Dollar - PT Cruiser or Dodge Charger

I'm from Europe, and don't know much about american cars. Hence I have the following question:

I can rent a PT Cruiser for 7 days for $233 (including insurance) or a Dodge Charger for $270.

Is the charger worth the extra money? It looks like a cooler car!

Definitely take the Dodge Charger. Have not driven it but have driven the PT and it's crap. Plus like you said the Charger is much more appealing and it's only $40 extra.

No comparison take the charger. My sister has a cruiser and its a real piece.

CPTANGO

Take the Charger. It's much more fun to drive.

Thanks for the quick replies!

I know what I have to do, should be fun to drive the Charger along the coastal roads in California!

pt cruiser is no good. it is way under powered. and just a bad car. it is a show car with not much show.


Charger hands down.

The Charger is a good all-American car and will give you a nice taste of how we used to like our cars here (big and powerful). History of the car at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Charger

Keep in mind that, booking a fullsize, you're guaranteed a Charger or similar. Similar would be maybe a Dodge Magnum, Chevy Impala, Pontiac Grand Prix, Ford Taurus, Chevy Malibu, Nissan Maxima, or one of many other similarly-sized but not similarly-cool vehicles. Dollar carries primarily Chrysler products, so it is more likely you'll get the Charger, but don't be shocked if you are given something else.

At smaller locations, you can probably call the location directly a bit before you pick up your car (just before you board your last flight might be a good time) and let them know you had your heart set on a Charger); bigger locations (staffed by people who barely speak English...) are both less personable and have better car selection.

Jackal, thanks for your advice. It would suck to be stuck with a Nissan Maxima instead of a Charger...

Think I'll give Dollar a call and ask them nicely. The problem is that I've booked the car from an broker site in the Netherlands. They did however tell me that they booked the car with Dollar and I do have a Dollar confirmation number. Not sure how helpful Dollar will be, now that the car was quite a bit cheaper, than on the dollar.com site.

Any ideas what cars fall in the PT cruiser category?

The PT Cruiser is a weird case. It is actually an entirely separate class of car in the Dollar and Thrifty fleets. If they're sold out of them, you'd probably get a free upgrade to a midsize, but it's tough to tell.

I honestly don't think they'll care about the price. I've seen fullsize reservations come in as low as $12 per day and I've still given them Chargers. But every location (for better or for worse) is different, hires people of different friendliness, and has different cars available, so all I can recommend you do is be as happy and friendly as possible (that is, make the rental agent like you--maybe offer to buy some insurance if they can get you a Charger to really make them like you...) and cross your fingers that you are in the right place at the right time.

If you can't get in touch with the location directly, let me know and I'll see if I can dig up their number (I don't have any special directory but I'm good at researching these sorts of things).

I just had another thought: another way to try to get first dibs on the better vehicles is to sign up for preferred renter/loyalty programs. Signing up for the Dollar Express program means the agent will preprint your rental two hours before you show up and will probably pick a Charger if it's available (although it's hard to guarantee this). If anything, it gives you more leverage when you get to the counter to say you are a Dollar Express member and would not be satisfied with anything less than a Charger (I'm pretty sure Dollar Express members' satisfaction is guaranteed, with a free day if you're not--I know Thrifty Blue Chip has that guarantee, and Dollar Express is basically the same thing as Blue Chip).

Dollar Express is a free program, but there's one small obstacle I can see: I don't think you can sign up with a foreign (non-U.S.) address. If Dollar has a Netherlands site, maybe you can sign up there, but I doubt one exists. Mainly I wanted to put this here for U.S. residents stumbling across this thread.

If you call the location directly, are happy, positive, friendly (and bribe them by offering to buy coverage or something, which you may need anyway, if you don't have collision and liability insurance that carries over to U.S. rental cars and if your card--and I understand very few European cards cover collision on rental cars) and in general make the rental agent like you, I'm sure you should have no problem getting your Charger.

Be wary if the agent tries to charge you for an upgrade from, say, a Maxima (which actually is a nice and pretty sporty car, truthfully) to the Charger, though--a Charger is considered a fullsize car, so you shouldn't have to pay for an upgrade from a fullsize to another fullsize (unless that location offers the Charger R/T with a Hemi!).

Signed up for a dollar express membership yesterday, and received my profile numer today! No problems signing up for a Dutchman.

The rate I got already includes every insurance possible (hence I was impressed with the rate I got in high season). I don't want to drive in the US with too little nsurance.

Think the LAX Dollar number is 800/800-4000. Will call them before I arrive, and hope for the best. Would really like to drive in a cool american car!

Thanks so much for your help Jackal, I really appreciate it!

Signed up for a dollar express membership yesterday, and received my profile numer today! No problems signing up for a Dutchman.

The rate I got already includes every insurance possible (hence I was impressed with the rate I got in high season). I don't want to drive in the US with too little nsurance.

Think the LAX Dollar number is 800/800-4000. Will call them before I arrive, and hope for the best. Would really like to drive in a cool american car!

Thanks so much for your help Jackal, I really appreciate it!

800-800-4000 is the nationwide reservations number for Dollar. I was fairly certain I had the direct number to Dollar LAX saved on my computer (I've used it before to call them about something similar), but I can't find it for the life of me.

However, at a mondo-sized location like LAX, it's not going to matter, anyway. With 15 agents on duty at any given time, you almost certainly won't be helped by the person who you talk to on the phone.

And unfortunately, customer service personnel in Los Angeles tend to be from the bottom of the barrel (this is not unique to Dollar), so it's not likely you'll be able to make them care about helping you and making you happy by calling.

However, the up-side of LAX is that they have many thousands of vehicles in their fleet and it's more than likely they'll have several Chargers available. When I rented from them about two years ago, they gave me a Magnum for my fullsize reservation, which is based on the same chassis as the Charger (the 300 is also based on the same chassis), so if they give you a Magnum, don't be disappointed (although I like the Charger better).

your being sarcastic... right? Maximas are nice.

Jackal, thanks for your advice. It would suck to be stuck with a Nissan Maxima instead of a Charger...

Think I'll give Dollar a call and ask them nicely. The problem is that I've booked the car from an broker site in the Netherlands. They did however tell me that they booked the car with Dollar and I do have a Dollar confirmation number. Not sure how helpful Dollar will be, now that the car was quite a bit cheaper, than on the dollar.com site.

Any ideas what cars fall in the PT cruiser category?

It just dawned on me--you got a Dollar Express membership, but you need to apply your Dollar Express member number to your reservation.

Call Dollar (that 800-800-4000 number) and have them look your reservation up and apply your Dollar Express number to it. Otherwise Dollar LAX won't know you're Dollar Express!

I've never driven a Maxima, but I do hear they're nice. Still, the Charger is just a cool car!

your being sarcastic... right? Maximas are nice.

I agree with Jackal: A Maxima isn't a bad car, but we have them in Europe too. A Charger seems to be a cool car (checked the Dodge site and some reviews) that you can only drive in the US! We don't have many american cars in Europe, but plenty of japanese.

And the Dukes of Hazzard, with the General, used to be on the Dutch television :p

I will attach the dollar membership number to the reservation, once I arrive in the US.

So I thought I had decided to go for the dodge charger category, but....

The Chrysler 300 category of cars isn't that much more expensive. Does anyone know the other cars that fall in this category?

And if I'd like to have a sporty kind of car, would I still be best of with a charger (if I managed to get that car), or should I go for the Chrysler 300 category?

A PT Cruiser is a cute and fun car to drive. If want large and powerfull go with the charger.

Generally the 300 is on its own--it's in the luxury class, so conceivably you could get a Lincoln Town Car or something like that, but again, as most Dollar locations carry primarily DaimlerChrysler products and the 300 is such a well-known car, most locations carry only the 300 as a luxury.

I like the design of the 300s a bit better than the Chargers and of course the leather makes it cool, but they're both based on the same platform and drive and handle similarly (same sized engine, etc.).

The Charger has the nostalgia to the Dukes of Hazzard attached to it and could be considered a "sportier" car, but again, the 300 and Charger are basically the same car with a different-shaped rear (it doesn't swoop down) and a nicer interior. Both have the 3.5L high-output V6 with 250hp (you won't generally find the 5.7L V8 Hemi with 380hp at a rental agency, although you can buy both cars with it), so technically, neither is "sportier" than the other. However, one thing: if you book the 300, you're much more likely to get that specific car than if you book the fullsize, in which case (as we previously discussed) you have a chance of getting something not as exciting.

You can call the Dollar LAX location (again, I'll look for the number, but if I can't get it, call nationwide reservations and ask to be transferred directly to the Dollar location; hopefully, they'll help) and ask them what cars are in their luxury class. I'm fairly certain they only carry 300s--I booked a luxury and got a 300 for a week a couple of years ago and wasn't offered anything else.

Thanks again for your outstanding help, Jackal!

FYI...for 2007, Chargers are also equipped with the 2.7L V6 (190HP). So don't be surprised if you get that engine. That's not much HP for such a heavy car.

FYI...for 2007, Chargers are also equipped with the 2.7L V6 (190HP). So don't be surprised if you get that engine. That's not much HP for such a heavy car.
Qualify that: while I believe the 2.7L (used in the Sebrings) is a new option for the 2007 model year, all of our Chargers have the 3.5L high-output V6 with 250HP (the same engine, slightly detuned to 235 horses, is available in the Sebring Limited--that car really screams!). That definitely makes it sportier, although it's married to a 4-speed automatic (well, maybe it's 5) that's only so-so.

But each location gets different cars, so it's tough to say what any individual location has. And for all anyone knows, you might get something like an Impala (actually a really nice car with a sporty 3.5L engine that really kicks) or a (gack) Taurus.

Not sure if I should brag about this, but I really like the Dodge Charger so here goes.

My family of 5 landed in LAS last Friday for a two week vacation - going up the coast. I upgraded to a the section 6 car class because I had just rented a Charger at LGA while on a business trip and I loved it (plus it is perfect for three kids in the back).

At the Dollar Express counter, the agent told me that they may have one
Charger left. I walk out and I see three guys walking around the car debating if they will take the car. I walk up to them and tell them the agent assigned the car to me and I am taking it. They say they are about to take it, I jump in start the car and drive over to my wife and kids and luggage.

Yea, I know that was a bully thing to do, but they said they were only using the car for a few days and since there were three of them, they could easily use a PT Cruiser or something else.

I usually take the PT Cruiser in LAS -- the car seems to stay cooler, since the windows are smaller.