03-17-2007, 05:48 PM
Rental Car Ruckus 3: Son of Rental Car Ruckus.
Ok, I've got a question.
How can you take two cars, based on the same platform, with the same engine and same transmission and end up with one being acceptable and the other being positively horrid.
Behold:
![[Image: RentalCar.jpg]](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g271/MMRex/RentalCar.jpg)
I think it's a 2006 Saturn Ion. Or 2005. I don't know. I'll get to the good bits first, because that's a short, short list.
Compared to the Cava...Cobalt, the trunk was tons more accessible. That doesn't mean it was good, it means it was better than the Cobalt. I also liked the Radio, which was the same, and Alamo gave me free XM, which was pretty sweet. For 125 bucks a week (not counting the fuck-you-if-you're-not-25 fee) it was acceptable transportation...barely.
Now the bad.
The center-mounted gauge cluster. Hated it. Didn't know if I would like it or not, found out real quick I didn't. While it did provide me an excellent view of my hood and even a good view of the frontal area of the car....this isn't a minivan. I don't need to see if I'm about to run over a mouse. What I need to see is how fast I'm going, how much gas I have, and whether or not the car is going to blow up. In order to check those things, I had to take my eyes off the road.
The transmission. Wow. It sucked *hard*. Maybe this car has had a hard 7500 mile life. Or maybe, it sucks really bad. When put in anything but "D", the upshifts are ok, but the downshift will nearly put your face in the steering wheel. If you take off from a stoplight to turn say, left and let off the gas as you get past the traffic, be prepared to nearly honk the horn with your forehead. Combine this with the mediocre engine, and I damn near set the thing on fire in frustration.
Finally, and I'm being generous to the car, the power mirror switch took forever to find (and was impossible to find in the dark) and the seats were about as comfortable and supportive as a rock.
Horrid. And I really don't get it. I got to pick my car, and I picked the Ion thinking it'd be the same as the Cobalt only with four doors. I was sorely disappointed, mostly in the transmission performance. I can't chalk this up to anything but abuse, since they've gotta be the same damn transmission.
Ok, I've got a question.
How can you take two cars, based on the same platform, with the same engine and same transmission and end up with one being acceptable and the other being positively horrid.
Behold:
I think it's a 2006 Saturn Ion. Or 2005. I don't know. I'll get to the good bits first, because that's a short, short list.
Compared to the Cava...Cobalt, the trunk was tons more accessible. That doesn't mean it was good, it means it was better than the Cobalt. I also liked the Radio, which was the same, and Alamo gave me free XM, which was pretty sweet. For 125 bucks a week (not counting the fuck-you-if-you're-not-25 fee) it was acceptable transportation...barely.
Now the bad.
The center-mounted gauge cluster. Hated it. Didn't know if I would like it or not, found out real quick I didn't. While it did provide me an excellent view of my hood and even a good view of the frontal area of the car....this isn't a minivan. I don't need to see if I'm about to run over a mouse. What I need to see is how fast I'm going, how much gas I have, and whether or not the car is going to blow up. In order to check those things, I had to take my eyes off the road.
The transmission. Wow. It sucked *hard*. Maybe this car has had a hard 7500 mile life. Or maybe, it sucks really bad. When put in anything but "D", the upshifts are ok, but the downshift will nearly put your face in the steering wheel. If you take off from a stoplight to turn say, left and let off the gas as you get past the traffic, be prepared to nearly honk the horn with your forehead. Combine this with the mediocre engine, and I damn near set the thing on fire in frustration.
Finally, and I'm being generous to the car, the power mirror switch took forever to find (and was impossible to find in the dark) and the seats were about as comfortable and supportive as a rock.
Horrid. And I really don't get it. I got to pick my car, and I picked the Ion thinking it'd be the same as the Cobalt only with four doors. I was sorely disappointed, mostly in the transmission performance. I can't chalk this up to anything but abuse, since they've gotta be the same damn transmission.
1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442