First off, it was a last minute rental. I really didn't have time to research the car ahead of time as I learned of my flight cancellation as I turned on my phone upon landing at ORD from SNA.
It was between the Equinox and a CR-V. It looked like the Equinox was going to have a bit more gear, so I took it as they were the same price. Paid almost as much for a one-way rental of the Equinox from ORD to STL as we did for three days with the 2017 Fusion.
I believe this was the L trim level. That seems to be the fleet and/or special order level. Most you find in the wild will be LS or LT. I believe the engine was the 2.0 NA lump and the 9 speed. Since it was almost 10pm and I had about 300 miles to cover, I didn't spend a lot of time opening the hood and looking around. If the transmission had 9 gears, I couldn't tell, it was very smooth. I don't think it was the turbo 1.5 as there was ample power off the line and no sudden rush of power under boost. So I'm guessing the 2.0L engine.
Easily paired my phone with the in-car head unit. Seems these things offer in-car WiFi,but I never tried it. I carry a cellular WiFi hotspot and question the utility of such a unit tied to the car. I certainly wouldn't pick the Equinox over others based on this feature alone.
oilBabe thought the car was comfortable enough to take a nap once we got S of Joliet.
Visibility out of this thing isn't good. It took a while to get the mirrors adjusted. But there is a backup camera and blindspot warning technology, so we didn't make unintended contact with other cars or other obstacles.
Over the 300 ish miles I drove this thing, it returned 28+ MPG according to the display in the center of the instrument cluster. It provides an average since last reset, plus your average over the last 50 miles when going through the menu.
The oil life indicator indicated about 25% life remaining after I drove it the ~300 miles from ORD to STL.
Unlike the Fusion, the proximity key was intuitive and I was able to lock and unlock the doors by pressing a button on the door handle.
Unlike other cars I've experienced, the rear doors also have buttons. Neither my Mazda, my Nissan, nor my Toyota have this feature, so that could be useful if one wanted to put things in the back seat before getting in the driver seat, or getting kids into their car seats before getting behind the wheel.
Took me a mile or two to get accustomed to the cruise control. Unlike other players, where the + and - buttons will set the initial speed, only one of them will set the speed. I believe that is the (-) button. I believe the (+) button will only resume a pre-set speed.
On the backside of the wheel one finds the volume and the stations/track buttons to manipulate the volume and what station or track from your media you are using. No labels on the wheel that I could see in the dark. Discovered this (as it was Columbus day) by feeling the buttons on the back of the wheel and pressing them to see what happens.
The car had 217xx miles on it and was free of squeaks and rattles. It had wireless charging in the binnacle under the radio / hvac stack, but neither of us had phones that take advantage of the technology.
Being a rental, no moon roof was found.
In back, seems there was plenty of room for luggage for 4 or 5 for a long weekend. Might have a hard time getting a weeks worth for such a crew unless it's all guys and they are willing to reuse some clothes during the week.
The vehicle had good road manners. As I said before, I couldn't tell you how many gears the trans-axle had as I didn't even notice it shifting. It didn't make too much noise. I didn't really call on rapid acceleration. Ample power for two adults and weekend carry-on luggage to travel between 70-80 MPH. Tach indicated just over 2000 RPMs while cruising, so the engine wasn't taxed at that clip.
It was easy to park and the large screen in the infotainment system gave a good view behind the car during backing. However, after 1am, there wasn't a lot of other cars to worry about during our last stop just south of Springfield for a bathroom, some coffee and some chocolate to keep me awake for the last 90 minutes of driving. It must have been drama free as oilBabe slept during the Springfield pit stop.
I refueled in STL just before turning in the car and it took just over 11 gallons for the ~300 miles I drove. Not as good as we get with the RAV4, but I think this is a bigger vehicle and I pushed it a bit harder than I drive the Toyota.
I still prefer the Rav4 over this. I think oilBabe was impressed. She thought it was comfortable enough to sleep from Joliet to home, so it served its purpose.
She made it to work by 8am on Tuesday and I got up between 8:30 and 9:00am after 5 hours of sleep, to get showered, get parts for the days service calls, and head from our home in IL to Avis in STL to return this car and pickup my '99 MGM we left parked at the airport.
Not sure I'd buy one, but wouldn't hesitate to rent another one to carry around 4 adults over a weekend away.
It was between the Equinox and a CR-V. It looked like the Equinox was going to have a bit more gear, so I took it as they were the same price. Paid almost as much for a one-way rental of the Equinox from ORD to STL as we did for three days with the 2017 Fusion.
I believe this was the L trim level. That seems to be the fleet and/or special order level. Most you find in the wild will be LS or LT. I believe the engine was the 2.0 NA lump and the 9 speed. Since it was almost 10pm and I had about 300 miles to cover, I didn't spend a lot of time opening the hood and looking around. If the transmission had 9 gears, I couldn't tell, it was very smooth. I don't think it was the turbo 1.5 as there was ample power off the line and no sudden rush of power under boost. So I'm guessing the 2.0L engine.
Easily paired my phone with the in-car head unit. Seems these things offer in-car WiFi,but I never tried it. I carry a cellular WiFi hotspot and question the utility of such a unit tied to the car. I certainly wouldn't pick the Equinox over others based on this feature alone.
oilBabe thought the car was comfortable enough to take a nap once we got S of Joliet.
Visibility out of this thing isn't good. It took a while to get the mirrors adjusted. But there is a backup camera and blindspot warning technology, so we didn't make unintended contact with other cars or other obstacles.
Over the 300 ish miles I drove this thing, it returned 28+ MPG according to the display in the center of the instrument cluster. It provides an average since last reset, plus your average over the last 50 miles when going through the menu.
The oil life indicator indicated about 25% life remaining after I drove it the ~300 miles from ORD to STL.
Unlike the Fusion, the proximity key was intuitive and I was able to lock and unlock the doors by pressing a button on the door handle.
Unlike other cars I've experienced, the rear doors also have buttons. Neither my Mazda, my Nissan, nor my Toyota have this feature, so that could be useful if one wanted to put things in the back seat before getting in the driver seat, or getting kids into their car seats before getting behind the wheel.
Took me a mile or two to get accustomed to the cruise control. Unlike other players, where the + and - buttons will set the initial speed, only one of them will set the speed. I believe that is the (-) button. I believe the (+) button will only resume a pre-set speed.
On the backside of the wheel one finds the volume and the stations/track buttons to manipulate the volume and what station or track from your media you are using. No labels on the wheel that I could see in the dark. Discovered this (as it was Columbus day) by feeling the buttons on the back of the wheel and pressing them to see what happens.
The car had 217xx miles on it and was free of squeaks and rattles. It had wireless charging in the binnacle under the radio / hvac stack, but neither of us had phones that take advantage of the technology.
Being a rental, no moon roof was found.
In back, seems there was plenty of room for luggage for 4 or 5 for a long weekend. Might have a hard time getting a weeks worth for such a crew unless it's all guys and they are willing to reuse some clothes during the week.
The vehicle had good road manners. As I said before, I couldn't tell you how many gears the trans-axle had as I didn't even notice it shifting. It didn't make too much noise. I didn't really call on rapid acceleration. Ample power for two adults and weekend carry-on luggage to travel between 70-80 MPH. Tach indicated just over 2000 RPMs while cruising, so the engine wasn't taxed at that clip.
It was easy to park and the large screen in the infotainment system gave a good view behind the car during backing. However, after 1am, there wasn't a lot of other cars to worry about during our last stop just south of Springfield for a bathroom, some coffee and some chocolate to keep me awake for the last 90 minutes of driving. It must have been drama free as oilBabe slept during the Springfield pit stop.
I refueled in STL just before turning in the car and it took just over 11 gallons for the ~300 miles I drove. Not as good as we get with the RAV4, but I think this is a bigger vehicle and I pushed it a bit harder than I drive the Toyota.
I still prefer the Rav4 over this. I think oilBabe was impressed. She thought it was comfortable enough to sleep from Joliet to home, so it served its purpose.
She made it to work by 8am on Tuesday and I got up between 8:30 and 9:00am after 5 hours of sleep, to get showered, get parts for the days service calls, and head from our home in IL to Avis in STL to return this car and pickup my '99 MGM we left parked at the airport.
Not sure I'd buy one, but wouldn't hesitate to rent another one to carry around 4 adults over a weekend away.
