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Post by chipbutty on Apr 29, 2019 10:27:14 GMT
 Didn't get the Ford Edge I thought we had booked - we got the " or equivalent " instead. A Mitsubishi Outlander SEL. I assume Budget got a blinding deal on a job lot of these things - even Car & Driver magazine had it bottom of the list (17th) of all intermediate SUVs currently on sale. Apparently it had a 2.4 litre engine producing 168 bhp, but 100 or so of those must have had 3 legs because I haven't driven a car that slow and unresponsive for a long time (made worse by the CVT box). In isolation - by no means a terrible car, but completely joyless to drive (which is a shame because some of the mountain roads were awesome) and not relaxing to drive on the I80 between Tahoe and Auburn as it's quite twisty at times with relatively steep climbs (minimal torque, poor steering weighting/feel and precision + wobbly handling meant it was a tad unsettling at 65 mph in some of the more majestic sweepers). It was cheap though and reasonably economical to the extent that I could have kissed it when I made it back to the drop off point on fumes and pixie dust. I don't normally play fuel light roulette, but as we had paid to return it without having to fill up, they were getting it back as empty as possible. This, as it turned out, was very, very empty - (really bad traffic + not very helpful fuel computer) and the last 20 miles was torture as the thought of running out of fuel on the gridlocked bridge was very real (compounded by the fact I was busting for a piss). American roads are awful (pot holed, poorly surface and very noisy at speed) and the amount of V8 pick ups with fruity exhausts was off the charts. The Toyota Tundra sounds the best (many of which had TRD stickers on, so I guess you can get lots of go faster bits off the shelf). |
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Post by johnc on Apr 29, 2019 12:29:20 GMT
Don't you just love the size of American parking spaces! I think the only time I have had an American vehicle in the USA is when I have rented a car. Most SUV's seem to be Hyundai's or similar.
Hope you enjoyed the holiday if not the means of transport.
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Post by Martin on Apr 29, 2019 12:55:48 GMT
I'd have been more than annoyed with an Outlander, I have a 'when in Rome' policy for hire cars whenever possible, but always in the US. Didn't they have a line of cars to choose from? That's what the bigger rental places have had for a few years now and if they don't have what you want, its' worth asking what they've got in the valeting bay.
We've just booked a week in LA/Vegas in the Autumn. Lindsay insisted (I didn't take much...OK, any persuading) that we pay extra for the Camaro SS/Mustang GT convertible. Mainly for the V8 roof down rumble, but she was particularly concerned we'd get a 4 pot Mustang.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Apr 29, 2019 13:54:45 GMT
Don't you just love the size of American parking spaces! I think the only time I have had an American vehicle in the USA is when I have rented a car. Most SUV's seem to be Hyundai's or similar. Hope you enjoyed the holiday if not the means of transport. The parking spaces in the multistory red car park in the Metro Centre are like that with a hatched 18" area between each parking space. It's an absolute pleasure to park there. And it's free. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 15:25:43 GMT
The ones in Bath are only fit for a Fiesta or smaller which is why I resorted to using the park and ride whenever I go there. And it's about £1.80 per hour to park in town. One issue is that everyone who works in Bath uses it, so you can get there at half eight in the morning and it's already a quarter full!
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Post by racingteatray on Apr 29, 2019 15:55:15 GMT
I've always thought these looked pretty awful.
One of my wife's aunts briefly had one - of the PHEV persuasion - but after barely a year it got smacked into by a truck whilst parked and written off, and it's notable that she didn't go for a like-for-like replacement, preferring to get a C-Class estate instead.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 16:14:22 GMT
Nearly every car I've rented in the States has made loads of noise but had the forward thrust of an old diesel car before they started putting turbos on them.
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Post by Martin on Apr 29, 2019 16:28:59 GMT
Nearly every car I've rented in the States has made loads of noise but had the forward thrust of an old diesel car before they started putting turbos on them. Not my experience overall, but I've always tried to book something interesting, or what I thought would be interesting anyway. The first I hired myself was a Cavalier Monte Carlo coupe, back in early 2000, which I've just looked up and it had a mighty 180hp from a 3.4L V6 and weighed under 1,600kg, so was quicker than the 1.6 Bora I had at home. It didn't drive all that well and was rather ugly, but at least it was different. The strangest hire car I've had over there is the Hummer H3 (you'd have liked the 5 pot engine) and the biggest was a 2009 Surburban, 320hp from a 5.3L V8 but it weighs nearly 2.6 tonnes! I’ve only been 3 times in the last 10 years and have a V6 Mustang Convertible each time. |
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Post by ChrisM on Apr 29, 2019 17:30:08 GMT
The ones in Bath are only fit for a Fiesta or smaller which is why I resorted to using the park and ride whenever I go there. And it's about £1.80 per hour to park in town. One issue is that everyone who works in Bath uses it, so you can get there at half eight in the morning and it's already a quarter full! Bath is not really for cars. I've used the park and ride a few times and been impressed. Other than that I have also been by train which is possibly better as the station is at one end of the town, just across the road from where the shops start |
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Post by chipbutty on Apr 29, 2019 19:11:50 GMT
We were offered an upgrade to a Dodge Journey 😆
I am not familiar with the Dodge Journey, but interesting Dodge models have names that are either cool (Charger, Challenger) or sound like dangerous animals (I don’t know if a Durango is an animal, but if you said one had gone radge in the zoo and killed 5 people, I would believe you). The Journey is cack though and also had 4 cylinder tedium under the bonnet.
I really wanted something American and I love the new Lincolns and the newest range of big pick ups. Sadly a V8 challenger was 3 times more expensive than the Edge or equivalent deal we got and I would have just got shouted at for driving too quickly.
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Post by PG on Apr 29, 2019 19:22:45 GMT
I think it is always good to try and get a car that's not available in the UK (or fairly rare here) when in the US, or is totally "American" like a Mustang or Camaro. Over the years I spent travelling to the US I had quite a diverse range.
Low point was probably the Chrysler Neon that was so tinny, crap to drive and overall featureless that I lost it for 30 minutes in a huge mall car park. Biggest engined was the 1995 Ford Thunderbird V8 that was great in straight lines but alarming in corners. Biggest surprise was some big Kia saloon (can't remember what) that was really comfortable, luxurious inside and quick. It does sometimes seem a shame that we are such badge snobs in Europe as we lose out on a lot of vehicles that might do a really good job.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2019 19:32:06 GMT
Nearly every car I've rented in the States has made loads of noise but had the forward thrust of an old diesel car before they started putting turbos on them. Not my experience overall, but I've always tried to book something interesting, or what I thought would be interesting anyway. The first I hired myself was a Cavalier Monte Carlo coupe, back in early 2000, which I've just looked up and it had a mighty 180hp from a 3.4L V6 and weighed under 1,600kg, so was quicker than the 1.6 Bora I had at home. It didn't drive all that well and was rather ugly, but at least it was different. The strangest hire car I've had over there is the Hummer H3 (you'd have liked the 5 pot engine) and the biggest was a 2009 Surburban, 320hp from a 5.3L V8 but it weighs nearly 2.6 tonnes! I’ve only been 3 times in the last 10 years and have a V6 Mustang Convertible each time. We had a Monte Carlo coupe of the same vintage once. It was red and slow is all I remember. Don't even recall where we were, possibly San Diego... Never bothered with anything "interesting" as I don't see much point in paying extra than is necessary. We had a Ford Fiesta last time we went to Florida! It looked nothing like ours as it was a saloon.  |
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Post by Martin on Apr 29, 2019 20:16:12 GMT
I’d rather have the Outlander!
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Post by johnc on Apr 30, 2019 7:31:55 GMT
The only photo of something we have had is this:  It was reasonably powerful and very comfortable to drive for hours on end. |
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Post by Martin on Apr 30, 2019 9:35:32 GMT
This is the last one I hired in the US  |
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Post by Martin on Apr 30, 2019 9:49:27 GMT
Couple more. None of which I’d ever want to own, but they had a certain character! Loads of space and a big lazy V8  The kids loved this one and it was easy to find in the theme park car parks  Loads of tyre squealing fun, rented because we had several long drives planned and to be fair to it, it did that very well  Full bench seat in the front, soft leather and a very modern Hertz sat nav (it was 2007)  Huge boot, these are big suitcases 
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Apr 30, 2019 10:05:58 GMT
Those full size Town Cars have to have big trunks for transporting bodies to the disposal point.
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Post by Martin on Apr 30, 2019 10:12:11 GMT
Those full size Town Cars have to have big trunks for transporting bodies to the disposal point. You could get a couple of decent size blokes in one, so it’s ideal. |
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Post by Roadrunner on Apr 30, 2019 11:04:33 GMT
We hired a Town Car when we went to California and Arizona in the late '90s. It was perfect for the job.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Apr 30, 2019 11:54:43 GMT
We hired a Town Car when we went to California and Arizona in the late '90s. It was perfect for the job. Contract job was it?  |
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Post by bryan on Apr 30, 2019 12:47:28 GMT
Our hire cars in the states were a 3.6l grand Cherokee in Canada with lots of toys. And at Seattle they tried to give us a pov spec dodge journey. I complained about the lack of security for our luggage due to no parcel shelf and ended up with a 4.0l ford explorer with all the toys.
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Post by michael on May 1, 2019 7:01:10 GMT
Friends of ours have one of those Outlanders in PHEV variety. They were being tight as their house is covered in solar panels and for their short journeys they engine barely starts. That said even they regret it.
Even the boot lid is annoying, sounding like a reversing truck when it closes.
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Post by bryan on May 1, 2019 7:35:22 GMT
When I test drove a phev the amount of warning bongs and beeps was astounding!
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Post by Roadrunner on May 1, 2019 8:02:24 GMT
We have some Outlander PHEVs on our company fleet, but will not be having any more. They are proving too costly to run and the titchy petrol tank is useless on long runs.
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Post by Tim on May 1, 2019 9:07:49 GMT
Some friends in Glasgow have one and at one point it set off on its own while the husband popped in to get a paper. His wife was in the passenger seat but it hit another car before she could do anything.
While it was probably his fault for doing it the combination of an electric handbrake and electric power were possibly a contributory factor, even if simply for the reason that there was no I/C engine idling to act as a subconscious aide memoir to check the handbrake.
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Post by Roadsterstu on May 4, 2019 11:02:28 GMT
Some friends in Glasgow have one and at one point it set off on its own while the husband popped in to get a paper. His wife was in the passenger seat but it hit another car before she could do anything. While it was probably his fault for doing it the combination of an electric handbrake and electric power were possibly a contributory factor, even if simply for the reason that there was no I/C engine idling to act as a subconscious aide memoir to check the handbrake. Ahead of its time. Full autonomous driving capability. Which by the sounds of things is preferable to having to drive it yourself. |
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