Comments on: The Rental Car Chry-sis

By: MoparGuy

MoparGuy — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:51:47 +0000

You can’t judge a car maker by one experience from an abused rental car or heresay. Personally, the worst “crapmobile” I’ve ever owned was a Toyota. That car was a total garage whore.
Give Chrysler a chance. I did about 20 years ago, and have never been disappointed. It’s amazing the nonsense being said out there about American cars. It’s all part of that “cool image” of all-things-foreign; so bogus. (And no, I don’t work for Chrysler. I just love their cars and trucks!)

Chrysler = quality cars/trucks!

By: CommanderFish

CommanderFish — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:51:14 +0000

On the rare occasions where I’ve had to rent a car, I never really had a choice of a Chrysler product.

Disclaimer – I never rent convertibles. Sebring ‘verts have been on the list in most places, but outside of that, haven’t seen many mopars at rentals.

By: whynotaztec

whynotaztec — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:58:53 +0000

I gotta tell ya, rented a Charger from Dollar in El Paso last week, did 1400 miles in 8 days. Total charge was $149. Got almost 30 mpg, and the car was actually pretty nice. Family of 5 fit just fine. The only issue was the tranny – the hills really confused it! But for that price, it was unbeatable. Must have been an 08, had a Nov in service date and 22k on it.

By: mikeolan

mikeolan — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:05:03 +0000

That’s like being surprised Avis rents GM or Hertz rents Ford…. they’re all spinoffs back from when-it-seemed-like-a-good-idea.

That said, I sure see a ton of Sebrings and Avengers on the road, and they’re legit (aka not rentals.)

By: Edward Niedermeyer

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:59:48 +0000

Thank you windswords. You learn something every day.

By: timd38

timd38 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:31:08 +0000

You get what you pay for!

By: morbo

morbo — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:16:07 +0000

I’ve gotten Mitsubishi’s & Mustangs from Avis, Impala’s from Hertz, and nothing but headaches from Dollar (or specifically, a Grand Cherokee that was fine going into 4-Lo during a snow storm, but adamently REFUSED to go back into 2-HI).

Even with higher upfront costs, wouldn’t it be better for these guys to buy a car that might actually last 40,000-50,000 miles (I’m looking at you Galant, Taurus, Six, and Altima), rather then the horrendous crapmobiles The Pentastar produces.

By: windswords

windswords — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:54:20 +0000

“Similarly, rental companies hunting for the best deals buy-up huge numbers of the slowest-selling vehicles at cut-rate prices…So it should come as no surprise that rental firms like Dollar Thrifty Auto Group have fleets that are up to 85 percent Chrysler.”

Actually yes, it is a surprise, because that is NOT why Thrifty has so many Chrysler vehicles.

From Wikipedia:
Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group NYSE: DTG is a holding company for Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car, formed in 1990 by Chrysler and spun off in 1997.

The company primarily rents Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles within the United States, though some locations feature other popular brands, such as Mazda, Nissan, or Toyota.

By: rockit

rockit — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:05:47 +0000

Sonata’s are going to fleets in larger numbers, along with other Hyundai and Kia models.

Even though Hyundai’s have improved I still don’t see them as a model of reliability yet.

By: Areitu

Areitu — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:47:50 +0000

Bancho :
August 12th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Hyundai/Kia vehicles would be a solid step in the right direction. At least you could count on basic features like steering and cruise control working properly.

Assuming it has any of those features. My two rental korean cars had a great stereo and an MP3 jack, but no CC.

By: Bancho

Bancho — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:22:22 +0000

Hyundai/Kia vehicles would be a solid step in the right direction. At least you could count on basic features like steering and cruise control working properly.

As for the Mitsubishi angle they could probably buy up Mitsu’s entire US operations to satisfy rental fleet needs since they’re currently circling the bowl as it is.

By: willbodine

willbodine — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:17:56 +0000

menno :
Watch for these rental companies to go for Mitsubishi vehicles next. (They’re slow learners).

Or Hyundai/Kias

By: shaker

shaker — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:48:23 +0000

Enterprise “surprised” me with a Sebring for my last drive from PA to Wisconsin.
Once I was out of traffic (about 60 miles out); I found the cruise control to be inoperative.
Just north of Chicago, the steering (which until then felt like screwing a wooden push-broom handle into its socket) suddenly started clunking, as if a ball-joint or a tie rod had started working loose.
It was a rather “constipated” 40-mile trek to the Enterprise at the Gen. Mitchell Airport, where I turned the car in (after their dusty-looking mechanic had judged the car “shaky”) for a replacement – a silver PT Criuser.
After moving all my stuff to the “Cruiser”, and starting north towards Waukesha, I found out that the vehicle was just a “PT”, as the cruise control didn’t work in that one, either.
(I traded the Cruiser-sans-Cruise for a Kia Rondo for the return trip, and it was a better vehicle than the previous two.)
The next time I rent from E’prise, I’m going to request that I receive something other than a ChryCo product…

By: menno

menno — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:41:37 +0000

Watch for these rental companies to go for Mitsubishi vehicles next. (They’re slow learners).