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+--- Thread: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo (/showthread.php?tid=5304)
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - Jeff - 10-30-2012
I agree. You should have bitched to get a 300. The 200 is midsized...would have told them to fuck off. 200 limited with a 3.6 isn't bad, you get a lot more for not much more money. The LX does not even have the same sound deadening and double laminated windows. I am waiting for the all new 2014 200. It looks pretty sexy and 37mpg is a good thing
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - Mike - 01-10-2013
Have a 2013 base model Passat with 2xx miles on it. Feels like a more solidly built Camry. Interior leaves a lot to be desired (base model). Engine has some nice torque and growl, but no power. Seats are abysmal, but interior is crazy roomy. Good sight lines. Ride quality is typical German, but a little floaty. Brake pedal feel is... Fuck. I hate it. Don't know how to describe other than it feels like it's brake by wire. There's an odd grab that the car does itself when you're at like 1-2mph and slowing. That's my only real complaint.
Perfectly decent car. Would I buy one? No.
Edit: MSRP is 21k. Means you could get this thing for less than 20. That's pretty awesome. Very nice car for that dough.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - Jeff - 01-10-2013
I spent a little time in a Mustang yesterday and thought I would give my impressions. The car in question was a 2010 GT with around 42k on the clock. White with the black and grey premium leather interior. The car has some performance or track package on it as well, big black rims, blacked out Mustang logo and a pretty stiff suspension. Automatic Transmission. My trip was from Woodstock to Baltimore and back, I went up the 70 way and back 495-66. I really liked the fit and finish of the whole thing, seemed pretty well made to me. It had the gimmicky color changing lights and stuff, that was fun to play with. The radio despite its premium level didn't "Shake" much of anything and the controls were not the most point and shoot I have been around (and I didn't have any trouble with the steering wheel controls in the 200 like everyone else did). None of the controls blew my mind but I did miss the lane change turn signal feature I am used to. The single level heated seats were teh gay, but at least it had them. My only real "OMFG I HATE THIS" was the freaking seat and steering wheel adjustment. It had a power seat but not a power recline, I couldn't find a good seat angle. I felt either gangster leaned or driving school proper in it. This was due in part to the NON TELESCOPING WHEEL. WTF? A car this nice and no telescope wheel? The engine had plenty of power for merging, fighting the traffic and sliding around the parking lot. The traction control kept things safe when it was on but would allow plenty of "tire testing" when switched off. The automatic was conventional with no auto-stick type thing. It did its job well but would have the occasional elephant kick from the rear on the 2-3 or on the kickdown. Didn't have the ass of a Hemi but certainly a more competent chassis than most things with a Hemi are blessed with. The suspension was a bit firm for my tastes as a commuting car, not unbearable but I wouldn't want to run hours in it every day. But for the aforementioned parking lot jackassing it was very flat and seemed to have minimal body roll. I'm no racecar driver that is for sure but It seemed pretty solid to me. All in all a decent car. Not as roomy as most things I like but it's a Mustang, that's sorta the deal, right? For a single guy with no worries (including MPG...21.6) and responsibilities it would be a fun way to wrap yourself around a tree.
Edit- Oh yeah, fuck the cup holders. I think they could have moved the shifter back and put the cup holders in front of it. I know I don't make the big bucks like the ergo people at ford but damn. It would have been much more comfortable and useful that way.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - D_Eclipse9916 - 01-11-2013
I would agree the "shaker" sound system is very very very poor. Rode around in a 2010 Mustang with the Shaker 500 and it rattled, had distorted bass, and a very hollow sound. This car had 12k miles on it. Terrible.
The 2012 Mustang GT that I test-drove had the same audio system, but was improved. Not necessarily a very good system, but better than it had been in previous mustangs.
My impression on the 2012 Mustang GT? Gorgeous, yum! Pretty comfortable, but I do like sitting up straight. I actually enjoyed the dash cluster, "infotainment" of the track display in the center cluster and the sound of that 5.0. That 5.0 coyote is a wonderful sounding engine. Unfortunately it is ruined by a terrible chassis, steering, and despite being the lightest of the big 3's "pony cars", it felt like it weighed 500lbs too much. I was pleasantly surprised by how much grip the car had. The brakes (had the brembo package which is only up front) clamped down tight and were solid. Pedal feel was not as awful as I had expected coming from previous mustangs.
Unfortunately, high cornering grip, decent brakes, and a good exhaust note did not overcome the chassis and steering. Fun car for around the block a few times? Yes. A car I could enjoy after hooning around for 10 minutes? No. By the end of the test drive my excitement went from a 9 to around a 5. A big meh. Even after a few acceleration runs, I started to get disappointed that the motor was stuck in this terrible car. For my mom/friends/anyone that doesnt track? GREAT car. You would never notice the steering/chasssis/dive/wobble/stick axle. I might even like it if it was an auto/convertible on a nice day and realized what it was: a non-luxury grand touring car. After all the car reviews/seeing them race, I guess I had just falsely expected more.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - WRXtranceformed - 01-24-2013
I just picked up a brand new Escape rental in Birmingham and it really impresses me. Most of the new Fords are seriously making my head turn in that direction. The Ecoboost in that thing is really smooth and surprisingly powerful...i mean the thing moves out for a small SUV. I think it looks a lot better than the last one and it has all of the great Sync / touch screen / etc. on the inside. Mine is I think mostly loaded with leather and it's pretty comfortable. Only big complaint is the sound system...it is seriously woeful. But great throttle response, great power delivery and pull to redline and the thing actually has a really tight steering rack and likes to turn in on the offramps. Not a bad handling / accelerating SUV!
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - CaptainHenreh - 04-19-2013
CaptainHenreh Wrote:Seriously, this is the biggest hunk of shit I've ever had the pleasure to drive. I've driven an HHR, and a Chevy Cobalt and a goddam *old school* Ford Taurus but this thing trumps them all for stankitude.
Oh my damn. I think I actually cursed myself.
So, I hit a deer in my IS. Took it to the local body shop (they did a great job) and hooked me up with a rental car for 15 bucks a day. "What is?" I said, excited to get something new to drive around. "A 2011 Toyota Camry!"
OH BOY! The best selling car in America! Must be good, right? I mean, after all...Consumer Reports loves it!
So it's gotta be good! Right? RIGHT?
Oh, how wrong wrong wrong I was. To call this car "vanilla" is a grievous insult to a perfectly serviceable ice cream flavor.
I didn't take any pictures. It didn't deserve it. But it looked exactly like this:
![[Image: 54561815.jpg]](http://images.gtcarlot.com/pictures/54561815.jpg)
Now, styling wise, the 2011 Camry was pretty bland, but I'm not really going to hold that against it. It's safe, and when you've got a bread and butter like the camry, that's the only way to play it.
Now, if you took the time to watch the consumer reports video, I am going to tell you right now: Everything he says is bullshit, except for when he says it "doesn't engage you". The interior is garbage. A sea of beige utterly uninterrupted. The gauge cluster could have been from any car made in 1992 to 2005. Black, white letters, orange needle. Every watch I've ever owned has had a more interesting and eye-catching cluster. This cluster could only be worse if the letters were in comic sans.
Oh, and it gets better. Where the A-pillar interior trim and the dash meet, apparently there was a problem with a rattle or some other kind of nvh. The fix? A square of felt slapped unceremoniously between the two pieces on both sides of the dash. A square of black felt on the taupe a-pillar. The corner stuck out from underneath the dash like a little pyramid monument to "There I fixed it." Was it even on both sides? No. The passenger side felt stuck out a little less than the driver's side felt. Utterly absurd. I know that TSB's and stuff come out to fix these issues but you couldn't even TRY to match the colors? "nah son, black will do, nobody will notice." The AC controls (no auto climate controls here) felt like toys. No, I take that back, if they'd been made of Lego they'd have felt HIGHER quality, I think. Fisher Price wouldn't put these dials on crib hangers. And the "double glovebox" rattled incessantly. (Hey! Maybe they should go get another piece of felt!)
Creature comforts? Well, it's got power windows, keyless entry, cruise control and bluetooth which I couldn't get to work. I'm sure if I'd read the manual (dogeared and beaten up from residing in the too-small "upper" glovebox) I could have figured it out, but if the engineers don't' give a shit neither do I. The radio itself wasn't too bad. Steering wheel controls are always nice, and the radio preset buttons had the frequency listed above them, which was nice. But Toyota didn't do that, so they get no credit.
The engine?
![[Image: 1043375_o.gif]](http://stream1.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs/1043375_o.gif)
The transmission (A FUCKING FOUR SPEED!) refused to down shift no matter how much throttle I gave it if it didn't want to. Driving up Port Road, need a little more gas? "Hey car, can I have some revs?" Car:"FUCK YOU, MAN"
And the combination of the two couldn't get me to the highway speed limit before the acceleration lane ran out ON THIS ONRAMP: LOOK AT HOW LONG THIS MF'ER IS! Want to get to 70 before the end? TOUGH SHIT. You can bury your foot like fred flinstone and the engine will scream and wail and cry havoc and loose the ponies of war and you still will be below 70 miles an hour if you had to stop at the light before getting on the ramp.
I don't know what hearing damage the consumer reports guy had, but there's all kind of road and tire noise up in this bitch. Wind noise, highway noise, but not in a way that the car tells you what's going on, oh no! From a "road feel" perspective you are utterly disconnected...you might as well be in a hovercraft as far as actually being able to tell what the road surface is like.
The car is just bad. The 200 was bad also, but at least it tried. It failed, but it tried to at least BE something. I'd call this an appliance, but my toaster has more engagement in its design and execution than this car. This is, officially, The Worst Rental Car I've ever driven. A soulless harpy of a car with a heart of pure beige. It was like a bad girlfriend, boring, unadventurous, and completely and utterly un-fulfilling. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why a single sane person would choose to buy this car of their own free will. I suspect that literally ANY 2011 mid-sized sedan sold in America would be a better car in every aspect.
Dear Toyota,
This car you've made is one of the most (if not the most) abysmal cars I've ever had the displeasure of driving. At no point in my short itinerary in the cabin, were you even close to anything that could be considered a "good" automobile. Everyone in auto motive world is now worse off for you having made it. When a car makes you long for a Chrysler 200, you have well and truly failed. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Love,
Rex
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - *insertusernamehere* - 04-20-2013
I really do have to play the bad guy here a little and say that you may not be entirely fair in your analysis. Why? I feel like you're judging the car for something it was never meant to be. It's not gonna get to 70 before getting off the ramp because it wasn't meant for that kind of performance and actually the guy in the video said that. Quote - "if you're looking for a car to drive that's fun and nimble the Camry is just not for you". So you really can't expect that of it. Also, personally I don't think they look that bad, I like this shape of the Camry alot, much more than the 2013 one. Reading back over the comforts section, you really didn't have anything to complain about so I'll assume that's an A+ there
. Toyota stereos are pretty good for stock, so that easily solves road noise... turn up the radio 
Lots of other stuff are pretty bland and basic, but I think that's half the point in getting a Camry, you know it's going to work regardless of how it looks. If by now you're asking yourself, "does this kid actually like Camry's?" The answer is yes. I like them as a comfy, lofty, reliable, family sedans but not as a sports car or car for any kinds of performance whatsoever, and in that respect, I give the Camry an A+I read what you said about the 200 not too long ago and I feel like you actually had more to say against the 200 than you did the Camry. Could the Camry have REALLY been that bad? Worse than the 200?? :dunno:
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - NTIman - 04-20-2013
I'm actually surprised that the stereo even worked, because most of them crapped out. I guess maybe it's been replaced already.
On the other hand, I realize that Toyota is an old person's car company now, but the 07-11 Camrys were horrific to drive. Literally the transmission has no clue what it is supposed to do at any given time. One time you mash the throttle and it just stays in gear, the next time you barely touch the throttle and it drops two gears and takes off. When I first drove one I literally wondered to myself how anyone could stand driving one.
And the interior is crap. I suppose that interior technology and how to make it dirt cheap is what Toyota got out of the "hey we'll give you Corollas and Matrixes to sell" GM deal they had until 2009. The new Camry is a lot better in terms of quality, but man, talk about a car that just doesn't measure up to what others are offering.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - premiershine9 - 04-20-2013
Saw this car in persona and expected it with Rex......
listen, I've worked on a lot of makes and models and working on them for 6 + hours at a time....you get to know then REALLY well
I understand that with the price of this car.... or saying "well the model is...ya know, just that....the tin can specialty of yota" or "what do you expect, its a base model?"
BUT IN REALITY......c'mon toyota.....look at Hyundai....Kia......or even Honda (Rex and I had a great discussion on this) ....ALL have done or are currently trying to do the best they can with plastic molding.....cheap material but nonetheless awesome design cues...freshen the interiors every so often as they should.
But......as perfectly demonstrated in this example yota that Rex had procured for a day or two.... the company has not done merely anything to update its interior....or even TRY to make it look new, edgy, fresh, modern yada yada. Honestly, it was pretty sad!
I though my brothers Compass had a poor interior, but at least they made it look like they attempted to give it a decent design.
Yota needs to look at Honda and see what Honda has been doing for a while now- stripping the beige, bland and predictable with..... OK, that interior/ desing cue set looks pretty modern/ luxurious.
To me (talking about design purposes) Honda is continuing to sail away while yota just stands still.
I'm sorry but I'd rath
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - ScottyB - 04-20-2013
i think i'm at the point of saying that Toyota's unoffensiveness has actually become offensive.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - *insertusernamehere* - 04-20-2013
ScottyB Wrote:i think i'm at the point of saying that Toyota's unoffensiveness has actually become offensive.
Lol haha :lol:
premiershine9 Wrote:Yota needs to look at Honda and see what Honda has been doing for a while now-
And yeah I can agree with that. My Dad and Uncles Accords are pretty darn nice 8) I suppose Toyota caught on at some point and changed the shape/interior styling. I think I agree with that for the most part, I just didn't think it was worse than the 200.. that's where I got thrown off. But I see how wanting to read a completely different paper, even if it was choppy, and give an A for effort could be more preferable than reading the same well written paper turned in for the last four years. Kills the boredom.
Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - Jake - 04-20-2013
The thing that mystifies me (Rex and I discussed this pre-Mudder last night) is that in 2011... There were other bland, boring, safe family sedans on the market. If you're a smart consumer, you'll test drive your options. So really, really, how did you drive a 2011 Fusion, Accord, Altima, Passat, etc and THEN decide that the Camry was the best at being slow and boring? Jeez.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - CaptainHenreh - 04-20-2013
*insertusernamehere* Wrote:I read what you said about the 200 not too long ago and I feel like you actually had more to say against the 200 than you did the Camry. Could the Camry have REALLY been that bad? Worse than the 200?? :dunno:
What I meant was that the Camry and the 200 were equally bad..but the 200 at least made an effort to set itself apart. In the end I suspect it was never going to escape its Sebring roots no matter what shitty Michigan city they imported it from, but they at least did try. A common styling theme, both interior and exterior, a transmission that appeared to at least suspect it might have a clue what it was supposed to do, and a cabin that, while crappy, didn't have fucking FELT sticking out from between the panels.
Felt dude. FELT.
The reason I had "so much" to say about the 200 is that it was obvious (to me) where they tried to do different things and faceplanted. The reason I didn't say that about the Camry is that Toyota did no such thing. For the record the seats were flat and hard...I've had more support in the seat of an F150 than I did out of this Camry.
And as far as the 70mph "not what it's meant to do" statement...dude, did you see that onramp? It's called an acceleration lane for a reason and the best selling midsize sedan in America ought to have been able to make it to the speed limit before the end.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - *insertusernamehere* - 04-20-2013
What trim level was this Camry?
Cause I have been in two (not the driver seat) and it really just didn't seem this bad lol. I feel like we've been in two different cars. Maybe its just been a while...Or maybe I need to see what a 200 feels like in comparison.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - Ryan T - 04-20-2013
CaptainHenreh Wrote:the best selling midsize sedan in America
I think this right here could be the answer to your questions. Since 1989 the Camry has been the number one selling car in America 14 times. Why bother putting forth the effort to make it any better when the masses will flock to it and buy it just as it is?
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - WRXtranceformed - 04-26-2013
CTS is in for some CEL service so I have an ATS 2.0T rental! Looking forward to reviewing it here after I get to drive it some. First impressions are that it is peppy but seriously runs out of steam near redline (which is to be expected). Feels to handle even better than my car even with the FE3 suspension.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - WRXtranceformed - 04-28-2013
REALLY REALLY liked the interior and technology of the ATS. I probably didn't mess with half of the stuff that I could have on it but I can see why they give you brand new loaners when you go in for service. As much as I love the interior of my car it was definitely noticeably dated after staring at HD touch screens and full digital displays under the tach etc.
Performance wise the car was really fun to drive. The car felt much more nimble than mine and surprised me that it was even a tad bit flatter through the turns. The 270hp 2.0L turbo definitely fell on its face a little on the top end (to be expected) it delivered plenty of power and torque and definitely moved out. A tune and exhaust on that thing and it would be a seriously fun daily. I liked the overall look of the exterior and I think it has a lot of potential but I couldn't get past the "old man Florida" gold color that my vehicle was painted. It really threw me off.
If that car was spec'd out it would be a serious contender to me for a replacement for my car. With the 2014 CTS coming out soon though the ATS is going to be hard to compete with it for me.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - CaptainHenreh - 04-29-2013
The ATS definitely appeals to me as well. Good to hear it's not totally awful.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - WRXtranceformed - 04-29-2013
I was tired last night or I would have put up a much longer review. There are so many cool tech features in it, probably a lot I didn't even know about. Like for example you could swipe your finger sideways across a stylized Cadillac "wings" button below the touch screen to quickly increase or decrease the volume. I figured that out totally by accident. I can't say enough about how surprised I was with the performance, even for the "lowly" 2.0T. I am also not sure if that particular model was equipped with the magnetic suspension or not but it definitely handled noticeably better than my car which really surprised me. I think I would have liked the car more honestly if it wasn't in such a heinous color and I don't know that I would "upgrade" to the 3.6 (the same motor in my car tweaked to get maybe 13 more hp) because the 2.0T delivers similar torque. I would guess that with a tune on that thing it would be a STOUT runner and a seriously comfortable and fun DD.
Re: Rental Car Ruckus 2: Electric Boogaloo - CaptainHenreh - 04-29-2013
WRXtranceformed Wrote:I think I would have liked the car more honestly if it wasn't in such a heinous color and I don't know that I would "upgrade" to the 3.6 (the same motor in my car tweaked to get maybe 13 more hp) because the 2.0T delivers similar torque. I would guess that with a tune on that thing it would be a STOUT runner and a seriously comfortable and fun DD.
Yeah, I'm watching how they hold up with a careful eye.
6MT + 275hp 2.0T + Rear Drive + Actual LSD + Elvish Suspension = Rexyboner.