I'm looking for recommendations/suggestions/tips for car rental in Mexico City (going there in early February).

Context: I am certainly NOT looking to drive in Mexico City itself. I know it's not a city one wants to drive in if one can avoid that. I'm actually looking to get in a rental car and immediately drive away, out of the city (to the west), and after a few days in Michoacan, return back to Mexico City, driving in only as far as I need to reach the car rental drop-off point.

I have driven around other parts of Mexico before, although not in the big city. I will be staying in the Centro Historico, but I'm pretty sure that's not a great area to drive around. We're actually going to the Monarch butterfly reserves to the west (in the mountains of Michoacan). I'd be happy to catch an Uber or taxi from our centrally-located hotel to a car rental agency a bit further out, whose location would make leaving (and returning) easier (by minimizing the driving in the city). Taxi/Uber to an easier location, pick up the car, head away. Reverse upon return a few days later.

Any recommendations for a location? Other tips? (besides "don't go", which I always hear before a visit to Mexico). Thanks.