Cars at YYZ

Old Dec 19, 2011, 4:06 pm
  #46  
 
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While picking up on Thursday @ 7pm.

ES: Stacked...300s, 3 Genesis Sedans, Taurus SEL, TWO Taurus Limiteds, 2 LaCrosses, 2 Altimas...however dodge Journey was the only SUV and my wife hates dodges (although she doesn't mind "chryslers", go figure) and we could really make use of an SUV so...asked nicely and the was put in a Edge SEL with the 202 or the 200 package...Leather, 18" chrome wheels, Rearview camera,
EA: Malibus, 200s, Impalas and a minivan. There was a Durango sitting there but employees were inside saying its not for the taking .

Dropping off Sunday Night @ 7pm.
ES: As standard as they come...counted no less then 8 malibus, a Taurus SE or SEL, a Charger (only real highlight), and a couple 300s.
EA: didn't even look.
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Old Dec 19, 2011, 6:26 pm
  #47  
 
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Anyone noticed recent offering in the Compact/Economy aisle

Cinquecento (Fiat 500) still there?
New Yaris?
New Sonic?

Any car with stick?

Muchos gracias...
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Old Dec 19, 2011, 7:49 pm
  #48  
 
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Originally Posted by sindjic
Anyone noticed recent offering in the Compact/Economy aisle

Cinquecento (Fiat 500) still there?
New Yaris?
New Sonic?

Any car with stick?

Muchos gracias...
Does National YYZ offer the 500? I know Avis YYZ is swimming in them...

I have never seen a manual transmission in a National lot in North America...
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Old Jan 12, 2012, 10:37 am
  #49  
 
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Originally Posted by YYZC2
Does National YYZ offer the 500? I know Avis YYZ is swimming in them...
I've seen one in DAY, but it was not in the EA or ES. I assume it was automatic (did not look).
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Old Jan 12, 2012, 11:51 am
  #50  
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I've never heard of a manual transmission car from any major rental agency in North America since the 1980s, with the exception of reading about one Enterprise location in LA based inside a BMW dealer that had stick Mini Coopers -- likely reserved for dealership customers only.

As far as compacts at YYZ, when i have seen them it's typically a Nissan Versa or Ford Fiesta, though they recently acquired a swath of 2012 KIA Rio hatchbacks. No sign of the Fiat 500 at YYZ yet, though I think ERAC calls it an Intermediate.

Sometimes there are no compacts to be found so you'd likely be allowed to take an Intermediate, which usually consists of the following:

Chevy Cruze (only seen a few times)
Dodge Caliber
Ford Focus
Mazda3
Nissan Sentra
Volkswagen Golf 2.5 (seen only once)

They sometimes park Intermediates in the Compact section anyways. Be advised though that the non-aisle sections can be somewhat disorganized. It's not unusual to find small cars parked in SUV spaces and vice versa. This is probably why anything other than a Midsize or Fullsize booking nets you "Counter" service on your res.

IME, you can still go to the lot and choose. If you tell the roving greeters that you're Emerald Club and what you've booked they'll be happy to direct you to your choices. Even with an Exec Selection booking, I'll usually hunt around the other sections to find something interesting like the Golf that one time.
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Old Jan 12, 2012, 1:35 pm
  #51  
 
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Even if it's the most basic trim level, National will still purchased the automatic transmission option.
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Old Jan 12, 2012, 5:25 pm
  #52  
 
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The last manual transmission rental car I saw was a National car. It was from Quebec City but was at the Halifax Airport. It was in about 1998 or 1999 and it was a 2-door, green, Dodge Neon. It was craptacular even then!

Funny, they told me no one wanted to rent the car because it had a manual...
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Old Jan 12, 2012, 9:45 pm
  #53  
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Originally Posted by north_of_normal
The last manual transmission rental car I saw was a National car. It was from Quebec City but was at the Halifax Airport. It was in about 1998 or 1999 and it was a 2-door, green, Dodge Neon. It was craptacular even then!

Funny, they told me no one wanted to rent the car because it had a manual...
Funny thing is I would've loved to take that for a spin, especially given that the alternative would've been the anemically archaic 3-speed auto.
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Old Jan 14, 2012, 12:31 am
  #54  
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I did it again...

I realized I've done a ton of rentals at YYZ without nary an update to this thread. So I will summarize my experiences over the past few months in this post.

The EA generally houses cars in the Standard class, with a few Fullsizes if space permits. Typically you'll find the Chrysler 200, Dodge Avenger, Ford Fusion, and Fullsizes on the EA are usually Malibus, but often you'll find Impalas, Altimas or Sonatas as well. Rarely they'll put a small SUV or minivan if they're running low.

On the ES the minimum is usually a proper Fullsize sedan, often the Dodge Charger or Chevy Impala. Other frequent inhabitants include the Ford Taurus, Chrysler 300, and small SUVs (usually Escapes, but I've also seen Santa Fes and Sorentos). On occasion you'll find a Genesis or Maxima, and in the summertime they sometimes toss in a Lincoln or Mustang if it's a slow day. I've also seen some larger SUVs, like the Explorer, Edge, and Journey.

A few threads back I discussed the Midsize and lower selection. There is a back section that mainly houses SUVs, and they tend to carry mostly Explorers, Ford Flex, and the Traverse/Acadia twins. They do also have proper Fullsize SUVs like Expeditions and Yukons. In the small Luxury section I've mostly seen the Cadillac DTS, but also the BMW 323i and Infiniti G37x.

Here's what I've gotten over the last few months on the EA/ES, except where noted. My experiences have been limited to T1:

Jul 23 - Maxima
Jul 30 - Taurus Limited
Aug 21 - Taurus Limited (originally picked a Fiesta from the Compact section, but returned it due to a lurchy transmission)
Sep 16 - Fusion Sport (EA)
Oct 13 - Fusion (EA)
Oct 24 - Durango (on the ES even; was a free day rental so I took one for the team )
Oct 28 - Chrysler 200
Nov 12 - 2012 Impala with new 3.6L
Nov 17 - Genesis ^ (originally picked a Fusion but took it back due to tire pressure issues; I got the distinct impression they didn't want this car on the ES, as the counter agents disputed my choice and the exit agent said bewilderingly "This was on the Executive row?", followed by "Oh those guys" and head shaking )
Nov 27 - Golf 2.5 (in Compact section, was more interesting than ES selections that night as I recall)
Dec 8 - Sonata (only car on both aisles, other choices were 4 Grand Caravans and a Journey)
Dec 13 - Grand Cherokee (originally picked a Mazda5 with 40 km on it, but discovered before leaving that, even at 5'11", I'm too tall for it with the seat all the way back)
Jan 7 - Chrysler 200 (wanted something with sat radio, almost took a LaCrosse from the Fullsize area but it smelled smoky and had no sat, was tempted by the new Rio in Compact but I needed something with a decent trunk...ES was all Impalas and a few 300s, nearly took a 300 but couldn't figure out the audio system)
Jan 12 - Mitsu Outlander (currently rented; other choices on ES included an Escape, Edge, couple 300s, and Impalas, EA had an Altima, 200 and Avenger)

So there we go, I promise to do better in time for my semi-permanent departure from Toronto on Jan 31st.
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Old Jan 16, 2012, 10:34 pm
  #55  
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Returned my Outlander tonight around 10 PM. Lot was fairly empty on the whole.

EA had an Impala, Grand Vitara, and a couple minivans. ES had a single Charger, Escape, some more minivans and a few Tahoes, which I've never seen on the aisle before.

The "Midsize" car section had a Forte and a new Rio with the window down and someone's handbag in it. I wanted to look at the Rio a little more closely since I've read on kia.ca that all new Rio models come with sat radio.

The EA also had an Avenger and a Yaris sedan, both with NY plates. I've noticed YYZ has had $99/day rates to major US markets so they may have brought out the US-plated cars to serve those rentals. This concerns me a bit as I have an upcoming one-way rental to Chicago and it says I get Executive Selection on the reservation; I do hope to be able to choose what I'm driving for 500+ miles rather than getting shoehorned into something they want to get rid of that might not even be in the class I booked...
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Old Jan 20, 2012, 7:56 pm
  #56  
 
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Those $99/day rates appear to be in either direction between Toronto and certain parts of the US. So it's not necessarily a supply imbalance. Regardless, please do share how it goes.
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 8:56 pm
  #57  
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Originally Posted by Auto Enthusiast
Those $99/day rates appear to be in either direction between Toronto and certain parts of the US. So it's not necessarily a supply imbalance. Regardless, please do share how it goes.
Returned an Escape I had for the weekend this afternoon. I noticed at the end of the Aisle there was a Dodge Avenger with IL plates sitting there. Hoping that's not what they have selected as my one-way "Fullsize".

Around the corner from the Aisle I found a few more US-plated vehicles. If I remember right, there was a Caliber (MI), Traverse (FL), Enclave (don't recall state) and an HHR (MI).

As far as the Aisle itself it was well-stocked with some SUVs, a minivan, and the usual Impalas, couple Fusions and Malibus. I also spotted two brand new Mazda CX-7's, a first sighting at any rental agency. The Compact/Intermediate section was full with Fiestas, new Rios, and a couple Focus (Focii?).

I'll probably just try selecting a vehicle off the aisle and if they turn me back then I'll see about making sure to get what I need. I want at least the Fullsize I booked, but would prefer a hatchback or SUV and definitely want sat radio for the drive.

Will report back on how tomorrow goes!
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Old Jan 30, 2012, 9:38 pm
  #58  
 
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if you're a Canadian resident aren't you prohibited from driving a US plated car in Canada? Sounds like an easy out if they try to stick you with a US car you don't like. Tell them they're asking you to do something
that can get you in a lot of trouble when trying to cross the border.
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Old Jan 31, 2012, 6:15 am
  #59  
 
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That is incorrect. Anyone can take any car into the US. The restrictions are that a Canadian can not take a US-plated car into Canada, and probably not do a roundtrip rental with such a car.

However, Tuneman will be doing a one-way from Toronto to Chicago. If it were to a traditional "border city," like Buffalo or Detroit, the rental companies might give out a regular Canadian-plated car, since Canadians one-waying back to Canada will need it.

But for more distant US cities, where one-ways to Canada are likely not that common, a Canadian-plated car will sit unused. I'm pretty sure it can not be rented roundtrip locally, since it was "imported" from a different country. So the rental companies want to give a car with US plates.

If it were Hertz or Avis, they'd say fullsize reserved one-way to Chicago, need something that came one-way from the US, take this ratty old Impala with 35k mi and NY plates. Don't like it, tough luck.

In this case, the problem is that National has a "vehicle choice" program, with a possibility of free upgrades by choosing from a designated row of parked cars. So people with elite status, like Tuneman, reserve a fullsize, and often want to snag an upgrade to something bigger, like an SUV. If he takes an SUV from Ontario to the gate, the guard may stop him and say, wait a minute, we need to find you something with US plates, so you don't have a choice today.
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Old Feb 1, 2012, 3:12 pm
  #60  
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I got to the aisle yesterday around 5. There was nothing inspiring, just a few Malibus and Impalas. There was a lone Forte in the Intermediate area and a long row of minivans. So given there was nothing I had my heart set on, I self-identified as a USA one-way to the lot greeter.

He went over to the US cars with me with keys and offered me an Avenger, HHR, or a Traverse. Initially took the HHR for gas mileage, but fearing how my 6 pieces of luggage would fit I switched for the Traverse. Turns out I chose wisely. It had 25k on it, expired XM, and as I later discovered the windshield washer jets had a pressure problem and didn't work. So not the greatest car I've had from National recently, but I was still happy with it.

Car had FL plates and I wasn't questioned about the car by the officer when crossing into Port Huron.

Now the next challenge is managing to get a Canadian-plated minivan for my one-way from Seattle downtown to YVR...
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