Hiring a mustang in California

[ant leigh]

Beefmeister said:

OwenK said:

Anyone ever had a new Dodge Charger? Think we will end up in Florida this year, really want a Mustang but just don't think it will happen, what with two small kids and two weeks worth of clothes.. Loved the look of the Chargers when we were last out there and I reckon a V8 one would scratch the itch nicely...

I drove a new shape V8 Charger for a day when I was in Miami in October. Really liked it, was a good, practical alternative to the Mustang/Camaros that everyone wants.

Had one in Texas/Oklahoma two months back as a hire car. Although not my kind of car it was the only option other than the even worse Ford Fusion.
Not impressed. Looked OK, handling was pretty dire, even by the other barges I have had in the USA.

[bolide]

This takes me back... Used to rent a Mustang on weekends when working in Nashville in the late 80s. A bit boaty but went well and made a great noise. As I recall it was a Mustang ES - I worked out it stood for Easily Sideways

Nick Froome

[gf15]

Steveo 3002,
How did you manage to get that rate for a vette?
On Hertz for 14th Sept to 28th Sept from San Fran (SFO) I get £1200.

Any help would be appreciated!

Best we can currently get is included with BA flights, which is £320 for a Mustang on top of flighs including insurance.
Cheers

[24lemons]

I'm finding a few reasonable looking prices but they all have the 'cant guarantee model' caveat. I'm wondering if we stick to a bigger company will we more likely to get what we want?

This is more stressful than I had imagined!

[V6Paul]

Just to be clear, the V6 models are all 'or similar' but the Hertz adrenaline range is all book this exact model. With a bit of luck they actually mean that!

[FurtiveFreddy]

One rule you have to adhere to. Never rent a V6 anything. V8 only.

[ant leigh]

24lemons said:

I'm finding a few reasonable looking prices but they all have the 'cant guarantee model' caveat. I'm wondering if we stick to a bigger company will we more likely to get what we want?

This is more stressful than I had imagined!

I had booked a BMW 328i on a trip to Detroit.
The 'or similar' that was left turned out to be a Hyundai people carrier of some sort.
I'm not sure the girl handing out the keys quite got the sarcasm.

[steveo3002]

gf15 said:

Steveo 3002,
How did you manage to get that rate for a vette?
On Hertz for 14th Sept to 28th Sept from San Fran (SFO) I get £1200.

Any help would be appreciated!

Best we can currently get is included with BA flights, which is £320 for a Mustang on top of flighs including insurance.
Cheers

512 on a vette for those dates..maybe get 10% off quidco

will pm you

Edited by steveo3002 on Friday 4th January 09:00

[Pablo16v]

Good luck, I really hope you manage to get the Mustang. My wife and I rented one for our 3 week honeymoon in California in ’99. It was the perfect car for the trip, and even better…..one of our chill out CD’s had a version of the Bullitt theme tune which came in very handy when we entered San Fran

[Captain Muppet]

FurtiveFreddy said:

One rule you have to adhere to. Never rent a V6 anything. V8 only.

Oh. Was I wrong to enjoy the 305bhp V6?

It was amusingly sideways, comfy, made a nice noise, was fun on mountain roads and used less petrol than my Elise (which was quite handy for a 3500 mile trip).

[steveo3002]

24lemons said:

I'm finding a few reasonable looking prices but they all have the 'cant guarantee model' caveat. I'm wondering if we stick to a bigger company will we more likely to get what we want?


This is more stressful than I had imagined!

hertz adrenaline collection...you get that exact car

others will all be similar so mustang may end up a sebring and so on

[24lemons]

steveo3002 said:

hertz adrenaline collection...you get that exact car

others will all be similar so mustang may end up a sebring and so on

My budget won't stretch that far I'm afraid

[CYMR0]

If you can't get a guaranteed model then Alamo/National let you choose your own car from the lot so if there is one, you can grab it.... it might mean waiting around the airport for a while though until one becomes available. Otherwise you can always ask the rental agent to give you a Mustang in preference, but if they don't have one then they can't help, no matter how much they'd like to.

Oh and there are some decent Hertz CDPs if you're after a Corvette. Amex Centurion holders (powerfully built company directors etc.) can get a Vette for £487 for a week in Vegas in September (vs. £610 without a code).

Try Mastercard, Visa, frequent flyer clubs, etc., to get those rates. Easily googleable to meet your circumstances.

[csampo]

brakes said:

I rented that car above on a trip to Denver. I think it was with Dollar - and was only around £60 more for the week compared with a 'compact' bog-standard hire car. 100% the best money I've spent on cars, I absolutely loved my time in the 'Stang. It's no performance car, mind, but it just seemed perfect for wafting around on America's huge roads, and everywhere I went, people would compliment me on it!

Yeah - seriously take a look at Dollar. As I said earlier, we paid about £350 all in for 10 days with a new (305 bhp) drop top Mustang. This seems quite a bit cheaper than some others are quoting here...

[surveyor]

CYMR0 said:

If you can't get a guaranteed model then Alamo/National let you choose your own car from the lot so if there is one, you can grab it.... it might mean waiting around the airport for a while though until one becomes available. Otherwise you can always ask the rental agent to give you a Mustang in preference, but if they don't have one then they can't help, no matter how much they'd like to.

Oh and there are some decent Hertz CDPs if you're after a Corvette. Amex Centurion holders (powerfully built company directors etc.) can get a Vette for £487 for a week in Vegas in September (vs. £610 without a code).

Try Mastercard, Visa, frequent flyer clubs, etc., to get those rates. Easily googleable to meet your circumstances.

I was looking at Hertz quotes the other day. The Visa CPD code put the price up, by a lot.

Hertz have 33% off if you book before the end of Jan.

[V6Paul]

csampo said:

brakes said:

I rented that car above on a trip to Denver. I think it was with Dollar - and was only around £60 more for the week compared with a 'compact' bog-standard hire car. 100% the best money I've spent on cars, I absolutely loved my time in the 'Stang. It's no performance car, mind, but it just seemed perfect for wafting around on America's huge roads, and everywhere I went, people would compliment me on it!

Yeah - seriously take a look at Dollar. As I said earlier, we paid about £350 all in for 10 days with a new (305 bhp) drop top Mustang. This seems quite a bit cheaper than some others are quoting here...

But its the V6 and not the V8, thus you can't reserve the exact model.

[steveo3002]

24lemons said:

My budget won't stretch that far I'm afraid

pm me what you want to spend and what dates ..i'll take a look for you

[FisiP1]

FurtiveFreddy said:

One rule you have to adhere to. Never rent a V6 anything. V8 only.

Not sure about the Camaro but the '11 onwards Mustang V6s are perfectly fine these days(nice modern engine and 305hp, practically the same as the '05-'09/'10 V8).

Obviously a V8 is better but its also a lot more expensive unless you get lucky with the upgrade.

[PanzerCommander]

This is what I got in the boot of my 06 GT (coupe):



To give it scale that is a standard size 5L screen wash container in the foreground and the flat grey box (in front of the silver kit box) is 26” long sat on top of the silver kit box in the middle. Additionally there were also two more shopping bags added to that after picking up the perishables on the way.

So it swallowed:
3 Air rifles
2 large holdalls
2 Rucksacks
5 standard size shopping bags
1 small kit box (pistol case)
Syrup pump for charging the rifles (flat grey box)
3 jackets
1 umbrella
Kit box
Night vision
Gun lamp box
Screen wash water (actually radiator top up distilled water)
Tyre compressor
Bag of bits (sponge, emergency screen wash concentrate etc.)
2 pairs of boots (normal combat boot type)
Cafetiere (I have to have good coffee)

So all in all a very practical car as long as you get the coupe rather than the convertible which cuts down on boot space considerably, though as others have posted the boot aperture is the Achilles heel, take large holdalls rather than cases (the Camaro has a smaller aperture than the Mustang) hire one and enjoy it.

Oh and it was another greatly enjoyed air rifle hunting trip

[FurtiveFreddy]

Captain Muppet said:

Oh. Was I wrong to enjoy the 305bhp V6?

Yes. Very wrong.

I'm sure the V6s are much better these days than the strangulated lawn-mower engines they used when I rented in the 80's and 90's, but c'mon buddy - when you're in the US of A, you really need the throbbing beat of a full 8 cylinders to form the bass-line of your holiday soundtrack.