

2019 Camaro SS V8:
This has to be the best rental car I've ever driven, had it for just over a week. Actually I won't qualify it, probably the best damn car I've ever driven period. Not just the fact that we reserved the bottom price economy car and when we got there the guy was like "do you mind taking that Camaro for the same price". Um, let me think about that for a millisecond before saying hell yea. I asked the guy if it was a V8 and he said, "no, I think it's a supercharged V6". He was wrong, this thing is a $50k decked out SS with the 6.2 Liter and 10 speed transmission. This thing hauls ass. I don't know if it had launch control to turn on (didn't read the manual) but when I would slam down the gas from a stop it resulted in shrieking tires and the rear end swinging violently to the right, lotsa fun. The ride was surprisingly supple and in turns this thing didn't roll even a bit. I only got it up to about 120 on the highway before realizing I was passing everyone and would likely get a ticket.

The interior was beautiful, leather seats (recaros?) with lots of lumbar support for the turns. It had the lowest seating position of any car I've been in, I couldn't even rest my arm out the window as the bottom of the window was half a foot above where my arm could comfortably sit. I'm not sure how anyone would ever ride in the back seat though as the front seats left about an inch between them and the back seats (my wife and I aren't short so that's part of it I guess). Leather wrapped steering wheel, neat led lighting accents on the doors and dash. The stereo's blutooth connection was a little finicky but who cares about that. This was the first car I've had with a rear view mirror that you can choose to use the mirror or have the view rendered by the backup camera, kinda neat. The camera rear view mirror was however a little disconcerting in that it made everything much smaller and seemed to have a slightly perceptible delay. Rear and Rear Side visibility was absolutely nil because of the gigantic C pillars and tiny back window, luckily the side view mirrors had blind spot indicators that light up when a car is on the side. My favorite part of the interior was the Heads Up Display. I've never had a car with one before and it's a great feature. No more looking off the road for even a second to check speed or mpg or what's playing on the stereo. You can adjust where it projects and it really looks like the display is hovering over the end of the hood.

The weirdest thing about this SS was the effect it seemed to have on people. We noticed almost everybody staring at it, both on the highway and in parking lots. A walmart employee had to come up and tell us what a great car we had. People in Chargers and Mustangs either gawked at it or raced me on the highway. Even regular California drivers who are loathe to let anyone change lanes would literally move out of my way and I wasn't even driving too crazy. After I returned it, a neighbor who I've never spoken to had to come up to me and say "hey man, what happened to the SS" followed by a discussion about whether I had "got down on it" and how fast I had taken it. I don't quite understand the reaction, I mean it's a great looking car but not so much better than tons of other Camaros on the road.

This car was so enjoyable that even my wife started talking about buying a Camaro. I even started looking at used ones from a few years ago and found I could have bought a 2014 or '15 SS for about the same cost as a new Subaru (or the Rav4 we were looking at). Ultimately we chickened out and fell to the demon "practicality". I've always wanted to be the type of person that doesn't care about gas mileage or practicality but time and time again I realize that's not me.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I thought I'd get to see a new car when I got a loaner for mine that I had to take in! But no, the dealership I bought it from are cheap fucking pieces of shit.

[Tdarcos]

video bloggers like the horrible youtube guy Doug Demuro whos is such a dumb millineal that he doesn't even know what a stereo equalizer is.

Obviously, a Stereo Equalizer is one that goes out and beats up crooked or dishonest Stereos.

What cars do you guys like? Any suggestions?

Since this is the Rental Car thread, "A fucking Datsun, a fucking Toyota, a fucking Mustang, a fucking Buick — 4 fucking wheels and a seat!"

[Casual Observer]

Since this is the Rental Car thread, "A fucking Datsun, a fucking Toyota, a fucking Mustang, a fucking Buick — 4 fucking wheels and a seat!"

Wow, a "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" reference. Bravo! One of my favorite movies.

[Tdarcos]

Since this is the Rental Car thread, "A fucking Datsun, a fucking Toyota, a fucking Mustang, a fucking Buick — 4 fucking wheels and a seat!"

Wow, a "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" reference. Bravo! One of my favorite movies.

I was hoping you'd get it. Actually, probably my two favorite cars were the Pontiac Grand Am and the Lincoln Town Car.

Was driving the Grand Am I had rented up to Kalamazoo, MI to meet a girl (actually she was about 35) I met over the internet. I'm in Arlington Virginia at the time so the shortest route is to take the Capitol Beltway to I270 then I70 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. So at about 10 at night I'm driving up the turnpike, doing a leisurely 95 mph when I notice one of the cars I'm passing has a rack on the top and is marked "State Police."

Oh shit. I didn't even wait for them to hit their bubble lights, I immediately slowed down and pulled over. And they did too. The speed limit there was 55, and the trooper says, "we were doing 65 but we never expected someone to blow our doors off!" So I explain, as I get the rental contract, and my license - which is not on me because my wallet is in my bag - that I was used to driving my sister's minivan, it moves like a pig, you have to give it a lot of gas to get it to move, I'd been driving the past 9 hours straight, I just rented the car that day, compared with how much I had to push the gas on the van this car didn't use much, and it was so quiet I didn't realize how fast I was going. All of this was true except for the last clause, I knew damn well how fast I was doing, the Grand Am rode really smooth even at high speed.

Anyway, I guess he felt sorry for me. He said, "There's a rest area a mile up the road. Stop in there for a few minutes and calm down." I said I would, and even though he had caught me red handed, he didn't even write me a warning. I was just plain lucky. So I bought a soda at the rest area instead of having to make plans to pay what probably would have been a $200 ticket.

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I rented a Lincoln Town Car and was driving it on the Beltway, got it up to 125 for a stretch, and I understood why people like luxury cars. It was like riding an ice cube, you never felt the road at all.

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Years ago, I owned a 3 year old, '76 Grand Torino station wagon, and one time in California on the San Diego Freeway (I405) between Garden Grove and Long Beach, I was coming home about 3am after spending a long night at Orange Coast College's Computer Center, which is open 24/7. The freeway is empty, so I decide to push my station wagon to the limit. It eventually maxes out on a speedometer that goes up to 100, at 92mph, and let me tell you, you definitely know it's doing 92, it shakes like a paint mixer and makes more noise than a running garbage disposal with a steel spoon in it.

Then I saw a cop car approaching Code 3but no siren, and I'm thinking I'm toast. I guess he was doing 125 and had no interest in me because I'm doing 92 and he blows by me like I'm parked. I dodged a bullet on that one.