As car enthusiasts, we love an opportunity to slide behind the wheel of something different. However, experiencing new cars can be hard. Unless you work in the auto industry or intentionally drive a horribly unreliable German car as a gambit to snag seat time in dealership loaner vehicles, rental fleets are likely your best chance of getting behind the wheel of new stuff.
An inarguable truth about rental car roulette is that sometimes you win and other times you don’t. For every free upgrade, there’s a neglected Nissan Altima just waiting to proclaim that it’s seen tens of thousands of hard miles.
The last actual rental car I was in was a Volkswagen Jetta, and you know what? It was great. Apple CarPlay connected instantaneously, noise on the highway was remarkably low, the seats were all-day comfortable, the trunk swallowed all our luggage, and the fuel bill was microscopic. It was objectively a great car for a whirlwind trip to Calgary, and it felt like it punched far above its weight class.
So, what was your last rental car, and how was it? Whether you were a lucky duck in a muscle car or left the airport with a pre-dented Buick Encore, we’d love to know about your latest rental car experience in the comments below.
(Photo credits: Volkswagen)
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Skoda Scala in The Netherlands. If we had a nice mid-ish sized manual wagon available in the States, I’d be all over it. It wasn’t fast, but it handled reasonably well considering it rained pretty much the entire time I was there. It was comfortable and had more than enough room for luggage for four people.
Some Honda hybrid, might have been an Insight.
How was it ?
Well, uneventful, uneventful, uneventful, till
The short story: the angles and and lines of this tortured monstruosity, around the headlight area, are so ugly, that I simply looked at it and thought “Eh, ugly”. Then it turned out it was ugly and crashed, with gaps and cracks that lined up with whatever lines were coming from the grill. It did help that it was in the tortured, black on black area of the bumper, and that I was picking the car from under a shady hotel entrance on a bright sunny day.
Otherwise – uneventful. Bland. Bleh.
Dodge Hornet plug in from Avis. Seemed to have a bit of electrical gremlins. At one point didn’t recognize the key, which freaked me out a bit. My big takeaway from the rental car experience as a whole, however, was that they unleash these really complicated cars on folks like me, who then get in and try to figure out how all the buttons and levers work. It almost feels like rental companies should be selling cars that have the most basic controls possible, just so you don’t drive into a bridge abutment while trying to figure out the climate controls.
Chevy Blazer. Completely unremarkable in every sense. Nothing about it made want one, but it did the job.
Chevy Transverse in Maui.
While it did fit five of us and a week’s worth of baggage, I could not for the life of me get through the driver’s door without banging my head one way or the other. I’m used to driving with my ass lower than standing position, and climbing up and in took some serious ass-first maneuvering.
That and all of the parking spaces are tiny in Maui, and, again, I’m not used to driving such a huge vehicle.
Oh, it was boring as hell to drive. Nothing like my rocket-wagon.
That was the extent of it.
2022 BMW 330. A complete and total turd. It was an insurance rental so Enterprise said it was no extra charge over an Hundai….ok fine. Black on black in Sac summers are no fun and the AC was European mediocre. In the first two days the CEL light came on and went off two times, again ok fine it was running ok. The next day we were crossing a busy intersection and the pile of crap quit right in the middle and would not start. I had to push the pile of Germanic garbage across the street to wait for the tow. We got back to Enterprise an hour later and I was relieved to get a Sonata that was also a turd, but at least the AC worked better, it had comfortable cloth seats and did not take a shit on us the rest of the week.
BTW it had ok power, rode crappy, was too low for a 4 door and did not have a lot of room for how big it was. People really aspire to these junkpiles?
I just spent a week in Ireland. Had a rhd Yaris hybrid. What a car! Perfect for my situation. Easy to city drive, park, and take down any “L” road. Excellent fuel mileage. 1000 miles and never let me down. I miss Little Car
2022 Passat, rented out in California during a family trip back in ’22. Hadn’t driven a Volkswagen in several years at that point, but it was just Volkswagen enough to make me want to get another one, which I did – a 2015 GTI – later in the year. Plus one of the cats that was hanging around one of our VRBO rentals tried to leave with us.
My last rental was in Whistler BC with a Jeep Patriot (High Altitude?) trim with snow tires. That think was a Billy goat in the snow, overall pleasant to drive. This trim had the 2.4L with the 6 speed automatic that suited it perfectly. Both my daughter and I commented that it could be a great first car in this trim.
Cons of this vehicle:
Really not good on gas for the size.
The 2.4L engine was fine but could stand to have 30 extra horses.
Not sure of long term Jeep reliability.
I put about 600 miles in the week I had it with no complaints.
A 2021 Toyota Corolla from Hertz with > 50k miles on the clock. Highest mileage rental I’ve ever had. Gulf Coast of Florida.
It was a classic Toyota base model penalty box. Wheezy NA I4 mated to a CVT that droned something fierce on the highway. Though there was so much road noise you sometimes couldn’t hear it. Interior was in decent shape but the exterior had seen some action. I thought it didn’t have Carplay for 2 days until I found the USB port hidden near where the passenger’s left knee would go!
VW Arteon Shooting Brake diesel in Germany. Sticker inside said it had snow tires on, so don’t exceed 250kmph! I didn’t. It was a lovely ride at 160kmph and an overall pleasure to drive for 1000 miles over 2 weeks. Held a lot of luggage too.
Because Fort Lauderdale has Sixt, when I visited my mom last November I rented a BMW 430i Gran Coupe (aka, the 4-series with four doors). Metallic white with a tan interior. I figured it would be much more interesting than a “normal” rental car for a relatively small upcharge.
For comparison, my personal car is a VW GTI.
How was the BMW? It was…OK. Other than the huge buck-toothed grille, it checked all the boxes of being a nice car: comfortable, solid, relatively quick, good cargo space. I appreciated that it wasn’t a typical rental appliance, but I never felt a connection to it, and wouldn’t feel compelled to buy one.
I think the problem was that the car just felt bloated, too big for what it should be and too stuffed with unnecessary tech. As something to take on a commute, that’s ok. But I had no desire to find some backroads and test the whole “Ultimate Driving Machine” reputation. Not that southern Florida even HAS interesting back roads to take a car on!
This was the second BMW I’ve rented from Sixt, the first being a 330i sedan with the same powertrain. I preferred the 3-series, mostly because it wasn’t doing the try-hard styling thing—it felt like a better-realized car.
We may have had the same car, I just returned an identical vehicle with FL plates but I picked it up in Charlotte NC. Ironically I live in Lauderdale. I like the hatchback practicality and it was definitely better than your typical rental on the Blue Ridge Parkway but I wouldn’t buy one.
My last rental was an Altima. Don’t hold it against me. Although I did have fun putting into “sport” mode so I could hit 80 mph by the end of the on ramp. (80 mph is the speed limit where I live.)
Prior to that, I rented a late model Charger. That was a whole lot of fun… right up until it started snowing. Hilariously, the rental agent suggested if I wanted something “sportier,” he’d put me into a Chevy Malibu for the same price.
Edit: reading through the comments, it’s clear the largest market for Nissans is rental agencies
Perfect timing as I got back from Oklahoma last week.
2024 Nissan Altima in Refrigerator White.
Definitely drove better than the 2024 Kia Soul that I had rented last time I was in town, but I still wouldn’t own one.
My biggest annoyance was still reaching for a key that didn’t exist in the steering column by the end of the week I had it and because it wasn’t ordered with the large touchscreen, no Android Auto or Apple Carplay.
It was a Kia Niro. It was fine. A little engine noise. I’d never driven a car with driver assistance features and while some were OK, the lane assist was annoying.
I wouldn’t buy one, but it it was free or the only rental option I’d be fine with it.
About 10-12 years ago I drove a rental Mustang and the visibility in that was so bad I absolutely would get rid of it if it was a gift, and ask for a different car if it was a rental.
In southern France a couple of weeks ago, the nice people at Budget gave me a Citroen C3 Aircross, which was perfectly pleasant. Comfy seats, hatch big enough to swallow an American-on-holiday-sized suitcase, flawless CarPlay, and a slightly rubbery but inoffensive six-speed manual transmission.
I’d been holding out hope for a Dacia Duster, but this wasn’t a bad runner-up.
I had one of these for a week last year, also in southern France. Diesel and six-speed manual, and I didn’t like it at all.
It wouldn’t start unless the clutch was fully in, even if it was in neutral and your foot was on the brake.
Although it was comfortable the whole driving experience was vague and yes, “rubbery”. And worse, it’s one of those cars that feels bigger to drive than it is – not what you want on narrow country lanes.
But it got us from A to B and didn’t use much fuel.
In Brittany Sixt handed us a black BMW 1-Series diesel hatch, manual with the M pack (sports seats, sharp-looking alloys and some cosmetic tweaks). It still held all our luggage but was a delight to drive. I could live with a petrol 135i hatch every day quite happily (I’m not a fan of diesel due to the particulates). Good little car.
National continues to bless me. Currently in a Wrangler Rubicon. Last rental was an Audi A5. 2 very different cars but glad to have some interesting driving experiences away from home
A SWM G01 I got in Barcelona as a rental over Christmas – manual trans and all.
Felt really poorly put together in terms of fit&finish, the transmission had an awful feeling and it wasn’t particularly efficient. Still, it was cheap to rent and spacious.
Oh, and it had two different OS on the cluster vs the main screen. Cluster was in some asian language I don’t know and I was surprised to learn you can’t change. Main screen was a very laggy android tablet.
I’d upload a pic if I could!
Currently renting a ‘24 Ram 1500 with 1.3k on the clock. I rent probably 30 or so cars each year due to my travel for work. Each rental I keep for an average of 4 days. I’ve been lucky enough to rent some really nice cars (Audi, BMW, Genesis) and some total stinkers. Without going over each and the best, I can say with confidence that any Stellantis product is complete junk. Lousy build quality and materials. Sure the Dodges (Challenger, Charger, Durango) are fun to drive, but man they are just built like crap. I would never buy one.
A Nissan Altima. At the rental counter, I was given the choice between that and a Dodge Charger, I wanted the Charger but my wife and the rental counter lady both thought a family car would be better, especially since we were going to be doing a lot of driving. On the way from Phoenix to Northern Arizona, we hit a freak snowstorm and I was glad I had a FWD car instead of the RWD Charger. The CVT and infotainment screen both sucked and it was annoying that the headlight sensor was so sensitive that the headlights turned on every time we drove under a bridge, but overall it was a decent enough car for getting from A to B, but I’d never want one for myself.
Latest several rental cars in reverse order:
Current: Ford Edge. Fucking terrible. Touchscreen HVAC controls and it feels like driving a wobbly barstool.
Last week: Chrysler 300. Decent enough, good trunk space, but RWD left me stuck in the mud when I was directed to park in a grass overflow lot. It took four people and two sections of old snowmobile track to get me out. Yes, this was in Canada. Also, I’m somewhat short, so because the driver’s seat pulls all the way back after turning the car off, it makes it awkward to reach the brake pedal to start the engine
Week before that: Dodge Charger, but the very very base model that didn’t have automatic HVAC control. Overall it was fine, but driving through the cold, heavy rain and heavy crosswind on country roads was a bit scary, especially when turbulence from semi trucks traveling in the opposite direction would cause my car to slide left and right.
Before that: Chevy Malibu. Quite possibly the most “meh” car on the planet.
Before that: Ford Bronco Sport. Fine? Felt a bit meh, and a bigger vehicle than I liked or needed, but I’m trying to be fair, since my perception of that rental experience was jaded because they tried to put me in an EV even though I was explaining to them that I was driving from New Orleans to rural Alabama and the round trip was 25% longer than the EPA range.
Overall conclusion: rental car companies should be required to put winter tires on their cars, especially in northern states/countries.
Also, I have no idea why rental car companies try to give me SUV’s when I rent mid-size sedans
I’ve rented the Ford Bronco Sport twice and I feel certain people buy them to say they drive a “Bronco.” The first time, there was some sort of parent safety locks on the car (speed limited to 80mph and volume to 15) so it drove me nuts. It’s not a bad vehicle, just a below average appliance that is most certainly overpriced.
Rented a Ford Edge two weeks ago. It tracked straight and was comfortable for four and luggage. Not a bad ride, visibility good. The touchscreen HVAC controls are a disaster and in my opinion an accident waiting to happen.
Ummm bother to use the steering wheel controls for the HVAC? Or use SYNC for that?
“It tracked straight and […] Not a bad ride, visibility good. ”
Compared to what? The Dali? Body roll is horrendous, even compared to other SUV’s/CUV’s I’ve rented. You can literally feel it making a right-hand turn at an intersection on a city street. I’m legitimately surprised it doesn’t make drivers seasick. The ride height and driver’s seat height make it so you have a larger blind spot radius around the entire vehicle, especially for ground obstacles. The only normal-height cars I can think with worse visibility would be Camaros and Mazda hatchbacks.
Agree with you about the HVAC, however. I don’t want to have to come to a red light to wait to turn off the heated steering wheel and seats.
I dont know what you are talking about either. I have rented them in the past and they were smooth quiet and comfortable. Visibility is about average for new cars. No tests from car mags or even Ford hating CR has said the things you did about them…from CR
“Ford has managed to instill a distinct taut and agile feel in this substantial SUV. The Edge exhibits a commendable athleticism in corners. it feels tied down and responsive, with confidence-inspiring steering and handling. Body lean is well contained, and the steering responds swiftly in a way that’s reminiscent of a well-honed European vehicle.
The Edge proved secure in our avoidance maneuver, where it posted a decent 52 mph, but it showed a tendency to momentarily lock the front wheels and cause the vehicle to run wide, limiting its top speed through the course.”
Oh, I’m not claiming that it is not quiet, or uncomfortable. But I can absolutely feel the car lean from side to side when I’m changing lanes on the freeway. Unless there are somehow a lot of other SUV’s that make this feel better by comparison
Last month, I was in Houston and rented a “Toyota Camry or Similar.” I received a 2024 Escape ST-Line AWD. You can imagine my dismay, trying to catch up to the hectic traffic and make lane changes in Houston, with a 1.5-liter turbo 3-cylinder hauling 3,500+ lbs.
I ended up swapping it the next day for a 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 5 AWD, with all of 200 miles on the odometer. I loved that car, especially the design, but there’s a ban–which I instituted–on Hyundai, Kia and Genesis products in my family, so I’ll never be able to get one.
I’ve been renting with National for a long time purely because you get to pick your car. I’m in a Mazda CX-50 right now. I quite like the suspension and steering tuning. It did quite well being hustled through the mountain passes between San Diego and the desert. I love that the manual mode of the transmission will hold the gear you select and will upshift at full-throttle. It could really use another 50hp to be properly peppy, but it’s otherwise quite nice. Infotainment is even great with the console controller. Seats are comfy and a cloth/leatherette mix.
Had one of these from National in Vermont last month, I agree with your assessment completely, including that it could use more power. I imagine the turbo version would be a really compelling daily driver.
My last rental was in 2014. It was a two part rental.
The Chrysler TC was rented to carry all the valuables that don’t go in the moving van. It broke at the first night’s hotel: it wouldn’t start.
Coaxed to life the next morning after an hour, we got to a nearby Enterprise. No vans, no SUVs. We had to dump the contents of two large containers loose into the trunk of a Camry that stunk of cigarettes. $150 dollars worth of containers had to be donated to the rental staff.
Of course we were under intense time pressure. Somehow we got from Virginia to northern Florida in very little time. Best part was paying $80 instead of $800 for the rental.
Someone hit the Camry the day we returned it. Never will I ever buy anything Stellantis.
My my most recent rental car was a 2024 Chevy Malibu with just 12k on the clock. We rented it for a week while on vacation. It was fine, roomy and comfortable. It had all the gadgets and gizmos you would expect these days. Apple Carplay and Android Auto was a snap to set up. I could not figure out how to keep the cabin at a comfortable temp. It was either too hot or too cold, even when using the Auto setting on the climate controls. It was an appliance, and it did the job it was supposed to do. Nothing to brag about, just a car.