My good deed for the day

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I am in Montana this week for work and have an Impala Limited (old body style) for a rental car. As I was leaving town this afternoon I decided to stop by an O'Reilly's Auto Parts. As I was browsing I discovered that Gumout AIO was on sale for $5. As the Impala has just under 22k miles on it and it has probably been abused with many cold starts and short trips over its short life I figured I would treat it to a fuel system cleaner. Paid the $5, dumped it in, and hit the road. I had only put a few miles on it prior to adding the Gumout so I have no way of subjectively judging any improvement in idle, power, etc.

On a side note, I am thoroughly impressed with the car's performance and handling (the interior styling...now that's another topic entirely). I have put a bit over 200 miles on it, most of it at 70 mph on predominantly flat roads plus some absent minded idling while BITOGing and have averaged a hair over 32 mpg per the onboard computer. Not too shabby for a fullsized American sedan. I believe this has the 3.6L DI V6 and 6 speed auto. It has plenty of pep and great passing ability. It doesn't come with traction control for nothing!
 
You're probably one of the few people that have ever done that
to a rental car.
 
Originally Posted By: Turk
You're probably one of the few people that have ever done that
to a rental car.



+1 He might be the only person ever to do that to a rental car. That's certainly something I wouldn't do.
 
Rented a Dodge mini van last Nov. , the display indicated it was overdue for oil change .
They do like the abuse , you have ruined it for everyone .
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Turk
You're probably one of the few people that have ever done that
to a rental car.



+1 He might be the only person ever to do that to a rental car. That's certainly something I wouldn't do.


It's kinda like kissing the girl you already know you're going to dump.
 
I might do it. I hand-wash every rental car I get before I leave for a trip. I know that Enterprise sprays them down with a hose, but I scrub the tires, get the wheels clean, etc. If I know I'll have a dry trip, I might even shine the tires. I generally don't do much to the interior, as they've already vacuumed it out, but I'll do the windows if those need doing.

I treat rental cars as if they were my own. One day, some day, someone's going to buy that car. One day, some day, I myself might buy a car that was a previous rental. I try to live by the pay-it-forward concept.

NMBurb02, good on you friend!
 
I have topped off rental cars with OK oil saved from changes so I or loved ones don't get stranded somewhere.

There was a time when I rented cars with frequency from a local company.
I'd return the cars clean and sparkling. I'd even tell 'em which, if any, tires were losing air.
I ALWAYS got an upgrade to a comfy car for econobox prices.

I consider neither good deeds since I got something for my efforts. Kira
 
I'm still waiting for the opportunity to fill one with E85, so the next driver gets 200 miles to the tank.

Oh, and so we can cut our dependence on foreign something something mutter mutter.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I treat rental cars as if they were my own. One day, some day, someone's going to buy that car. One day, some day, I myself might buy a car that was a previous rental. I try to live by the pay-it-forward concept.

NMBurb02, good on you friend!

Thank you! You have articulated exactly why I did it! My GP is a former rental car and my sister-in-law owns a former rental car so I have experienced the long-term consequences of poor rental car treatment. As a result, I would like to do my part in ensuring that I return the vehicle in as good as, if not better, condition than when I picked it up. I do not go so far as to wash or vacuum it prior to returning as I know that will be done, but I see no harm in spending a few extra bucks to fill it with gas from a decent station prior to return and not firing it up and jumping onto the highway before it has any time to warm up.

And in this case, I will be putting 800+ miles on the car in the course of the week so I may recoup some of my costs due to improved engine operation, leading to more efficient operation and therefore lower fuel consumption.
 
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I always treat rental cars as they were my own. Last one I had, the Sentra,I had to inflate the tires and the spare - spare was completely flat.

I did drive it easy as I could. Granted, driving in NYC traffic ... not the easiest on the car.

On the last NYC Trip I had, we to replace a headlight bulb on our 2011 Jetta rental. We lost a headlight in Mansfield PA and the closest Hertz was in DuBois Pa. They were going to swap the car out for free ... but driving an extra 250 miles and adding 4 hours to the trip wasn't exactly our idea of fun for an extra headlight.
 
Originally Posted By: Turk
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Turk
You're probably one of the few people that have ever done that
to a rental car.



+1 He might be the only person ever to do that to a rental car. That's certainly something I wouldn't do.


It's kinda like kissing the girl you already know you're going to dump.





More like buying a woman of the evening a bouquet.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I might do it. I hand-wash every rental car I get before I leave for a trip. I know that Enterprise sprays them down with a hose, but I scrub the tires, get the wheels clean, etc. If I know I'll have a dry trip, I might even shine the tires. I generally don't do much to the interior, as they've already vacuumed it out, but I'll do the windows if those need doing.

I treat rental cars as if they were my own. One day, some day, someone's going to buy that car. One day, some day, I myself might buy a car that was a previous rental. I try to live by the pay-it-forward concept.

NMBurb02, good on you friend!


I'm the same way. I treat every thing I use,rent,borrow,etc as if it were my own.
 
I'm glad that others have chimed in to indicate that I am not off the mark in taking care of this car.

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
What year is the Impala ?

2014 with a June 2014 build date.
 
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