Good riddance

[wdc330i]

Chevy Malibu. Possibly the worst rental car I’ve ever driven, along with a Toyota Camry.

[SCA]

I once had a Chevy Impala and the seats were so bad that our backs were jacked up for 3 to 4 weeks. I recall the next time I rented from Enterprise they wanted to put me in another Chevy Impala and I said, “Please put me in anything, but that…”

[robg]

In the world of bad rental cars, I'd rank the Malibu mid-pack personally. Not great, but I didn't find it to be too objectionable (ex: Chrysler 200, Most Nissans, base model Jetta, and certain Toyotas are all worse in my experience). One thing I like about Enterprise is that they generally allow you to "walk the lot" and pick an alternative out.

I've also gotten "upgraded" a few times and in retrospect probably would've just been better off in a Malibu surprisingly. For example, I got a BMW 530i once where the driver seat foam was complete collapsed making it very uncomfortable. Also to a Porsche Macan once and it had the faux-suede seats that I found very hot and uncomfortable (and the 4 cylinder was very laggy).

[Alan]

Originally Posted by robg

One thing I like about Enterprise is that they generally allow you to "walk the lot" and pick an alternative out.

That is the best, I drive my family crazy when picking out the rental, I go to a few different ones and try to get the newest, low mileage one available…. At this point my wife knows that I need to find the right one so she is ok with it or at least pretends to be

Also lately I have been gravitating towards the Hyundai’s and Kia’s, I like them.

I had a Genesis G70 rental and loved that car.

[robg]

Originally Posted by Alan

That is the best, I drive my family crazy when picking out the rental, I go to a few different ones and try to get the newest, low mileage one available…. At this point my wife knows that I need to find the right one so she is ok with it or at least pretends to be

Also lately I have been gravitating towards the Hyundai’s and Kia’s, I like them.

I had a Genesis G70 rental and loved that car.

Haha- yep I'm the same way. My wife just rolls her eyes and resigns herself to me spending time walking the lot. My go to for a while was to see if I could get a V8 Dodge Charger (they'd typically rent them for the same rate as the base V6 if they had one). That being said- she can be picky too. When we went to Italy, the rental company originally gave us a diesel Tiguan. She took an almost immediate dislike to it cause it was slow, loud, and uncomfortable. She ended up talking them into giving us a BMW iX instead - which was pretty nice.

Been wanting to try out a G70. A friend of mine has one and loves it. The interior certainly seems to punch above its weight price-wise.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by robg

Haha- yep I'm the same way. My wife just rolls her eyes and resigns herself to me spending time walking the lot. My go to for a while was to see if I could get a V8 Dodge Charger (they'd typically rent them for the same rate as the base V6 if they had one). That being said- she can be picky too. When we went to Italy, the rental company originally gave us a diesel Tiguan. She took an almost immediate dislike to it cause it was slow, loud, and uncomfortable. She ended up talking them into giving us a BMW iX instead - which was pretty nice.

Been wanting to try out a G70. A friend of mine has one and loves it. The interior certainly seems to punch above its weight price-wise.

You had the electric SUV BMW iX as a rental … that is so cool, I would be worried about charging it, how was the experience in Europe with an electric car ?

My wife and I are going to Greece this summer and we were able to only get a Nissan SUV, no idea of the model name because they don’t make it here but I think/hope it’s a mid size one.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by robg

In the world of bad rental cars, I'd rank the Malibu mid-pack personally. Not great, but I didn't find it to be too objectionable (ex: Chrysler 200, Most Nissans, base model Jetta, and certain Toyotas are all worse in my experience). One thing I like about Enterprise is that they generally allow you to "walk the lot" and pick an alternative out.

I've also gotten "upgraded" a few times and in retrospect probably would've just been better off in a Malibu surprisingly. For example, I got a BMW 530i once where the driver seat foam was complete collapsed making it very uncomfortable. Also to a Porsche Macan once and it had the faux-suede seats that I found very hot and uncomfortable (and the 4 cylinder was very laggy).

Well, that's funny, I might have been thinking about the Chrysler 200. LOL. And I have also had a lousy base Jetta.

[nate]

I tend to agree with robg.

I've had a rented Malibu a couple times and always thought "meh, this is a boring car." But I didn't think it was particularly offensive in any way.

[kognito]

I think you need to consider generations. I grew up with a guy who owned a pretty sweet 67 in an Ice Blue paint job. (not sure what Chevy called light blue in 67) This was in 1974

Sure, it didn't handle like the last version, but with its Crager Mag wheels and headers it sure was a head turner. No emissions, just horsepower and torque!

[Terri Kennedy]

Originally Posted by kognito

I think you need to consider generations. I grew up with a guy who owned a pretty sweet 67 in an Ice Blue paint job. (not sure what Chevy called light blue in 67) This was in 1974

I had a '65 Impala wagon that was given to me in 1975 on the condition that I remove it (a tree had started growing between the rear bumper and the body).

I put a 'vette 427 in it (presumably an L71, i just went to the local junkyard and said "gimme a 427 from a 'vette") and did a half-assed (probably closer to fully-assed) manual conversion on it, since the engine came with a manual transmission included. The wagon had a seized 327 in it when I got it, but since it was also offered with a de-tuned 427, the correct motor mount points were already in place.

It had medium green seats and a Cypress (very dark green) paint. The front seat was a bench, of course.

It came with a 4-barrel carb (I forget if it was stock or aftermarket) and was tuned for a really slow idle (you could actually hear each crankshaft rotation at idle). It came that way. I tried turning it up, but with the gas of the day, it would run on after allegedly turning the engine off, and had an annoying tendency to backfire through the carb when rapidly slowing from speed to idle (complete with flames). I ran it without an air cleaner because it kept setting them on fire, until I turned the idle back down.

Had a lot of fun in that car...