Hire car in Florida
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Sutton

Original Poster:

1,766 posts

290 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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Been here a few days now, lovely relaxed holiday in a lush hotel.

Sadly spoilt (a little) by the hire car. We pre booked a "Mustang Convertible or equivalent". In Las Vegas it was a Camaro rag top. Great stuff! biggrin


In Florida? Well, not quite the same, I give you the Chrysler 200. rolleyes







Apparently it has a 3.5 V6. It has an awful auto box obv with seemingly no power. You can measure the gear changes with a calendar and oil tankers react quicker to steering inputs.

It fogs up inside with the aircon on and the front right tyre now has a slow puncture. Not quite what I'd imagined it would be.

Maybe I was lucky last time, but I'd hardly call this a Mustang equivalent.

Edited by Sutton on Monday 11th August 02:49

HD Adam

5,155 posts

213 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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No, it's not a Mustang equivalent.

You've had your pants pulled down.

Viper

10,005 posts

302 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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getting the car you want this time of year is pretty much impossible

C997

644 posts

195 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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I've been looking at hire cars in Florida for later in the year and believe it or not, some of the companies quote the Chrysler more expensive than a Mustang! Last time I hired in Miami, Alamo took me down to the car park and gave me the choice of about 30 Mustang convertibles.

HenryJM

6,315 posts

158 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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A basic Mustang really isn't a great car, to describe this as equivalent is fair. Of course the Mustang goes up from there to the Shelby GT500 which is another beast entirely, at twice the price.

tleefox

1,119 posts

177 months

Monday 11th August 2014
quotequote all
HD Adam said:
No, it's not a Mustang equivalent.

You've had your pants pulled down.
It's fairly common knowledge in the tourist areas of the States that unless you specifically pay for a guaranteed Mustang you will get one of these.

Only time I've had a Mustang without paying was at Tampa through Budget who are owned by Ford so tend to have more of them in stock than other hire companies.

AntiguaBill

321 posts

247 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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We were really lucky in March, they only had one left... It was brand new and hadn't been prepped but they let us have it. 24miles on the clock and we gave it back with over 1200. I loved it, made the whole trip so much more special than having a Chevy spark or even the Sebring 'equivalent'. It was by no means fast (buy fast enough), but very comfortable for all that driving. Best bit was the drive in cinema to watch the need for speed, a movie about a mustang, whilst Sat in a mustang, roof down all night.

HenryJM

6,315 posts

158 months

Monday 11th August 2014
quotequote all
tleefox said:
Only time I've had a Mustang without paying was at Tampa through Budget who are owned by Ford so tend to have more of them in stock than other hire companies.
Budget are owned by Avis who are quoted on NASDAQ

LP670

910 posts

155 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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Was this from orlando international airport? And which rental company?

Coldfuse

518 posts

223 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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You don't want a convertible in Florida anyway, the potential for tropical like downpours every few moments is really high.

My parents rented one last year in miami to drive to the Keys and they never took the roof down because it was either too hot or too wet.

The Moose

23,677 posts

238 months

Monday 11th August 2014
quotequote all
Coldfuse said:
You don't want a convertible in Florida anyway, the potential for tropical like downpours every few moments is really high.

My parents rented one last year in miami to drive to the Keys and they never took the roof down because it was either too hot or too wet.
This time of year, it's lovely in the mornings and evenings in a cabriolet cloud9

uuf361

3,168 posts

251 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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The Chrysler 200 (or anything in the whole range) are pretty poor in my experience - they all have a vibration around 65 (but it's a feature of the cars, Sir), generally feel slow and not a nice place to be (probably excluding the much higher up models than you get in a normal rental car).

I now actively avoid anything Chrysler picking from the parking lot when collecting a rental car.

But in Florida, a convertible can be nice- I was there in early June and had the roof down every day, and didn't get wet once.

Coldfuse

518 posts

223 months

Monday 11th August 2014
quotequote all
The Moose said:
Coldfuse said:
You don't want a convertible in Florida anyway, the potential for tropical like downpours every few moments is really high.

My parents rented one last year in miami to drive to the Keys and they never took the roof down because it was either too hot or too wet.
This time of year, it's lovely in the mornings and evenings in a cabriolet cloud9
I've no doubt, but i personally would prefer a solid roof in the same situation. I rented a prius (not on purpose) last time i was there and it was fine especially in the pouring rain.

S3_Graham

12,835 posts

228 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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I had a camaro convertible when I was there in dec, for the second part of our stay They had nothing but a 2.5 focus. spent all day trying to get a mustang with no joy - beats sun bathing though right?

The Moose

23,677 posts

238 months

Monday 11th August 2014
quotequote all
Coldfuse said:
The Moose said:
Coldfuse said:
You don't want a convertible in Florida anyway, the potential for tropical like downpours every few moments is really high.

My parents rented one last year in miami to drive to the Keys and they never took the roof down because it was either too hot or too wet.
This time of year, it's lovely in the mornings and evenings in a cabriolet cloud9
I've no doubt, but i personally would prefer a solid roof in the same situation. I rented a prius (not on purpose) last time i was there and it was fine especially in the pouring rain.
It would be boring if we were all the same!

jamiebae

6,245 posts

240 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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You can buy them out here with a Lancia Flavia badge on them, available brand new for about £15k!

http://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/lancia-flavia-cabri...

Still wouldn't have one though!

Serin

115 posts

230 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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This is not good news, I shall be renting my first ever car when I venture to Florida early next year and was wanting to get something a little more fun then the Chevy Spark or whatever I should probably get.

I finally managed to find a company who quoted with all the applicable insurances included and was going to go for Mustang or Similar.
I tried to convince myself the 200 wouldn't be dreadful if I was stuck with one, but this has put paid to that!

Heres hoping I can luck out into a Mustang or Camaro

youngsyr

14,742 posts

221 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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I have rented cars in various states, including Mustangs a couple of times and I would caution against getting too excited about them - they look good (to English eyes) and do the job of getting you from A to B, but they are pretty poor driver's cars - not powerful, vague steering and wallowy suspension.

Same with the Dodge Charger.

I'm always tempted to upgrade to the Hertz Penske GT or Corvette, but always baulk at the cost and the thought that nice weather is wasted if you're sitting in a hard top. paperbag


XAF

131 posts

239 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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I may need to delete myself fom Pistonheads, I didn't think the Chrysler 200 was a bad ragtop when I hired one! Don't get me wrong, it's not a Mustang, but I didn't think it was terrible at all.

Saleen836

12,503 posts

238 months

Monday 11th August 2014
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I fly into Miami in a couple of weeks where I will be collecting the V8 Camaro that I booked! biggrin