Looks like I have to make a trip to Jacksonville FL next week for work

[e90m3]

Need to visit our plant down there to set up a machine as part of a contingency plan. Anyways, this will result in me renting a car, so here's to hoping I get something better than a Versa this time.

[CB]

@e90m3 But have you considered the Nissan Versa?

[e90m3]

@cb I'm going to be apoplectic if I get another Versa. It was awful enough for a 30 minute drive, I don't want to imagine 5 hours. To think people actually spend their money on these detestable things.

[Highlander]

@e90m3 I had a 2019 Altima once, it was pretty nice. I wouldn't buy one tho.

[MisterButtercup]

@e90m3 have fun! Try not to get an Altima either. We rented one back in November, and it was like driving a video game. No feedback to the steering wheel or gas pedal, the whole thing sort of floated along. It was quick, I had to use cruise control for most of the trip so I didn't end up going way over the speed limit, but again, no real feeling of the speed

[e90m3]

@highlander I had a 2017 Sentra in 2017 and a 2019 Versa in 2019, both were pretty horrid.

[Highlander]

@e90m3 Maybe one of them new Mitsubishis?

[Albino Kangaroo]

@cb Agreed, Versa sounds like the best choice.

[e90m3]

@highlander As much as I like driving terrible cars for a short distance, a 10 hour trip in a Mirage is one of the circles of hell in Dante's Inferno.

[Tripper]

@cb got eem

[MM54]

I've got yet another work trip coming up as well, usually rent through National so I can at least pick from the aisle, usually enough to avoid the worst of the worst.

[ToniCipriani]

@e90m3 said in Looks like I have to make a trip to Jacksonville FL next week for work:

@cb I'm going to be apoplectic if I get another Versa. It was awful enough for a 30 minute drive, I don't want to imagine 5 hours. To think people actually spend their money on these detestable things.

Or maybe step up to the Intermediate (a.k.a. Sentra or similar). At least it has racing pedigree.

[Highlander]

@mm54 I've gotten some great cars from the emerald isle, and some shit ones too. If I'm not driving too far I like to get the perceived worst car available just to see what it's like.

[e90m3]

@tonicipriani Probably try and book an intermediate as it's in policy.

[MM54]

@highlander I've done that, both for "I am curious how bad it might be" and also because there are some shitty cars I'd rather drive than a crossover, which is becoming harder and harder to avoid.

[Highlander]

@mm54 A fiat 500 with an automatic transmission is currently at the bottom of my list. Nissan Rogue, Toyota Camry, Mustang, and Chevy Colorado are at the top.

[MM54]

@highlander I think a volvo S60 is about the nicest rental I've had in "normal niceness" (camaro SS, mustang GT, etc were pretty good but uncommon to find there), an automatic base-spec fiesta, versa/altima, and corolla are at the bottom for me.

[john norris]

@e90m3 So I've had about 30 trips to Jacksonville in the last 12 years, mostly with Avis rentals. I've found that that Avis is very good at having upgrades. That was all pre COVID of course. With reserving a full-size I managed to get a few BMW's, a Mustang, a few other big cars that I can't recall right now, and several SUV's. All those would otherwise cost a premium over the full-size, but I got them for the full size rate, which is usually only a couple of dollars a day more than a compact. I have pretty good status with Avis, but my batting average at other airports I believe has been much lower. I'd say it's worth the gamble.
(Edit, so maybe this is a don't care if you are renting and driving the rental to Jacksonville. Sorry for the wasted space.)

[DaveyD]

Obligatory Duuuuuvalllllll.

Hope you don't get a Nissan.

[e90m3]

@john-norris I like to rent from Avis, but I'm not sure what they're going to have in Greenville SC. They are actually who I like to rent from when it's for a personal rental.

[john norris]

@e90m3 I love Greenville. I work for a certain Aerospace Defense Contractor in the Atlanta area. We have a facility in Greenville too, so I've been there a ton of times in the last 25 years. The Greenville downtown has made such a great transition since I first started traveling there.

[e90m3]

@john-norris I've heard the same thing about the downtown. One of my good college friends is from here and she said you used to not go downtown, which is about what my fiancee said. I quite like it here.