Muscle car V8 rental in San Francisco

Muscle car V8 rental in San Francisco

Author
Discussion

ian2144

Original Poster:

1,665 posts

223 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
quotequote all
I have looked at both Hertz & Alamo, it appears they are unable to guarantee a V8 on booking, although the cars are on there website. The main point of our trip the the US is to sample a proper V8 muscle car and not a lesser V6.

Are there any othe rental companies in the SF area worth contacting?

ian2144

Original Poster:

1,665 posts

223 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
quotequote all
Saleen836 said:
Are you wanting to get out of SF for road trips or just use it to get around SF?
We have four days in SF without a car. Then a 10 day road trip Yosemite, Death Valley, then back up the PCH finishing in Santa Cruz.

ian2144

Original Poster:

1,665 posts

223 months

Thursday 30th March 2017
quotequote all
Now joined Hertz Gold members clubs. Maybe this will get me somewhere. But part of me still thinks there's an small independent rental company in SF or is that just wishful thinking.?

ian2144

Original Poster:

1,665 posts

223 months

Thursday 6th April 2017
quotequote all
Dodge Challenger R/T now booked with Hertz from their adrenaline section....roll on September, very much looking forward to this trip.

ian2144

Original Poster:

1,665 posts

223 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
quotequote all
After 4 days of sightseeing in San Francisco, we returned to the airport to pick our rental. With only a short wait at the Gold club desk, our pre booked Challenger R/T 5.7 Hemi was all ready to go.
I heard some of there high end motors had higher miles on them, but this one still had that new smell with just over 7k on the clock.
Well, what can I say. It ticked all the boxes for me for that genuine V8 experience, a big car, big sound, big boot(trunk) and big on comfort. If your looking for a sports car, best look elsewhere, but quick enough when required. It's a shame Dodge don't do a RHD version for us in the U.K. I'd have one for sure.
I was also surprised at fuel consumption, cruising on the highway at 65-70, 32 mpg registered on the readout, once onto the country roads it dropped back to 23-24 which is still great for what it is, even pushing it I never saw less than 20.
I'm glad I picked the Dodge instead of the Mustang or Camaro convertible versions of both were everywhere and most of them being the ecoboost or V6 models.
For that muscle car experience, the Challenger was spot on.



ian2144

Original Poster:

1,665 posts

223 months

Friday 6th October 2017
quotequote all
Polarbert said:
I recently had the opportunity to rent using hertz gold, and I booked a guaranteed V8 Mustang - I booked the exact model and everything. Turned up and they didn't have any. Ended up with an SLC250 instead which was nice but not at all what I wanted. Complete let down.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune regarding Hertz. Our Challenger was booked almost 6 months in advance, not sure if getting in early makes any difference. We were offered the Mustang Shelby Cobra, but at an extra $100 a day I declined.
As mentioned Mustang & Camaro convertibles are everywhere in California, in the 1800 miles we covered, only 7 Challengers spotted in that time. I did think of booking a Mustang as I'm planning on purchasing one in the near future, but the US spec is much softer from what I hear, so plumped for the Challenger as I'm unlikely ever to drive one in the U.K.