PDXNRTLHR

Very poor acceleration--makes merging difficult, especially on extremely short German slip roads.

Also, the pushbutton gearshift in the automatic, with a parking break where the gearshift would be, led to me nearly pulling the break when meaning to shift between D, R, and N.

PDXNRTLHR

Last week, booked a Group E and was given a group F upgrade (as base Preferred member) to Vauxhall Insignia. This week, booked a group E and was given a Vauxhall Mokka. Other than slight build quality issues (rattles in both cars, dodgy parking sensors in the Mokka), they were pleasant to drive and great for our purposes.

abefroman329

Planning to travel to the UK in the fall and rent a people carrier/MPV from the Oxford location. If I reserve an automatic, what are the chances that I will receive an automatic? Thanks in advance.

PDXNRTLHR

Quite high. The chances of getting an automatic when booking a manual, however, are very low (I've only had it happen once, and that was when the person ahead of me in line didn't want the automatic they had booked).

James Fleming

Just wanted to add a recent data point. I rented a group N (Luxury Automatic) last month from LHR for a week and was given a choice of;

Mercedes E class
Audi A6 Avant
Hyundai Santa Fe

Took the A6 Avant as we had a ton of luggage and it was immaculate; less than 5000 miles.

Buster

Booked a Standard size car (Ford Mondeo or similar) at LHR a week and a half ago, got a Hyundai Tucson SUV. It was fine, accommodated all of our luggage easily, but was a bit powerless going uphill. I prefer the Hyundai i40 sedan or wagon.

herzmeh

Booked compact to pick up at LHR T5 from Budget. Site says Peugeot 2008 or similar. What to expect?

rcspeirs

Could be that Peugeot. Or Ford Focus. Or VW Golf. Or about 20 other alternatives. Absolutely no way of predicting - all the main firms in the UK have a huge variety on their fleets.

citiflyerUK

I recently have booked a few different cars. I booked a Audi Q2 which is supposedly a "Guaranteed model" but was told at LCY that the Q2 hasn't been delivered yet. I was upgraded to a Mercedes CLA. Although the interior wasn't very clean. It looked like a drink had been spilt over the cupholders and centre console area and not cleaned up.

The next one I booked was a group F model - which was "upgraded" to a Audi A3.

Finally I booked another Q2, this time from LHR. At check in, I was offered a choice between an Audi A3, BMW 1 Series or Hyundai hybrid. I took the Hyundai. When I got to the car, it didn't work. The key wouldn't open it and it wouldn't start. Staff said the battery in the car was dead. Changed to another Hyundai which I was then told had already been assigned to someone. Then changed to a baby blue Ford Focus. In the end I paid £100 and took an Audi A5. Very glad I did. Seemed like a great car. Only 1000 miles on it.

TribalistMeathead

Is there still a representative from Avis UK that monitors this forum? I had a horrible experience with the Oxford location that I’d like to share with them.

clubman

Considering you booked a car that was supposedly meant to be guaranteed, and then hassled by being assigned two cars that you couldn't actually drive, no way should you have paid an additional £100 for the A5.

Karol

Hi.
I was driving a W group car. It was supposed to be a Volkswagen passat wagon or similar. I got Ford Focus. Is it the same group?
Regards

rcspeirs

Preferred customer. Glasgow Airport. December 2017. Reserved Group E
Received. Citroen C3 Picasso diesel. Group E.
(Do Avis ever upgrade Preferred customers? I’ve rarely known it happen. I get a much better upgrade rate when using Hertz)
Summary. One of the most unpleasant cars I’ve driven in recent years.
Positive? Economical, only needed £10 of diesel per 100 miles driven.
Has cruise control, though control stalk is horribly flimsy and hidden behind steering wheel, so finding the correct button is a combination of guesswork and hope.
Suspension absorbs bumps well.

Against? Instruments are awful, just awful. Think a ZX Spectrum type orange instrument panel, something that might have seemed modern in the 1980s. Worse, this dashboard unit is so poorly sealed that stray reflections of orange light are scattered over the windscreen at night, making night time driving borderline dangerous.
Lethargic engine - I’m not expecting a sports car in this car group but this felt worse than any equivalent from other manufacturers. Notchy recalcitrant manual gearbox, only five speeds.
Radio didn’t have DAB, the FM quality was rubbish. You can eventually connect a phone by Bluetooth but you need a degree in quantum physics, a half hour to spare, and it’s likely to fail to recognise your phone when you restart after switching off.
[ Edited to try to fix paragraph formatting]

pickles1107

Any reports of Luxury at Malaga?

Vinotraveller

No, but I have reserved a BMW 7-series there in just over a week's time, so can report back if you like?