The lowest mileage car I've pulled off the Executive Selection in the last three months had about 9,000 miles on it. The average mileage has been around 20,000. The highest was 32,000.

I'm getting very dismayed with the awful selection I've seen this year with National, which seems to get worse. On top of that, I'm finding myself waiting longer to be picked up at airports I frequent like LAX — last night three National buses that were not full drove by without stopping, and the fourth stopped at the UA terminal to pick me and a couple of other renters up. During that period Avis had about 10 buses that stopped at that terminal, and Hertz had nearly as many as Avis did. I've had a similar problem at MSY, where I waited 45 minutes one night for a National bus to show up. This was around 9:00 PM — probably not the busiest period, but not middle of the night either. It finally took a phone call to the National office to get a bus to show up.

On top of that, this year I've had too many issues with arriving at the airport to be told "We have no cars" even though I had a reservation booked weeks in advance, I've had waits of over 15 minutes to get through the exit gate because only one window was open, and I've had too many cars that stunk inside or had obvious mechanical issues, including warning lights that wouldn't go out for items that had not been dealt with.

I miss the days when being an Executive Selection member at National meant nice, low mileage, full-featured cars, often with active XM. Lately it seems the Executive Selection is high mileage, base model, or full of minivans. After last night's experience, I'm debating giving up the generous frequent rental program and going back to Avis. The National free days are great, but the nice cars and quick service I enjoyed for years seems to be gone.