Car advice

That last link should have read

I rent a car about every two weeks. Scenario: drive to airport, fly to destination, rent a car, go to meeting, drive back to airport, fly home. Yah, most freeways are stop and go. Company pays my expenses. Business travelers don't have time to abuse a rental. From what I have seen about 40-50% of renters are women. They don't abuse vehicles.

The worst cars I have ever rented were Toyota Corollas. I will never rent another Toyota of any model. I can pretty much rent anything that I want (within reason) but my all time fav rental is a Ford Focus. Kia/Hyundai Elantra a close second.

My last two personal cars were ex-rentals.

1992 Grand Am, bought with ~32k miles, went 225k before getting rid of it. Current car is a 2006 Kia Spectra, bought with 36k, now has ~100k, probably the best car I have ever owned. Nothing has gone wrong with it yet.

I've only rented a few cars -- a Hundai Elantra which blew me away with the mileage, and something else which seemed fine. I'm very forgiving and can't imagine that I'd be really unhappy with any newish car for any reason other than self-destruction of some sort. My kids thrashed hell out of their ancient Toyotas, which were eventually dragged kicking and screaming to the junkyard -- still running.

If all I needed was a fun car I'd buy a Honda S2000 at the drop of a hat. My friend has one with racing tires, and driving it down the mountain from skiing was a real kick.

BUT I want practical :-(

We used to fix our cars and motorcycles. I really don't want to do that any more, but I deeply resent paying hundreds of dollars to someone else for something that I could have done in a day if I'd had the parts. I hate being at the mercy of others, so reliability is a big thing -- I don't get rid of a car until it's virtually unrepairable, or the cost of repair is ridiculous.

My experience about rental cars.

Since they do not own them, renters treat them like trash.

Andy

If you were driving a Cadillac previously, you would be impressed by the mileage of most cars. I used to have an 88 Seville. The rear air suspension went South so it looked like a dog dragging it ass on the carpet. Sometimes the rear would lift up when you opened the trunk - it looked like a cat in heat. I did enjoy the ride though - it made me feel kinda special. :)

I rented a car in the UK that impressed me. It had a 2L turbo diesel. The engine was smooth, with the flattest torque curve ever and felt a lot bigger than it was. Cruising at 70 MPH and passing was effortless - amazing! It even got over 40 MPG. The car is sold in the US as the Buick Verano although I don't think it's available with that wonderful engine.

The only thing wrong with it was that the steering wheel was installed on the wrong side. It's very hard to drive since my wife was sitting in the passenger seat. I can't say much about the drivers in the UK either. They kept driving on the wrong side of the road. It must be all that room temperature ale or whatever the heck they're drinking!

Driving on the 'wrong side of the road' (the left side) first got started in Scotland.

This makes sense since their first great idea was the bagpipes. :)

Friends drove around Ireland for a month and sort of got used to driving on the wrong side. When we were in London for 3 days I couldn't even get used to looking the wrong way when I crossed the street :-(

Doesn't haggis count? I suspect that's something the Scots invented to inflict on tourists who are hoping for an authentic Scottish experience.

I almost got kilt crossing the street too. We're trained to look R-L-R since childhood. That's a hard habit to break and it just might get you killed.

Haggis always counts! :)

Joke Of The Day calendar, Monday Jan 25 Q: Why do bagpipers walk as they play? A: They're trying to get away from the noise.

On Sat, 23 Apr 2016 11:43:20 -0700, The Real Bev wrote as underneath :

If I were running a rental company I would make sure the cars had all its liquids and tyres up to snuff all the time maintaining the asset value - but apart from that I wouldnt do a damn thing unless something major goes wrong or the unit has an accident. Thats why they sell them youngish before any real expensive maintenance comes up. Of course they buy new at a massive bulk discount and that makes the reselling to punter sums work out just fine - for them. C+

It's supposed to be a difficult instrument to play - probably because when you play it, you wear earplugs. :)

It's an ill wind that no one blows well.

Hey, I really like bagpipes. Given my limited set of small-muscle motor skills I could probably actually play one!

You're in luck, as it doesn't require a skilled embouchure; and being able to withstand torture will be an advantage.

Actually, Bagpipes started in Ireland ...

Uillean Pipes Ireland Youtube ...Real Men Wear Kilts, Sean Connery would tell you.

More like finger dexterity. I can play a few simple songs on the recorder, and my skill at the violin is execrable -- I can hit within

20% of the right note 50% of the time. I envy and admire people who are actually able to MAKE music.