I was standing at the counter working on getting a convertible one day from Hertz (I didn't want one of the flyer talk yellow ones in SFO) and the very nice crazy lady didn't want to take another customer so she was taking her sweet time finding me a red one.

In any case, over at the next rental agent, they asked the guy the question, and apparently they didn't like his answer. He couldn't see it happen, but from my side I saw the agent put back the keys he was holding and pick up another set. Not sure if they have a "not so good" car for people going to bad neighborhoods or not, but there was a distinct key change after he was asked that.

Could have been to something a bit better for hilly driving, not really sure what the answer was that caused the result.

Usually I'm asked when renting near a border with Mexico or Canada, though it's certainly not uncommon for where I live for them to ask if you are renting a full size because they think you are using it as a limo into the city or something.