I had a whole tale ready to go (in my head, at least) about how a Dodge Charger rental surprised me because it was AWD, which I had no idea was a thing – I thought the whine coming from the front end was a bad bearing or something. (To be fair, it may have also been that.) I was also going to share how surprisingly fun the Chevy Sonic was, and how surprisingly wretched the first-gen Versa was, at least for me. Everything inside was granite-hard plastic, and every control felt like it was in the wrong position by three inches or more.
But who cares about my boring stories when Mercedes and Stephen (of Walter Gossin fame) have contributed much better-told tales of cars that surprised them, for better or worse? Onward!
Stephen
Better than expected: David’s old, black BMW i3. I had the opportunity to drive David’s BMW while visiting him two years ago for the L.A. Auto Show. I was blown away! The instant torque, the acceleration, the refinement of the chassis and suspension, along with the pleasant interior, were very much unexpected and impressive. Granted, I daily a 23-year-old Stratus Coupe and a 21-year-old Durango, so we should probably also take that into account here as the base level for what I’m used to. Nonetheless, I complimented my engineer buddy Dave-o on his fantastic automobile and walked away with quite the positive impression.
Worse than expected: My new-to-me SL500 (R230) Mercedes roadster. The car only has 67K miles on it, and in that span of usage, the following items have failed:
- Pneumatic locks
- Power top
- ABC suspension
- Heater control valve
- Center stack screen de-laminated
- Rear brake caliper seized (SBC brake system requires a special scan tool to bleed the replacement unit)
- Dash clock display
- Both door panels cracked
- Interior kick panel (under steering column) cracked and fell apart
- Rear defrost
- Water leaks in the trunk
This car cost $175K in today’s dollars and is probably the absolutely worst-designed out of any of the 157 cars I’ve had. I still can’t believe that Chrysler gets so much online community grief when my 250,000-mile, $400 Durango and my $220, 180,000-mile Stratus both keep chugging along every year – and this piece of luxury German engineering fell apart in 67K miles. Anecdotal, yes, but it still happened.
Mercedes
Better than expected: The Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. A Nissan crossover with a CVT is pretty much the exact opposite of the cars I normally roll in. Yet, the CrossCab has grown on me. I went from hating its existence to loving it. I hate the fuel economy, I hate the lack of storage space, and I hate how our example is not much quieter than just being outside. I get why Nissan sold barely more than 6,000 units. Who wants to spend nearly $50,000 for a crossover that’s overly complicated and only somewhat good at being a crossover?
Yet, drop the top, and none of that matters anymore. The CrossCab becomes the coolest car in a 50-mile radius. There’s something unforgettable about being in a unique, high-riding crossover with nothing but miles of sky ahead of you. Ours is even better with its lift kit and off-road tires. Sure, it still gets terrible gas mileage and has no cargo room, but you feel like a million bucks in a CrossCab.
Worse than expected: Volkswagen Passat TDI B5.5. I spent a few years of my life chasing down what I thought was the holy grail of wagons. Volkswagen once made a mid-size wagon with a powerful and efficient diesel engine. Some folks then go through the work to swap the car’s sole transmission choice, an automatic, for a VW or Audi manual transmission.
In theory, this is the enthusiast’s dream. It’s a German diesel wagon with a manual transmission! So, why was it surprisingly not so great to me? Well, once I drove a BMW, I realized that a mid-2000s Volkswagen Passat isn’t nearly the peak of German enthusiast car awesomeness that I thought it was. I found out that everything that I like about the Volkswagen, a BMW wagon does cooler and better. As my tastes then trended toward BMW, I then started seeing those older Volkswagen interiors as being sort of boring. BMW even sold diesels in America in the 2010s, and those have become my new diesel grails.
This sharp turn was wild to me. I have purchased four of those Volkswagen diesel wagons. Now, I don’t care about them. I don’t search for them on Facebook anymore and I don’t care when my wife shows me one for sale.
Your turn:
My (bad) surprise was a 2007 BMW 335i coupe. It was my dream car.
I did European Delivery on it – Montego blue, gray Dakota leather, 6MT, sport package. Was a dream to drive from Munich to Frankfurt, Brussels and Amsterdam.
It sat in a lot in Amsterdam for 6 weeks before they finally put it on a ship. It took over 2 months to get to LA.
Three weeks later the high pressure fuel pump failed.
Got it back from the shop (took 45 days), someone turned left in front of me and took out the corner of the front end.
Got it back from that repair, a week later someone rear-ended me on the 405.
Got it back from that, and a week later the replacement fuel pump died.
It got lemon law’ed.
An hour ago. I was very surprised by a Nissan Quasthingy, the driver is fine, the car is not. Mr.Christmas was pootling home in a sensible manner in a sensible vehicle, the sparkly lights did not obscure the thing, it is mahoosive and smokey and not the thing you drive inside of before a left hand turn. After some compications with policemen and the like I chugged home. It was a surprising car, and (there has been whisky since, it was very nearly really bad) my surprise Christmas present was quashing a qausqai whilst dressed as Santa Claus in a traction engine. So my most surprising car was…You guess!
… Impounded?
Loved my rental Kia Amanti and love my mother in law’s Ford Ecosport. Took it for a few months in the city and was excellent, peppy, comfortable
Dislike? Kia Soul and Polestar 2. Uncomfortable, underpowered, noisy
Also my 2011 Forester can go kick rocks
Also am still mad at my brother for selling the family Gen1 Nissan Murano w orange bronze interior + exterior. That car was a comfortable tank
Best color and best generation, design-wise. I remember seeing one in that color when they came out and going holy shit what is that and were do I get one?
Better: 91 Ford Escort GT. Small, fastish, lots of room.
Worse: 90 FORD SHO. Kept catching file and every part broke on it.
Huh, my ’94 SHO was bulletproof. I ran the hell out of that car for 5 years or so.
This one had a history, bought before Carfax was thing. Front end collision and fixed under the table. Also have ABS which was rare in the 90s and needed the shaft rebuilt.
Ahh, the Taurus itself was solid bones and the Yammahammer was sublime. I did the big timing belt and valve lash service on mine at 80k myself. Wish I had kept it longer, but lives change.
The R53 Mini Cooper S is supposed to be a fantastic hotish hatch, but I really haven’t gelled with it. The ride is way too hard, the interior quality is definitely lacking and the driving position isn’t good. The supercharger is fun, but the rest is a let down.
Better than expected: 2012 Nissan Versa sedan, 5MT. Honest, cheap transportation. Pretty horrid rubbery manual, but not offensive.
Worse than expected: 2015ish Nissan Versa Note, CVT. Fuck me that is the worst transmission ever forced upon the automotive world. Car was a fairly handsome little hatch, interior fitment was a bit of an upgrade over the 2012 I had driven, but FUCK that horrid little whiny bastard struggling to pull that tiny little hatchback has me sworn off CVT’s completely.
I was forced to rent a CVT Sentra in ’11 or so when the partner’s Corolla was in the body shop after a deer strike. After 5 miles I was DONE with it.
Later Altimas and such I have rented since have been better, but I shy away from Nissan at the rental counter if any Hyundai/Kia or Toyota product are available.
PT Cruiser. I was shocked that any manufacturer would build a car with such a horrible turning radius. Upon driving one the very first time, I said to myself “I hope I never drive one of these cars ever again in my life ever”.
You want a horrible turning radius, try a 03 Taco 4cyl. You would swear the truck was 40ft long. Truly bad for any pickup, let alone a small one.
Pleasantly surprised: my 2024 Model Y LR AWD in 7 seat configuration. Darn thing is a Tardis. Also surprisingly competent on twisty roads. Excellent commuter and road trip car. The touchscreen is no big deal. It’s right at hand, the necessary car info is visible with a quick glance, it responds quickly and has enough brightness to be readable in both summer sun while getting dim enough to not intrude at night. I get why some folks prefer buttons, though. Although in some ways an excellent screen is superior to poorly laid out buttons.
Worst: 2010’s Toyota Yaris sedan. It’s a car! Sure is. It’ll get from A to B while keeping the occupants dry. But wow, it’s a rough journey. Flat seats, buzzy little engine, neither transmission is good (dad has a manual and I rented an automatic a long time ago), terrible ride and it’s allergic to turning. Things are like roaches. Unpleasant little things that won’t die.
When the Genesis came out it shocked me when I had one as rental I had found out they were fast before that but it seemed leaps and bounds over anything they had done before in everyway. There are a few Chinese cars I drove around 2018 that really impressed me as far as it feeling like just as good as the European and American cars. I think byd tang and song were among the first I experienced. The most is the first gen Highlander hybrid I just got one because it was cheaper then a Prius and was incredibly impressed with how it drives and how quick they are I used to think they looked dumb but they are have aged incredibly well.
Basically every gm product I’ve driven in the last 15 years I’ve been incredibly disappointed in. Also various bmw and merc products of the same era that just feel like a gm now.
Better than expected: The current, outgoing Z4. I got it as a rental in Hawaii to get something moderately fun and my expectations were a soft roadster for a mid life crisis. Even in 4-cyl form, it was a legitimately good sports car. The B58 manual must be an absolute riot.
Worse: A Skoda Scala rental I recently tried in Australia. I’ve always liked VW’s cheap products in the past, but this thing was hateful. Decontented of everything you wanted but full of driver monitoring shit you hate. Horrific transmission tuning. It’s a far cry from the stick shift Polo I tried a few years ago, despite being on the same platform. What happened??
Later Hemi Challengers. Not something I would buy (unless I could have gotten a factory convertible with a 6spd), but a damned fun car to rent when somebody else is paying for the gas. Yeeeee-haw!
For me, I get rentals every now and then. Most are unsurprising. Like my last rental was a Tuscon. It was good, but not exciting, interesting, or annoying. My two stand outs are from rentals.
Surprisingly good. 2012 Mustang. I had driven Fox and SN95 Mustangs and didn’t like them. To me, the felt like pickup trucks with lighter bodies. The V6 versions were dogs and the V8s had more power than traction. When I got a 2012 Mustang V6, I expected to be unimpressed. But it handled well, even with that live axle, the engine had the right power with a personality switch depending on how far you pushed on the gas. Even a little detail about the fisheye section of the mirror working well in traffic was impressive. Overall, it was a much nicer car than I expected.
Surprisingly bad. 2018? Charger SXT. My wife explained to the rental car place I was a bigger guy and they gave me a Charger. I just never felt right in it. It was this weird combination of being huge and cramped at the same time. I thumped my head every time I entered and exited the car and it just never felt right at all. Add me getting something like 18-20 mpg and I just wasn’t happy with it at all.
I’ve had better rentals and worse rentals than these cars. I had a Honda Odyssey recently that I loved, but I drive a minivan all the time so expected to feel comfortable in it and able to do a lot with it. I had a Corolla recently which was unpleasant to drive with a broken screw in my back, which was expected.
It’s just that I expected the Mustang to be garbage and it was not and I expected the Charger to be roomy which it was not.
I don’t think I’ve driven enough vehicles–or enough markedly different vehicles–to have a strong opinion, but if I had to pick, I’d say the 250 horses paired with a touchy skinny pedal from a stop on my parents’ 2014 Sienna were a surprise. As someone who has mainly driven a 4.6l Econoline and now a Prius v, I’m not a fan of having to depress the pedal so slowly and carefully. The van and Prius were far smoother. If I want to start quickly from a stop in the Prius, I have to mean it. You don’t floor it by accident. Not so with the Sienna.
Still, it felt quite normal at highway speeds, and the rest of the interior seems incredibly well-thought-out. But if it somehow became mine, I would absolutely find some gadget to remap the throttle.
I have this gripe with my Mercedes E350 wagon. Historically, Mercedes had long-travel accelerators with an exponential gain to them. Very easy to pull away smoothly. Presumably in a sop to Americans (and the press who always complained about that “lazy throttle response”) who like to “feel the power” without actually flooring the pedal, the E350 is waaay too touchy. Baffles me that so many want to drive these sorts of things in “Sport mode” all the time for even MORE ridiculous throttle response. I want a “slow mode” so I can pull away smoothly – if I need to go fast I know how to floor the damned thing!
Sounds like the GR86. Throttle calibration is terrible. Tip in has too much opening too early and by about 70% of travel, the throttle is fully open. I had almost 1M miles driving a manual when I bought it and I felt more like a learner than I did when I actually was one (clutch was also terribly inconsistent and bad on feel, but luckily, that was fixed with a $10 spring and 5 mins of work). One would think finer throttle control that a more linear throttle that used the full length of pedal travel would be a benefit for a supposed track car. Reportedly, the BRZ throttle is better, so it sounds like this stupid front-loaded throttle is a Toyota thing. I wish remapping was easy, but it seems the easy solution, like the Pedal Commander are designed to make it even worse.
Most impressive car I’ve ever ridden in was the late 60’s/early ’70s Mercedes SEL a neighbor had when I was a child. I forget the engne badge number, maybe a 450? Every interior touch point was real metal, wood or leather. Built like a bank vault. Firm ride, not cloud like like his Cadillac.
Perhaps the most disappointing was the ’07 Chrysler 300 I rented. It drove well and ate the miles, but GAWD that hard plastic interior. It was at least 2 steps down in user experience from the ’00 300M I owned at that time.
At one point I owned a 2005 Ford Focus wagon with a manual. It died and I needed a rental.
I found a local independent rental place that was renting out a VW New Beetle from the early 2010s… it had the ‘half-a-lambo-V10’ 2.5L inline 5… the updated one that that made around 170hp.
Well in spite of the slushbox and having around 35hp more than my old manual Focus, it got the same fuel economy and sounded nicer and was much smoother.
I was impressed with that New Beetle… mainly for the engine.
Still not interested in actually owning a VAG product.
Another car that surprised me was the a 2010s Dodge Charger GT I rented… the one with the V6 and AWD.
Back then, it seemed to be common for people to say the Charger sucked in some sort of way… such as with handling.
But what I found was that Charger, even with the base engine, had plenty of power, was smooth and nice sounding and the handling was as good or better than some other cars that other people said was “better” than the Charger.
Clearly the people who dumped on the Charger never actually drove one.
The only real downsides to the Charger was that it was way bigger than what I needed and used 50% more fuel compared to cars like the Honda Fit.
But if you don’t mind spending a bit more on fuel and don’t need to worry about parking in tight spots in the city, the Charger can be a better/nicer/more stylish option than the majority of crappy small 3/4 cyl CUVs that than many mindlessly bought in the past (like the heap-of-shit Ford Ecosport in particular)
Back when the Ecosport was on sale it was only a little cheaper than a basic V6/RWD Dodge Charger. And in my view, most who bought the shit that was the Ecosport would have been better off in a base Charger V6 paired with a set of good winter tires for the winter in places it snows.
And one last surprise… from the early 2010s.. I rented a Buick Verano 2.4L at one point and subsequently rented a 1.4L turbo Cruze. The difference between them was surprising.
These cars were the same basic design on the same chassis with the same transmission with the same body style. Both felt solid. But the 2.4L in the Buick felt so much better than the 1.4L turbo in the Cruze. The transmission in the Chevy had to work hard constantly shifting to keep that 1.4 in the power band. The Buick was better and much more relaxed. Plus I recall that the Buick had some extra nice to have touches. ANND… they both got about the same fuel economy overall.
And in hindsight, the Buick buyer would likely have had a much better reliability experience as well.
Didn’t have any real positive surprises, maybe aside from figuring out how to tune around some still-unknown issue with my wastegate control.
Disappointment? Probably a brand new 5 series I had as a rental for a week. I can’t believe that thing is 60-70k. Comfortable, but the interior seemed on par with base level Hyundai/Toyota/Honda etc, and nothing really stood out about it. It wasn’t elegant, nor luxurious nor fast. It was fine for a rental but it’d be tough to justify new. The other disappointment would be a 430i convertible I had for a week. The main gripe was the auto stop/start with the mild hybrid system. It’d cut in and out at low speeds (like parking lots) suddenly and without ANY buffer, so you’d just cut out and then absolutely SLAM into gear again. I was told “they’re all like that’ but have a hard time believing that.
Any rental Chevy I’ve had in recent times. Sonic RS Turbo that I absolutely loved driving. A Cruze LT that rode like a much bigger car and was just comfortable in every way for me. A Malibu that I mostly liked except for the CVT which just never seemed to be in the ratio I wished it was. Everything else though…pretty nice and shockingly good fuel economy for such a big car.
Right before COVID, my mom picked up a base level Elantra on lease. Between the pandemic and her age, she rarely (if ever) drove it during the term. During that time, my son moved out of state, and needed a reliable, fuel efficient car. As the pandemic subsided and used cars (or any car for that matter) were commanding premium pricing. As my mom had completely stopped driving at that point, but was still paying at the tail end of her lease, I paid it off and bought the Elantra outright (much to the chagrin of the dealer who clearly wanted it on their used lot). It only had 350 miles on it at that point, and it was a screaming deal. With an engine tuned for economy paired to a CVT, I was expecting the worst, but during the 600 mile drive to deliver it to him, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did it get almost 50 MPG on the highway, but it was surprisingly snappy and nimble when needed. Certainly not a sports car by any stretch, but absolutely enough car for my son, and exactly what he needed in that stage of life.
On the other end of the scale would be the 2024 grand cherokee XE that I rented and discussed in another post recently. Well equipped and comfortable, but the hybrid drivetrain was janky and unsettling.
Had a 2025 Corolla for a rental. $45 a day. Not sure it was worth that. For another $10 a day could have had a RAV4.
I am 6′ 1″. Could not get in the car without bending my head at a bad painful angle. Even
then my head brushed the door frame!
Ok power but at what a price! Coarse engine that over revs due to the CVT any time you want some acceleration. I will never get used to a CVT. Sounds like the transmission is going out.
Road noise was bad over some roads…then add in some tire noise and I guess turn up the radio?
Some controls not intuitive anymore. Cruise control in the steering wheel. My classic Toyota lol has that nice little lever with a button on the right side of the steering column.
HVAC controls are a bunch of wee buttons on a row that even when lit at night require taking your eyes off the road. This is progress?
I think not. To top it off what happened to fun colors? Rental was a drab ugly dark grey with black wheels.
As I got back into my daily, a 04 Toyota Solara V6. I was reminded what a comfortable car is.
And what a good layout of controls is.
Granted it only gets 24 mpg on the highway but it’s paid for and is a nice silver blue metallic.
With a fold down back seat can still haul lots of stuff. I have owned over 100 cars so far on my lifetime and Old Blue has been one of the best.
My advice if you’re thinking about buying a new car is to rent one for a couple days. Make sure it’s a car you want to live with.
Good advice, I always approach rentals as auditions. Sometimes it opens up possibilities for cars that I wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
I bought both a Fiat 500 and a 2-series BMW after having them as rentals. Albeit in Abarth and M235i spec not the base models I rented.
Much love for the old Toyota cruise control dongle.
Best surprise…a rented first gen Hyundai Genesis sedan with the V8. It was smooth, refined and just ate miles like a champ. The rental alone might have inspired my purchases of not 1 but 2 S6s with the TTV8s. The world is a better place with more V8s in it.
Worst surprise…a rented 2023 Miata RF. It just felt gutless with the auto. Granted, it could have been ragged out as it did have 41k rental miles, but I just didn’t like it at all. Before you accuse me of being a Miata hater, I bought a 2001 Miata SE the day I graduated college.
Kids, don’t be like me and buy a car before you get your paycheck from your first post-college job (Enterprise-what a horrible job). This was still the highest car payment I’ve ever had, and it was a rough road to get out of the borrowing cycle into actually having some money nearly 25 years later.
I’m pretty sure the automatic Miatas are intentionally bad
> The world is a better place with more V8s in it.
Truth
Best surprise – first-gen Nissan Juke. As a rule, I despise anything with a CVT, and crossovers as a form factor. But I’ll be damned, it was a peppy fun car to drive, which I’d guess is from it’s small size compared to many other crossovers, and it’s oddball bug-eyed visage made me endeared to it’s looks, unlike all the other egg-car crossovers around. Felt and looked fun, which I absolutely did not expect.
Worst surprise – Chrysler 300. I’d rented one for a lengthy road trip, thinking it would be comfortable and easy to drive in, but boy was I wrong. Everything in the car was sized for someone apparently a foot wider than I am (and I have never been accused of being thin), making it wildly uncomfortable to sit in for long periods. On top, it was huge and anemic to drive, and it took me solidly 30 minutes to figure out how to open the fuel filler flap the first time. Turns out, its a tiny semi-hidden button in the door card. Why a button and electronics needed to be involved in that action I’ll never know, but I’ve felt bad for anyone I see driving one around anytime since.
I didn’t love it, but when I was forced to drive my daughter’s ’07 PT Crusier, I was surprised that it was a decent driving little car with a quirky interior and tons of cargo room with the seat down. I went from hating those cars with a burning passion to respecting them for being interesting.
That said, that car has the turning circle of the RMS Titanic.
PTs are going to do nothing but get less common and more cool with the kids from this point on out.
But unless you can clone yourself, they’ll turn to rust before they achieve terminal coolness.
Best surprise: a 1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport. It is still the only car I have ever had to buy under duress or on a deadline – this was early 2006, and I had gone through a messy break up of a long-term committed relationship, and found myself needing both a new place to live and a car at the same time, since we had gone down to a one-car household and the car was hers. It’s still the only time I’ve ever had to buy some kind of car by sundown, and make a quick decision. I went to a well-established local used car dealership with lots of online four-star reviews that had been in business for generations, and they had a handful of XJ Cherokees on the lot. I’d had friends who drove them, and I liked them, and I was looking for something solid with some cargo space that would haul drums or other music gear. This one had 117k miles, and we shook hands at $4,100.
I expected that I would keep it for a year or so, get tired of it, and get something else. It ended up being the car I have owned and driven the longest in my life – I kept it for seven years. Super reliable, handled like a dream for something that was also the most capable off-road vehicle I’ve ever owned, and the 4.0 made it quicker than it had any right to be (or at least made it feel that way). I only got rid of it because I had a new sales job that required something more economical to drive around in, and it had also crested 200k miles and was beginning to nickel and dime me to death. I sold it cheap to a friend of a friend who was starting his life over after getting out of the joint. I’m pleased to say that today, he is happily married with kids and his own business, and still has my Jeep around as his lifted mud toy. (I replaced it with a 2006 Scion xA, which was not only another pleasant little surprise of a car, but amazingly, with some careful packing, would swallow up my entire seven-piece drum kit, hardware case, and hand truck, while still leaving room for a front seat passenger.)
Worst surprise: the 2015 Fiat ProBastard (some of you may call it the Ram ProMaster – that is incorrect) bought new and foisted on me by my employers at my next job after that, as a replacement for our aging Dodge Sprinter vans. Not only were the driving dynamics terrible, especially the “manumatic” transmission that could never either find the correct gear at the right RPM nor let you choose it with the stick, but the door latch on the rear barn doors broke within two weeks. You know, not being able to open the rear doors on a delivery vehicle kind of cramps your style.
My boss asked me what I thought of it. I told him that if they wanted a second replacement, they should either buy a Freightliner or Mercedes Sprinter, or a Ford Transit, or spend the same amount of money on a frame off nut and bolt restoration of one of the ones we already had, because any of those three options would be a better truck than this piece of crap. His response was to buy a second ProBastard.
Fiat and their non-conventional automatics always seem to be a problem, can’t say I’m surprised about that.
I’m more surprised someone actually wanted to invest the money into a diesel Ducato over here! Guy must be a tad bit psychotic lol
My ’24 GMC Terrain has been a very pleasant surprise, even thought I thought it was an Envoy for my first week of rental. I drive for work, about 1000 miles/week, and it’s the car that just soaks up those miles with a minimum of drama. I have plenty of room for my tools and it’s a comfortable highway cruiser. It fits perfectly into the niche of A-B transportation. Unfortunately, I still don’t know what an Envoy is so I still don’t know why I got them mixed up.
Had one of those as a rental. Liked it. Comfortable, fairly solid and refined. A little bit of old school charm to the dashboard when everyone’s going full-bore on the screens.
I drove a 2019 GLC in Hawaii. We weren’t driving enough to go for the Jeep or convertible pick, and the Bronco Sport we ordered fell through, we got the best car we could find for the price.
And it was way nicer to drive than I ever expected. Acceleration was smooth and it was quicker than I would’ve expected. It also had very comfy seats.
I think I’d die of boredom driving anything without a manual, but it definitely has me second guessing myself.