Not do I rent cars, I rent cars a lot.
And today was the first time that it took THREE cars to find one that was acceptable.
The first one was a '09 Toyota Matrix S 5 door, 32,000 miles, that shook the whole car when idling in park, and the interior was a complete mess. The seats were completely covered in various stains. It was so dirty on the inside, that I didn't even like sitting in it.
The second car was an '09 HHR, with 32,000 miles (again) that constantly pulled to the left (into the oncoming lane of traffic), unless it was constantly steered to the right. The coolant recovery (Dexcool) tank was also bone dry.
I wasn't looking forward to four hours on the interstate, counter-steering it to the right to make it go straight.
It was just as dirty on the inside as well, with the seats being covered with various stains. This one even had some sort of dried liquid splattered on the hard plastic interior pieces.
When I turned the HHR back in, the manager did take the keys and was going to take it for a test drive himself. He did listen to me about what I was describing. Now, the question is... will he do anything about it.... or just try to rent it out to someone else?
The third car was another '09 HHR with only 14,000 miles. However, it was dirtier than I would expect on the inside considering that it has only been in the fleet since mid-April.
One thing that I wonder, is that they're using everything that they have in their fleet out on the road for the next two weeks (including the good, the bad, and the ugly). In other words, they've simply put everything that is 'rentable' (and that seems to be a pretty low standard) into the fleet to get them through the holidays.
It used to be very rare to see a rental with over 30,000 miles on it. Now, it happens quite often. I'm to the point where I automatically give the car a more thorough visual inspection when it has over 25,000 miles on it. This spring, I had a Camry with nearly 37,000 miles and two bald tires on it, that had a pull in one direction as well.
Now, Budget and Avis are the same company.... and National and Alamo are the same company.
Budget used to be a lot better than this. I guess when I get to the reservation counter, I'll just start to ask for whatever they have in the group that I reserved in, that has the lowest mileage on it
Also the HHR is returning excellent fuel mileage with the 2.2 Ecotec. At 75 mph on the interstate with three people inside, it is averaging right at 28. If I back it down to 65mph, it goes to 31.
Plus, since the HHR is a FlexFuel unit, I can re-fuel it with cheaper E85 before returning it, and save about 40 cents a gallon. I rent a lot of Impalas as well, for the same reason.
And today was the first time that it took THREE cars to find one that was acceptable.
The first one was a '09 Toyota Matrix S 5 door, 32,000 miles, that shook the whole car when idling in park, and the interior was a complete mess. The seats were completely covered in various stains. It was so dirty on the inside, that I didn't even like sitting in it.
The second car was an '09 HHR, with 32,000 miles (again) that constantly pulled to the left (into the oncoming lane of traffic), unless it was constantly steered to the right. The coolant recovery (Dexcool) tank was also bone dry.
I wasn't looking forward to four hours on the interstate, counter-steering it to the right to make it go straight.
It was just as dirty on the inside as well, with the seats being covered with various stains. This one even had some sort of dried liquid splattered on the hard plastic interior pieces.
When I turned the HHR back in, the manager did take the keys and was going to take it for a test drive himself. He did listen to me about what I was describing. Now, the question is... will he do anything about it.... or just try to rent it out to someone else?
The third car was another '09 HHR with only 14,000 miles. However, it was dirtier than I would expect on the inside considering that it has only been in the fleet since mid-April.
One thing that I wonder, is that they're using everything that they have in their fleet out on the road for the next two weeks (including the good, the bad, and the ugly). In other words, they've simply put everything that is 'rentable' (and that seems to be a pretty low standard) into the fleet to get them through the holidays.
It used to be very rare to see a rental with over 30,000 miles on it. Now, it happens quite often. I'm to the point where I automatically give the car a more thorough visual inspection when it has over 25,000 miles on it. This spring, I had a Camry with nearly 37,000 miles and two bald tires on it, that had a pull in one direction as well.
Now, Budget and Avis are the same company.... and National and Alamo are the same company.
Budget used to be a lot better than this. I guess when I get to the reservation counter, I'll just start to ask for whatever they have in the group that I reserved in, that has the lowest mileage on it
Also the HHR is returning excellent fuel mileage with the 2.2 Ecotec. At 75 mph on the interstate with three people inside, it is averaging right at 28. If I back it down to 65mph, it goes to 31.
Plus, since the HHR is a FlexFuel unit, I can re-fuel it with cheaper E85 before returning it, and save about 40 cents a gallon. I rent a lot of Impalas as well, for the same reason.
