bocastephen

Generally with National it seems the nicer the car brand, the worse the car - BMW, Mercedes, Cadillacs, etc all come stripped with no options, yet I get more bells and whistles in the Ford Fusions I've been renting.

UAX_Brasilia

Worst car I've had the past year was a Mercedes GLA. The entire time driving I just kept thinking out awful and useless the car was. Couldn't even get me 375 miles on a tank. And it was LCAR!

ginmqi

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Hmm in my experience it seems the LCARs were mid-tier level in options.

All the BMWs and the Cadillac XTS I'm in right now has full nav, leather, heated/cooled seats, LED/ambient lighting, very decent sound system and rear cam and park/proximity sensors.

Some cars even came with fancier assisted driving techs with lane keeping and radar cruise. I had a GMC Yukon that had all the above plus active driving assist technologies.

The one class of car, in my experience, that was abit more bare-bones are the higher powered sporty car....had a camaro SS that was pretty lowly optioned with no on-screen nav, no leather or heated/cooled seats, but the big V8 sure made up for it though!

Eh, big luxury SUV probably I wouldn't expect the best MPG out of. Especially if you do lot of short trips or stop and go....though lot of the cars these days have auto engine shutoff during stopped driving (such as a recent Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 I had) and many car makers are going to turbo for more fuel efficiency as well.

UAX_Brasilia

Big Luxury SUV I wish. It had fine MPG with a small fuel tank. It's a small crossover with limited interior room and a 4 cylinder engine. No heated seats, no nav, no power passenger seat, no horsepower. It was literally the opposite of what I imagine when I think of Luxury.

ginmqi

Okay dang, point well taken then!!!!

I'm not as up to par with the newer Mercedes crossovers but that does seem quite disappointing with a Mercedes badge on the hood. Seems like no point in ordering that kind of bare bones Mercedes since that definitely does not seem to be up to par for what's expected of a LCAR.

Bit odd that for rental companies to acquire luxury branded cars but then have these low/bare bone models that probably does not live up to what the customers who would be used to driving such level of cars when they rent them.

EmptyKim

I think its hit and miss. I've had a BMW 430i Convertible fully loaded: M Sport, premium, nav, etc. Cadillac XTS was also fully loaded, albeit it was the smallest engine too. Of course I've seen the other end of the spectrum, cloth non-powered seats, no nav, no USB etc.

Jore

Back to this. The only two SUVs present were a Dodge Durango GT and a Jeep GC. I asked for any other options and was answered pretty rudely that anything else than what's in the aisles will go through counter with extra cost. Not quite close to National reps posting here on the forum that if you don't like the options they make sure to try to find out something else. The Dodge was a pretty decent car so not that but the feeling of the service was quite far from the expectations.

Closingracer

It really depends on the agents or managers moods. I've have been to the same place and where they would be more or. Less helpful. One time they would let me get an upgrade car cheaply and a discount as well and sometimes nothing. Another time they let me take a Q50 on a lux Res with no upgrade and another time only the XTS

PbodyPhoto

LAX Executive aisle has gone down hill a lot lately. It looked no different to the emerald club lines when I was there on Thursday. Nothing even remotely luxury to be seen.

ginmqi

Day to day situations can vary. And even hour by hour as people come in to pick up cars and return cars.

I've seen my location full of Camrys in the exec aisle....and other times I've seen Audis and larger SUVs, etc.

I'm not sure if any location can start to "go down hill" unless we see a consistent pattern of poor car selection over weeks. A single data point is not useful. And just bad luck if you didn't find good selection at that time.

3travellers

Hi
I am not a member and rent with a carbrooker in europe!!

I need help to choose a car for our 4 week roadtrip from mid may to mid june 2018.
start in LAX and return in SFO.
We are going from LA- Grand Canyon- zion- yellowstone - Idaho - Oregon - SFO!
Dessert and mountains!

What I understand is that you can pick any car in the class you book or?

if we want a Fullsize (FCAR) what are the cars we will choose between?
And what model chould i go for?

SUV class? Choices and best model to pick?

Cabriolet class (SSAR) Choices and best model to pick

Would you recommend to rent a Cabriolet for our trip?

Mike

PbodyPhoto

Well the last several times I have been to LAX the selection has been crappy. Used to consistently have great options which are all now hiding out the back of the lot. I shouldn't have to ask for a nice car to be brought over.

Closingracer

You're also not entitled to one either

PbodyPhoto

3Cforme

I would encourage you to think about what you will value in a car. Among the virtues of a full size car is relative low price with space and quiet. That is not what you will find in any cabriolet.

Common full size cars are Ford Fusion, Nissan Altima, Chevy Malibu, and Toyota Camry. Among those my choice would be the Camry as the newest vehicle on the market, and competent is all respects.