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Detroit, 5:57 AM
Wed Dec 2
30 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/26/09
08/26/09
Avis and Budget are owned by AvisBudget Group and utilize a common fleet of cars. Heres what I have on my Avis lot right now in TX :) I need to work on getting a Challenger.
08/26/09
I really should have looked into that option when Air Canada cancelled my flight home from New York, since no one had any rental cars available anyways.
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
@leavethegun-takethecannoli: You better watch out man! They don't mess around.
08/26/09
08/26/09
@leavethegun-takethecannoli: I haven't seen it in a couple years (although I listened to their song Take Off relatively recently), I still occationally see the cases of Red Cap stubbies celebrating their 2-4 anniversary.
08/26/09
...while the Midtown Manhattan escort rental wars still bring a certain cold, emptiness afterwards...
08/26/09
In NYC, there is an exotic car rental company with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maseratis, etc, in its fleet. In 2006, they had a Ford GT for rent. The figures were:
Half day (12 hrs) $995.
Full day (24 hrs) $1450.
Weekly (+1 free day) $7450.
All daily rentals included 100 miles/day. Weekly rentals included 500 miles/week. Additional mileage billed at $1.95/mile.
That's a used rental company car that I would gladly buy.
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
I wandered in there one day after spending months staring through the window every time I passed. They were very polite but it was clear that I was not going to be getting in any of those cars anytime soon.
08/26/09
08/26/09
'Cause that club I mentioned had a Ford GT as recently as this spring. The cool bit about it is that it's not just, like, big men smoking cigars and wearing sunglasses kind of cool cars, they have actual classic cars, too. Exempli gratia: they have a Porsche 356 Speedster and a Ferrari 308 GTS sitting alongside a Tesla Roadster and an M-B E55 AMG.
08/26/09
Lambo Gallardo Spider
Days - $1,450
Fri-Sun - $1,740
Weekly - $7,150
Lambo LP640 Roadster
Days - $2,450
Fri-Sun - $2,940
Weekly - $11,400
The above reflect a 20% discount
OUCH!
08/27/09
08/27/09
08/26/09
Vehicle Rental: $150/day x 2 days = $300
Insurance (mandatory in NYC): $25/day x 2 days = $50
NY State Tax: $100
NYC Tax: $150
Tourism & Hooker Tax: $100
Fuel Surcharge: $25
08/26/09
Hooker tax? Is nothing sacred?
08/26/09
08/26/09
Since I was a poor college student, Toyota set up all of the flights and rental cars for me. So I was a bit surprised when I arrived at the rental car counter and found that they didn't have any Toyotas in their fleet. Instead, they put me in a hard-top Mustang.
I did my interview at Toyota and had some time to kill, so me and the Mustang took a trip up the Pacific Coast Highway and stopped in at a very Lebowski-esque bowling alley before heading back to LAX.
Good times...
08/26/09
08/26/09
After a few years away from the auto industry, I ended up returning to work directly for one of the big commercial truck manufacturers (competitor of Volvo/Mack, Paccar, et al.)
Sorry to leave you hanging, and sorry if the ending disappoints.
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
Budget Guy: Today's your lucky day, we have one in back.
Me: Wow- and Oh My God- it's in doo-doo brown. I am so lucky.
08/26/09
08/26/09
I had a six-cylinder 2006 Mustang rental last year. It was one of the worst cars I've ever driven, and this is from someone who learned to drive on a pink Toyota Avalon.
08/26/09
08/26/09
/srsly, same question
08/26/09
Actually, it was my mother's car, and as for the color, early Avalons were available in a hue called Vintage Rose Metallic. It had the interesting characteristic of looking like champagne silver in sunshine (say, on a dealer lot) but when you bought it, got it home and saw it in your garage or on a cloudy day, it would magically turn a lavender pink color.
This is why I am afraid to own cars that aren't black or white. I'm scared they'll turn into vaguely similar but exponentially more horrid colors as soon as plates are screwed on.
08/26/09
I'm just curious. Hopefully this doesn't come off as too douchy.
08/26/09
08/26/09
08/26/09
I'm not commenting on the quality of the Mustang in general-- simply pointing out that rental muscle cars are not terribly exciting, because they always end up being thrashed into the ground.
However, that said, I wasn't impressed with the engine or interior either. Overall it seemed a bit crude.
08/26/09
08/26/09
As far as the interior, I agree that it can be a little rough. The useless map pocket in the door hits the side of my knee in just the wrong way.
As far as the engine, it's the 4.0L V6 used in the Ranger and Exploder. It's not particularly rev-happy, but it's torquey and when properly exploited can be fun.
The bottom line with the V6 S197 is that it's a budget pony car. It's not going to be refined, it's missing some of the suspension components of the GT (front sway bar, etc.) and the engine is from a truck. If you don't expect too much from it, it can be a hell of a ride. Don't knock all of them because your rental sucked!
08/26/09
I think Jalopnik should do a "Top 10 Fun-to-Drive Rental Cars" list, so I know what to book on my next vacation.
08/26/09
08/26/09
And, oh yeah, Budget sucks. I've yet to have a car from them that wasn't filthy. Although I guess that's better than all the Hertz cars the all smelled like smoke, save for one, which smelled like fish.
08/26/09
08/26/09
p.s: No Challenger love? Maybe Enterprise can take it up?
08/26/09