Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - Enterprise "Upgrade"?

Rented a compact car with Enterprise in OMA this week for a business visit, maybe only my second time renting with them, the other being long ago.

Maybe because of a lack of compacts, they supposedly "upgraded" me to a Chevy Cobalt, which is considered a "mid-size" with them. I usually rent from Thrifty or others, and their mid-size cars are nice ones like Dodge Stratus's or Chevy Malibu's, both solid driving cars with nice features.

Well, this Cobalt at Enterprise had manual window cranks, manual adjustment for both sideview mirrors, no cruise control, cheap (and stained) fabric seats, and definitely not what I would call a "roomy" interior. Had a "tinny" feel when driving it. Plus drove it only 70 miles and had to put in 3.5 gallons of gas, so either it gets low mileage, or tank wasn't topped off.

Discussed these issues with the garage staff when I returned it, and said I definitely did not consider the Cobalt to be either an upgrade, or even a mid-size. Although they tended to agree with me that this is a real stripped down "mid-size" (apparently you've got to step up to the "standard" category to ensure cruise control), they just stated that the car was an example of what the company dictates, as far as what is provided as a mid-size.

Needless to say, this will be my last Enterprise rental. Are my concerns typical of others' experience with them?

you should be happy you didn't get the Dodge Neon (I guess Dodge Caliber)... the vehicle which you booked.


I've noticed that too though on cars not being topped off. It seems many times the vehicle will have the arrow go beyond the F mark when its filled up, and after putting 20 to 40 miles on it, then it will align with the F line, but below that it jumps more dramatically.


So note to self, fill up the car 30 miles from the return facility!

--Russ ;)

PS. look at a few posts below this one and see my questioning of Enterprise's "intermediate" vehicle classification, so far I've been upgraded to or received the following intermediate cars:

- Mitsubishi Lancer
- Nissan Sentra
- Dodge Avenger
- Saturn Ion
- Mazda 3

I've also been upgraded to the following full size:

- Ford Five Hundred

and the following premium:

- Nissan Maxima


I'm a big fan of Enterprise, their prices are typically significantly lower then the competition.

--Russ

Enterprise is hit or miss on upgrades depending on location. Since my employer unforuntately has a corporate account with Enterlies, I rented approximately 30 cars from them this year. I was upgraded about 90% of the time, although that may have to do with a stipulation in the account. My last 2 rentals netted me Cobalts, which are horrendous as previously stated, but I had a streak of Nissan Muranos for the previous 5 or 6 rentals which was quite nice. My strangest upgrade was from a midsize (Cobalt) to a F250 4-door in SAT.

I also had a downgrade of sorts in CLT where I was stuck with a Kia Optima or Rio, I can't recall which. They only had 2 vehicles left on the lot, so it came down to driving an unsafe rattletrap or a minivan. Since I refuse to drive minivans, I took the deathtrap and regretted it for a week. I complained upon my return and my rental was comped.

I find that CMH and STL are extremely stingy about upgrades, but RDU, CLE, and PDX give them out like candy. I am 5 for 5 in CLE this year getting Muranos or Infiniti G35s.