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The role rental cars play in a customer's perception - my experience.

9K views 55 replies 16 participants last post by  rapidtrans 
#1 · (Edited)
I am currently in the Boston area on business. I've been here since the beginning of November and will be here until the beginning of February with a possible extension until the beginning of May. To get around, I had the option of bringing one of my cars or letting work get me a rental. I chose the latter for a number of reasons.

Now I am one who likes a lot of the features on cars. I know there are people who yearn for the days of crank windows. I am not one of them. I like the gadgets on my car. I got everything I could on my

When I arrived, I was given a Ford Focus hatchback. Since I like the looks of the car and have thought of one to replace my aging Stratus I was looking forward to the time I spent with the car For a rental car, this one was pretty nice. It had leather interior, the large touchscreen (though it lacked a navigation system), heated seats, automatic headlights, dual zone climate control and a rear view camera. It also featured keyless entry with push button start that allowed me to keep the key in my pocket.

Seating was comfortable and visibility was reasonable, though there was a sticker on the back window on the passenger side that I kept mistaking for a car in the lane next to me when I turned my head. I did like the two small mirrors set inside the side view mirrors. Although the car didn't have blind spot monitoring, this helped. The heated seats warmed quickly and I found myself lowering the heat nearly every time.

Pairing my phone with the car was simple and straight forward and took only a moment or two and I only had one instance where the phone wouldn't connect with the car. Since I've had that problem with my Charger on occasion, it didn't really surprise me. I generally call my mother on the way home from work to check in and see how she is doing. If I was talking, turning the car off did not shut down the connection with the car. I was able to gather my stuff and transfer the call to my headset easily.

I liked the screen between the gauges. It was simple to figure out and I liked the A/B trip computer that allowed me to see mileage/mpg for a particular tank and for the duration of time I had the car. The system seemed slow to respond to inputs which I found annoying.

The car featured two drive modes. D and S. In D, the car was a confused mess. Sometimes it would be very sporty and other times it would bog down and seemed confused as to what gear it wanted to be in or try to stay in too high a gear.

S-mode kept the revs up and made the car a lot of fun to drive. A lot more fun! The car was lively and responded to throttle input very nicely. It always seemed in the power band and was very eager and responsive. My only real complaint was initial acceleration. Sometimes, especially on a hill, it would chirp the front tires and there seemed very little input between off the gas and having that happen. Just driving the car was very enjoyable, though. In the end, I would drive in the S-mode around town and dump it into D on the highway.

My two big complaints on the car were the cruise control buttons which seem mashed into the space allotted. I just didn't like the layout and thought it was poorly designed. Six functions jammed in there made it clumsy to operate. Especially with the resume and cancel buttons inboard of the set/accelerate/decel buttons. I like this way the cruise works on my Charger. Tap once and it goes up/down by 1mph. Hold it and it jumps to the nearest 5 mph then by 5 mph until released. The Focus doesn't do that. It continues to go up/down by 1mph, which I suppose is okay, but it is easier to set the cruise at 70 or 75 in the Charger than the Focus. Still, not a deal breaker.

The other complaint I had was the stereo interface. I thought it was...dumb. There was a single center mounted control for volume with buttons at the 12,3,6 and 9 o'clock positions that did other things. These buttons were small and hard to read. More than once I reached to change the volume and ended up adjusting the temperature instead since that is right where the volume control on my Charger would be. The power button is located on the upper left of the stereo and is tiny. I'm not looking for Fischer Price type controls, but buttons on a car should be easily seen and operated.

The oil change light came on after about 4 weeks and I was given the option of turning it in or changing the oil myself and getting it reimbursed. Since work is paying for the car and I wanted the car rental to be as simple as possible, I chose to exchange the car.

Over the course of the 5 or so weeks I had it I put about 1300 miles on it and averaged, according to the trip computer, about 31 mpg. At home I calculate it by hand, but haven't been doing it with the rental cars.


I am really glad I had the experience to spend some extended time driving the car since I was able to really experience the car. Overall, I really enjoyed the car, and given the car I got next, I really wish I had kept it. I wouldn't buy one though. As much as I enjoyed the car, the radio and cruise control layout would prevent me from buying one. It is a small thing, but it detracts from my driving experience and I just hate it.
 
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#2 ·
Originally, they were going to give me a Fusion as a replacement for the Focus I turned in, which is what I was hoping for. Instead, the woman ahead of me refused to take a car, which I am convinced is the one I got. Dented hood and trunk. Stained interior. This car just reeked of cheap rental. But still, I figure any car could have cosmetic issues like that so I shrugged my shoulders and took it. The car I ended up with was a Mitsubishi Lancer. I'd heard that they were somewhat fun to drive so I looked forward to it. That anticipation lasted about 5 minutes. By the time I picked up my girlfriend at the airport 20 minutes alter I was left wondering that Mitsubishi still sold cars and by the time we stopped for lunch a few minutes later I knew I would be returning the car before too long.

This was a pretty basic car with not much in the way of options. I don't even know what might have considered options. Maybe the auto climate control. There was a standard radio with nice big knobs and not a touch screen in
sight. No back up camera.

The seats were cloth, which I generally prefer over leather. This one had a big lumbar bulge that I could not find a way to adjust and I found the seat uncomfortable after a short time in it.

Right off the bat the mirrors jerked and stopped when I was trying to adjust them. Sort of like the mirrors of that 1980s car that has been sitting around for a long time. The mirror on the driver side had some odd distortion in it. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was almost like the it was warped.

Pairing my phone with the car was an exercise in trial and error. While pairing with the Focus was easy, this was not. For something that has seems to have become pretty much a given in new cars, this was way more difficult than it should have been. Although I am not a fan of touch screens, I yearned for one so that I could operate my phone from it rather than my phone. Missing was the radio retain power when the car was turned off. As soon as the key was turned, it didn't matter if you were on the phone or not, the radio lost power. If you were on the phone, the call was transferred back to the phone. At least in the Focus, it would keep the call on the car speaker until the door was opened. (I still like the way Chrysler does it where the radio retains power if you're on the phone even if the door is opened.) This seems backwards to the way cars have been moving where you can at least sit in the car and listen to the radio unless the door is opened.

All four doors were stiff and seemed hard to open and close. Almost like they needed lubrication. There was an annoying rattle in the front passenger door. The transmission seemed to slip a few times. The ride was rough. Every time I started the car it would beep and display "Icy Roads Possible" between the gauges. When you shut the car off it would display "See You." I found both of those annoying. Not big things on the whole, but given that I hated so much about this car everything annoyed me.

What I liked about it can be limited to a couple of things. I liked the looks of the car. I liked that the headlights were incredibly bright. I liked that when I turned the cruise control on, it stayed on even after the car was shut off so
that when I restarted the car, the cruise was on, even if no memory settings were saved. The cruise controls were laid out much better than the Focus. I liked the gated shifter. And that is where what I liked about the car ended.

I had the car for 8 days and put about 600 miles on it. In that time I averaged about 28 mpg.

If ever a car were "unfit for human consumption" in today's world, this car is it and I could not wait to get rid of it. It sucked. Hard. Driving this car made me cross Mitsubishi off my list entirely. It would have to be some sort of phenomenal car for me to even consider setting foot in a Mitsubishi dealership after my experience with that pile.


They were going to give me a Hyundai Accent to replace the Lancer, but the lady at the desk mentioned it being small. I agreed it was, (though that is probably the class worked paid for) so they put me in a Hyundai Santa Fe. I have had it for a bit over 24 hours and so far I like it a lot better. I don't know that I'd buy one, but I certainly wouldn't cross it off the list at this point.
 
#3 ·
My next-door neighbor had someone smack into his Audi wagon last week. He is currently in a Dodge Dart loaner. I haven't had a chance to see what he thinks of it yet.
 
#4 ·
Summer of 1989, my dad and I rented a brand new (3 miles) 1989 Plymouth Acclaim, burgundy color, in Colorado for vacation. He loved it so much that he came home and bought his first and only new car based on that rental. Blue 1989 Acclaim, 4-cyl 3-spd auto. He had trouble finding one with an automatic floor shift, which was what he wanted. He had it 16 years and 136K miles until he dozed off at the wheel one night and totaled it. Luckily he only had a cut and a few bruises.
 
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#5 ·
I knew a few people who bought the cars they’d rented. I do think it’s a huge mistake to make special “rental fleet” cars, totally stripped, at a low price — and it’s a risk because some rental companies often don’t maintain the cars at all, ignoring tire pressure, tire wear, recalls, and basic maintenance.

I always found the 200/Sebring/Avenger sedans to be great rentals. Good mileage, comfortable, predictable, in good repair. I hated the Nissan Versa in Michigan, where even a brand-new-off-the-truck, 2-mile-odometer car felt out of control on the concrete roads — well, it was nice on blacktop if a bit weak. There are people who rent cars before buying them.

Some suppliers to supermarkets actually have their own people to stock and maintain their shelves, in every store (they travel from store to store), supplementing the chains’ stock people to make sure you can always get what you want (mostly cosmetics and other high margin items.) I wonder if the automakers wouldn’t be served by dropping ten TV ads a year and, instead, hiring people to check out their rental cars and make sure they get maintenance as needed...
 
#6 ·
I knew a few people who bought the cars they’d rented. I do think it’s a huge mistake to make special “rental fleet” cars, totally stripped, at a low price — and it’s a risk because some rental companies often don’t maintain the cars at all, ignoring tire pressure, tire wear, recalls, and basic maintenance.

I always found the 200/Sebring/Avenger sedans to be great rentals. Good mileage, comfortable, predictable, in good repair. I hated the Nissan Versa in Michigan, where even a brand-new-off-the-truck, 2-mile-odometer car felt out of control on the concrete roads — well, it was nice on blacktop if a bit weak. There are people who rent cars before buying them.

Some suppliers to supermarkets actually have their own people to stock and maintain their shelves, in every store (they travel from store to store), supplementing the chains’ stock people to make sure you can always get what you want (mostly cosmetics and other high margin items.) I wonder if the automakers wouldn’t be served by dropping ten TV ads a year and, instead, hiring people to check out their rental cars and make sure they get maintenance as needed...
A friend of mine bought a Neon that had been a rental car. It was as basic as you could get. I don't even think it had power front windows. He liked it and had relatively good luck with it. I don't recall what ended up being the death of it. CV joints, I think. He got a new Focus to replace it. He didn't have anything against the Neon. He'd had a couple of Cavliers before the Neon and just wanted to try something different.
 
#7 ·
I've had the Santa Fe for about 48 hours and have some initial impressions.

This must be a rental car build since it seems some of the standard options are missing.


The touch screen is visible in the day. The screen on the Lancer was difficult to read if any light hit it. It is smaller than the one on the Charger, and I would like a larger one, but I realize that it is a rental and I don't have that luxury.

It has good power that comes on smoothly and seems available when needed.

The seats are comfortable and I haven't had any issues on that front in the short time I've had it.

I have only had it for a couple of days but I already know I wouldn't buy one.

I have a couple of issues with the car that may be solved if I could read the owner's manual. The car reverts to the radio every time I restart the car, even if I was listening to my phone previously. As with the Lancer, as soon as I shut off the car, it kills power to the radio, even if I was talking on the phone. The average fuel economy resets if the car has been sitting awhile. The Lancer did the same thing, which makes no sense to me. All of these are really rather minor things and are a personal preference thing. I recognize that others may have a different preferences.

But the primary reason is that the way the steering wheel is made makes it uncomfortable for me. I generally drive with my left hand at about the 7 o'clock position with my index finger against the bottom spoke of the steering wheel. In the Santa Fe, this is where the phone controls are. There is a gap between the buttons and the back piece that allows for the buttons to be depressed. This gap has enough of an edge that it irritates my finger.

Still, I'm enjoying the it far much more than the Lancer.
 
#8 ·
Our dealer had a couple of 2007 Pacificas that we used as 'over-night service loaners' when a customer's car had to stay overnight for service. If the Pacifica had had better marketing exposure, I feel it would have sold much better. It was like our best-kept secret. The Pacifica, like a smaller minivan seemed to do everything well.
After returning the Pacifica to pick up their car, many people commented at the service desk how much they were impressed by the Pacifica ride, features and comfort. One guy actually purchased a Pacifica that same day.
A loaner is like a low-pressure test drive and it forms impressions when you live with the car for more than a day or two.
My sister visited us this past October and rented a Nissan Sentra and I got to drive it. It had the JATCO CVT just like the Caliber, but the Nissan transaxle controller software kept the engine rpm lower while climbing hills so the engine didn't seem to race under load like the Caliber does. It was explained to me that the CVT keeps the engine in its maximum torque band for best efficiency, but a racing engine makes the car feel like the engine is straining and wasting gas.
The CVT would have done much better for Chrysler if the software was done more like the Nissan. The new ZF-9 speed transaxle also needed software (and hardware) changes after its introduction to make it a better shifting transaxle and it did. I think that Chrysler gave up on the CVT.
Otherwise the Sentra was a compliant car and did what it was asked to do. It wasn't particularly exciting, didn't inspire any burning passions within me and I wouldn't want to own one. I am seeing some not-very-old Nissans and Mazdas around here with body rust-out issues.
 
#10 ·
Our dealer had a couple of 2007 Pacificas that we used as 'over-night service loaners' when a customer's car had to stay overnight for service. If the Pacifica had had better marketing exposure, I feel it would have sold much better. It was like our best-kept secret. The Pacifica, like a smaller minivan seemed to do everything well.
After returning the Pacifica to pick up their car, many people commented at the service desk how much they were impressed by the Pacifica ride, features and comfort. One guy actually purchased a Pacifica that same day.
A loaner is like a low-pressure test drive and it forms impressions when you live with the car for more than a day or two.
Back when I was starting to look at Chargers I was given one overnight. Originally, all I cared about was the color and that it had a sunroof. I was given a well optioned R/T and came away knowing I wanted more than a sunroof. It definitely upsold me and I ended up getting a car that had a lot more options than I would have originally gotten.
 
#9 ·
Worst car I ever had as a rental is without doubt the 2000/2001 Ford Taurus. If that wasn't a special "strip it out for Hertz" model, then I feel sorry for people who paid their good money for one - the panel fit on one example was so bad I could get my thumb right down between the hood and wing panel on one side. Apart from questionable assembly, it lacked in steering and brakes - probably why it's called "Taurus": you'd have more luck trying to guide a charging Holstein.
Unfortunately, my employer at the time had an exclusive deal with Hertz, so every time I walked up to that desk at SFO I got handed the keys to one. I was gutted.

The best rental car I ever had was a FIAT 500 for a holiday in Tuscany - the right car for the right place. When you're looking for somewhere to park in a medieval Italian city, you appreciate why it's the size it is, but it wouldn't be much use when trying to negotiate the morning commute in the Bay Area.

The service loaners are where dealerships could do better - it's a golden opportunity to show an existing customer something they might want to buy... or recommend to others. On my last service, I got a nearly-new FIAT 500X, and came away with a much higher opinion of it than I'd had before (I'd thought of it as a "small CUV", but really, it makes a pretty good replacement for a compact hatchback).
 
#11 ·
For Christmas in 2009 we traveled to my wife's parents for the holiday. Since it was a 1800 mile journey one way, we opted to fly and then rent two mid-size vehicles. It was actually cheaper to rent two midsize cars for 18 days than one minivan for the same period. Plus the minivan could not handle all 7 of us and luggage (it was one or the other). Though we had reservations with Enterprise we ended up going with National - customer service basically stunk - story for another thread.

Anyway we ended up with two Pontiac G6's. The one my wife drove had a V6 while mine had a 4 cylinder. Both were decently equipped though the satellite service was not activated in either one. The V6 had plenty of power though it's fuel mileage was not as good as the 4 cylinder (to be expected). I recall averaging 27-28 mpg in combined driving with the 4 cylinder and she was getting 22-23 mpg combined with the V6. Had we not have just purchased our Journey, we might have considered one of these. Had we ever considered one I would have opted for the V6. The 4 cylinder was adequate, but I felt like I was always harder on the accelerator in it vs the V6. I wouldn't say the 4 was under powered, just that the V6 definitely didn't have to work as hard.
 
#12 ·
This summer I had a very well equipped Explorer as a rental car and had to drive it through hurricane Hermine in Florida. It was a nice vehicle. In my opinion, it stacked much more favorably to the Durango than I expected.
 
#13 ·
Currently driving a 2017 Rav4 LE. Very base, no options. Hard plastics. Not very stylish.
drove very well for a short distance (I will put more miles on). But it kept up nicely on Dallas highways near 80 mph with the 2.5 four cylinder.

Initial impression - very bland, basic and the definition of "appliance"
 
#14 ·
I am currently in the Boston area on business. I've been here since the beginning of November and will be here until the beginning of February with a possible extension until the beginning of May. To get around, I had the option of bringing one of my cars or letting work get me a rental. I chose the latter for a number of reasons.

Now I am one who likes a lot of the features on cars. I know there are people who yearn for the days of crank windows. I am not one of them. I like the gadgets on my car. I got everything I could on my

When I arrived, I was given a Ford Focus hatchback. Since I like the looks of the car and have thought of one to replace my aging Stratus I was looking forward to the time I spent with the car For a rental car, this one was pretty nice. It had leather interior, the large touchscreen (though it lacked a navigation system), heated seats, automatic headlights, dual zone climate control and a rear view camera. It also featured keyless entry with push button start that allowed me to keep the key in my pocket.

Seating was comfortable and visibility was reasonable, though there was a sticker on the back window on the passenger side that I kept mistaking for a car in the lane next to me when I turned my head. I did like the two small mirrors set inside the side view mirrors. Although the car didn't have blind spot monitoring, this helped. The heated seats warmed quickly and I found myself lowering the heat nearly every time.

Pairing my phone with the car was simple and straight forward and took only a moment or two and I only had one instance where the phone wouldn't connect with the car. Since I've had that problem with my Charger on occasion, it didn't really surprise me. I generally call my mother on the way home from work to check in and see how she is doing. If I was talking, turning the car off did not shut down the connection with the car. I was able to gather my stuff and transfer the call to my headset easily.

I liked the screen between the gauges. It was simple to figure out and I liked the A/B trip computer that allowed me to see mileage/mpg for a particular tank and for the duration of time I had the car. The system seemed slow to respond to inputs which I found annoying.

The car featured two drive modes. D and S. In D, the car was a confused mess. Sometimes it would be very sporty and other times it would bog down and seemed confused as to what gear it wanted to be in or try to stay in too high a gear.

S-mode kept the revs up and made the car a lot of fun to drive. A lot more fun! The car was lively and responded to throttle input very nicely. It always seemed in the power band and was very eager and responsive. My only real complaint was initial acceleration. Sometimes, especially on a hill, it would chirp the front tires and there seemed very little input between off the gas and having that happen. Just driving the car was very enjoyable, though. In the end, I would drive in the S-mode around town and dump it into D on the highway.

My two big complaints on the car were the cruise control buttons which seem mashed into the space allotted. I just didn't like the layout and thought it was poorly designed. Six functions jammed in there made it clumsy to operate. Especially with the resume and cancel buttons inboard of the set/accelerate/decel buttons. I like this way the cruise works on my Charger. Tap once and it goes up/down by 1mph. Hold it and it jumps to the nearest 5 mph then by 5 mph until released. The Focus doesn't do that. It continues to go up/down by 1mph, which I suppose is okay, but it is easier to set the cruise at 70 or 75 in the Charger than the Focus. Still, not a deal breaker.

The other complaint I had was the stereo interface. I thought it was...dumb. There was a single center mounted control for volume with buttons at the 12,3,6 and 9 o'clock positions that did other things. These buttons were small and hard to read. More than once I reached to change the volume and ended up adjusting the temperature instead since that is right where the volume control on my Charger would be. The power button is located on the upper left of the stereo and is tiny. I'm not looking for Fischer Price type controls, but buttons on a car should be easily seen and operated.

The oil change light came on after about 4 weeks and I was given the option of turning it in or changing the oil myself and getting it reimbursed. Since work is paying for the car and I wanted the car rental to be as simple as possible, I chose to exchange the car.




Over the course of the 5 or so weeks I had it I put about 1300 miles on it and averaged, according to the trip computer, about 31 mpg. At home I calculate it by hand, but haven't been doing it with the rental cars.


I am really glad I had the experience to spend some extended time driving the car since I was able to really experience the car. Overall, I really enjoyed the car, and given the car I got next, I really wish I had kept it. I wouldn't buy one though. As much as I enjoyed the car, the radio and cruise control layout would prevent me from buying one. It is a small thing, but it detracts from my driving experience and I just hate it.
The manufacturers pay a tremendous amount to get a potential buyer to test drive their cars in terms pf advertising and marketing costs. They know that results in increased chances for a sale.

Yet they don't reflect that in the cars they give to the rental agencies. Inexpensive options are omitted and semi-stripped cars to discourage the renters from actually considering their cars, when next they buy. IMHO, they should create special rental agency models with lots of cheap to the manufacturers options, like the software for protective features, auto braking, lane maintenance yadda yadda. and also navigation needed more often by drivers in unknown areas, as they rent. What utter stupidity!
 
#15 ·
The problem is the manufacturers must provide what the rental agencies specify for price. I've seen basic units of some cars in the "regular' fleet while the same car with more features is in the "premium" fleet.
Navigation is usually not included because the agencies want the added revenue from renting a nav unit the the car renter. Same for satellite radio.
Back in the days when the manufacturer took the cars back at the end of the rental term, which was a nightmare for Chrysler financially, I'm sure the manufacturer had a bit more control on content.
 
#16 ·
I recently had an opportunity to rent a Corolla (Model L) Power steering, power windows, 4 speed auto, manual seats. But No KEY FOB, NO Cruise Control! Really a letdown. My local dealer will not put that model on his lot as it generates lots of bad comments. There is only one key hole on the drivers side and it is back to the fifties (At least they could unlock from both sides).
 
#17 ·
That is a good example of a base appliance. Nothing wrong with that. The '79 Monza I had just had the 2.5L 4 cylinder, 4 speed manual, No AC, AM radio and no cruise. About as base as you could get.

Regarding key holes, both my '06 Ram 1500 and '10 Journey SXT only have one "key hole" (driver's side). Pretty sure my daughter's '98 Sebring LXi and '08 Caliber only had one key hole as well. I don't think I've ever had to use the actual key to unlock the truck as I've never had a problem with the FOB. In fact, it still has the original battery. The battery in my FOB for the Journey did die once requiring me to use the hard key a few times.
 
#18 ·
My wife's 200 has only a driver's door keylock, and no keylock for the trunk at all. The trunk can be unlocked by the fob, the dash pushbutton, or the emergency cable release inside the trunk; but no more trunk keylock.
 
#19 ·
The lack of key access is driven by the accounting departments as no longer needed. for the most part that is true. Dead battery in car means the FOB will not work even if it is good. More and more we are getting away from mechanical operations and when everything is good, it is wonderful. Glitch, your done until aid arrives.
 
#20 ·
I haven't experienced any base or stripper models in the rental fleets in a while. The rental companies have found the upper trim level models sell better later. The auto companies like the exposure of their nicer cars.
I've had a lot of rentals the last year usually for a full week. By the end of the week you get kind of used to a car or annoyed with it.
I'll say the 200s i've had were nicer than the Impalas, Lacrosses and Cruzes. The GM vehicles had more road nice and lousy handling with lots of torque steer.
I purposely avoid foreign name brands as they usually are not allowed in the gate at a "big three" plant. I have no interest in purchasing these vehicles so i cruise right by them on the Emerald Aisle.
 
#21 ·
VW was first to drop the passenger side lock. I think the Jeep Wrangler may have been the last vehicle to have one.

I haven't experienced any base or stripper models in the rental fleets in a while. The rental companies have found the upper trim level models sell better later. The auto companies like the exposure of their nicer cars.
I've had a lot of rentals the last year usually for a full week. By the end of the week you get kind of used to a car or annoyed with it.
I think it’s less the rational thoughts you describe and more the automakers ending subsidized sales to rental fleets, so they could boost their sales numbers.
 
#22 ·
I knew a few people who bought the cars they’d rented. I do think it’s a huge mistake to make special “rental fleet” cars, totally stripped, at a low price — and it’s a risk because some rental companies often don’t maintain the cars at all, ignoring tire pressure, tire wear, recalls, and basic maintenance.

I always found the 200/Sebring/Avenger sedans to be great rentals. Good mileage, comfortable, predictable, in good repair. I hated the Nissan Versa in Michigan, where even a brand-new-off-the-truck, 2-mile-odometer car felt out of control on the concrete roads — well, it was nice on blacktop if a bit weak. There are people who rent cars before buying them.

Some suppliers to supermarkets actually have their own people to stock and maintain their shelves, in every store (they travel from store to store), supplementing the chains’ stock people to make sure you can always get what you want (mostly cosmetics and other high margin items.) I wonder if the automakers wouldn’t be served by dropping ten TV ads a year and, instead, hiring people to check out their rental cars and make sure they get maintenance as needed...
I've said it before - even in Canada; I've sold multiple clients Wranglers that admit that they just came back from vacation somewhere tropical, where they rented one to putt around in, and had to get one for themselves when they returned.

Indeed, we are taught of people who rent their vehicle choice prior to purchase. Doesn't make sense to me, as we'll provide a no-obligation overnight test drive up to 48 hours for a serious client.

The ex-rental vehicles we receive from Chrysler auction are often in far better shape than consumer trades in my experience.
 
#23 ·
Doesn't make sense to me, as we'll provide a no-obligation overnight test drive up to 48 hours for a serious client.
We've established that you're not a normal dealership.
 
#28 ·
After a week in the Santa Fe, I am even more convinced I wouldn't buy one.

I have take back my claim of smooth power. On the way to work, it is fine. Driving around town it is fine. On the drive home from work it is terrible. I can set the cruise and when the car comes to an incline it'll often drop two gears. The shifts are very harsh and not smooth at all. This happens several times on the drive home.

The HVAC controls are, in my opinion, dumb. They're straight forward enough, but every time the car restarts, it defaults to outside air. If you turn the fan off or select the floor vents, it reverts to outside air, even if you have previously selected the re-circulation option. The selector to raise and lower the temperature is a rocker switch. I don't like it and prefer a simple dial like in my Charger, the Focus and even the Lancer.

I use my phone for navigation around the area as I am not familiar with it. I like to put the phone on the passenger seat and just let the audio directions come over the radio. Except that with this car, you have to have it set to Media for this to work. If I have the radio on, the directions do not come through the car. So if I want the directions, I cannot listen to the radio. Again, this isn't a problem with my Charger, or the Focus or Lancer rentals that I had.

Still the car rides nice and is a much better ride than the Lancer and even the Focus, though I still like the Focus which seemed more well thought out.
 
#29 ·
I can add that i was impressed enough with a couple LX rentals, even the base 2.7 six version, that i am now in my 3rd LX. Solid quiet vehicles with good hwy. mileage.
One of Sergios first moves as i recall was to eliminate the low level stripper models. There are no cheap looking mopar sedans that scream "rental car" anymore. You know like those horrendous plastic wheel covers they stick on base model 300s and Chargers. Even a base model Dart is well trimmed.
My dealer has given me a Hemi Chally for a weekend as i was interested in a manual trans in my next car.
Yeah, it sold me. I won't need a 4dr by then.
 
#31 ·
I found another dumb thing about the Santa Fe. There is a "Drive Mode" button on the dash. Push it once, it goes to ECO mode. Once more, Sport mode and a third time back to normal. In ECO mode, it is a dog. In Sport mode, it is pretty peppy. If you shut the car off in Sport mode, it reverts to normal mode, but will stay in ECO mode. It would be nice if it were consistent.


I once had a Neon for several days when I was in Arizona. My experience with it swore me off ever getting a Neon. The could not maintain highway speeds. I would get it up to speed, then go into high gear. It would slowly lose speed until it would drop a gear, accelerate back to the highway speed, go into high gear and repeat the process over and over. Bob Sheaves explained that the car was operating outside its design parameters...that this was not environment and conditions it had been tested and designed for. I agreed that while that may have been the case, if the car can't maintain highway speeds without that happening, I had no use for it.

The lack of power rear windows probably would have been a kept me from buying one, but they driving characteristics caused me to swear off the car entirely and you can be sure I told people of my terrible experience with it.
 
#38 ·
I found another dumb thing about the Santa Fe. There is a "Drive Mode" button on the dash. Push it once, it goes to ECO mode. Once more, Sport mode and a third time back to normal. In ECO mode, it is a dog. In Sport mode, it is pretty peppy. If you shut the car off in Sport mode, it reverts to normal mode, but will stay in ECO mode. It would be nice if it were consistent.


I once had a Neon for several days when I was in Arizona. My experience with it swore me off ever getting a Neon. The could not maintain highway speeds. I would get it up to speed, then go into high gear. It would slowly lose speed until it would drop a gear, accelerate back to the highway speed, go into high gear and repeat the process over and over. Bob Sheaves explained that the car was operating outside its design parameters...that this was not environment and conditions it had been tested and designed for. I agreed that while that may have been the case, if the car can't maintain highway speeds without that happening, I had no use for it.

The lack of power rear windows probably would have been a kept me from buying one, but they driving characteristics caused me to swear off the car entirely and you can be sure I told people of my terrible experience with it.
You should have your own YouTube channel and do a vlog for auto reviews. :)
 
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#32 ·
If the Neon was a stick-shift, the problem was with the transmission controller module. If an automatic, yes.

I found if you had a stick, first generation, it was very peppy in fourth at 65 mph, but you had to speed to use fifth properly, which is why highway mileage was pretty good in real life highway driving. GM tended to optimize for driving at 60 mph or so, for highway EPA ratings.
 
#34 ·
If the Neon was a stick-shift, the problem was with the transmission controller module. If an automatic, yes.

I found if you had a stick, first generation, it was very peppy in fourth at 65 mph, but you had to speed to use fifth properly, which is why highway mileage was pretty good in real life highway driving. GM tended to optimize for driving at 60 mph or so, for highway EPA ratings.
It was an automatic.
 
#33 ·
The lack of rear pws in the Neon saved me replacing 4 more window switches. At around 100k all three front switches failed. The only hardware failure in 120k miles but still.
As for for rentals affecting sales, a week long rental of a Renegade turned off any interest i had in buying one. I'm expecting better from the new Compass. Hopefully it will offer the four used in the Cherokees. I'm interested in an awd of the Compass size.
 
#35 ·
Then you might be right. The Neon wasn't really meant to be an automatic as far as I can tell. The stick was far, far, far better. Far, far, far, far, far better. I drove the Neon automatic and was unimpressed. It didn't feel peppy.
 
#36 ·
You really had to lay into the gas pedal to get the Neon auto to perform.
I can recall people who though the Neon felt anemic compared to 2.2 or 2.5 K car variants - which the Neon (especially automatic) unless you drove with a heavy foot. The good news was the 2.0 (in both SOHC and DOHC) loved to rev and still got decent gas mileage with the RPMs up, but gas mileage was much better with the 5 speed.
 
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