Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - Is Mitsubishi Lancer an Intermediate?

I don't know why but I felt like I was being downgraded for the first time with Enterprise at FLL this week.


Typically they upgrade me to a nice big roomy car: ROC I got a PT Cruiser when I booked an Economy, PHX I got a Nissan Maxima when I booked an Intermediate and last time I visited FLL I got a Ford Five Hundred when I booked an Intermediate again, so this time I was looking forward to trying maybe a Chrysler 300 or a Dodge Charger... I'd even settle for an Avenger but the last one in the lot left as I walked out with the agent.


I needed a trunk to leave my luggage hidden when in Miami so even though there were a bunch of PT Cruisers I didn't ask for one, and since I paid $13.84 a day for the Intermediate I figured I'd settle for a fuel economical car that I thought the Lancer would be but it turned out to be a real Pig and barely got 250 miles on a tank... so I was disappoitned.


So that being said I know they spoiled me in the past with free upgrades but this time it really felt like a downgrade and I'm curious to find out if it really was.... Isn't the Lancer on par with a Hyndai Accent which is a Compact... I would think that Pontiac G6 or Dodge Avenger would be an Intermediate.


Oh well... I'm not complaining, but just thinking outloud.


--Russ

Nope... Enterprise considers the Lancer to be Intermediate, unless you're at SFO in which case they seem to think it's a Standard.

I think rent-a-cars are like pizzas - what used to be "medium" is now "large." I just rented an intermediate from Avis at IAD. I got a Hyundai Elantra, which seems more like something smaller to me. But it did have a sunroof and XM (and 29 mpg) so it worked out OK.

so I was trying to push my luck, and I think I pursued it in the wrong way.


two weeks after the Mitsu rental I was back in FLL and complained to the lady that the car they put me in was too small to be an "intermediate"

she didn't say anything to that, we were walking by a Nissan Sentra and she says here's an intermediate for you... I looked around, saw a Nissan Altima across from it and said "How about that one" to which she quickly responded "for only $10 more per day, you can have that one"

so yea, I ended up with the Sentra... it would have been a perfect car but it turned out to be a pig, very very thirsty... I only did about 200 miles +/- and filled up $30 at the end of the rental period at $2.77/gal. My V8 personal car gets better gas mileage than that!

--Russ :rolleyes:

Sentras are known to be thirsty. Don't let the marketing people fool you. They're okay if it a stick though.

I've been told that Sentra, Cobalts, the Focus are all intermediate. That's just sneaky.

Sentras are known to be thirsty. Don't let the marketing people fool you. They're okay if it a stick though.

I've been told that Sentra, Cobalts, the Focus are all intermediate. That's just sneaky.

For the record, Enterprise considers the Sentra and Focus to be intermediate. Not sure about the Cobalt - haven't rented from them since the Cobalt came out. Enterprise classifies their cars a bit differently than most of their competition. Most of what the other guys classify as Compact, Enterprise will try to tell you is Intermediate.

I think based on my limited experience the best way to upgrade is to refuse the car that they initially offer.


I could be wrong... but it seems to have worked for me in FLL and PHX at Enterprise before, wayyyy before I started settling for the tiny Intermediate cars.


I should of held out until she showed me the Sentra and made up an excuse why I don't want to take it. I'm pretty sure when faced with that they'd at least make an attempt to satisfy a customer with something better and in this case a free upgrade.

--Russ

I don't know why but I felt like I was being downgraded for the first time with Enterprise at FLL this week.


Typically they upgrade me to a nice big roomy car: ROC I got a PT Cruiser when I booked an Economy, PHX I got a Nissan Maxima when I booked an Intermediate and last time I visited FLL I got a Ford Five Hundred when I booked an Intermediate again, so this time I was looking forward to trying maybe a Chrysler 300 or a Dodge Charger... I'd even settle for an Avenger but the last one in the lot left as I walked out with the agent.


I needed a trunk to leave my luggage hidden when in Miami so even though there were a bunch of PT Cruisers I didn't ask for one, and since I paid $13.84 a day for the Intermediate I figured I'd settle for a fuel economical car that I thought the Lancer would be but it turned out to be a real Pig and barely got 250 miles on a tank... so I was disappoitned.


So that being said I know they spoiled me in the past with free upgrades but this time it really felt like a downgrade and I'm curious to find out if it really was.... Isn't the Lancer on par with a Hyndai Accent which is a Compact... I would think that Pontiac G6 or Dodge Avenger would be an Intermediate.


Oh well... I'm not complaining, but just thinking outloud.


--Russ

The rental car companies and the car dealers haven't used the same perameters the judge the size of cars for yearssss. The rental car companies have hundreds of car class codes in their systems...hence the descrepancies. And not all car rental companies classify the same the cars in the same manner either. Hence consumer confusion and anger. But in most cases here's the rundown on the cars you all mentioned.

Accent - Compact
Cobalt - Compact
Focus - Compact
Lancer - Compact
Sentra - Mid/Interm
G-6 - Mid/Interm
Pt Cruiser - Full
Altima - Full
Charger - Full
Avenger - Full
Elantra - Full
Maxima - Premium
Chry 300 - Premium to Lux
Ford 500 was renamed the Taurus so might be carried as a Full or Premium due to it's size. It's larger than the Taurus Was.

For the record, Enterprise considers the Sentra and Focus to be intermediate. Not sure about the Cobalt - haven't rented from them since the Cobalt came out. Enterprise classifies their cars a bit differently than most of their competition. Most of what the other guys classify as Compact, Enterprise will try to tell you is Intermediate.
I am aware that Enterprise does this as a matter of policy, but I still think it's sneaky.

The cobalt does feel the right size for the Enterprise intermediate catagory though. I think it's about the same size as a focus. Got a '08 cobalt with 57 miles on it a couple of months back. It even had some nicer features I didn't expect to find on a US made car, like the headlamps that turn on automatically.

I have the worst luck in the opposite direction. I always just want something small and easy on gas and they always are out of that and act like they are doing me a favor by offering me these enormous cars that I can barely see over the wheel of!

Of course when mr. horse glasses is there and will be driving, we'd prefer something bigger and always get stuck with a stupid Accent that feels like a tin can that's just going to blow off the road if you go more than 60.

I got a weird story at the O'hare Airport in Chicago...


Apparently I booked a Compact thinking I booked an Economy, so after presenting my "free upgrade" coupon from Enterprise Plus, the guy tries to put me in a Chevy Cobalt.


I was going to a Chrysler event so I requested a Dodge Charger, the guy at the counter says thats 5 classes from what I booked...


Whaaaa?


I could understand him not willing to upgrade me but tell me a BS story how its sooo many classes appart from what I booked, thats not cool.


I kept asking about the next thing down, the Dodge Avenger and he reluctantly agreed. But it was like pulling teeth.


--Russ

so I was trying to push my luck, and I think I pursued it in the wrong way.


two weeks after the Mitsu rental I was back in FLL and complained to the lady that the car they put me in was too small to be an "intermediate"

--Russ :rolleyes:

Ah you're one of those. I work for Enterprise in Phoenix and we just love when our customers come in and challange us on the cars. Obviously we work there and you don't, you just rent from us, a lot of you infrequently though you claim you practically live with our CEO, so you'd clearly know what was Intermediate and what wasn't. The Lancer is actually one of the larger of our ICARs and has better features than the flagship ICAR which is the Cobalt.

I'm actually quite pleased with Phoenix... they gave me a Nissan Maxima when I requested an Intermediate.

I don't usually make up stuff like you suggested. I ask for stuff, and sometimes I get it. Like for example I booked an Economy in Las Vegas last week, but when it came time to getting the car I requested a Mazda 3 which you guys call an Intermediate. The gentleman from Enterprise was happy to give it to me.

--Russ

Enterprise have been great for me. I'm relatively young, so they accommodated my requests for cooler cars (if they didn't have anything I liked, I'd tell them I'd wait till something drops by). I had PT Cruiser, Charger (kind of cool, but bad on gas), Mazda 3 (very cool), Sentra (not cool). I reserved Premium for a week - so I wonder what my chances are to get Maxima. It also states Magnum - so I wonder if Magnum is any good (i think it's just like charger). Could anyone please shed a light on what other cars I might get.


Have a great day