Ok so here's some of the rental cars I've had throughout the years. This isn't everything as I haven't always taken pictures of my rental cars.
Disclaimer - I don't mean to offend anyone who owns any of these cars if I'm being critical. I go in to all my driving experiences with a fully open mind, and am honest about how I feel about them coming out of it.
In no particular order:
Car: Peugeot 107
Location: Santorini, Greece
This little Peugeot had a puny little 1.0L inline 3 motor mated to a 5 spd manual. Interior by fisher price. Despite all that, it was an absolute blast to drive - probably because of how light it was and how easy it was to just toss it around and zip through tight areas.
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Car: e92 M3
Location: Los Angeles, CA
My first time ever driving an M car and it lived up to the hype. I felt the power, the handling was excellent, and I just remember it being so solid. Definitely a fun experience. Interior wasn't the greatest, but it just didn't matter.
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Car: Jeep Wrangler
Location: Norfolk, VA
I had never driven a Wrangler before, and I know there's a huge following for them, so I decided to try it out. Holy shit this thing was awful. It was slow, loud, uncomfortable, and handled as if the engineers forgot to put a steering column in it and added one in as an afterthought. Even going in a straight line was a challenge. Unless you're doing some off-roading, I honestly can't understand why anyone would buy one of these things.
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Car: Mercedes GLC 300
Location: Chicago, IL
Took this car on a weekend trip up to Mackinac Island in the UP. It was surprisingly smooth and quiet for being a small SUV. Not the most exciting car but it was nice. The seats weren't super comfortable however.
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Car: Mercedes GLE 350
Location: Maui, HI
My wife wanted something comfortable for our Hawaii trip, so this was one of the more comfortable rental options available. It did its job well. Although the interior wasn't the greatest. Things did get interesting when I took this on the road to Hana. Pushed this big SUV to its limits on those narrow, windy roads
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Car: Chevrolet Camaro
Location: Orlando, FL
Ah yes... travelling before kids. This was the V6, so it wasn't super quick. But it still made a pleasant exhaust note and was still sort of fun. But WOW the visibility was non existent with the roof up. How this car is legal is beyond me. Felt like I was looking at the road through a straw. Also the interior was just downright awful.
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Car: Mercedes E43 amg
Location: Los Angeles, CA
This car was an absolute joy to drive. I'm not sure how to explain it or why, but it was just so much fun. I have fond memories from our week in LA driving this around. And on top of that, the interior was beautiful and comfortable. It may not be as fast as an m550i, but I'd take this E43 all day over that.
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Car: Tesla Model 3 long range
Location: San Diego, CA
This was my first time driving a Tesla. I was legitimately curious about the experience as I had at one point seriously considered the model 3 as a potential next car. I came away pretty disappointed. Aside from the instant torque, it offered nothing. There was no excitement or joy in the drive. It had 0 personality, and never had I felt more like I was driving a soulless appliance. To make matters worse, the build quality wasn't good - this was a brand new car and the wireless charging pad broke (like literally, it fell through the hole), and the interior was non-existent. I drove the model 3 performance and model S as well, and had similar experiences. At that moment I decided Tesla just wasn't for me. I'm willing to try it again but now with more tapered expectations.
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Car: Volvo S60
Location: Chicago, IL
This was a last second rental because I discovered a bubble in the tire of my 3 series, and my wife needed the X5. So while I waited for new tires, I drove this around. The seats were very comfortable, but other than that it was a very vanilla driving experience.
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Car: Lincoln MKX
Location: Denver, CO
This was a free "upgrade" from Avis. But an overall forgettable car... literally. Like I don't even remember what the interior looked like other than it was black.
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Car: Hyundai Accent
Location: Seattle, WA
I was in Seattle for a conference, and accidentally booked an extra night (whoops). So I had a free day, and decided to get a cheap rental and drive out to Mt. Rainier. I had experienced understeer before.. but on this day, pushing this little accent to its limits on the mountain roads through Rainier, I truly got to know understeer in its most extreme form.
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Car: Lexus ES350
Location: Norfolk, VA
We got a ridiculously good deal on this ES350, I think it was around $35/day (renting a corolla from a rental company was going for $90/day). So I figured why not. I've owned Lexus cars in the past - an 08 IS350 and a 10 RX350. This 2021 Lexus ES350 felt like it was stuck in time. Like the design was updated but the materials quality was stuck in 2010.
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Car: BMW X7 40i
Location: San Francisco, CA
Traveled with another couple and their daughter, so decided to rent a 3 row SUV... and decided to do it right. This was more or less identical in feel to our X5, just slightly bigger (and our X5 has a few additional options). I have to say though, I love the design of the X7, it has such road presence.
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