Pro tip…

/Grumble…

Rental car rant coming…

Word to the wise, if you get offered a Chevy Equinox, RUN…

Total POS… Two anemic hamsters for power, and trust me one of them is alwasy on break…

At 5000 feet, power??? Fuggedaboutit…

I knew I was n trouble when I tried to merge coming out of DIA, ad had to stomp it to the floor to get up to 55…

Heading out 70E, it wouldn’t run 80 without constantly downshifting on the slightest grade.  Got off on the two lane, and passing was pure hell…

The ONLY way to pass was get a run down a hill, stomp it and do the train song…

I think I can, I think I can, we’re all gonna die, go you POS!!!

Sigh…

Never again…

YMMV, but mine sucked…

Comments

Pro tip… — 28 Comments

  1. Must be union hamsters.

    I’m sure the manual trans is better.

    When I mucked up the front end of my 1991 Geo Metro (stop laughing. I got it to haul 500 lbs of beef from the butcher. It wasn’t happy but it did it.) 3 Cylander 1 L 5 speed manual, I was rented a Geo Metro 3 C 1 L automatic. While my Metro could get up to 85+ (had the spedo pegged more than a few times), the rental was 0-60 maybe. That one was powered by an asthmatic hamster with a 4 pack a day habit.

  2. I have a story like that…My 94 Ranger has over 500,000 miles on it and the 4 cylinder hamsters are tired. The truck with a 5 speed manual tranny will barely push 80…going downhill. But on the flipside, the truck runs like an energizer…going and going…It ain’t sexy but it works. I have heard weird stories about the equinox…nothing specific….just one of the weirder offerings from government motors.

  3. Joe- Agree!!! Slushboxes suck!

    Gerry- Yeah, yeah… 😉

    Bob- That’s the CAFE rules come to life…Sigh

  4. The Equinox is brought to you by the same company that took a ton of free money in the form of bail outs. I have some small experience with the same ride and refer to them as “Obamas”.

  5. On the other hand ….. The rifle ran fine … Just sayin LOL

  6. I know what you mean. I once owned, for 2 months, an Opal Cadet. Had to go down to 1st gear on a steep hill. Thought about using a grappling hook to latch onto bumpers to help me clime a hill. And passing another car, even down hill, was a passing fantasy. But you trip was different from all the rest. Noting boring about it… except just riding instead of DRIVING.

  7. You sure know how to have a good time. My ’83 CJ-7 had a pressure sensitive ignition system, and adjusted fuel delivery & timing automatically, up to 10,000 ft. That inline six-banger ran just fine in Utah & Wyoming.

    Strange how Gov’t Motors can’t recreate what American Motors had 31 years ago. CAFE standards, like you said.

  8. Friend had an Equinox rental in Orlando. Totally shot from being rented by Ma and Pa Kettle visiting The House of Mouse. Didn’t even get off airport property before he turned it around to return it.

    BTW, NEVER EVER rent a car at MSP. Airport and city taxes add over 25% to cost.

  9. Weird. DIA is an easy run anywhere going anyplace and even Pacers and Yugos do it. I have never gotten one of those.

    I have had good luck with rentals there and most of them I have selected have been a good price. Should have opted for an upgrade?

    Rental car problems make your trip miserable.

  10. Many years ago I purchased a new Audi 5000 Diesel. I bought it in the winter and the power was adequate & the fuel mileage was outstanding! well summer came and when I flipped on the A/C the darn thing just stopped pulling. I had to turn off the A/C every time I started up a hill. I dumped that “bastard” the next winter (hell, I couldn’t have sold it in the summer) for a very serious loss!!

  11. I’ve heard that rental car companies that buy lots of cars can have the manufacturer provide them with detuned engine management software – same hardware, but different limits on revs, ignition advance, shift points etc.

    I bought an ex-rental Ford once. Performance wise, it was a dog, but a software flash (and nothing but a flash) found many horses that had apparently fled the pony paddock.

  12. chevyed
    -v : A term used to describe when one is swindled by being forced to fork over a large sum of cash for a product that is of piss-poor quality and that often falls apart quickly after purchase (i.e. a Chevy.)

  13. That IS an advantage of renting – you discover what cars you would never, ever buy. I’ve had more than one that had the same hamsters, so they must be getting tired by now.

  14. We rented a Chevy on Maui that auto-unlocked the doors every time you put it in Park.

    Made me crazy, and a test point for the next car we purchase…

  15. PH- True! LOL

    Rick- Yeah, you DO find all the things to ‘hate’ with a rental… sigh

  16. Next time you’re coming through DIA, give me a shout. Use our ’13 Dodge Journey – 283 hp. Ran it up to Vail, Breck and Rocky Mt Nat’l Park about 10 days ago – got through the park and back before the road closed. Had a friend in from Ohio – hadn’t been here since ’81. Just a few changes.
    Hey, got to be sure our favorite author gets where he needs to get to!
    Olde – and sometimes much Older – Force

  17. A dissenting opinion? Not the same model at all, but I recently acquired a 2014 Chevy Cruze turbodiesel… Very comfortable, all the toys, power to spare (you stomp on the loud pedal and it GOES) — all at upwards of 50 mpg at highway (70 mph) speeds…

    And my 1970 (C10) and 1994 (K2500) trucks are still going strong…

    Just a dissent…

  18. Olde- Thank you sir, and will do!

    Ian- Yeah, this ‘may’ have been a lemon… I normally drive a Yukon, so I know what Chevy’s SHOULD do…

  19. Try the same in a Ford V10 hauling 26k in GCW up a 10% grade…

    In the snow.

    That was NOT my idea of fun.