I attempted to hoon a rental spec Charger once. That’s how I learned that “rental spec” is code for the weakest engine option and an automatic transmission that requires you to drop a postcard in the mail to let it know you’d like it to begin initial planning to one day consider a downshift, but only if it wouldn’t be…

I like the point about rental car companies sticking to recommended maintenance is key.  Liability alone forces them to.  An Uber driver needs the cash and maintenance is just another expense to put off.

I have a 13 Durango that I bought from Hertz Rent 2 Buy in January of 2015. It had 40K miles on it, and is now at 140K miles.  I’ve not had any major problems with it. I just made my last payment on it and plan to keep it for a while. Figure I’d like to get to 200K or 250K miles on it. 

I work for Hertz. The program is called “Rent-to-Buy”! The only cars I would be cautious of would be the hot rods ( the Hemi Chargers, Challengers, Mustang Gt’s, and Camaro SS) we had quite a few renters that thought they were drag racers, and NASCAR drivers.

I think Hertz sales let’s you rent before you buy. So you get a 3 day test drive of the actual car you are considering and it’s free if you do end up buying

So true about the maintenance. At least 75% of rentals I’ve picked up in New England region have windshield wipers that look like a few years past their prime. Absolutely no way some of these budget rental car companies aren’t going to skimp on oil changes if they refuse to replace wipers.

Wish I could star this more. When I was 20 something, a rental was an excuse to play. But I didn’t get many business trips because I was a junior dude. I travel more now now that I am a more senior guy. I drive a rental like I do my private car. Maybe a bit slower since I am unfamiliar with the car and where I am…

Good point, never thought of that.

This - I’ve used quite a few rentals for work, in my early 20's sure, I might have hooned a Charger rental, but honestly, no harder then I would hoon my own vehicle.  That said, I have had Charger rental that someone previously definitely got some air time as the under body tray was hanging on by a thread when I…

i used to think NO WAY WOULD I BUY A RENTAL THEY GET TREATED LIKE SHIT. but i thought that when i was an asshole in my 20's that would have treated a rental like shit. it’s one of the reasons you can’t rent a car until you’re 25. i’ve been renting cars for work once every week or two for 15 years now and i can say…

Plus, if the car is damaged and repaired in-house, it doesn’t go against their insurance, or show up on a carfax. I’ve seen a lot of ex-rentals come through our dealership that were bondo -filled basket cases only a year old.

At least rental use shows up in the records. I’d be much more concerned about prior Uber / Lyft use, which is next to impossible to discern. Makes shopping for a used Prius a highly fraught experience.

Shame on the service manager for allowing that to happen. I work at a Subaru dealership, and that kind of behavior is discouraged. Techs have been fired for hooning/running into parked cars/etc... 

I used to work at a warehouse that was next to a Hertz service depot. Let me tell you what, even if the customers weren’t beating the cars up, the service techs were hooning anything and everything around that lot. Screeching tires all day long.

My folks had great luck with a 4th Gen Grand Caravan they bought from…

I think Hertz sales let’s you rent before you buy. So you get a 3 day test drive of the actual car you are considering and it’s free if you do end up buying

The Saab function was called “night panel”, and when I become world dictator, failure to put it in new cars will result in summary cruel and unusal execution of the company CEO, all board members, their families, neighbors and pets.

Jeeps are tall enough that the headlights are pretty much at a typical driver’s eye level. Just like lots of trucks.

Wow. Considering that every Volvo I’ve ever owned/driven (and that’s a LOT...) has had the dipped headlights + taillights come on automatically by default, the owner of the XC90 you saw would have had to go to a special effort to turn them off. That is scary. No true Scotsman Volvo driver!

This is the problem with “Auto” headlights when there are other options. People get stupid and complacent. Also they should not allow full lit LED clusters and radio lights without headlights actually on.

I think it’s the fact that they still use round sealed beam designs like a car from 1955. And from the looks of it, no special molding design inside to direct light any particular direction: