|
VW Crafter SWB Still seemed reasonably new with 23k km on the clock. It has some kind of diesel engine which I didn't investigate. Manual box (are these things auto in the US?). It has cruise control, air conditioning, rain sensing wipers, auto dipping headlights, electric windows, and best of all loving Carplay which is an absolute game changer for a van. Decent somewhat car-ish driving position with height adjustable drivers seat and tilt adjustable steering wheel. It would have been amazing if it had a rear camera but I guess you can't have everything. Good tie down points in the back. It was pretty happy at 120kph on the autobahn with the few hundred kg in the back but did get blown around a little when passing trucks.   
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2023 05:49
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 2, 2024 23:44 |
|
|
knox_harrington posted:VW Crafter SWB These don't exist in the US
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2023 19:01
|
|
|
This guy literally took his rental to a race track, whoa
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2023 18:15
|
|
|
DrChu posted:These don't exist in the US E: pre-2017, that is
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2023 19:26
|
|
|
Kivi posted:They do, they're just badged as Mercedes Benz Sprinters (or whatever the Dodges were) the powertrain is different from the Sprinter (even in the EU) so i'm not sure that I'd call them a complete badge job
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2023 20:08
|
|
|
marcopolo posted:If this was Denver then I drove that exact same truck in April. I picked it up at Boston Logan and drove to Nova Scotia. Did it have Rhode Island plates?
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2023 17:08
|
|
|
After the fiasco with the city car, Mrs Fuller was hands off. Since it was a rapid turn around due to a family emergency, I wanted to go with a VW Golf for UK roads. After stepping off the plane, we were promptly upgraded to either a high mileage Q3 or fresh from the dealer MG SUV. As much as I wanted the Q3, logic said new car with 103 miles on the clock. While larger than most vehicles on the road, it's not obnoxious on narrow farm lanes and can quite easily seat 4 people, two large cases and numerous carry ons and backpacks. The 1.5 l engine has enough pep to keep up with traffic on the many loops of the M25 we are doing and returning much better economy. It has Digital radio, carplay or android auto which is really useful and Avis forgot to disable the onboard NAV if we get stuck. All the mod cons of safety, BLISS, and a Honda esque turning camera when it detects a super tight situation to figure out which hedge we're putting the fenders into. Chinese ownership aside, it appears to be a solid SUV and time will tell what abuse it will be put through. Fuller9x fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Aug 23, 2023 |
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2023 19:01
|
|
|
It's the review you've all been waiting for: Toyota Prius XW60 LE. Picked this up in Detroit with ~600 miles on the odometer. Good:
Bad:
Ugly
Overall: It's actually a good car, unlike previous Prius generations which were really good washing machines. But it's still a Prius, just... better. I don't think I would buy one - it's a bit limited based on the body style for my daily driver purposes, but it would make a great commuter that's a lot nicer to be in that the prior generations, and you could maybe even have a little bit of fun in it if you threw the tires in to the ocean. The dealbreaker for me is still the response of the eCVT - it honestly feels worse in this case because there's actually some power and athleticism in the car, and then you just get vrooooOOOOOOOOOOOO when you step on it. If you don't need the space and you can deal with the eCVT's dynamics you should buy one. But step up to the XLE so you don't have to touch the nasty plastic door handles on the LE.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2023 01:59
|
|
|
Ireland, a Cupra Formentor Sounds like something from Harry Potter, but Cupra is a performance-oriented sub brand of Seat, and Seat is part of VAG. It’s a CUV built on the same platform as the A3, Golf and a bunch of other VAG models, and apparently a dedicated Cupra model. Now that that was confusing; the actual car is grand. The engine is basically inaudible other than when you really put your foot down. Plenty of zip, even if it’s just the 1.5 with 150 horse (mostly, Formentors are supposed to have 250+ hp given they’re Seat’s performance brand, but also given this is Irland, Vehicle Registration Tax on displacement / CO2 is brutal). The manual can best be described as unobtrusive. Comfortable, maybe with slightly excessive road noise given the sporty rubber. Sufficient space in the back for a rear-facing child seat, a front facing child seat, and my claustrophobic wife in the middle. Negligible consumption. Also, pretty good-looking in our book. The color is dark camouflage, something like a really dark jaguar racing green. Comes with approximately all the driver aids that you can shake a stick at, all of which have been implemented competently. Kind of a “best of VAG” in this segment: fully competent in a technical sense, comfortable, but with design the Germans couldn’t come up with and/or approve no matter how many drugs they’d take.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2023 18:20
|
|
|
morothar posted:Ireland, a Cupra Formentor I wish I could get over the Cupra logo triggering all the “knockoff mid 2000s gaming mouse brand” sensors in my head, because they make some nice cars, and I should be able to take them more seriously than I do.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 07:32
|
|
|
I still don't understand how Seat, Skoda, VW (and now Cupra) can co-exist - way too much overlap between their ranges with no real differentiation.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 08:02
|
|
|
dissss posted:I still don't understand how Seat, Skoda, VW (and now Cupra) can co-exist - way too much overlap between their ranges with no real differentiation. Skoda is the cheap, no frills solid car for sensible people. Seat is the funky cars for young people that cares about style. Cupra is the sporty car for young people that cares about looks. VW is the premium, reliable car for old people that want a driving appliance. This is the sum of those three brands. The changes are subtle but enough to make sure they can keep the production lines full with every corner of the market covered.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 08:08
|
|
|
Sure in theory. In practise there is nothing funky about a Leon wagon (which seem to be largely fleet cars here) and I don't see how you'd choose between one of them and an Octavia. Same goes for most of their crossovers Karoq/T-Roc/Ateca, Kodiaq/Tiguan/Tarraco all very similar with mostly the same engine options. Maybe it makes more sense in Europe where they're more popular and people have stronger opinions about what each brand means but here in NZ it's nonsensical.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 08:17
|
|
|
dissss posted:Sure in theory. It made far more sense when Cupra was just a Seat sporty trim, spinning it as a dedicated brand was a mistake IMHO.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 10:00
|
|
|
dissss posted:Maybe it makes more sense in Europe where they're more popular and people have stronger opinions about what each brand means but here in NZ it's nonsensical. Nah, it doesn’t make any more sense over here. The stereotypes are all true but then all the exceptions just bleed into each other. Like the Octavia VRS is just a Golf GTI, but wagon, since VW only does the GTI hatch and the R wagon. And then Cupra does the sporty Seats, but also has the new electric models.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 14:48
|
|
|
The positioning of Skoda as a brand makes sense but Seat really doesn't. Though I guess when you go to Spain they have about 75% market share so perhaps there's enough preference in specific markets.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 19:35
|
|
|
knox_harrington posted:The positioning of Skoda as a brand makes sense but Seat really doesn't. Though I guess when you go to Spain they have about 75% market share so perhaps there's enough preference in specific markets. Seat purpose outside Spain is sorta evaporated, since it got absorbed by cupra. Also respect to the Seat Marbella, a variant of the panda with enough small changes to not get sued for copyright infringement by fiat.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2023 19:44
|
|
|
SlowBloke posted:Skoda is the cheap, no frills solid car for sensible people. If you can stomach the brand, Seat depreciates much faster than Skoda or VW so they are a bargain in the second-hand market, and they have better warranty at least here (Skoda/VW/Audi 2 years with unlimited km, Seat 5 years / 100 000 km). Unless you're old and need the cheapest saloon, in which case you drive a Seat Toledo  Seat anyway is a moot point because they don't have EV in their lineup and IIRC the Martorell factory is going to be converted to EV manufacturing plant anyways. Funny thing about the production lines is that as every model now is MQB/MEB derivative production of VAG models can be done in any production line around Europe. SlowBloke posted:Also respect to the Seat Marbella, a variant of the panda with enough small changes to not get sued for copyright infringement by fiat. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2023 16:02
|
|
|
Rosoboronexport posted:Do you mean the Ronda? Marbella was introduced during the Fiat years bur Ronda got them sued and ended up in this hilarious picture to differentiate Fiat's Ritmo and Seat's Ronda. Marbella was after fiat, during fiat it was the seat panda. It has different bumpers, grille and interiors compared to the Panda.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2023 17:22
|
|
|
SlowBloke posted:Marbella was after fiat, during fiat it was the seat panda. It has different bumpers, grille and interiors compared to the Panda. Oh yeah it was the Panda. I guess maybe they did not want to try their luck in arbitration court after the Ronda case.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2023 18:15
|
|
|
Aaand in today’s entry, an Opel Crossland. Picked up in BER, drove over to Silesia, and back. Best summarized by my 3.5 year old daughter when I asked her just now how she liked it: “it’s a poo poo car”. Earlier, she offered “this car, it’s a poo poo one”. So consistent feedback on that front. She loves the Cupra btw. It’s technically competent, I suppose, but every single thing feels bottom-tier component bin. Surfaces are lovely hard plastic, steering wheel feels like lovely plastic, controls… you guessed it, lovely plastic. Kinda like the Opel blinker controls in our Exige, which creaked every time you used them. It kinda has cruise control, but not acc; instead, it has a lovely collision alarm if somebody pulls out in front of you. But it has a pseudo-top down parking view, except only for the rear quarter. Weird-rear end bargain bin components in a hodgepodge configuration. Seats? My right arse cheek still hurts. Cabin is loud at German and Polish highway speeds. Power? Meh. I had it up to 160 mph, true, but it felt terrible at that speed. It also took 10 seconds to get from 140-160. Mpg is pretty good I guess. Bottom line: it did its job, inspired no emotion except mild bemusement (why build this? who buys this?) on a few fronts, and I’m looking forward to driving the Cupra again. Oh, and apparently a well-specced Crossland costs as much as a standard Cupra…
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2023 19:49
|
|
|
The grandland is a 2017 car with only minor infotainment upgrades over the years, next year it's supposed to be replaced by a bev-only successor. It's selling only on merit of brand and a far less outrageous design compared to the PSA platform alternatives(Peugeot 3008, Citroen C5, DS 7). The Formentor is a 2020 car so stuff like cruise control being better is not surprising, it's a far better car.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2023 20:19
|
|
|
Looks like it’s a size down from those - same platform as the previous gen 2008
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2023 21:10
|
|
|
dissss posted:Looks like it’s a size down from those - same platform as the previous gen 2008 Grandland is EMP2, 2008 is CMP. Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMP2_platform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Modular_Platform
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2023 21:17
|
|
|
But Grandland is different from Crossland, which the OP had.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2023 14:29
|
|
|
Their name is so similar my brain short circuited. Apologies.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2023 14:32
|
|
|
SlowBloke posted:Their name is so similar my brain short circuited. Apologies. SlowBloke posted:Their name is so similar my brain short circuited. Apologies. I was about to say that I was also skeptical on the argument - our 2023 4Runner has acc, and that’s on a truck that Toyota started building in 2014. Granted, you can hear the relay flip when it sense a vehicle ahead, and it’s only from/down to 28 mph, but above that, it works like any acc system ever. The Crossland doesn’t just have limited functionality, it’s also been implemented with basically zero motivation.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2023 21:01
|
|
|
Flew into New Orleans for a wedding in Lake Charles, LA. At the counter they offered me a Malibu or an Altima. Not exactly a thrilling choice, but since my personal car is a Volt, I chose the Malibu, so at least I wouldn't have to learn new climate/radio/cruise controls. This does not feel like a nice car, but not in any way that would meaningfully detract from the driving experience. Materials feel cheap, large swaths of the dash and interior are covered in what appears to be speaker fabric. Android auto works good, which was huge. On the second day I had to drive across town and didn't bring my cable, so I was bummed my wife was going to have to navigate, but then Waze just popped up normally. Didn't even know they made wireless Android Auto, much less that it would work so effortlessly. I mean, in my car, WITH cable, it still bugs out like 5% of the time. That's my review: a pretty good phone with a car wrapped around it. Also had a big nice sunroof, but then I remembered I was in Louisiana in August, so I can't say it's getting much use.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2023 22:05
|
|
|
I was in a current gen Malibu recently and was shocked by how much interior room there was. I know cars have gotten bigger, and the last Malibu I was in was made in the late 90s, but drat
Dr. Lunchables fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Sep 3, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2023 23:40
|
|
|
Is it uncool for the thread OP to suggest a thread title? Whatever, here's one: The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Rentals: “this car, it’s a poo poo one”
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2023 03:25
|
|
|
It's funny because I'm in a rental about 1 week out of any given month. The good ones are not particularly memorable. The excellent ones don't exist. The bad ones are seared into my brain. This week I've wanted so badly to like the Genesis G80 I've been driving. The base 4 is responsive and fun to drive, and I managed 32 mpg round trip from LA to Vegas at 85mph. It rode and handled nicely, was comfortable and quiet. The trunk was a little small, mostly on height. The deal breakers were the absolute lack of finesse with the adaptive cruise control, and constant infotainment glitches. Twice the radio "was not available" until I stopped the car, opened the door, and then restarted. You get no voice activation unless you download the genesis app and sign up for a genesis account. Android auto would completely disconnect whenever cell signal was dropped. And it wouldn't reconnect until I unplugged the phone. I've made this trip on a variety of vehicles and the only one I've had this issue. On the plus side, the infotainment was fairly easy to customize but the split screen they provide doesn't allow a useful combination. The right hand split only shows a redundant clock, a compass, or a trip computer/vehicle status. Radio info would be super helpful over there. I'm sure a lot of these issues were a software update away from resolution, but the car literally had 125 miles on it when I picked it up and you can't update the software without the app and an account. Goober Peas fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Sep 15, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 03:50
|
|
|
Dr. Lunchables posted:I was in a current gen Malibu recently and was shocked by how much interior room there was. I know cars have gotten bigger, and the last Malibu I was in was made in the late 90s, but drat I had a Malibu almost 4 years ago as a rental. It wasn't bad. Much, much better than the Malibu my former in-laws had in the early 2000s. That one was a miserable car and I wasn't sad when I indirectly played a role in it getting totaled. I haven't had a ton of rentals over the last year, but here's the list: Ford Explorer (2022 model I think): Roomy, reasonably composed on the road. It seems like it would make a decent roadtrip car. Biggest complaint, the way the transmission was programed in the default driving mode didn't mesh with me at all. Way too slow on downshifts if you tried to give it the beans. I found I had to put it in sport mode to get any sort of reasonable responsiveness out of the transmission. Mazda CX-9 (2023 model maybe?): Had the I4 engine, enough power to avoid getting crushed on Houston freeways, not going to set any Nuremberg records with it. Roomy, handled well enough for a CUV. Interior ergonomics were mostly good. Weirdest thing was that the infotainment screen wasn't a touch screen so you had to navigate using the weird click-wheel thingy. It wasn't super intuitive. Kia Soul: I only drove it for maybe 10 miles. It seemed like perfectly reasonable if unexciting car. It would probably make a practical daily. I didn't hate it. Not my rental, but my manager when we were in Europe last year: Cupra Formentor - 'sporty' CUV. It seemed to take flogging around Germany and Switzerland fairly well. He still hasn't told me how many speed cameras he triggered. Might be a bit on the small side for 4 adults with their luggage. Interior seemed fine.
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2023 13:59
|
|
|
I got driven around in a RAV4 2023 LE AWD rental while on a work trip. I can’t really review it because I couldn’t drive it, but I can say the road noise in the rear is absolutely atrocious. If you’re traveling with people you like, I wouldn’t suggest putting them in the back seats. There was no privacy cover in the back, so if you’re planning on buying one that would probably be a good addition for the noise mitigation alone.
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2023 18:31
|
|
|
a primate posted:I got driven around in a RAV4 2023 LE AWD rental while on a work trip. I can’t really review it because I couldn’t drive it, but I can say the road noise in the rear is absolutely atrocious. If you’re traveling with people you like, I wouldn’t suggest putting them in the back seats. its very likely that someone stole the privacy cover since it's a rental
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2023 18:33
|
|
|
KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:its very likely that someone stole the privacy cover since it's a rental That’s a very good point. Not sure if they come with the car. My Qashqai did.
|
|
#
?
Sep 20, 2023 20:06
|
|
|
Arson Daily posted:Going to the Midwest at the end of august to visit 2 sets of parents. Can't wait to see what junk Dollar puts me in! Did the trip and it was hilarious and terrible as all visits to the folks tend to be. Grand Rapids Dollar gave me a Chevy Malibu LT which looked like it had been sitting in the garage for a very long time since it was covered in dust and spiderwebs. The inside was perfectly clean, however. Overall, not too bad as transportation but I couldn't ever see myself owing one (at least an LT anyway) since the interior was the dullest shade of black and grey and the materials were about what you'd expect from a stripped GM product. The gauge cluster seemed like it was angled downward which made it difficult to see. The engine and transmission, some 4 cylinder mated to a CVT were actually pretty well mated together and gave good acceleration but the CVT was tuned to just sit at 3500 rpm until you got to whatever speed you were accelerating to. Not too much droning noise though, which was nice. An interesting feature of the cruise control was that it would display your following distance in seconds from the car in front of you. Kinda neat, wish my own car did that. It had decent space for 4 adults and a 5 year old in a booster seat and had just enough trunk space to hold all of our bags. Rear passengers complained about a lack of head room though. Call it 5/10. Minneapolis gave me a 9000 mile Chrysler Pacifica after waiting in line for 45 minutes (grrrrrrr) and that was actually pretty good! Tons of room, comfy seats, USB A and C in the seat backs for the passengers of the middle row and HVAC controls for them too. In an amazing feat of time travel it felt almost exactly as fast as my 1991 Plymouth Voyager. Terrible transmission tuning though, you'd stomp the gas to overtake someone and it would wait a very long time to kick down then decide that it needed to kick to a gear that was right near redline making the whole process very un-chill. The one major deal breaker was the loving cruise control. OMG this thing was tuned to keep the speed you set come hell or high water. Huge inputs of throttle and brake to keep it set at *exactly* what you set at. Jarring AF. I got lots of comments from my passengers about it because they thought I was driving like a dummy but nope that was all a computers doing. 7/10 for the room and amenities but seriously like 4/10 for the electronics and trans tuning. oh and it had that godawful rotary transmission selector that I almost slammed into park at 65 mph when I went to turn the tunes down.
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2023 00:32
|
|
|
nadmonk posted:Much, much better than the Malibu my former in-laws had in the early 2000s. That one was a miserable car and I wasn't sad when I indirectly played a role in it getting totaled. This thread is also for vehicles you have borrowed, not just for vehicles you paid money to use for a time.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 01:58
|
|
|
 Skoda Fabia. Rental place was out of Clio's so had to take this, 7eur a day Vs 5 for the Clio but was automatic. KMs were a lot more too, about 0.25eur each Vs I think 0.14 for the Clio. Definitely nicer to drive and more comfortable but not enough to make it a compelling upgrade for me normally. Engine felt totally sufficient for the car and it was pleasant to drive both in town and on the motorway, no engine whining getting up to speed unlike some of the cheaper compact cars. Not sure on exact model/trim, but the infotainment is the same as the Mk7 golf/polo so guess it's based on that gens Polo. Larger feeling than the Polo and looked nice inside, although most of that is just cleverly textured plastic with very small patches of fabric. There's an annoying shiny bit on the side of the steering column which generates reflections in the windshield. It only had 20k km on it but in that time someone had managed to scratch up a lot of the plastic trim, no idea how as it was tough feeling. Big enough inside to fit a packaged 55" TV with the rear seats down. Basically a totally fine and extremely generic car all around and one I'd be happy to buy for myself at the right price.
|
|
#
?
Sep 25, 2023 10:06
|
|
|
7 euros per day?
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2023 21:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 2, 2024 23:44 |
|
|
knox_harrington posted:7 euros per day?  Plus km which can be pricey, a bit more than fuel normally
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2023 21:45
|
|