Ahh, rental cars. Perhaps the only cars in the world beaten on harder than the press cars loaned out to us lousy journalists. As a result, sometimes the cars themselves are in, uh, less than tip-top shape.
To this day, my dad is the only person I have ever known to actively wash his rental cars. On every single trip we’ve ever taken, at least one afternoon of it is spent at the car wash. Even if the car is sketch as all hell, he washes it. There has to be some good carma to come out of all of this, I’m certain of it.
[Welcome back to Countersteer, where we ask you to tell us your greatest stories of success and failure, then we pull the very best of them to share with the rest of the world.]
After reading all of your replies, I’m thinking that maybe it wasn’t so weird that we had a shitty rental car in Hawaii. Because it’s an island, duh. At least our car didn’t have... critters.
A Harrowing U-Haul (Daryl)
They come with insurance, right?
The Little Cruze That Couldn’t (DSM_OR_DIE::Drives_A_Miata)
After all of that... we’re even, then.
Customer Service (vissile)
Lost a customer because of this.
Those Oldsmobiles, Man (SoManyBlueCars)
I pat my cars when they’re nice to me. This was apparently a mistake.
Of Wild Dogs And Sea Spray (Toro Tiberius)
You have to suffer a bit to realize how good everything else is.
“Lilly White English Ass” (The English Guy)
Bench seats are pretty great.
We Meet Again (1carfreak1)
It’s like seeing your terrible fling out and about somewhere else.
Casual (EZSmitty)
Just walking across the dash, real casual like.
Oh, All The Cars Are Like This (ntvnyer)
Hmm, I think I’ll walk, thanks.
Critters! (Watch4BlueShells)
Burn it. Burn it to the ground.
Thirty-Five Dollars For A Day Of Adventure (ivan256)
Whose car is it? Does it matter?
Aspire To Drive! (Bladecutter)
Friend, I’m glad you made it back from what sounds like rock bottom.
You Know How Rental Cars Have That Funny Smell? (G42dog)
This is why.
From The Other Side (benlama1)
Last but certainly not least, a word from someone on the inside.