Landrover hire in California

I've had a long day at work... but I fail to see the connection with driving in the US, automatic cars and LR!!! We have an automatic LR in Sydney and all the controls are in the same spot as they would be for a manual. Am I missing something here?

In article , John Stokes writes

Not exactly a small state! Where are you going?

There's a rumour that you can hire stick-shift from Hertz at SFO and possibly LAX, but I've never managed to yet. The SFO branch moved to a purpose built car park a few years back and has a lot more space now, so they may have some, but don't bank on it. For smaller companies, I'd say there's no chance, unless you find a specialist, and it'll be very expensive. The Land Rover marque is even more of a premium package than here (there's a dealer, I think on El Camero, in San Jose whose prices made me laugh out loud). Because of that, Rangies and Discos are more common than generic Defenders.

Personally, I'd try to hire a decent mid-size car instead and get used to automatic. If you haven't driven over there, you'll have quite enough to do getting used to the dreadful freeway signage, 4-way stops, etc., without trying to manage a gear stick and hand brake on the wrong side too. SFO is right on highway 101 (4-6 lanes of armed maniacs), and there's no other practical route out of the airport. LAX is a bit better for getting orientated, but not much, and the freeways there are more militarized down there. I've never been down to San Diego.

IMHO, the Japanese (or AP designed/made GM cars) handle better than anything 'traditionally' American. I once took a Subaru Legacy from Sacramento to San Jose via the San Andreas valley, Yosemite, and Modesto and it was great. In contrast, a Buick Century for an afternoon in the hills above San Jose left me seasick and a little shaken. I didn't know such a poor-handling vehicle could be put on the road anywhere in the world, let alone America.

You can get quite decent Jeeps and people carriers ("MPV" - multi-purpose vehicle) from most rental companies, and they give you a better view and handling, but the hire cost is considerably higher than a standard car.

Have a play on the Expedia web site, as it's linked to a number of hire companies, but you will get better deals with the smaller ones by going direct. I did this with Dollar in Florida last year (Orlando) and got a Chrysler MPV for the cost of a mid-size saloon. Turned out to be very necessary as the family had grown (heightwise) quite a bit between the booking and the trip!

Two final suggestions if you're funding it: take the insurance they offer(!), and "Buick: just say 'NO!'"

HTH.

Regards,

Simonm.

So you are looking to hire a RHD manual landie in the US. Hum I suspect you'll find them next to the hens teeth guarded by a unicorn. B-)

I've driven a few times on the continent and the US in both manuals and automatics. TBH I think being on the correct side of the car for the side of road you are supposed to be driving on is the most important thing. Using a manual on the wrong side is a bit of a struggle, but with an auto just stick it in D and forget about it. The amount of learning for an auto is a lot less than a manual on the wrong side IMHO. Your left foot soon learns it has nothing to do.

My preference for the US would be for a LHD/Auto then LHD/Man. RHD/Man might come above RHD/Auto but the danger with a RHD/man (my normal car) is that you are in a familar enviroment and forget that you should be driving on the on the right hand side of the road...

In article , SpamTrapSeeSig writes

El Camino Real (have now woken up properly!)

Regards,

Simonm.

Yes, In the U.S. cars are left hand drive. In Australia en the U.K. the steering wheel is on the 'wrong' side and thus right hand drive. Erik-Jan.

controls on

information on

John,

I've just returned from a trip to the US (sons wedding) and had the same concerns - ie unacustomed to automatics, and controls operated by right hand not left. OK they weren't Landrovers but I had a couple of hire cars and covered nearly 1000 miles of incident free driving both urban and freeway. It was suprisingly soon that the left foot ceased to feel for the non-existant clutch and hammer the brake on instead - infact tucking the left foot away did the trick

Far more confusing was the 'turn right on red' which has all sorts of riders such as 'if no pedestrians near' 'if no white sign' etc and the fact that traffic lights dangle from the sky on the far side of junctions so if you are going through multiple close crossings it gets confusing. Oh and the fact that petrol (gas) pumps have a lever to turn them on - just lifting the nozzle doesn't work ! Oh another one - neither hire car had a rear windscreen wiper so I assume Americans don't look in the rear view mirror

AWEM

..and turn on red varies from state to state.

Unless there has just been a hurricane, when they have very strange angles of dangle, if they are not in the road and they probably aren't working anyway. Then all junctions become 4 way stops at which you MUST stop before proceeding.

Aah, but they do latch on and stop automatically so you don't have to squeeze the handle forever.

According to anecdotes from US friends rear view mirrors are for applying make-up.

Lizzy

We have little locks on the triggers over here, but for some daft reason they are always disabled except on the lorry pumps - that's another common sense thing the French do and we don't.

Same as over here then!

Richard

The last year they imported 110's into the US was 1993. In 1994, '95 and '97 D90's were imported - the 97's were all automatic transmission, the rest manual.

Dead easy with an auto I wouldn't have had anything else my motors are all manual, but being in the motor trade I've driven loads of autos. I hired a 4.3l chevvy blazer in boston, as somone else has said if youre drivin on the right in a lhd car it seems more natural. The worst thing i could think of would be driving my car in america.

-- Jon

That makes sense. As someone said to me the other day, they couldn't work out why it needed a pathologist to work out that the Thames whale was female....it was heading in the wrong direction and wouldn't turn round. Cheers, John

Charlie Choc uttered summat worrerz funny about:

John has or had last time we went over a 110 in the UK hence my suggestion he may want to convert it when he gets back IYSWIM.

Lee D with a 1964 SIIa 3 speed auto Stage 1 which they never made either ;-)

I read that part, I was just responding to Erik-Jan's point about Defenders being street legal in the US. In traffic the auto is nice, but there are times off road I wish my D90 had a manual (as well as a diesel for better mileage ).

Wonderful, you expect variations between countries but not within a country. Mind if you use the mind set that treats each state as an individual country you won't fall foul of to many unexpected variations.

I quite liked "turn right on red" as a feature, the implimentation left a little to be desired though. The first Four Way stop I came across made me think but the best bit was the number of warning signs and instructions for the single "traffic circle" I came across in Florida. Mind going round a roundabout the wrong way rings *very* loud this isn't right bells

The only thing that is missing from UK nozzels is a couple of bars in the hand grip. I've often thought of making a two pronged something out of suitable diameter and stiff wire to poke through the holes.

It doesn't rain in the US, trucks have very limited (read no) spray control stuff fitted.

Yes Lee, 'Doom Trader' is still running with 217,000 miles on the clock, but I think KLM might get p'd off if I tried to take it with me as hand luggage. I didn't get to see anyone last year, as I couldn't get to any of the shows, but I might try to get to Donnington next week. Cheers, John

"> The only thing that is missing from UK nozzels is a couple of bars in the

A suitable sized spilt-pin works well!!!!

Jeff

Thanks for pointing out the bleeding obvious! However my initial question still stands - even with an automatic LHD, the controls etc will still be on the wrong side.

The advantage of LR is that for a RHD country, some things are in the wrong place eg windscreen wipers, indictors etc. However I would think that a lot of European car makers do the same, such as BMW.

I have a feeling that the function of the stalks behind the steering wheel has quietly become standardised, irrespective of LHD or RHD (Indicators on the left, wipers on the right.) I've not sat in a recent car that was any different, some of the other function that the stalks do may vary but the basic indicator and wiper on/off is consistent.

Except Lexus and a good few other Jap cars have them reversed...

Not quite standard yet.

P.