[pup55]

It was an "intermediate" as defined by Hertz... It was loud and made a rumbling noise when driven on the highway...
There was some loud air noise coming through the window even when fully rolled up... The trunk was not completely straight--you had to slam it a couple of times.

Gas mileage good, other than that, generally junky. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. Honda Civic.

[WildRose]

I remember the time my hubby and I and our first-born, who was only 5 months old, traveled to Winnipeg to visit relatives. We got off the train in the city and rented a car to drive to Portage La Prairie, where we were spending a week. The car rental was a Chevette, which we rented because it fit our budget. The temperature was -30 with a colder windchill and the car itself was an icebox. Just glad it was mechanically sound!

Another time we rented a van from a rent-a-wreck outfit. The vehicles there are only a couple of years old, but this one had quite a rattle and we had trouble shutting the sliding door. We also had trouble actually getting the vehicle on the day we had to leave - some sort of screw-up. Needless to say, I wouldn't go there again!

[JJ]

I thought you were going to post a picture of a rickshaw....

[Maddog78]

I usually run the shit out of rental cars.
I wouldn't judge the brand/model based on a rental car impression unless it was new or near new.
I do get them that way sometimes.
Picked up a Pontiac G6 with 30 some miles last yr. OK, car.
The door window was already rattling when I turned it in.
Must have been that railroad crossing I jumped.

[HeckuvaJob]

There's a reason why they walk you around the car and ask you if it's OK. One time I drove a rental that was part wrestling match, part back massage. I pulled in to find the steel belts exposed on the inside edge of a front tire. Also noticed grass and mud up in the wheel well. Someone had apparently taken the 4 door sedan 4 wheeling.

I called a state trooper buddy and asked him if there was anything that could be done: these people are putting unsafe vehicles on the road. He said yeah, stop down and they could give me a ticket.

[TheDude]

Honda, eh? Had an '82 Accord LX in the 80s - the car from hell, faulty electrical system (replacement didn't help) would blow out fuses at random - with a noticeable fondness for the wipers, bit of a snag in the rainy weather here. Clutch would slip every 5k miles. Exploding water pumps, dying alternators, crappy AC - you suck, Honda! Went with a Dodge for most of the 90s.

Great story, gasmon. "STRING FOR DOOR NOT INCLUDED."

[Quinny]

Once bought a Talbot Solara for £150.00.

It drove well good spec for the time, leccy windows and sunroof and all that , good stereo etc couldn't think why it was so cheap.

After a few weeks we had heavy rain, still no problems, wipers worked, kept nice and dry. WHy was this car so cheap.

Then reversed down into the drive instead of driving in like usual.

Next day get up to drive to work, car starts fine, out of drive and down hill to main road only to be hit in back of neck by about 2 gallons of ice cold water. Nearly crashed but ended up laughing all day.

Why does there always have to be a catch!

It eventually died on way to Exeter, picked up a hitch-hiker who didn't even thank me for the lift because we broke down miserable bastard.

[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', ' ')I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't.

[dinopello]

I just got back from a week long business trip to Arizona. Everyone else got SUVs and they gave me a Mercury Grand Marquis. Ha, it felt funny tooling around in the desert in that thing. Had pretty good power but ate through some fuel and when I filled it up I found out it was an E85 vehicle.

[Jotapay]

In high school and college we took our cue from PJ O'Roarke about rental cars (he wrote a column about this once). Even though they were Mercedes 230s, BMW 535s, and Opals with 6-cylinder engines, we treated them like they were all 4-wheel-drive (driving off-road in farmer fields and whatnot), the trunk was an ice chest, and pot or coke was mandatory. We used to take rental cars on road trips on the autobahns to Amsterdam, the Running of the Bulls in Spain (Festival de San Fermin), Oktoberfest or whatever. We slept in the cars usually. This obviously took a toll on them.

Now-a-days, I don't rent a car unless it's a real sports car or real 4-wheel drive (Jeep) so that I know it is supposedly built for what I'm about to do to it.

[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'E')veryone else got SUVs and they gave me a Mercury Grand Marquis.

[frankthetank]

I got stuck with a Ford Mustang with 36K miles when i was in FL. That was from Budget. Piece of SHIT. That thing should be taken off the market. Big fat car, little windshield, loud "tough" exhaust, very little power, horrible gas mileage...i could go on... No ground clearance. Ugly... I should have just told them i wanted a SUV...

When i'm in a rental or any car that isn't mine, the gas pedal goes to only ONE position, and thats all the WAY DOWN... I never let off. You got to get your money's worth... If you don't leave them smoking at every traffic light, its time to go back home grandma...

[Sixstrings]

The thing with rental cars is that the companies really don't know there's a problem with the car until someone reports it. Most people just put up with it, turn it back in but never mention it, then complain about it elsewhere. And so the cycle perpetuates.

The cars used in the US are leased cars, and the companies get them brand new. When I worked in the business, few people complained about the cars.. when they did, the company would just send it back to the carmaker for a new one. In general, people didn't report problems early enough -- so that it usually took a breakdown and tow-in for us to know there was an issue with the car.

I remember the company I worked for did have a service guy doing oil checks and such. But the goal was always to have as few cars as possible sitting idle, so that means they'd just get rented out back-to-back. I suppose lack of servicing is part of the problem here.

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'T')he thing with rental cars is that the companies really don't know there's a problem with the car until someone reports it. Most people just put up with it, turn it back in but never mention it, then complain about it elsewhere. And so the cycle perpetuates.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t's also likely a matter of fear on the part of the renters that they might get blamed for the problem and charged for repair...

[Serial_Worrier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DoomWarrior', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'E')veryone else got SUVs and they gave me a Mercury Grand Marquis.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hen some future anthropologist looks back at this era in human history, they will just be amazed at how primitive and short-sighted we were.