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So, it’s finally happened–after almost nine years of marriage, my wife and I are finally going on a vacation. Sure, we’ve traveled before; our “honeymoon” a few weeks after being married was a trip to San Francisco to the Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference. Between speaking engagements and conventions, we’ve driven to Boston, Denver, Louisville, and other random places from Sweet Home Chicago. But this time, there’s no obligations, nothing to do but relax.
We’re headed to Nashville and the best part, at least from a Curbside perspective, is that our rental car is being paid for. So, we don’t need to get the “Chevy Impala or equivalent” full-size from Avishertzerprise by the airport. We’re looking for something fun, or maybe something practical, or maybe something just plain weird. (But, considering the Impala is being retired, maybe that’s not the worst idea? Last of the breed and so forth…)
These days, there’s no lack of choices for renting a car; CC’s Tom Halter had a great article about renting from Turo, which I suppose is the AirBNB of cars. Plus there’s the Ferrari Guy here on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, although I think I’d have to negotiate a trip all the way down south.
So, my question to the Curbside Commentariat: What would be the coolest road trip vehicle actually available to rent, if price is of, let’s say, relatively no object? Whether it’s a superb mile-chewer, or a canyon-carver, or just plain awesome or weird, everything’s on the table.
My Dad was pretty excited when he rented an Ecoboost Mustang Convertible…
I find it surprising that the major players (Hertz etc) will rent a V8 Charger to the average Joe. I know the R/T is less than 400 hp but given the way I see the average ordinary people around me driving it’s still a surprise that they release them into the world with that.
I never understood the places in L.A. or Vegas which rent out Lambos/Ferraris/Rolls Royces.
How can you really trust some fly-by-night traveller to take out a car costing hundreds of thousands of dollars?
You don’t trust them, your insurance company is in the “trust” business. In other words the owner of the rental agency reports the car damaged or stolen and the insurance company is liable.
Sounds like you are going to be driving from Chicago to Nashville, which is about a 7-hour drive. Something sporty or a convertible would be tempting, but I would probably get tired of all the noise after a while.
For traveling with multiple passengers, a full-sized SUV like an Escalate is the best way to chew up highway miles.
If it is just you and the Mrs., I would do a mid-sized luxury car, like a Mercedes E-Class or and Audi A6.
In 2011 when we had a holiday trip to Miami and the Keys, I made sure to hire a Ford Crown Victoria. At or around that time it was made public that these were to be discontinued. Last of the breed for these BodyOnFrame, V8, column change and rear drive full size sedans so this would be the last time I was probably able to hire one. At the desk they tried to “update” me to a boring SUV kind of vehicle but I declined and got an almost new Crown Vic. Loved it the week I had it.
Is there a Sixt location in Chicago? They’re an interesting outfit, I think mostly due to being based in Europe. Their prices tend to be on par with most of the big players, but they have a much more interesting fleet. I once lucked into a MINI for a 2-week road trip. Okay, maybe a MINI isn’t the best road trip car, but it was more interesting than “Hyundai Accent (or similar)”.
I just took a look at their fleet, and it is indeed interesting. They have, among others, a Jaguar F-Type available to rent.
And there’s an “automatic only” filter on their site, which kind of implies that some of their cars might actually have manuals, although poking around at some of the cars that might possibly be available with manual transmissions they all appeared to be listed as having automatics. So that filter might be just for their European locations. I didn’t try applying it to see if any models went away.
Just be sure to read the fine print on the agreement before signing. Ours made us responsible for any tire damage. Never again.
In the US, Sixt is a franchise system. The independent operators often are car dealers who put used car inventory into rental service.
Hertz Chicago O’Hare has its “Fullsize Elite 2/4 Door Jaguar XF or similar” for $275.00 per week if you pay online. 338 a week if you pay when you pick up. They are currently charging 542 per week for Chrysler 300 or similar, so this seems to be a massive deal on the Jag.
Enterprise is usually the cheapest where I live wants 446 a week for a 3 series and 1,034 per week for a Maserati Ghibli.
Given that info I would definitely book the Jag with Hertz before they correct their “error” then again, given the state of Jag and Tata at the moment maybe Hertz just got a screaming deal on a fleet of Jags?
Regarding Jim Klein’s comment below. It clearly says “Prestige Collection” below the picture of the Jag. To Hertz, the vehicles with the lowest “Brand Equity” in the Prestige Collection are Cadillacs. So maybe he would get a XTS, CTS, CT5, CT4 or maybe an Infiniti Q. But there is no way he’d get a freaking Buick (excluding maybe in the oddball Avenir Trim). And given the price I would drive an Avenir all day long.
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/vehicleguide/index.jsp?targetPage=vehicleGuideHomeView.jsp&countryCode=US&category=Prestige%20Collection#
https://www.buick.com/discover/design/avenir-line
I’m hardly a car snob but having owned a Jaguar as well as two Buicks, if I reserved a Jaguar and got a Buick in however nice a trim, I’d be annoyed. If I wanted to rent a Buick I would reserve a Buick. Same goes for a Cadillac or whatever else.
At that level, it should not be too much to ask that if I’m willing to reserve a particular car for a special occasion and willing to pay their price, then they should be able to HAVE that actual car available for me. It’s not that difficult of a concept, but rental car companies inspire little faith.
Heh, a Buick is the one vehicle I probably wouldn’t rent no matter how nice… because I already own one. 🙂
A local company has MG Midget Chev Camaro gen 3 and several other classics you can hire a couple of TA Citroens were on offer I really must got to their new showroom for a look around again but too busy.
OMG !! …….. must …….. find MG Midget ……. like the …… ’67 …… I had ….. in the ….. 1970’s…….. m u s t …….
I think the route matters significantly. If you are taking smallish and fun roads then yes something like a convertible or “sporty” car would be great, but I can’t think of such a route where you are going. If you rent an Escalade and it’s just two of you then the gas mileage will get old really fast if you’re paying for the gas and used to something more economical.
So if it’s going to be freeways all of those are going to get old really fast. If you just want a comfortable and very nice car that will be great on the superslab but also enjoyable around town or even if you find some twisties, then just go to Silvercar and get one of their silver Audis. I think they have expanded beyond just A4s at this point but they are now owned by Audi and the whole experience is worlds better than ANY other rental car company (Jaguar XF or SIMILAR – that’s the key word, you don’t get to decide what’s “similar” – A Buick LaCrosse thinks it’s sporty luxury too and also has four wheels and doors, sounds similar to me…and probably many rental car companies).
We even wrote them up a few years ago:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/new-cars/rental-car-classic-2015-audi-a4-quattro-s-line-from-silvercar-com-finally-a-better-option/
In the late 1990’s I made a trip to Vancouver on business. For some reason it was cheaper to fly in to Seattle, rent a car, and drive to Vancouver. I had reserved an el cheapo econobox, but when I got to the rental counter they had none left. For the same price they gave me a Mazda Miata. It was an odd duck with an automatic, but still a blast to drive.
Some times the “free upgrade” to a bigger group car isn’t doing you any favors. Booked a b group car hoping it would be a Fiesta or a Hyundai i10 but got upgraded to Kia Ceed. One of the worse cars I be driven. Stupid electric parking brake, what advantage does this have over the traditional cable operated One?.. Wouldn’t start before you buckled up. Great for reversing viewing. Crap handling and no power. Trick is to book a low grade car at the airport as they always get rented out first so they have to upgrade you. Well this time that Backfired on me!.
Last August we booked a full size car for a week from Enterprise. The site said “Camry, Malibu or equivalent”. When I went to pick up the car, they were out of full size cars, but they gave me a free upgrade to a premium car – in this case a Mercedes CLA 250. It was great on the highway (unfortunately no Autobahns in Ontario) and handled well on the twisty backroads near our cottage. It also delivered great mileage and felt “just right” to sit in and drive. I smiled every time I started it up and I was a little sad to take it back. The only complaint I had was that the trunk was a little on the small side – a Camry would have been much better in that regard. Still, a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. Speaking of Impalas, I had one in 2016, and I’m sad to see them being discontinued. I really enjoyed the one we had. Plenty of power and great mileage from the V6, along with lots of room and good handling.
I’d say get a Silverado Z-71 if you’re gonna go anywhere you might be able to do some boggin’; otherwise, Charger or Mustang.
My first impulse would be to seek out something exotic and sporty, but that might not make for the greatest road trip car. So my next thought would be to look at Turo’s inventory and see if anyone is renting some oddball luxury sedan, like a VW Phaeton or something like that.
Hertz: 2020 Hertz-Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and SS
It would have to depend on the market and the type of driving you plan. The coolest rental I’ve personally had was a Landrover Defender 90 in the UK which was great fun on back roads If you have good roads and good weather a convertible is fun, or if you have the experience and gear consider a motorcycle. Otherwise a fun cruiser or nimble city car.A quick look in Nashville suggests a Mustang convertible or since it’s the land of country music rent a pickup :).
I am currently driving a rented Challenger V8, free upgrade as they were out of the cheaper class I had reserved. Fun to drive but this trip is in NYC area, not a lot of places to open it up. What passes for a freeway has a posted limit of 50 and you are lucky to even go that fast.
@Freddie: I know what you mean about driving in the NYC area. I was recently on business on Long Island and Enterprise gave me a Chevy Equinox at the counter. I’d forgotten what traffic conditions were like on Long Island, but it was absolutely fine for my purposes that week.
At first they tried to give me a Jeep Wrangler four door, but I really couldn’t imagine slogging that thing down Grand Central Parkway or I-495. Had I more downtime on that trip I might have liked to take it to the far eastern side of the Island, but I was too busy. Bummer.
I scored a hemi challenger Rumble Pack from the Exec row at National in Denver last year. 485 hp I think. That was a good time. Maybe see if you can get something like that.
Well, on Turo today in DC there are many Teslas S, 3 and X, as well as a few Ghibli’s to choose from, and a couple of Mercedes G wagons, and BMW’s and Audi’s galore (although I would always rent Audi’s from Silvercar.) But the rarest is this Aston Martin Rapide…(did the photo attach???)
I however, would choose the one Porsche Macan available.
A friend of ours had a Porsche Panamera hybrid as a loaner while his Tesla was in the shop after a minor fender bender. It was great of his insurance company to give him something equivalent to the Tesla. He didn’t really like the Porsche much, though, and he was glad to get his Tesla back. Personally, I’d jump at the chance to drive a free Porsche for a week or two.
If it’s available in your area, I think SilverCar is a good possibility…
https://www.silvercar.com/
It run by Audi, and they only offer…. wait for it…
Silver Audi’s
An A4 or A5 would be very nice for a long drive. My friend and I used them once (his rental) on a trip and it was very nice,
Folks, thank you so much for the advice. I had heard of Turo but not Silver or Sixt.
Hopefully once we finalize our trip plans I’ll be able to give you all a trip report. 🙂
I hope the twister damage hasn’t impacted you.
mustang convertible. dime a dozen you see mustangs everywhere.. probably the most mass produced car out there.. but to a dad driving minivan family guy…. wind in the hair… and you can take your spouse and a kid or two.
Dodge Hemi Charger, plenty of power, plenty of room, nice ride and gas mileage is OK. I’ve never been a fan of Chryslers but the San Diego Airport Avis didn’t have my Mustang Coupe I had reserved. He asked me if a Hemi Charger would be OK, yea, always willing to check out the other guys. I’m retired now and I rent for the enjoyment of driving now. No more compact economy crap boxes for me.