2024 Summer Rentals

[javacontour]

We've done a fair bit of travel this summer and here is a re-cap of our rentals.

2024 Hyundai Santa Fe

A totally forgettable vehicle. I believe it had the 2.4L NA 4

We rented this out of Manchester NH for our trip to Stowe, VT It held four adults and luggage for a 5 day visit. It was totally inoffensive and did the job asked of it.

My only complaint was a 2024 Vehicle that doesn't have wireless Apple Car play. I had to stop and pickup a data cable for my phone to use the CarPlay feature on the head unit. The charging cable I brought would not do the job.

The ride seemed soft, the brakes did not scare anyone, and the transmission shifted without drama. IIRC, it's an 8 speed unit and one didn't really notice is doing its job.

I don't think I even captured a photo of it.

2024 Toyota Prius - We picked this up at SEATAC for a couple of days. It was a last minute choice as we were going to stay with our kids in Seattle before moving on the Alaska (JBER) to see some friends stationed there. However, one of them got COVID and didn't want us staying with them.

My impression was this car does not want to go fast. Oh, it will, but it does everything it can to prevent that. One must insist on more speed.

Visibility is poor and I found it fought me when backing up. I was trying to back into a parking space near Olympic NP and when I opened the driver's door to get a sense for where the lines are, it chose to apply the parking brake. So that's a no-go. There's probably a way to turn that off. However, given I'd had the car for about 6 hours at that point, I'd not read the owner's manual.

It's really low to the ground and this bothered oilBabe even more than getting in and our of my former Mazda3.

By the end of two days, I was getting the hang of how the car worked and between the e-nannies and the Hybrid powertrain, I was able to largely drive with one pedal until coming to a complete stop.

It held everything we needed including the duffle bag of stuff we brought for our kids in addition to our luggage for the trip.

2019 Chevrolet Equinox (Turo Rental)

Given cars in Anchorage seem to be (Austin Powers voice) One Million Dollars, we tried Turo for the three days we needed our own car in Anchorage. It was about 1/2 of what Avis et al was asking.

So, we got a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox with the 1.5L turbo engine. The vehicle had 45k miles on it and it might of been my favorite ride of the summer. That doesn't mean I'll buy one, it just means of the three listed here, it's the one I'd get again before the others.

Good room, good visibility and it was comfortable for our excursion from JBER to Talkeetna and points North. It has adequate power and for a 5 year old vehicle, it was free of squeaks and rattles. Like the 2024 Hyundai, the CarPlay was wired and as it was older, it was a bit more glitchy, but was able to display our maps and directions as needed.

Unlike the Prius, it didn't fight me, having far fewer e-nannies.


Still wouldn't be my first choice. But for a three day rental, it did the job and carried both me and oilBabe and all our treasures as needed.

 

[GMBoy]

My son was rear ended in his GMC Sierra (no injuries) and he was given a Tundra pickup as a rental. Absolute trash. The interior was ugly and bland. The exterior styling is subjective. The ride was not very refined. The powertrain was decent, however.

 

[Rand]

Visibility is poor and I found it fought me when backing up. I was trying to back into a parking space near Olympic NP and when I opened the driver's door to get a sense for where the lines are, it chose to apply the parking brake. So that's a no-go. There's probably a way to turn that off. However, given I'd had the car for about 6 hours at that point, I'd not read the owner's manual.

That's a standard feature now to prevent idiots from actually leaving the car without it being in park.
(note: not saying you are an idiot)

It was standard on with both my 22 and 24 subarus.
I believe it can be turned off.
if you have seatbelt on it may not activate.. the brake just beep at you.. I forget.

I opened the door to back up a trailer once and it blasted me.(was off angle and window wasn't sufficient)

 

[javacontour]

That's a standard feature now to prevent idiots from actually leaving the car without it being in park.
(note: not saying you are an idiot)

It was standard on with both my 22 and 24 subarus.
I believe it can be turned off.
if you have seatbelt on it may not activate.. the brake just beep at you.. I forget.

I opened the door to back up a trailer once and it blasted me.(was off angle and window wasn't sufficient)

oilBabe would, at times, say I was an idiot.

But then she married me, so it's a judgment that cuts both ways, LOL.

We can all be idiots at times. The question is, do we remain that way, or do we get smarter by learning?

On a more serious note, I figure it can be defeated somehow, we were just early in the learning curve for the car. And frankly, sights on the Olympic Peninsula were more our focus than learning a new car.

 

[Rand]

IIRC this feature became a thing shortly after Anton Yelchin who played Chekov died.

 

[fantastic]

You've been busy w/rentals. You'll be the rental guru in no time.

 

[CKN]

I rented a nearly new Malibu. I put 2,000 miles on in two weeks. Average 38 mpg. It was not a bad car for what it was.

 

[javacontour]

You've been busy w/rentals. You'll be the rental guru in no time.

My lone co-worker is retiring at the end of July, so I frontloaded my vacation this year.

I'm probably on my own for the rest of 2024. I did tell my boss that I'm only a year younger than him, so it's in his best interest to find me a new co-worker. If not, I'm probably not far behind him.

While I wanted to wait until I was 62 to get the step-down job, if I'm the "lone ranger" for too long, that will move up my timeline.

 

[fantastic]

My lone co-worker is retiring at the end of July, so I frontloaded my vacation this year.

I'm probably on my own for the rest of 2024. I did tell my boss that I'm only a year younger than him, so it's in his best interest to find me a new co-worker. If not, I'm probably not far behind him.

While I wanted to wait until I was 62 to get the step-down job, if I'm the "lone ranger" for too long, that will move up my timeline.

Stick w/it & get that step down job. Squeaky wheel gets the grease & before you know it you'll be in the position you intended. Sometimes we need to fight for what is earned. I wish you the best on your direction either way but the effects of retiring slightly too soon are lifelong financially as you well know. Good reviews on the rentals.