USA Road Trip Car Hire

[FarmerJim]

We are considering a trip to the USA next Summer probably San Francisco, down the west coast, over to my cousins near Palm Springs, over to the Grand Canyon, then back north to Mammoth Lakes, Yosemite and back to SF.

Travelling four up plus luggage. My thoughts are that only a proper American car will do for this, so considering something like a Chevrolet Tahoe, complete with 5.3 V8. The 'gas mileage' will be poor, but fuel is cheaper over there.

Anyone with any recent experience and useful advice? The last time I did a similar trip was back in 1995, when we hired a Lincoln Town Car.

[outnumbered]

That must be a couple of thousand miles, so at 20mpg let's say 100 gallons at $5.60 per gallon = $560. So you wouldn't be saving much by using a more economical car, compared to the costs of the rental, hotels and everything else.

[Muzzer79]

I agree that you should have a large SUV, but focus on the size, rather than it being American.

Also, this maybe very un-PH-like, but I wouldn't give a stuff about the engine either - it's a hire car......who really cares?

We did Vegas > LA > SF a couple of years ago. Got a new Ford Explorer, it was perfect. No idea what was under the bonnet

[Freakuk]

We went to Colorado and LA last year. It was supposed to be a road trip, but because we were dropping the car off in a different location the surcharges were more than the rental, so did a week in Colorado and flew to LA, cheaper than the charges.

[Before the music stops]

I've done lots of US road trips in a variety of cars.

Washington DC to LA via route 66, Grand Canyon and San Diego - in a Maserati Ghibli (actually two, as I blew the first one up halfway through).
Seattle to Boston via Canada and Detroit - in a Volvo Xc90
Boston to Miami via Manhattan and Charleston - in a Mustang Convertible
San Francisco to Vegas via PCH and LA - in some form of wobbly convertible

and so on....

on a couple of occasions I have booked a big US suburban like you mention, but as soon as I arrive at the airport, I am confronted with a line of 'shiny things' and end up upgrading.

Next year, I am planning Vegas to Seattle via Oregon which should pretty much complete most of the US states. Need to try a Corvette this time around.

Enjoy!

[Typhoo]

Muzzer79 said:

I agree that you should have a large SUV, but focus on the size, rather than it being American.

Also, this maybe very un-PH-like, but I wouldn't give a stuff about the engine either - it's a hire car......who really cares?

We did Vegas > LA > SF a couple of years ago. Got a new Ford Explorer, it was perfect. No idea what was under the bonnet

We did this same trip in 2019. Picked the car up in Las Vegas and left it at their place in San Fransisco.
We pre booked a large SUV from Enterprise to carry 4 adults and a lot of luggage ( Daughter got married in Vegas )
At the desk I said I was hoping for the FBI look, the fella said "We've got you an Armada" I said "I only need one !"
I know it's not what people think of as American but I believe the engines are.
First V8 l'd ever driven,sounded bloody great when you put your foot down

[sideways man]

I did an organised tour in 2014; San Francisco-Vegas and back in a Corvette C7.
28 mpg when cruising, and a noise like thunder when it wasn’t! Just a fab thing, I can totally understand why the Septics love ‘em

[5lab]

None of the big vendors will guarantee you the car when you book, however if you land at a big airport most will have over 100 cars in the lot. Avis and hertz (maybe others) both have schemes where if you're a (free) member you can just pick any car from a section of the lot if you have paid for a full size car (might be a category down, can't remember). If you want something even bigger, you can blag/pay for an upgrade.

A lot of the big body-on-frame SUVs are fairly miserable to drive, for that milage I'd try to pick something with autonomous driving (the caddy system is meant to be great)

If they're still on the fleet next year I'd go for a challenger. Plenty of room for 4 full adults and luggage.

[raspy]

5lab said:

None of the big vendors will guarantee you the car when you book, however if you land at a big airport most will have over 100 cars in the lot. Avis and hertz (maybe others) both have schemes where if you're a (free) member you can just pick any car from a section of the lot if you have paid for a full size car (might be a category down, can't remember). If you want something even bigger, you can blag/pay for an upgrade.

A lot of the big body-on-frame SUVs are fairly miserable to drive, for that milage I'd try to pick something with autonomous driving (the caddy system is meant to be great)

If they're still on the fleet next year I'd go for a challenger. Plenty of room for 4 full adults and luggage.

That's not quite true. I rent a lot with Hertz in the USA at various airports, and even if I look for booking a car in September from SFO, they guarantee the following models of cars if you book them;
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model Y
Polestar 1
Shelby GT-H Fastback

Oh and I just checked Sixt for SFO next month and they guarantee the following models;
BMW 5 series
Cadillac Escalade
Range Rover Sport

Edited by raspy on Saturday 26th August 09:50

[Bobupndown]

On our 3 trips to Florida we've hired big v8s,
Dodge Durango, Ford Grand Expedition and a GMC Yukon. Great big luxury 4x4s. On a road trip which would just be 2 of us I'd fancy something like a Dodge Charger but a convertible would be nice to on the West Coast.

[Truckosaurus]

The big engined cars seem to average decent MPG as these days they have fancy ECUs that run them on 4-cyls when pottering around, plus they all have a million gears so cruise along barely over tickover.

I was over there a couple of weeks ago, the Avis lot seemed to have a load of the new Jeep Wagoneers which look nice.

[MikeM6]

If I was doing the trip, I'd be keen to get something that you can't get (or wouldn't get) in the UK and take that opportunity whilst it's still there.

I was waiting to see if there was any mention of what would happen to Penny on the way back.

[bobtail4x4]

we did a similar trip pre covid,
had to be a mustang convertable

an extra $50 a week over a standard car

[Whistle]

We did 4500 miles last year on a road trip on a Chevrolet Malibu, 4 adults.

We had 1 large case and 3 x hand luggage cases and a couple of small is rucksacks. They just about fitted in the boot.
Not sure what engine was in it but it was pretty gutless.

Overall it managed 44 mpg, better than I expected seeing as leaving Death Valley over the mountain range at 48 degrees it was getting 8 mpg for about 1/2 an hour.

[mcmigo]

I have hired a couple of the full size SUVs including the Nissan armada mentioned earlier. They are absolutely awful cars. They are massive, slow ( despite a v8) and drive terribly: the only redeeming feature is the back seats are remarkably comfy and roomy for the kids. The last time I hired one I would have swapped my right arm for a plain poverty sped diesel golf after a few days.

I would go for a smaller SUV or a saloon. A mustang is fantastic but has a small boot so you will struggle for space :

[TriumphStag3.0V8]

I have done several trips in the US.

Hired a Charger on the Canadian side of Niagara falls, crossed into the US and drove it around the Buffalo area.


In LA - Hired a Mustang, which was fun, but we were mostly driving around the LA area so generally was sitting in traffic. Would have been much better for a road trip.


Then flew to Maui, where we were a little more boring and hired a Mondeo, did the road to Hana in it.


Flew on to O'ahu and mostly used busses/taxis, but did hire this for a few hours (Polaris Slingshot) and had a blast on the roads south of Honolulu. It was mental, hilarious and terrifying all at the same time, and fecking expensive to rent .


A few months later, had a free weekend whilst working in Miami. Hired a cheap car to drive along the overseas highway to Key West. It was a Chevy Impala.


That same year, was at a conference in Connecticut, work paid for the hire car. Late flight in, not much left at Boston airport so ended up with a Kia Optima. Was pleasantly surprised by it, Weirdly all the hire cars left in the lot had Florida plates on them (including this one).


Couple of years later, 5 of us went Skiing in Vermont (flew into JFK, drove to Killington, stopping to visit friends in New Haven). Hired a Chevy Suburban/Tank, which had semi autonomous driving which took a bit of getting used to. Had to drop off in Manhattan (as we were doing a few days in NYC after skiing). Was "interesting" trying to drive that on some of the back streets and in parking garages in Manhattan.


Surprisingly good for doing doughnuts in snowy car parks though (* ahem * so I have been told).

Going to Florida later this year, a few days planned in Miami - have booked a Challenger (the young, irresponsible me won out on this one), will then fly on to the Bahamas for a few days before coming back to Miami and driving down to Key West. The old, sensible me won out for the second leg and we have booked a Chevy Malibu (or similar!) - 45 mph speed limit all the way down through the keys.

Long and short, I enjoyed driving every single one of these cars in the US. OP - whatever you hire, you will enjoy it. The cars are nice, the roads are good and the fuel is cheap. If you are not in a major city like NYC, Miami or LA, the traffic is not bad either. I would recommend the Suburban personally. Large, comfortable, easy to drive (once you got used to it trying to steer itself) and lots of space for four up plus luggage.

Edited by TriumphStag3.0V8 on Saturday 26th August 16:11

[Matt Harper]

5lab said:

If they're still on the fleet next year I'd go for a challenger. Plenty of room for 4 full adults and luggage.

I beg to differ. Rear accommodation is only suitable for small kids or amputees. A lengthy roadtrip in the back of a Challenger/Camaro/Mustang would be purgatory for a normal sized adult. Charger, on the other hand, is a lot more bearable.

[durbster]

Whistle said:

We did 4500 miles last year on a road trip on a Chevrolet Malibu, 4 adults.

We had 1 large case and 3 x hand luggage cases and a couple of small is rucksacks. They just about fitted in the boot.
Not sure what engine was in it but it was pretty gutless.

Overall it managed 44 mpg, better than I expected seeing as leaving Death Valley over the mountain range at 48 degrees it was getting 8 mpg for about 1/2 an hour.

I hope it was better than the 2012 model we had when we did our 1,500 mile US road trip. I wanted something American but didn't want to use the trip's budget on something exciting, so ended up with a Malibu.

I think it is possibly the worst car I've ever driven.

[A.J.M]

A mate and I used this Ford Expedition for pretty much the same road trip. With the 3.5 eco boost v6 engine.

We flew to San fran.
Went to Napa for a few days, then down the pacific coast highway stopping in Monterey bay, then Santa Barbara then La, followed Route 66 to Vegas.
Went to the Hoover dam and the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
Then back through Death Valley, furnace creek and Dante’s view.
Stayed in Beatty then mammoth lakes then back to Napa.

Great car and decent mpg for the size of the car, we were getting about 20ish average with better on highway.
We did about 2000 miles and the space and comfort was very welcome.

[CABC]

some posters talking about Mustangs and Chargers, but were they V8s?

I'm also looking on how best to rent a fun car for a US trip. In recent years it's become more difficult as the main airports are stocking greener cars and V6s at best. (American V6s are not the same as Jap/Euro V6s and often 90deg V8s with 2 cal chopped off, not very harmonic!). And as always, you can't guarantee a specific model. Anyone with recent experience of hiring interesting V8s?