Worst rental car

FC · 04-24-2023, 10:37 AM

Just got back from London with the family. Decided to rent a car and drive to the Cotswolds (beautiful!). Lots I could say about the experience of driving in Britain (not my first time, but my first time as a tourist in small, crowded areas), but maybe I'll mention that later.

To keep it short, I booked a MT car in the "Focus/Astra" class. We only had carry-ons, so not a problem, I thought. Having been burned with wimpy cars, I looked up the specs and it seemed that worst-case I was looking at around 100hp. Pretty bad, but should be workable.

I have good status with Hertz so when they gave me something called a Vauxhall Crossland I thought "hmmm, maybe they upgraded me to an small SUV." It was raining and by the time we found the car I was already disappointed. It looked well-worn and have nasty scratches on 3 wheels.

On to the car itself. A total POS. The rubberiest, most vague shifter imaginable. Clutch that only did anything in the first 20% of travel. Mega grabby brakes. I found out later that it only has 81bhp and a 0-60 of 14seconds. Seemed slower, frankly. Now add 500lb in passengers plus another >100lb+ in luggage. This thing could not put on ANY speed in 3rd at 3X mph floored. You had to be at 4krpm for it to do anything at any speed over 25mph with the slightest crest. Shifting lefty, it was hard to tell if I was in 1st or 3rd. Reverse made the most awful whiny noise ever. Rear visibility was horrid. At least it was small. That came in handy. Oh, and the car had close to 40k miles, which for such a POS car aside from it being in pretty good cosmetic condition, meant that there were all sorts of noises. I could not tell if they were normal "cheap/crappy car with bad insulation and noisy drivetrain" or "this thing could strand me at any moment."

So, yeah, not fun times.

nate · 04-24-2023, 12:34 PM

That sounds like heaven compared to the Geely I rented in Argentina a few years ago.

Alan · 04-24-2023, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nate

That sounds like heaven compared to the Geely I rented in Argentina a few years ago.

That is pretty funny you posted that I was just thinking the same thing about my past rental cars in Argentina while reading FC's post.

FC · 04-24-2023, 01:32 PM

Sure, in absolute terms, I am sure one could do worse. But against expectations, this was pretty bad.

That Geely looks terrible.

wdc330i · 04-24-2023, 07:31 PM

Makes my rental Subaru sound like cream puff!

JST · 04-24-2023, 08:30 PM

Oof. A bunch of years ago we went to Ireland and I rented a Vauxhall Corsa; it had a similar engine and at the time I remember thinking it was appallingly slow. But at least that was a supermini; I can’t even imagine that power in a quasi SUV.

FC · 04-24-2023, 09:15 PM

Go to 6:45. Pretty accurate. Of course, he is in a new car and by himself. He makes all the same comments: no power, high clutch engagement, sloppy gear box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NE7...el=NobbyOnCars

JST · 04-24-2023, 10:13 PM

Yeah that doesn’t sound great—though that guy’s review was pretty entertaining

John V · 04-25-2023, 07:36 AM

I've never rented a car overseas, so I've missed most of the really bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.

I have, however, rented a Nissan Versa and a Toyota Yaris. They were both astonishingly bad.

The biggest surprise was a Kia Soul we had a couple years ago. That car was actually pretty damned good.

ZBB · 04-25-2023, 09:13 AM

Man... I'm spoiled with the status I have. The worst rental car I've had lately was a Dodge Challenger.

The worst rental car I ever rented was an Opel Corsa in '92. Rented from a local place in Munich that we could walk to and had it for a weekend. Super basic car, but it did what we needed to (one of the guys I worked at BMW with and I drove to Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes and Porsche museums -- this was back when the Porsche Museum was just a hole in the wall single room with ~20 cars in it...).

04-24-2023, 10:37 AM	#1
FC Solving problems Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: M5 / 718 GTS / Cooper S / GTI / LR4 Location: Metro Boston Posts: 25,263	Worst rental car Just got back from London with the family. Decided to rent a car and drive to the Cotswolds (beautiful!). Lots I could say about the experience of driving in Britain (not my first time, but my first time as a tourist in small, crowded areas), but maybe I'll mention that later. To keep it short, I booked a MT car in the "Focus/Astra" class. We only had carry-ons, so not a problem, I thought. Having been burned with wimpy cars, I looked up the specs and it seemed that worst-case I was looking at around 100hp. Pretty bad, but should be workable. I have good status with Hertz so when they gave me something called a Vauxhall Crossland I thought "hmmm, maybe they upgraded me to an small SUV." It was raining and by the time we found the car I was already disappointed. It looked well-worn and have nasty scratches on 3 wheels. On to the car itself. A total POS. The rubberiest, most vague shifter imaginable. Clutch that only did anything in the first 20% of travel. Mega grabby brakes. I found out later that it only has 81bhp and a 0-60 of 14seconds. Seemed slower, frankly. Now add 500lb in passengers plus another >100lb+ in luggage. This thing could not put on ANY speed in 3rd at 3X mph floored. You had to be at 4krpm for it to do anything at any speed over 25mph with the slightest crest. Shifting lefty, it was hard to tell if I was in 1st or 3rd. Reverse made the most awful whiny noise ever. Rear visibility was horrid. At least it was small. That came in handy. Oh, and the car had close to 40k miles, which for such a POS car aside from it being in pretty good cosmetic condition, meant that there were all sorts of noises. I could not tell if they were normal "cheap/crappy car with bad insulation and noisy drivetrain" or "this thing could strand me at any moment." So, yeah, not fun times.

04-24-2023, 12:34 PM	#2
nate Oh, are they? Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: S4 Location: H-town Posts: 10,270	That sounds like heaven compared to the Geely I rented in Argentina a few years ago. Attached Thumbnails __________________ "People keep saying I'm crazy as hell, but sooner or later they're going to realize I know what I'm talking about." - Charles Barkley

04-25-2023, 09:13 AM	#10
ZBB Relic Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: A very fast golf cart Location: The Valley of the Sun Posts: 12,821	Man... I'm spoiled with the status I have. The worst rental car I've had lately was a Dodge Challenger. The worst rental car I ever rented was an Opel Corsa in '92. Rented from a local place in Munich that we could walk to and had it for a weekend. Super basic car, but it did what we needed to (one of the guys I worked at BMW with and I drove to Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes and Porsche museums -- this was back when the Porsche Museum was just a hole in the wall single room with ~20 cars in it...). __________________ ZBB

04-24-2023, 01:32 PM	#4
FC Solving problems Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: M5 / 718 GTS / Cooper S / GTI / LR4 Location: Metro Boston Posts: 25,263	Sure, in absolute terms, I am sure one could do worse. But against expectations, this was pretty bad. That Geely looks terrible.

04-24-2023, 07:31 PM	#5
wdc330i dogged Join Date: Dec 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: '22 M440 xDrive GC Posts: 13,299	Makes my rental Subaru sound like cream puff!

04-24-2023, 08:30 PM	#6
JST 195 Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 24,611	Oof. A bunch of years ago we went to Ireland and I rented a Vauxhall Corsa; it had a similar engine and at the time I remember thinking it was appallingly slow. But at least that was a supermini; I can’t even imagine that power in a quasi SUV.

04-24-2023, 09:15 PM	#7
FC Solving problems Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: M5 / 718 GTS / Cooper S / GTI / LR4 Location: Metro Boston Posts: 25,263	Go to 6:45. Pretty accurate. Of course, he is in a new car and by himself. He makes all the same comments: no power, high clutch engagement, sloppy gear box. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NE7...el=NobbyOnCars

04-24-2023, 10:13 PM	#8
JST 195 Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 24,611	Yeah that doesn’t sound great—though that guy’s review was pretty entertaining

04-25-2023, 07:36 AM	#9
John V No more BMWs Join Date: Apr 2005 Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8 Location: Glenwood, MD Posts: 14,753	I've never rented a car overseas, so I've missed most of the really bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. I have, however, rented a Nissan Versa and a Toyota Yaris. They were both astonishingly bad. The biggest surprise was a Kia Soul we had a couple years ago. That car was actually pretty damned good.