Car rental, guide me

I rent a lot of cars because I travel for work. As mentioned above you are kinda at the mercy of the rental company and what they have on the lot. Usually the better selections are at the airports anything away from the airports and it is a crap shoot. Calling the rental company to confirm what they have would be your best bet otherwise be prepared for whatever. As steronz stated full size cars are now Altimas or if your lucky a Fusion. my most recent compact rental was a Mazda 2 with no cruise control, made for a long drive.

Best rental deal I ever got was on a one way rental from Salt Lake City to Farmington, NM. They gave me the choice between a Kia mini van or a 2013 Mustang for the same price as my regular full size rental. Choice was pretty easy I thought, who wouldn't want to take a Kia Mini van on the million dollar Hwy???

J/K the mustang was a hoot in the mountains and I didn't even mid the smurf blue, I mean grabber blue color ;-)

Last 3 rentals I've had have all been Avenger/Sebrings. I usually rent from Thrifty. Often if you reserve an economy car you get something bigger. Only once when I reserved an Economy car I actually was given one - a Rio - and I was actually fine with it because it was LA.

The Fiesta ST will be fun for you, but not the people in the back seat. Unless they're 5'8" or under. Can't help you much aside from that.

clutchsmoke wrote: The Fiesta ST will be fun for you, but not the people in the back seat. Unless they're 5'8" or under. Can't help you much aside from that.

Two of us traveling are under 5'8", so.... yay?

In reply to Swank Force One:

Then you win!

New Ford Fusions are awesome road-trippers. Especially if you luck into the 2.0 Ecoboost. :-)

My last rental from Budget will hopefully be my last from Budget; they were almost two hours late getting me my car. Just because I had it reserved at a specific time didn't get me any guarantee that I would get it at that time, according to them. I was almost late for a wedding (not mine) because of that.

Due to financial reasons, we do Budget, Hertz, or Eurocar- depending on the location.

I think once or twice we actually got the car we asked for. And I mean specifically asked for. Otherwise, even the deal on a hybrid car was not in the lot.

But I know they will give me what they have. Sometimes I play the "I work for" card- and it works.

Take this as an opportunity to drive a car you normally would not. It's only for a couple of days- and I don't see the drive from Indy to Chicago being terribly interesting anyway. Most of the cars will be the more simple powertrains, but with some better than basic trim.

alfadriver wrote: and I don't see the drive from Indy to Chicago being terribly interesting anyway.

Oh, it is. but maybe not in the way you were thinking. Some of those potholes can make your f150 catch air at 70mph.

Also, I find that it is one of those 2 lane highways that always has 'just' too much traffic on it. You can go the speed limit or even a few over, but you can never use cruise control because someone is always cutting you off.

In reply to alfadriver:

Can confirm. Drive from Chicago to Indianapolis is uneventful/boring.

Yeah i about wrecked the Jeep in/on/around/through/while being swallowed by one of those potholes at 75mph last year.

That's the other reason for a rental + the insurance. I'm not tearing up my vehicles driving on that piece of E36 M3 road.

It's cool at night, though. The windmills make it look like aliens are coming to harvest your farts.

Paid for a Jetta from Enterprise, got a 2015 Camry SE with 3000 miles on it.

Surprisingly decent car. Comfy, tons of space, good ergonomics, decent visibility, handled pretty well, transmission was good, stereo was great, was hilariously quick, and it got just over 34mpg during the time i had it.

Would rent again.

I rent from Enterprise about 3-4 times a year, 2 times to go from TN to WI to visit family and another 2 times for vacation or events. Enterprise usually has its best deal on a 7 day rental price, which includes 2500 miles. An Intermediate (Jetta, Altima, etc) without insurance and taxes usually lands me at about $200. With Insurance and taxes about $330. Last week I had a 2015 Altima, 39.7mpg there and 38.5 back.

There have been a couple of times that the reserved size car wasn't available, so they upgraded me at no charge. Last time that happened, I had a 2015 V6 Camaro and last year a Toyota Avalon.

Swank - you are right about the windmills in Indiana. It makes me feel like I'm driving through a Star Wars filming.

hertz is way better than enterprise as far as pricing and staff goes here.

we reserved a luxury fullsize and were promised a grand marquis for a trip for 4 to new mexico from ohio. they downgraded us to a taurus for free, and that was the worst effing over ever i've had by a rental company. we were picking the car up the day after christmas, so help was nonexistant. i could never recommend them after that. and on top of it the taurus kept needing oil added.

Swank Force One wrote: It's cool at night, though. The windmills make it look like aliens are coming to harvest your farts.

O/T, but I might be able to go off the grid with that concept. There is a steady breeze at el casa de pigèon.

Mustang? FiST? Camaro? All I ever get is Elantras, Darts, and similar anonymous slushbox miscellany. Often, I get a forced upgrade. We were written up for a Fiat 500 once, and in the lot, the attendant threw us in a Focus sedan because it was closer. The wife and I really wanted to try the Fiat. The wife has been forced into a minivan when she booked economy.

Hell, wanted a convertible for a road trip, and couldn't find that anywhere.

Honestly, I understand the business reasons, but the randomness takes the fun out.

When I take somebody through the windmill area I encourage them to try and count them. They get overwhelmed in minutes - there are a ton!