Rental Car Roulette

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       It’s a nearly perfunctory ritual each week to hear from friendly Rita “Thanks Mr. Moss. Your rental car is in spot A82.” With keys in hand, I’m off.  I swiftly walk toward my designated parking space. I’m excited and slightly nervous. You see, the thrill and anticipation of which car Hertz is going to give me provides a lot of mind clutter as I wait for a plane to taxi to our terminal, or just trading in my car for a brand spanking new rental.  Could I look at the keys and see the make/model that they chose for me? Sure. That would ruin the suspense of the moment. Internal dialogue is always optimistic but cautious as I pace towards my spot. ‘Maybe Rita hooked me up today? She knows I like Volkswagens. They seemed to have lots of Jettas in the lot.’

      Its really just a guessing game of what you will get.  I’ve had highs and lows in my hundreds of rental experiences. During my first trip to Tulsa to check out the town and be introduced to my team, I sat in a Toyota Prius  the Tulsa Airport for I dare say 30 minutes trying to figure out how to turn it on. I ended up exchanging it for an Aveo. Another time they gave me a full sized mini-van. I wanted to offer to take kids to random soccer practices but that would have been creepy. Other times, you just get lucky. I’ve had a tahoe, a Volvo and a decked out Cadallac cruising though the Rocky Mountains. I’ve also been blessed with cars that I wasn’t sure if they needed to be wound up before leaving the lot. We are talking small cars here people.

Jeff and the Passat- a rental car winner

      Here are the awards for cars I have tried in rental car roulette:

Best Ever Rental: Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited Edition(Tulsa)- got to keep this baby for a week. Leather seats, sunroof…it was amazing! I took it down to OKC for a roadtrip with some friends (unlimited miles on our rentals) and we still talk about that cool Jeep.

Silver Medal for Best Rental: Toyota Solara convertible (Tucson, AZ)

Worst Car Rental: Ford Fiesta. Definitely not a party. I felt so big in it. Close behind is a Chevy Aveo. You just feel like less of a man driving an Aveo. Trust me.   

Worst Name for a Car Rental: Toyota Yaris. Sounds like a Japanese anime bug. Also, I’m fairly sure it’s a V-2.

Most improved car rental: Ford Focus and Fusion- Ford has come a long way in the past couple of years. I love the interiors of these two models.

Most “get out of my way” Rental: Hummer H3 (Little Rock, AR). I felt like I was driving a Panzer tank.

Most surprised liked rental: Kia SUV (Tulsa) - I can’t remember if it’s the Optima but its their SUV and it was a smooth ride and lots of bells and whistles I didn’t think Kia would offer.

Car I would buy after renting it: VW Passat. Love the feel of the road and the German engineering. I seriously may buy one after my Accord dies. 

Make it a great day!

Jeff