After reading a few posts about rental cars in the USA, I thought it would be fun to post the best rental car you have had in the UK.
Lets keep it to renting from normal companies and not exotic rental companies.
So here's mine
Guy Salmon (Marble Arch pre-Eurodollar/Alamo/National takeovers)
Year: 1991
Ford Sierra Cosworth, Toyota MR2, Ford Fiesta XR2
Budget:
Year 1993
Ford Mondeo 24v
Hertz
Year: Various
Ford Scorpio 24v
Alamo
Year: 1990s
Vauxhall Senator 24v
Hertz
Year: 2008
VW Eos 2.0 TSi
Avis:
Year: Early 1990s
Vauxhall Calibra 2.0 Turbo
I'll add more as they come to mind.
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Golf GTI 1.6 from Guy Salmon, Marble Arch, in about 1980. Also a BMW 316i (that was rubbish) and a couple of Granada 2.8GLs (that were brilliant).
HJ
Edited by Honestjohn on 17/11/2009 at 10:01
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Yeah I had a 316 from Guy Salmon, I swopped it for an XR3i.
Also had a 320 Automatic back in 1990. I felt like a middle manager.
BUT the Granada 2.9i 24v and Senator 3.0i 24v, just perfect !
Also used to get a load of MB 190e Autos, felt like I was a skipper not a driver :-)
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>>best rental car you have had in the UK.
In the UK?? The interesting rental cars I have had were all overseas. I use my own car in the UK.
OK. I have, on three occasions, rented cars in the UK - a Fiat Punto in 2002, a Vauxhall Vectra (also 2002, and for just 3 hours) and a Peugeot 308 Hdi last year.
Best? All were OK, none stood out. Peugeot probably the best, simply because I like the 1.6 Hdi engine.
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I rent loads of cars through work and it's all about the element of surprise. Booking a Focus or Astra (nice enough cars but a bit familiar now) and then getting an unexpected upgrade.
Most noteworthy ones I can recall - a Mercedes C-class, a brand new top of the range Insignia last year, which I had for a fortnight, but best was a Nissan X-Trail. Had it for a week or so and loved it - full length sunroof, massive cup holders, bombing all over the peak district.
When I was in NZ on a road trip, my brother's not so trusty Surf-ace broke down in the sticks and we had to get a hire car back to Auckland. Rented the cheapest car possible but they'd run out so gave us a massive luxury saloon car - can't remember what it was though, but it was ace for us scruffy bums
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"a massive luxury saloon car - can't remember what it was though"
I remember now - Toyota Avalon
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Gibraltar- ordered a Polo size - got a Legacy for 14 days for the same £90/week
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Golf Clipper, early 90s - it was an automatic Golf convertible - black with black hood, may even have had the GTI engine - it went well enough anyway. Drove it to N.Wales & back from Brighton, summertime.
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The new ford Mondeo for a trip to Bristol from Darlington and returning to Darlington.
a Huge car, and it is very nice to drive.
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I never seem to get interesting rental cars or upgrades in the UK. It's always either a Vauxhall or a Renault. Had some corkers in other countries though. Mercedes E-, M- and S-Class, Alfa 159 and Brera, BMW 5 Series and Z3M (remember those?) to name but a few...
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I'm obviously too young at 40 to remember the days when hire cars offered came in anything other than LX/LS trim. By the time I was getting hire cars for work - 1994 - they all came in LX or LS trim with either a 1.6 engine in an Orion or 1.8 in a Cavalier.
The only car, in the UK, which I have hired and has not fallen into this format was a 307CC I was given when I ordered a Focus (1.6 LX). It would have been brilliant if it hadn't been mid-February, snowing and us with a new born and paraphernalia in tow.
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SWMBO's employer hired her a car for a business trip last year. She said she wasn't fussy about what it was, but would have preferred an auto.
The next day, they delivered to our front door, an almost virgin (600 miles on the clock) Saab 9-3 Aero. :-)
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On holiday in Fuertaventura few years ago with 2 other familes.
One day the three men go along to collect the, previously booked, Saxo hire cars for 3 days to allow us to tour the island.
As a gentleman, I opened the door and let the other two in first. So when it came to my turn to get my Saxo, the lady was very apologetic, they had none left and would I accept the keys to a 4WD Jeep Wrangler instead? You bet I would!
For 3 days I think I stayed sober on holiday (unheard of) as I took it up and down beaches, see how far up the sand dunes I could get, playing in the mountains etc!
Actual Jeep was awful if you had to have it as a daily commuter, but as a fun car for 3 days in an island full of beaches, it was brilliant!
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A Yugo Cabrio I once rented in Montenegro. What an absolute hoot. And the speedo was in MPH, as it had been built for export to the USA, but obviously missed the last boat before the sanctions were placed on Yugoslavia.
Felt just like my beloved and mourned FIAT 127 Sport, only without a roof.
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Merc SLK200K that I hired from Sixt Germany for a 4-day tour. Picked it up at Stuttgart, cruised around the Black Forest and over to Leipzig taking in 2 Porshe factory tours, then dropping it off at Leipzig.
It went very well on the de-restricted autobahns (140 mph with roof down), and yes, I did check the tyres and fluid levels first!
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The big Cadillac CTS that I rented in Atlanta for a trip through the deep south was a hoot. Absolutely huge inside. Like sitting in an armchair and with all the extras.
Looked a bit of an old lady Yank Luxobarge but even with four of us and our cases she was surprisingly fast off the mark , could have been something to do with the 5.7 litre V8 which is supposed to give around 400 BHP.
Ate up the miles on cruise control on the interstates and well capable of 100 mph + on quiet straight stretches ( allegedly ) .
Cost a total of just over £200 to rent for a week in 2005 . Great Fun.
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Used to go to Italy a lot more than I do now, twice a month sometimes. Company would only stump for a Panda or similar....fair enough....anyway arrived at desk to be given keys to a then brand new red Alfa 75 3.0 V6 because they had run out of small cars......Ooooooh yes !
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"....the best rental car you have had in the UK.
Lets keep it to renting from normal companies and not exotic rental companies."
I have only ever, in the normal sense rented, two cars in the UK.
A new VX 101 with a column change so not that one.
Best was a free upgrade Sierra Ghia with phone etc from Brighton Marina and I dropped it off at LHR after just 60+ miles. ( My Cortina had been nicked, total interior stripped and recovered all in 12 hours so I had to ferry family home.) After the 1.6 Cortina it certainly was very enjoyable.
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In the UK, this year I booked a Citroen Picasso 1.6 and ended up with a Mondeo Estate 2.0TDCi. Same price and to be honest was left with the impression of a very good car, maybe not one I'd go and buy but a very good and honest car nonetheless.
In the USA my company booked a standard compact but I first got a Dodge Charger 2.7v6, then a Pontiac G6, a Grand Cherokee 3.7v6 and a Dodge Avenger. The Charger was cool, the Jeep was better. The Pontiac and Avenger were rubbish.
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Remember booking a Rover Metro for a long weekend around Cambridge in the early 90s and came away with a brand new Peugeot 405 estate - very good car indeed. Wife visiting her mum in Farnham always rents cheapest but once got a new XR3i instead of her booked 957cc Fiesta. Worst car ever hired? Seat Leon 1.4 in Portugal. Best great big Chysler V8 in New England mid 90s.
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Upgraded to a Saab 93 Aero automatic with leather seats etc after complaining about not being able to fit in an Astra(I'm very tall).(I could fit but miffed that they gave me an Astra so complained and they upgraded me to the Saab for no extra!.It pays to kick up a fuss!)
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We never seem to get an upgrade to anything exotic, but I'd nominate the one we hired last month in South Africa. National Alamo we find the best value, but they seem to have merged with Europcar, and instead of the usual Nissan or Toyota we had a VW Polo Classic 1.6.
Nothing spectacular - but just very good at its job. Much livelier than a Japanese 1.6, and the saloon boot fitted our suitcases (two large, two hand luggage) perfectly. It had done 25,000 km but did another 2500 km with us without missing a beat.
Why on earth don't VW sell the Polo 1.6 over here? Not much demand for the saloon but the hatch would surely sell well.
Edited by Avant on 17/11/2009 at 22:42
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My best in the UK - Mercedes CLK180
Worst (ever) - Hyundai Matrix... awful in so many ways
Worst (overseas) - 2004 Oldsmobile Alero - epitomised everything that's bad about US cars in terms of nasty, cost-cutting crud.
Best (overseas) - A dead heat between
1- 2004 Buick Century - also epitomises a lot that's bad about US cars, sloppy engineering, gutless 3.1L V6 engine (175hp). But enormous, comfortable seats and very softly sprung - so a proper American car in some ways and something that needed to be experienced once. And a great view outside of British Columbia.
2- 2002 Ford Transit 280 135 camper van. Once everything inside was battened down, and you'd dumped the wastewater to reduce weight, it was a lot of fun on the tight bends of the Queen Charlotte Drive between Picton & Nelson, and the longer, sweeping bends between Te Anau & Milford Sound in New Zealand. Again scored extra for the view outside the windows, but lost points for a very low speed top gear - 3000rpm at 60; any faster and you thought it was going to explode.
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Went through loads in the early 90s - company said I needed a car but HR would not authorise company car. Sometimes had two in a day!
Used to hire 1.6 Sierra/Cavalier/Mondeo and usually got a 1.8.
One day they turned up with a 2.0 Carlton Diplomat auto. At 1.6 Mondeo rate!
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