Hertz

First RAV4 rental

Monday, June 11, 2012 

A fine little car.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Posted at 18:48:06 GMT-0700

Category: GeopostRental carsTravel

2012 Mitsubishi Spyder

Thursday, November 10, 2011 

Hertz gave me this very nice little convertible as a rental when I found my allocated slot empty and they didn’t have my allocated class in the lot, a nice upgrade.IMG00291-20111110-1653.jpg

It has two defining features:

  • it is a convertible and a sporty one at that,
  • it comes with a subwoofer equipped stereo which defines the target market.

This is definitely not a car targeted at classical music listeners. The stereo with the fosgate “punch” setting cranked up is a base heavy “boom car” experience. It sounds fine, the base is clean and well rendered, but it isn’t the balanced, well staged clarity of the sound system in a Mercedes, for example, but fits a particular demographic well.IMG00290-20111110-1622.jpg

The car itself is quite sporty and handles well. Unlike a lot of lower end convertibles, including the Mustang, the body is very stiff and and takes turns and bumps without any tangible body flex. The car corners flat and understeers predictably and with good control (I discovered unintentionally while making a quick u-turn). The car also has more power than one would expect for such a small vehicle, and can spin the back wheels from a stop without resorting to a neutral drop, also an unintentional discovery. Really.

Road noise with the top up is pretty good for a convertible, and better than most at freeway speeds with the top down.

I’d say it is a pretty good choice for a low cost, youth-oriented convertible.

Posted at 20:35:54 GMT-0700

Category: photoPositiveRental carsReviews

328 for bako

Saturday, December 25, 2010 

Merry Xmas from Hertz

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Posted at 14:17:42 GMT-0700

Category: Media

A week of tweets: 2010-07-18

Sunday, July 18, 2010 
  • Hertz Traverse LT minivan: why does GM add pointless power tailgate but no USB interface? Sadly, US cars still suck. #
Posted at 09:11:00 GMT-0700

Category: Twitter

A week of tweets: 2010-06-20

Sunday, June 20, 2010 
  • RT @stratsoc: South Africa Pres. Jacob Zuma announced he will ban the vuvuzela, provided the Western world stop exploiting Africa #
  • Thanks you Hertz. #
  • Is it coffee time? The car thinks so. #
Posted at 09:11:00 GMT-0700

Category: Twitter

Infiniti fx35 rental

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 

Thanks Hertz. White?

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The FX35 was consistently one of my favorite rentals.  It’s quite a capable and comfortable car.
Posted at 11:39:26 GMT-0700

Category: Rental carsTravel

Rental Lincoln Navigator

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 

Hertz gave me ANOTHER black Lincoln Navigator (this is different than last week’s) to try to drive through LA’s traumatic rainstorms in (thunder! OMG!). Nothing like the efficiency of driving a car that seats 7 for a commute. Fortunately I don’t have to drive far so the total environmental impact is at least minimized and largely offset by the hilarity value.Navigator.jpg

The car has power every crazy thing. Even the back seats fold down with a button push, necessary since it has become standard to have a power opening and closing trunk so you don’t strain your dainty little self as you drive around in your ginormous faux-tough SUV.

A funny touch is the in-mirror back up camera. Nice that it is full color, but the screen is small enough that you’d never see a puppy. On the other hand, the back window is so far away and so shrouded in black leather that the little color view is the best you’ve got. Puppies are free.

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It is always fun to try to figure out the electronic entertainment systems in one of these things. The test is “can you get it working between LAX and Santa Monica without reading the manual.” Mercedes, yes. Lincoln no.

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In the end I did get it reading off a USB stick (and the ipod, though the Microsoft SYNC UI for that is unusable. Odd that M$ is advertising SYNC in magazines as brandable feature for a new car when it sucks so bad: I’d avoid a car with M$ inside myself).

Once it was working, the only appropriate choice was Gangstagrass. Thanks @satiredun!

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Posted at 17:09:17 GMT-0700

Category: NegativephotoRental carsReviews

A Week of SUV Rentals

Sunday, January 17, 2010 

First, in Canada, I got a GMC Acadia, a moderately stupid SUV with seating for 7. It was snowing and so I suppose AWD was useful, but the only really good part about it was the heated seats. The gas expense was not so great…

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The Acadia was fine as far as it went, but then my next rental, in Las Vegas, was a Lincoln Navigator. I’ve not run across one of these before (though not much different than the Escalade). It wasn’t horrible as a driving experience, though I was happy enough not to have to take it through any urban areas as I would have needed to upgrade the wheels. I mean stock rims… Seriously.

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The heated seats worked fine in that one too, but the backup camera that emerged from behind a half-silvered rear-view mirror was pretty cool. Especially as looking back is pretty useless through a forest of headrests.

In both cases I was the only passenger. This added to the value of the experience.

At least in LA at the end of the week, Hertz gave me a lovely C300. I think the exact same one I had rented earlier. A lovely car that seems far less silly.

Posted at 18:46:34 GMT-0700

Category: photoRental carsTravel

Oh Hertz!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 

Another town car? I very much appreciate the upgrade, but my age is in my profile and although I’m getting old, this sort of thing is still off by at least 3 decades.

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Posted at 10:16:32 GMT-0700

Category: NegativephotoRental carsReviews

Nice C300 rental, thx Hertz!

Friday, December 11, 2009 

My favorite rental cars so far.

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C300 is a beautiful car and fun to drive.
Posted at 14:20:35 GMT-0700

Category: photoPositiveRental carsReviews