Ah, once upon a time Hertz included NeverLost in all their cars, whether the customer wanted it or not. In the spring of 2001 I got a Mercury Sable from my neighborhood location for a 2 day rental to visit Baltimore. As soon as I sat down, smack! I bumped my knee on the navigation system protruding between the seats. When the car was started, the annoying box woke up and said, "Welcome to Hertz Neverlost, powered by Magellan." I knew my way to Baltimore, and once I got there I suspiciously eyed the black cable snaking under the dash. Realizing I couldn't get this knee-banging monster out, I called Hertz back in NY. They apologized and said I could return the car in Baltimore and exchange it for another without NeverLost free of charge.

I thought about what a waste of time that would be and politely declined. As I was driving around Baltimore, guess what, I got lost, and wound up using NeverLost to guide me (in apparently a somewhat roundabout way) to my hotel. When I finally got back to NY, the rental agent apologized that the NeverLost box banged by knee and gave me a discount for the inconvenience.

Ah, the good old days when such "amenities" were free. By the way, why did a car registered in NY bother you? I personally like seeing the "exotic" cars we have here. Very rarely it seems will a NY location have a NY car.