Work Rides: Volvo S60

One of the nice things I already said I like about renting from National Car Rental is that you get to pick the car you want. I'm no longer stuck at the mercy of whatever the rental agent feels like giving me. There's an aisle filled with cars. I pick out a vehicle. Then I get to drive it at our low corporate rate.

I was a little surprised when St. Louis had a Volvo S60 in the Emerald Executive aisle there for the taking. The reasons seemed obvious: #1 Volvos aren't usually seen in rental car lots, and #2 - one would think someone would have already jumped on the chance to drive this.

I have to say that the Volvo S60 is hands down the best rental car I've ever driven. In fact, it might be the best car I've ever driven in my lifetime. (that's probably more pathetic than surprising, so spare me your insults...)

Seriously, this was a great car. The 2.5T trim I had included (heated!!!!) leather seats, and a moon roof (it's cold outside, so who cares...). Otherwise, there weren't many other features of note. That said, the car had a solid feel, and I felt absolutely safe thanks to Volvo's stellar safety ratings. The interior and dashboard were nicely appointed and had a sleek, yet understated European feel. The engine was peppy and ready to accelerate quickly when needed. The interior was quiet, and road and engine noises were minimal.

So as scary as it is to say this, I really can't think of any reason why I wouldn't want to own this car. Oh wait, it starts at $30,885. There's one... (but if I can find one at a lower price, then I'll seriously consider one...)

Volvo S60 website

Work Rides: GMC Acadia

My employer switches travel agencies this summer. To most people, that's not a big deal - but for someone like me who is out of town most weeks, that can lead to big changes. One casualty of the change is that we switches from Avis to National for car rentals.

I had gotten used to the free upgrades as one of Avis' top tier of renters, so it was a welcome change when my regular use of National's fleet allowed me to start getting upgrades in their frequent user program as well. The nice thing about National is that you can pick your vehicle and go - no worries about getting stuck with a make/model you don't like, and they give you a whole aisle to select from (all at the same price). Frequent users like myself get access to the "Executive Collection" aisle, and there are always a couple good choices.

With this setting in mind, I decided to take advantage of National's fleet to take somewhat of a test drive of a vehicle I have some interest in purchasing somewhere down the road when my current lease is up. Enter the GMC Acadia (and is nameplate cousins the Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave).

I did a joint sales call with a client that had one of these, and liked it. It's slightly larger than my Nissan Pathfinder, but offers a couple nice differences

• Seating configuration: The Acadia has 3 rows and can seat up to 8. The thing I like is that the second row can be configured with 2 captain's chairs instead of a bench seat. With 4 kids, this makes it a lot easier to get the kids into the back row since we have larger car seats for the younger kids in the 2nd row.
• Handling: while the Acadia is a fairly large vehicle, it handles well. Overall feel is more like a car than a truck. My model had a rear sonar - which was a nice touch for such a large vehicle.
• Sound. Engine noise was less pronounced than on my Pathfinder. Again, this seems to be attributed to the Acadia being designed more as a car than a truck.
• Amenities. These were great. On top of Sonar and XM Satellite Radio, my Acadia also had a rear DVD system. While this served no purpose or benefit whatsover, it's a nice touch nonetheless.

While my impressions overall were good. (So much that I rented the same vehicle two weeks in a row...) There are a few drawbacks:

• Cargo area: There isn't much storage area behind the 3rd row. While several bags/suitcases could easily fit there, there's no way this vehicle could accommodate our family of 6 + luggage/gear for any vacation or even a weekend of camping. Bummer. Only the Suburban or a 16-passenger van seem to be our options...
• Price: Starts a ~$30k. Steep.
• Intangibles: I've had great success with Japanese cars (namely Nissans and Hondas) and minimal success with American ones (Chrysler, Ford) I've never owned a GM car, but I do have concerns about their reliability. This could ultimately be a deciding factor...
  

Sweet Ride

Yeah, I know this isn't a Ferrari or Porsche, but for a rental car it's pretty good. I drive a lot of rental cars when I'm on the road, but this is one of the best I've had. It beats the plain old Malibu's, Impalas, and Tauruses that I get stuck with far too often

This is the '07 Dodge Charger I had in Omaha last week. It's all "business," with a sporty edge to it. I've driven the similar Chrysler 300, and didn't care for it nearly as much. Another big plus with this particular model - it came with Sirius Satellite Radio...always a plus.

Although it wouldn't be at the top of my list if I were shopping for a new car, it certainly would get consideration.

Random Observation on Vacation

I'll get back to vacation bloggin shortly, but I wanted to post something that I noticed while away...

Before I explain, I should note that I am a bit biased toward Nissan vehicles. I've had 4 of them in the last 10 years. (97 Altima, 99 Maxima, 03 Altima, 05 Pathfinder) More than likely I'll get another one next time around too.

So anyway, Nissan just updated the Altima - and I noticed a LOT of them on vacation. The car has only been shipping for a few months, but without exaggerating, I saw more Altimas than either the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord by a ratio of 4:1 or 5:1.

With looks like this, wouldn't everyone? Seriously, it makes the Accord and Camry look like as stale as an Oldsmobile.