What cars have you recently rented?

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Finally sold mine a few months ago. Despite some age related faults I thought it was great car. 95 I picked up in 99.

Should have kept it as a beater. Few cars today have as big a hatch.

[Homeslice]

Um, a GOLD ford focus??? Well, that's what I got stuck with this time. On the plus side, the headlights and taillights look good.





This car has a little more power than the old Focus, but the steering isn't as firm or precise, and the shocks allow more body motion, so if you want handling, get a used Focus SVT and save $10K. The seats were mushy, mouse-fur crap with very little bolstering. The center part of the dash had the same faux-aluminum silver plastic that became played out 6-7 years ago. There were too many buttons, which could have easily been replaced by 3-4 dials like the previous car I posted. The tachometer digits were bent around the dial, which I thought was immature and hard to read.

Verdict: Just another example of a formerly good small car that has now become upsized, softer and heavier, to meet the demands of ficticious consumers whose opinions they probably didn't even ask. If you're in the market for a car in this class, get a Rabbit or Mazda 3 instead.

[Particle Man]

'09 Volvo S60

High quality interior - everything fit together like it was made out of the same piece of high-grade plastic. Leather seats were plush enough to be comfortable but not so plush as to be annoying.

Power was great - it leapt ahead when the accelerator was pressed lightly and shifted at particularly decent times.

Handling... Meh. Definitely tuned for driving in a parking lot vs highway. I found it annoying to think of going to the right and ending up changing lanes without having made my hands actually move the wheel.

[Homeslice]

Got a Hyundai Sonata this time. Engine was much better than the Elantra, fairly smooth and decent torque, although it didn't have any high-rpm rush. Handling sucked ass, due to a too-soft suspension. Decent ride quality though.



The interior was non-offensive but very generic. Radio controls were ugly. Seats sucked ass, mouse fur with no side support at all.



The climate controls were simple and easy to understand, unlike most cars...........But I preferred the ones on the Elantra because the re-circ button is integrated into the fan speed dial.



Elantra......

[Homeslice]

Got a Jetta recently......Best rental I've had in a long time. Like most German cars the steering was firm, the body motion was well-controlled, and the seats were firm and well-bolstered. Way different than the typical disconnected-feeling Japanese or American car. From the way this thing drives, you might think it's the GLI sport model, but it's not. It's just the way the Germans make even thier base-level cars. Engine was a 5-cylinder with very good torque and a very sporty sound, although some people might think it's loud when floored.



Tranny was a SIX speed auto.......As a result, the powerband was always in the sweet spot. How many Japanese or American cars in this price class have a 6-speed auto? It also had a manumatic mode, as well as an "S" mode which I used most of the time. This mode basically tells the computer to hold gears longer, cruise in 4 or 5 instead of 6, and downshift sooner when going downhill.



Interior was kind of stark, but puposeful. Steering wheel felt good ---- The rim had sort of an oval cross section instead of round, so it was thicker front to back than it was side to side. This enables more of the wheel to contact your palm.




Gauges were pretty cool, but the numerals could have been bigger. And I would rather have 1-digit numerals instead of 2 on the tach.




Had a proper dead pedal on the left. This helps hold you in place during aggressive driving.




Glove box was lined with felt.........Pretty pimp




Radio display was tiny, and the plastic trim around the climate controls felt cheap and easy to leave prints on.



The turn signal was awesome.......It had a special setting where you could just nudge it a little, and it would blink 3 times and then shut itself off.

[101lifts2]

^^^GM uses the nudge of the turn signal for 3 blinks as well.

2009 Honda Element

I just rode passenger in this thing, so here are my results...

Engine
I think this is a 2.4L engine or some 4 cylinder. Its pretty noisy on acceleration and the owner told me he gets 22mpg city/highway. Quite lackluster IMO. Also, the power was adequate, but not overwhelming by any means.

Transmission
Shifts were typical Japanese. uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh SHIFT..uhhhhhhhhhh...SHIFT. Almost like they only have a speed and accelerator pedal as the map. Not good IMO for a car in this day and age.

Build quality
While the build quality was good, the materials Honda is using lately seem cheap. The plastic is thinner than on Hondas 5 years ago. There was an annoying rattle coming from the headliner I was trying to locate when we were driving this.

Controls
While I didn't sit in the drivers seat, the dash layout seems good, easy to read gauges and the center con sole was layed out well.

One neat thing I might add is that rear seats sit higher than the front so you can see out the front window with someone sitting in the front seat. But..the seat feels like a jump seat, so long trips aren't that comfortable.

Overall I think there is a better car for the 22k price tag since the thing is the size of a Civic.

[Particle Man]

2009 Ford Escape (brand new).

This thing is a piece of shit. Period.

The transmission whines like a Crown Vic's with 200,000 miles on it
Seats are like sitting on plywood
Handles like the car from The Flintstones
Climate Controls are difficult to reach and adjust
Radio indicators are burried in the dash where you have to look away from traffic to see what's going on (more so than most radios since this one is recessed and above the dash)

Never again.