Rental Car Reviews

[Adam]

Car: 2019 Toyota Camry
Date Rented: 9/30/18
Location Rented: ORF
Rental Company: Avis
Powertrain: 203 HP / 184 lb-ft 2.5L N/A I4 with 8A
Highs: 8A really livens up the acceleration performance. There is always a gear to downshift to for acceleration.
Lows: 8A is terribly unrefined. Very clunky on non-WOT upshifts. Won't downshift until you are near WOT and then it drops multiple gears which isn't always the right move. Probably wasn't "rental car" as this car only had just over 300 miles when I got it.
Fun facts: I can understand why these sell so well. There is nothing wrong with the car. There is nothing exciting about the car. It gets mid-30's.
Other notable cars available: Didn't ask.
Would I rent again? Maybe a V6.

[Adam]

Car: 2019 Toyota Camry
Date Rented: 9/30/18
Location Rented: ORF
Rental Company: Avis
Powertrain: 203 HP / 184 lb-ft 2.5L N/A I4 with 8A
Highs: 8A really livens up the acceleration performance. There is always a gear to downshift to for acceleration.
Lows: 8A is terribly unrefined. Very clunky on non-WOT upshifts. Won't downshift until you are near WOT and then it drops multiple gears which isn't always the right move. Probably wasn't "rental car" as this car only had just over 300 miles when I got it.
Fun facts: I can understand why these sell so well. There is nothing wrong with the car. There is nothing exciting about the car. It gets mid-30's.
Other notable cars available: Didn't ask.
Would I rent again? Maybe a V6.

Had another one of these. Just as terrible as the last one.

[Bob]

Car: 2018 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack
Date Rented: 11/5/18
Location Rented: CLE
Rental Company: National
Powertrain: 485 HP 6.4L V8 with 8A
Highs: Massive acceleration, great sound, looks menacing. Good infotainment.
Lows: The chassis feels a bit overwhelmed by the power, which is fun at first, but doesn't make it a great drivers car. Lifetime trip fuel economy of 12.9 over the first 3,000 rental miles.
Fun facts: Has launch control with adjustable launch RPM from 1,200 to 3,300. I suspect 3,300 results in a smoke show unless the car is on drag radials. Has line lock, though it's not really needed.
Other notable cars available: Cadillac XTS, XT5
Would I rent again? Yes! This is basically the perfect rental car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZxYlVOJY2Q

[kevm14]

Would I rent again? Yes! This is basically the perfect rental car.

Because you wouldn't want to own it but would love to borrow it?

[Bob]

Yes, and because it’s really awesome for the first day then it becomes kind of boring.

[Bob]

Car: 2019 Chevy Camaro SS
Date Rented: 2/4/19
Location Rented: IND
Rental Company: National
Powertrain: 455 HP 6.2L V8 with 10A
Highs: Great steering, strong acceleration, good transmission. It was a 2SS so it was well equipped, unlike most rental Camaros. The exhaust pops when you let off the throttle.
Lows: It was so cold that I couldn't really get on it safely until I drove for like 20 minutes and the tires warmed up a bit (they were summer tires)
Fun facts: has a tire temperature sensor. I watched it go from cold to cool to normal (eventually, after driving a long time). Once it got to normal, I was able to floor it in 2nd and hook up.
Other notable cars available: V6 Camaro (almost took this, but glad I kept walking), V6 Challenger (no thanks)
Would I rent again? Yes! In fact, after driving this around for a while, I started to wonder what I would do if someone offered to trade me a Gen 6 1LE straight up for the Elise.

[Bob]

Also, I did get some time to compare and contrast the Camaro SS with the Vsport. The steering in the Camaro is definitely sharper and feels a little more responsive; however the ride is not as sophisticated as the Vsport (no MR, bigger wheels). I put the Vsport in track mode and the steering does seem to get closer to what the Camaro is; however you have to deal with the overzealous transmission programming if you want to drive around in track mode. Please, GM, give us individually configurable driving modes so I can have track mode steering, sport suspension and touring transmission / throttle response. As far as powertrain goes, I would take the LT1 with the 10A all day long in the Vsport, though I will admit the LF3 can feel more satisfying in some part throttle situations. The 10A in the Camaro makes much nicer rev matched downshifts than the AISIN in the Vsport and doesn't feel like it has too many gears when you're driving around.

[Adam]

Car: 2017 Nissan Altima
Date Rented: 1/12/19
Location Rented: GUM
Rental Company: Avis
Powertrain: 182 HP 2.5 I4 with CVT
Highs: A/C was sufficient?
Lows: The CVT is terrible. It's calibration pretends to be a normal automatic most of the time but very poorly.
Fun facts: At 20k, the suspension was completely shot. It also had other strange rattles and what sounded like brake squeal at low speeds.
Other notable cars available: None
Would I rent again? Not on purpose, but there are no good rental cars on Guam.

[Bob]

I got another 2019 Camaro SS for my drive to the RDU airport. I still love this car. This one is (orange) Crush, so it's a little less boring than the silver one. I think it looks good and I love the way it drives. This was also a 2SS. I hope this means National is loading up on Camaro SS. 80% of my rentals have been Camaros in 2019 (2 V6s and 2 V8s). I got 25.6 on my highway run which had traffic and was not slow.

[Adam]

I hope this means National is loading up on Camaro SS. 80% of my rentals have been Camaros in 2019 (2 V6s and 2 V8s).

I might need to ditch Avis.