Favorite Rental Cars

Don't laugh, but this has been one of my favorite rental cars so far: the Pontiac G6.

Out here in Fort Collins — where it has been perpetually sunny ever since late October — owning a top-down sports car has its rewards. In addition to being basked with ample UV radiation to ensure an adequate production of Vitamin D during the day and being able to see the stars piercing the night’s sky with their brilliant lights, the roadster driver can transport a surprising number of tall, slender objects.

No, I’m not just talking about long-legged beauties like Tyra Banks or Nicole Kidman. (They are welcome to pick me up in their limos if they’d rather.) Instead, here’s a partial list of items I’ve taken home in the Alfa: a ladder, a 7′-long 45-pound barbell, several ottomans, and a weight bench.

There comes a time, however, when a more conventional vehicle is needed to transport bulkier items. Today was one of those days due to purchasing a used coffee table set and a futon frame. These are items generally too large for a two-seat convertible but not large enough to warrant a mammoth gas-guzzling, hard-to-drive moving truck. Enter the rental car.

I motored on down to the friendly Budget rental car station, where I had a compact car reserved for me. I was prepared to make a plea for one of my favorite all-time rental cars — the Ford Focus ZX5 hatchback — when I spotted a deep purple Chrysler PT Cruiser parked just in front of the rental car office. “Hmmm, I hope I get one of those,” I thought.

Sure enough, I was offered a choice between the PT Cruiser and the Oprah-touted Pontiac G6. I’ll take the PT Cruiser, thank you. I had always loved the concept of a modern-day, hot-rod-styled breadwagon with compact car proportions, and Chrysler finally took the wraps off of the PT Cruiser around year 2000 or so. Its styling was somewhat controversial, but I had always liked the 1930ish radiator face, bold fender flairs and elegant, upward-lifting rear door. (Never mind that a friend of mine swears that its buttocks remind her too much of a hearse.) In any case, its aesthetics are far more distinctive than any other modern day hatchback that has careened down America’s roads, and to top it all off, the PT Cruiser was also designed to be delightfully utilitarian. This was, after all, brought to you by the folks who “invented” the minivan (please, no complaints by you VW Bus owners!)

Its interior is full of thoughtful touches and retro-coolness. The simple dash has body-colored panels in which round gauges and a passenger airbag are housed. The transmission (sadly, automatic) sports a 1960′s-inspired ball shifter topped by a chromed-plastic gear-selector push-button. The oversized steering wheel features a round hub (again housing an airbag) with four cylindrical spokes connecting to a large-diameter rim. This wheel would look at home aboard a steamship or hot rod if only it were made out of wood and metal instead of hard, un-leather-like-feeling plastic.

It’s the cargo-hauling features that I really appreciated on this day. First off, like all hatchbacks, the split rear seat folds down flat. In addition, these seats can be lifted up and forward for a lower, but shorter, cargo area. I think I have read that the rear seats can even be removed from the vehicle to completely turn the car into a mini breadvan, but I did not attempt to do this.

The front passenger seatback also folds flat, becoming an extension of the rear cargo area. The resulting cargo “floor” looked flat enough to possibly even sleep on (if one were inclined to go camping in this vehicle). Speaking of sleep, this cavernous space was more than long enough to haul a partly disassembled futon frame and full-size futon. (“I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it,” the futon’s seller stated.)

Perhaps just as remarkable is the rear parcel shelf behind the rear seat. In its default configuration, it serves as a cover to obscure the cargo bay from prying eyes. It can be lowered to a middle or bottom position to serve as a shelf. Or can be inverted to stick out of the cargo bay (with the rear hatch open) to serve as a shelf for tailgating parties after, say, a football game. It can also be removed entirely.

As a driving vehicle, the PT Cruiser is more ho-hum: the base four-banger is fairly anemic, but at least it achieves ok fuel economy, especially for a car with a cargo capacity rivaling small SUVs. It seemed to achieve about 26 mpg on the highway, though keep in mind I was driving 75-80 mph almost the entire way on Interstate 25 which has 75 mph speed limit (so other drivers were still passing me.)

Vehicle dynamics, while not bad, are nothing to write home about — it is about as good, but no more, as any Hyundai, or Chevrolet compact, or Dodge Neon as far as I could tell. For road feel and cornering, the rally-inspired Ford Focus takes top honors in this rental car genre, at least of the cars I have driven. All in all, though, the PT Cruiser has a lot going for it with its style and practicality. I may keep this in mind if — or when — I am ever in the market for a front-wheel-drive vehicle, for days to play in the snow.

Rental Car Rankings

Actually, my favorite all-time rental car award goes to a vehicle that won’t garner any styling or performance accolades, but goes to one that almost wins it by default: by virtue of having a manual transmission, hand-cranked sunroof, and achieving approximately 50 mpg on the highway from its 1.2-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine. Never mind that this car was right-hand drive, being rented in England. I drove it about 1000 miles, only having a brush or two with curbs and heading down lanes in the wrong direction only once or twice. (There also was an episode where I had to check the owner’s manual to figure out how to put the car in reverse, as it had a funky lock-out feature on the shifter that had to be lifted up in order to engage the reverse gear.) It was a Vauxhall Corsa, manufactured by GM of Europe.

In the U.S., however, possibly tied as a favorite with the PT Cruiser, is the Ford Focus. I’m not a fan of the ZX4 4-door sedan’s styling, but the Euro-inspired aesthetics of the 3-door ZX3 and 5-door ZX4 hatchbacks is a knockout. I first spotted the ZX4 in England years before it was introduced to the U.S., so admittedly some of my delight at the angular styling comes from an imbedded association with memories of all the other great little European cars over there. The Focus also gets quite a bit better gas mileage than the PT Cruiser and feels more spirited, both in acceleration, road feel, and turning prowess.

Below is a list ranking the rental cars I have driven. Although I first wrote this article in February 2006, I will try to keep this list up-to-date as I drive more rentals.

1. 2008 Ford Mustang Convertible: Iconic styling, rear-wheel drive, a 210-hp V6 that sounds almost like the famed Ford 305 V8 and goes from 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds, 500-watt sound system, and convertible top. I was lucky enough to get this car instead of the economy car I reserved, and was only charged the $15/day econocar rate. ‘Nuff said.
2. 2006/2008 PT Cruiser: A very stylish car on the exterior and interior and super practical on the inside. I was able to transport a full futon and frame in this. It handles decently — not on par with the Ford Focus, but reasonably fun — but unfortunately the base engine + automatic transmission is super slow while not providing poorer-than-expected fuel economy (I was getting 26-28 mostly highway). Off-road clearance is good — I drove it very rutted roads for a couple hours and it only bottomed out twice. I rank this car highly for its style, practicality and character, plus admittedly I have some great memories of it from a wonderful camping trip to Crawford and Curecanti.
3. 2010 Chevrolet HHR. The HHR actually drives better, holds more stuff, and gets far better gas mileage (I was getting 33.4 MPG mostly driving on highways) that a PT Cruiser. I rank it only slightly lower than its de-facto inspiration (regardless of GM’s claims that the HHR was actually inspired by a 1949 Chevrolet Suburban) since the PT Cruiser has more captivating styling (especially the interior) and was the first of the modern-day five-door retromobile genre.
4. 2009 Chrysler Sebring Convertible: Again, the rental car company ran out of compact cars, so it gave me this instead. Pretty nice styling on the outside and even the inside, although material quality, fit and finish and handling was unimpressive. More ridiculous was the size of the trunk — with the top down, it was smaller than any of my convertibles despite being 2-3 feet longer! So it only gets so high on this list was by virtue of being a convertible.
5. 2007 Pontiac G6: Slick styling, gorgeous/elegant dash (at least back in 2007), and a ton of passenger room in a tidy, structurally-stiff chassis. Handling not quite as good as a Ford Focus but better than all the others I have driven. Single-handedly renewed my faith in General Motors.
6. 2007 Hyundai Elantra: Another great surprise! Great exterior styling, and extremely roomy (classified as a mid-sized sedan on the inside even though it has a compact car footprint). Interior is very stylish and exudes quality (just turn the climate control knobs) aside from some hard plastics you’d expect from a sub-$20k sedan. Drives very well with good fuel economy.
7. 2008 Dodge Caliber: Initially I made fun of this car because both my friend Tori and I got Calibers that had roll-up windows and no keyless entry, but had 10″ woofers in the doors. Strange priorities — I didn’t even know one could buy a car with roll-up windows anymore. But later, I rented a Caliber two more times (with power windows and keyless entry), and its styling and utility really grew on me. Not as inspired as a PT Cruiser, but a solid domestic small car.
8. 2003-2010 Ford Focus — probably the best-handling front-wheel-drive (which is almost all of them) rental car I have driven to date. Hands down my preferred rental car in the first half of the 2000s, especially the hatchbacks with their cool new-age, European styling. A second-generation Focus is less inspired style-wise but offers good economy and the one I got had satellite radio.
9. 2000 Vauxhall Corsa (England, by default of being the only 50-mpg European hatchback with a manual transmission I have driven. It even had a sunroof.)
10. 2008 Mazda 6: Handsome styling and sporty handling (though steering was surprisingly on the light side). It even had an manumatic gearbox (an automatic that could be shifted manually). Bland compared to the newer Mazdas, though.
11. 2008 Kia Optima: Somewhat elegant (though bland) styling on the outside. Attractive on the inside and very well put together. Manumatic gearbox.
12. 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt: The coupe looks great on the outside and drives well. Unfortunately the sedan is extremely bland. Interior is bland as well but at least as attractive as a Toyota Corolla’s.
13. 2003 Oldsmobile Alero: Pretty luxurious with nice ride and style. Of course, the Oldsmobile brand went to the grave shortly afterwards.
14. 1999 Dodge Neon: I really liked these in the late 90s, as they had spunk and character. Guess my standards were also a lot lower.
15. 2000 Buick Century: Elegant and surprisingly good fuel economy for a v6. They look particularly good in China (there are lots of them in dark colors out there).
16. 2006 Toyota Corolla: I’ve driven the last two generations now, and surprisingly, thought it was inferior to the G6 and Focus in every single way except for stellar fuel economy. But not a bad car, just bland.
17. 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier: Drove sportily but was otherwise unremarkable. Not terrible, though. I even slept in this one night at 11,000 feet before the Mt. Evans Ascent.
18. 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer: Super bland exterior and very ugly interior. It drove well, though, with good fuel economy.
20. 2005 Saturn LS: Despite its European roots, surprisingly bland.
21. 1998 Hyundai Excel: Hyundai has really come a long ways since that decade.
22. 2000 Ford Escort: Admittedly, part of my dislike for this was because my particular rental car was brown on the outside, camel-colored in the inside, and smelled like shampoo. Had windup windows too. Really felt like I was driving a econo-car (so I was).
23. 2001 Suzuki Swift (a.k.a. Geo Metro): The rented one I got had a manual transmission, but that and its superb gas mileage were its only redeeming qualities. Otherwise, everything else shouted “piece of crap,” including an interior that reminded me of the 1982 Honda Civic wagon I drove in high school and acceleration that was even worse!

Of the moving trucks I have rented, I have only rented two. One was a U-Haul Ford that, thankfully, I only had to drive six or seven miles as it was downright frightening. The other was a Ryder Isuzu that I drove 135 miles (to go to and from Denver to pick up a used leather sofa set), which was much better. Both were diesels, the latter achieving 12 mpg or so. I try to avoid renting moving trucks as much as possible as they are extremely cumbersome and expensive.

More photos are here.