Cars at DCA (post 03/13)
Sep 12, 2014, 1:15 pm
#361
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
I hope so! As a '12 Genesis owner I've been wanting to try a '15, even if it is base trim (which has much more in the way of standard options than the '14 and older cars, in addition to the great new styling).
Sep 13, 2014, 3:27 pm
#362
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
DCA last night was a bit of as let down. They've succumb to what is becoming a more and more common annoyance... using the ER-PREM and other ER sections as bulk storage, with EA and ES being the only place you can pick a car that's ready to go. EA was Malibus, Elantras, old 200s, and a Nissan Frontier while ES was Compass(es), Malibus, an F150, and an Impala LTZ which I took reluctantly (had to lay down the back seat to make room for my golf club carrier, killing space for passengers which I may or may not have). I asked the greater if anything else was available, but all of the drivers had gone home for the night. Since I took something from the aisle I had the booth attendant adjust my rate down to ICAR from PCAR, which saved a whopping $1.25/day on a 4-day res.
I went back this afternoon to swap because I had some time to kill. EA and ES were nearly indistinguishable, with both being heavy on Malibu, Elantra and NEW 200s today, with both having some mini vans, trucks, and Compass(es) mixed in. The beacon of light, however, was a '14 Durango Limited with 10k miles and active SXM, which I grabbed. The attendant who helped me was clueless on doing the exchange, so the manager took over. He closed out my original res but the $15 off 3-day coupon stuck, so I got day 1 for $21.50. He then opened a new res and re-applied the 3-day coupon, bringing my total for 4-days down to $118 from $145 for the original PCAR res or $140 for the ICAR res.
I'm honestly fine with either vehicle I got, but the misuse of the space assigned for the ER sections is a major problem I'm seeing at more and more stations. It's usually not hard to find at-least one PCAR on any given ES (except maybe TUL), but I make PCAR reservations at ER locations to ensure I have a SELECTION of PCARs to chose from. When the ER sections are used as bulk storage, I'm sent back to the aisle to hope and find a PCAR or better when I could have done that with an ICAR res and less frustration. I REALLY wish stations with advertised ER sections would use them as such, and keep them stocked, instead of turning them into bulk storage.
I went back this afternoon to swap because I had some time to kill. EA and ES were nearly indistinguishable, with both being heavy on Malibu, Elantra and NEW 200s today, with both having some mini vans, trucks, and Compass(es) mixed in. The beacon of light, however, was a '14 Durango Limited with 10k miles and active SXM, which I grabbed. The attendant who helped me was clueless on doing the exchange, so the manager took over. He closed out my original res but the $15 off 3-day coupon stuck, so I got day 1 for $21.50. He then opened a new res and re-applied the 3-day coupon, bringing my total for 4-days down to $118 from $145 for the original PCAR res or $140 for the ICAR res.
I'm honestly fine with either vehicle I got, but the misuse of the space assigned for the ER sections is a major problem I'm seeing at more and more stations. It's usually not hard to find at-least one PCAR on any given ES (except maybe TUL), but I make PCAR reservations at ER locations to ensure I have a SELECTION of PCARs to chose from. When the ER sections are used as bulk storage, I'm sent back to the aisle to hope and find a PCAR or better when I could have done that with an ICAR res and less frustration. I REALLY wish stations with advertised ER sections would use them as such, and keep them stocked, instead of turning them into bulk storage.
Sep 21, 2014, 8:04 pm
#364
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
I saw the '15 200s on both EA and ES last Saturday afternoon. I had one in SFO and it is an excellent rental, better than most others FCAR and below and even some of the worse PCARs (Maxima, Impala LT). It also has a real handy spot perfect for resting your phone for use as nav and Pandora. If I hadn't had golf clubs, I would have taken one instead of taking the Impala and then swapping for the Durango.
Sep 23, 2014, 9:33 am
#365
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: DCA
Posts: 8
Thursday 9/18 Report
Walked through EA and ES on Thursday around 4:00 PM. Selection was much better than anticipated the last few times through here. the aisles were all neatly organized and every spot seemed to be filled, a huge surprise compared to the chaos experienced here recently.
EA
2 Ford Fusions
several minivans
several trucks
1 VW Jetta
1 Chevy Malibu
2 Chevy Captivas
2 Jeep Compass
Many more less memorable offerings
ES
5 2015 Chevy Tahoe LTs
2 2015 Chevy Suburbans
1 Chevy Malibu
1 Chevy Impala
1 Nissan Maxima
2 Volvo s60
1 Jeep Grand Cherokee
a few more options I cant presently recall
While there were not any real high end sedans available, I was hoping for a new Tahoe and had my pick of the fleet. The 5 Tahoes available were all LT level, but the model I picked had 130 miles and still had the plastic covers on many of the interior surfaces. The only upgrade was 20" wheels, which I didn't really care about. Back-up camera was included as well as Bluetooth and navigation, but the XM radio was a trial version with only 2 stations available. The Chevrolet interface system for navigation and entertainment was a real letdown, being quite difficult to use as a driver. The leather driver and front passenger seats were quite comfortable, and were the main reason that I wanted this SUV for the trip. Surprisingly though, when I had the seats close to the back of their limit (a first for me, not having to put the chair ALL the way back, being 6'6"), the middle seats became almost unusable for all but the smallest of adults -- for such a large vehicle, the space is not ideally utilized. My perfect ride would be the Tahoe without a third row, and the second row pushed back 12-18 inches. I put 1100 miles on the SUV over 4 days on a round trip to Boston, and experienced an average of 18.7 MPG over the whole rental, and about 21 on the highway portion of the journey. As an aside, I prepaid for fuel on the APP with the hopes that they would just charge me the standard gallons and not the actual gallons of the SUV, no such luck, they did charge for the actual capacity of the tank on return, but that was not an issue as I planned for this and returned it on fumes. The checker remarked that he had never seen a person return a vehicle with the fuel light on, which surprised me, because when I dropped it off, the light had been on for over 50 miles. As a driver, except for the clunky infotainment system, the experience was great, easy to handle and comfortable as could be, the only slight drawbacks were reduced legroom for rear seat passengers and fuel economy which is to be expected.
EA
2 Ford Fusions
several minivans
several trucks
1 VW Jetta
1 Chevy Malibu
2 Chevy Captivas
2 Jeep Compass
Many more less memorable offerings
ES
5 2015 Chevy Tahoe LTs
2 2015 Chevy Suburbans
1 Chevy Malibu
1 Chevy Impala
1 Nissan Maxima
2 Volvo s60
1 Jeep Grand Cherokee
a few more options I cant presently recall
While there were not any real high end sedans available, I was hoping for a new Tahoe and had my pick of the fleet. The 5 Tahoes available were all LT level, but the model I picked had 130 miles and still had the plastic covers on many of the interior surfaces. The only upgrade was 20" wheels, which I didn't really care about. Back-up camera was included as well as Bluetooth and navigation, but the XM radio was a trial version with only 2 stations available. The Chevrolet interface system for navigation and entertainment was a real letdown, being quite difficult to use as a driver. The leather driver and front passenger seats were quite comfortable, and were the main reason that I wanted this SUV for the trip. Surprisingly though, when I had the seats close to the back of their limit (a first for me, not having to put the chair ALL the way back, being 6'6"), the middle seats became almost unusable for all but the smallest of adults -- for such a large vehicle, the space is not ideally utilized. My perfect ride would be the Tahoe without a third row, and the second row pushed back 12-18 inches. I put 1100 miles on the SUV over 4 days on a round trip to Boston, and experienced an average of 18.7 MPG over the whole rental, and about 21 on the highway portion of the journey. As an aside, I prepaid for fuel on the APP with the hopes that they would just charge me the standard gallons and not the actual gallons of the SUV, no such luck, they did charge for the actual capacity of the tank on return, but that was not an issue as I planned for this and returned it on fumes. The checker remarked that he had never seen a person return a vehicle with the fuel light on, which surprised me, because when I dropped it off, the light had been on for over 50 miles. As a driver, except for the clunky infotainment system, the experience was great, easy to handle and comfortable as could be, the only slight drawbacks were reduced legroom for rear seat passengers and fuel economy which is to be expected.
Feb 17, 2015, 10:06 am
#370
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Washington, D.C.
Programs: Priority Club Plat./Ambassador; HHonors Gold; SPG Gold; Kempinski Platinum
Posts: 388
2015 Update
Has the decline in fuel prices changed the landscape at the EA/ES? In the past, most of the choices were large SUVs. My ideal these days is something like a Touareg or an Escape, and my fear has been having to drive a larger SUVs than was necessary. I wonder if now people tend not to mind larger vehicles and so National doesn't need to put them on the aisles to keep them in service.
On Friday evening, there were no SUVs at all on the EA/ES. Somebody was pulling away in a VW Passat just as I walked in. On the Executive Selection, there were a couple of midsize-looking Korean sedans and a Buick Verano left. None had a sunroof or any other distinguishing characteristics. I wasn't familiar with the Verano but sort of assumed a Buick would be sufficient for a family weekend -- plus the hangtag described it as fullsize. I was wrong: it's a very small car and cramming a car seat in it was difficult. I might have been better off with the Jetta, which looked like one of the few cars on the EA. In retrospect, I should've complained, but I'm guessing one of the Hyundais might have technically been fullsize.
When I returned yesterday afternoon, there were no SUVs around either. There was a Malibu on the ES, plus a lot of Chrysler 200s. Are those even fullsize cars? There was also a Chrysler minivan, which might have technically satisfied their obligation to make a fullsize available. I'm curious to know if the terrible selection is the new normal or if these snapshots were peculiar to the holiday weekend. I tend to pay a premium for National over Avis or Hertz because I've done well on the ES consistently.
On Friday evening, there were no SUVs at all on the EA/ES. Somebody was pulling away in a VW Passat just as I walked in. On the Executive Selection, there were a couple of midsize-looking Korean sedans and a Buick Verano left. None had a sunroof or any other distinguishing characteristics. I wasn't familiar with the Verano but sort of assumed a Buick would be sufficient for a family weekend -- plus the hangtag described it as fullsize. I was wrong: it's a very small car and cramming a car seat in it was difficult. I might have been better off with the Jetta, which looked like one of the few cars on the EA. In retrospect, I should've complained, but I'm guessing one of the Hyundais might have technically been fullsize.
When I returned yesterday afternoon, there were no SUVs around either. There was a Malibu on the ES, plus a lot of Chrysler 200s. Are those even fullsize cars? There was also a Chrysler minivan, which might have technically satisfied their obligation to make a fullsize available. I'm curious to know if the terrible selection is the new normal or if these snapshots were peculiar to the holiday weekend. I tend to pay a premium for National over Avis or Hertz because I've done well on the ES consistently.
Feb 18, 2015, 7:57 am
#371
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 195
I took what appeared to the be last Escape on Friday a little before 6pm. Sorry about that. The Friday before last (2/6) was really thin on the aisle. I wound up with an Altima.
Not sure if this is consistently true, but I've found better aisle selection at DCA on Saturday mornings than I do on Friday evenings. If I'm doing a weekend rental and don't need it on Friday night, I'll sometimes plan the pickup for first thing on Saturday.
Not sure if this is consistently true, but I've found better aisle selection at DCA on Saturday mornings than I do on Friday evenings. If I'm doing a weekend rental and don't need it on Friday night, I'll sometimes plan the pickup for first thing on Saturday.
Feb 20, 2015, 10:34 pm
#373
Moderator: National Car
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SE MI
Programs: Delta PM, National EE, Hertz PC, Hilton DM
Posts: 2,168
Wouldn't count on it. If you need that class of vehicle best to make a backup reservation to be safe.
Feb 23, 2015, 12:38 pm
#374
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: DCA
Programs: AA Platinum, United Gold, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive
Posts: 48
Friday 6pm 2/20
EA and ES were both packed to the max. Didn't get a great look at the rest but snagged a Chevy Silverado in EA with Florida plates, which was perfect for moving I had to do that weekend.
Sunday 5pm 2/22
EA and ES were completely empty. EA had only one car, a Chrysler 200. ES had a Jeep Cherokee, Chevy Camero, and Ford Mustang. The return line was almost out of the garage as there were too many people returning at once.
Feb 23, 2015, 1:14 pm
#375
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Paradise
Posts: 1,617
I have often seen 7/8 seat vehicles at DCA such as Journey, Traverse, Tahoe, or Suburban. Also, there are often minivans in ES. That being said, it completely depends on the time of day you are renting. From my experience selection is slim on weekdays due to business travellers. Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, when everyone is leaving or has left DC, selection is great.
