What's the best holiday hire car you've had?

[Accelebrate]

This was a welcome upgrade from an A Class as I had some big miles to do:

[lamby]

Booked a Small BM from Sixt... got there they asked what flight I came in on (Etihad) ah sir we offer good upgrades, would you like to pay £62 to go up 14 levels? Ok.. whats that ... Mercedes E300 CONVERTABLE... Ok then... made for a great trip down from Manchester to shrewsbury, then down to Cardiff for the rugby world cup,a dn it was sunny!. Also enjoyed a little Audi A1 S-line... nippy little thing,... S1 must be a hoot...great on the country roads!!

[sjabrown]

DamnKraut said:

Now this is an unusual suggestion.

Best fun I had was in 15 or so year old Nissan Bluebird when travelling through New Zealand. It was a budget rental (15 quid a day or so) from a local rental car company where the guy at the rental car office just marked "scratches all over car" in the protocal and told me to bring it back in one piece.

Drove it in a not so gentle manner which showed after a few days when a stone chip in the windscreen developed to a full blow crack... so much for chassis rigidity

So much more fun driving an old bucket then a brand new 30k car where the rental car company is picky about every little scratch.

Here's a pic of the Nissan:

WOW. Deja vu!! The reg on that wasn't BBJ 839 was it?

Had same in NZ (Quality-rent-a-car in ChCh), brakes failed on one which then ended through a fence and I rolled the replacement.

[Shnozz]

Warmfuzzies said:

C7 Corvette. Two weeks in May this year, Orlando destination. $728 all in. Superb.

Edited by Warmfuzzies on Sunday 26th June 18:09

Who was that hired through?

[spirocheter]

Mustang 5.0 convertible hired downtown San Francisco for driving the Pacific Coast Highway / Big Sur.

Only problem, was that time I accelerated, you couldn't hear the V8 above my wife giving me an ear bashing!

In true, build quality was poor!

[fatboy b]

Same here in GT-H guise in San Fran too...



Then this pulled in behind us - which was nice.

[Dale487]

Timfy said:

Only ever bothered once (normally actually enjoy the challenge of trying to use foreign public transport or just get taxis everywhere) and it was absolutely epic- a knackered 1.2 Fiesta not far from the end of it's life as a hire car.



At least the air con still worked well though.

Going to hire a bike next Cyprus trip (probably a cruiser type thing.) to go exploring on my own a bit instead as I'll be with extended family and we'll only have a people carrier between us.

Edited by Timfy on Monday 27th June 08:46

We got the same type "well used" Fiesta whilst in Kefalonia - I was disappointed we didn't get the class A we'd paid for (isn't that the fun of a hire car?).

The first & only time we've hired a car on holiday.

[Hodge4ever]

rallycross said:

Toyota GT86 from Herz in Auz.
4 days and 1.000 km later I was left unimpressed by the Gt86 which I was expecting to love but was frustratingly gutless.

Sums up my experience perfectly!

To make matters worse I didn't find out how to completely turn off the TC until I got home.

[RizzoTheRat]

Crap cars can be fun too though, I had a rental Corsa on work some years back. After the first day following an army Landrover out across Otterburn ranges they were happy to let me come and go on my own. Otterburn range is basically the Kielder Forest the other side of the main road from the well known bit, complete with all the gravel tracks. Car looked a bit dirty when I handed it back

[JulianCharity]

As an expat I enjoy blagging an upgrade for an extra few quid when traveling back to the UK. Brand new Jaguar XE with delivery miles last Christmas. Lovely. A favorite was actually a Merc SLK diesel, perfect for last summer and London traffic, not bad for "Fiat 500 or similar".
Last upgrade was a Merc E class diesel, which was awful and was hardly worth the extra £20 for the day!

[Shotaro]

I rented a Fiat 500 in Tuscany a few years ago, it was underpowered being only a 1.2 and struggled up the hills but around the bends and downhill it was a great little car, it's not something I'd ever buy with my own money but rallying around Italy in something not much bigger than a shoe left a grin on my face and I honestly missed how light and nimble it was when I flew back and got in my E46 M3 which seemed so heavy and large at the start of my drive home

[Thomo97]

I fly in and out of Geneva a lot and generally book something Fiesta/Polo sized. Have been upgraded fairly frequently to Octavia 4x4, Audi Q3 type things but best ever was a Vauxhall Astra VXR (or more accurately Opel Astra OPC). It was an absolute hoot on the mountain roads. The suspension nearly shattered my spine and my usual circuit of various ski resorts took two tanks of petrol rather than the usual half a tank of diesel. No idea what it was doing on the Avis fleet and haven't seen anything similar there since.

Edited by Thomo97 on Wednesday 29th June 09:27

[DamianQS]

Previously had a selection a terrible gutless hire cars Daewoo Ypselion was comically bad in Italy (you would think a small fiat).

I am going on my Minimoon (hate that phrase)in Scotland in September .I was looking at hiring an F-Type S from Glasgow Airport for 3 days I have not bitten the bullet yet but I am very tempted.

[Burwood]

I hire a car when in Spain (2 cars in fact) so just order up the economy version because they are only used to go to the supermarket. The last one was 65 euro for 2 weeks which is dirt cheap . A new Fiat 500L with a whole 95hp. I didn't think they made cars as bad as this any longer. An absolute POS. It even did 31mpg, probably because you had to thrash the nuts off it.

[MantaMike]

we hired a Camaro SS drop top, the full fat 6.2 V8, for our honeymoon trip from Long Beach to San Francisco along the PCH. Hired through Hertz, loved driving it!

[Muzzer79]

Fiat 500

Tuscany Hills

Matt Munro on the stereo.

OK it was no Miura, but it was a lot of fun.

[Shnozz]

Camaro was also my choice in Toronto last summer...

[littlebasher]

Being that I've only ever rented a Citroen AX & Seat Ibiza

I'll go with the AX !

[ka90]

Nothing very exciting- XC60 in Germany. Was a nice upgrade from the UP I originally booked. Comfy place to sit with lots of toys. Little wide on some of the German country roads, especially with the large drops.

[mikester29]

Has to be the F- type in Nice last year


or 640d convertible I took to St Tropez