Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - The Incredibly Shrinking Full-Size

I booked a full size at Dulles over the weekend. Arrived to find the following choices:

1) a Buick Century (certainly a full size), but with enough scrapes and scratches on it that it looked more like a "zebra" than a white car...I passed on this one.

2) a choice of 6 Chevy Malibu little box cars.

I cant quite understand how Alamo can consider the Malibu as a full-size, when it is barely a mid-size. Even the Olds Alero they had parked in the midsize lane was bigger.

When I complained about the lack of appropriate choices, the clerk mumbled something about "industry standards" and went outside to see what was available. He really didnt want me to take anything but the Malibu and was visibly annoyed at my questions, but eventually directed me to a "holding pen", where I found a nice white Camry which was brand-new with only 5 miles on the odometer. I was very satisfied with that, but I am still abit annoyed they are trying to peddle off these Malibus as full size cars.

Anyone else with similar experiences?

I drive an Alero (ex-Avis) and was quite surprised that Avis peddles the Malibu (the Alero's twin) as a full size. But I did some research and found that the Malibu is actually a bigger car than the Alero.

I'd rent from Hertz - they are fairly reliable with full sizes - it's a Sable, Taurus, Century, Camry, or Maxima.

I actually almost always rent from Hertz as a #1 Club Gold member, but sometimes Alamo rates are too hard to pass up for a quick weekend rental. I guess you get what you pay for http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Certainly with the different service levels.

However, full service is not always the best...some of my worst rental experiences have almost singularly been with National, even as an Emerald Aisle member.