Interesting Rental Cars...?

[rich_1979]

So whilst my Spyder is in the final stages of compliance over here in Melbourne, I have turned my focus to my upcoming trip back to the UK in early September. I will be doing a fair bit of driving whilst I am there (London, Manchester, Hull, Leeds and back down to London) so I want to hire something a bit more fun that the standard Hyundai Getz (or whatever the UK agencies use as a base car these days).

Has anyone hired something a little more "fun" before or can recommend something? I'm on some kind of budget so although the BMW M5 with Hertz is appealing I can't really justify the 600 pounds per day rate over the 8 days I need the car I notice Hertz have a Scirocco in their fun class - has anyone driven one? Any other recommendations?

Oh - it's just me so no need to worry about passengers and loads of luggage

Rich

 

[Andyk]

My mate has a Scirocco...He loves it.....it will be more fun than the Getz......Anything small and Italian is fun....Fiat 500 mabe.

 

[TridentTested]

I do wish rental companies would let us have more control over car choice. They really are missing a big market because most drivers are more interested in what they drive than the rental companies think and are probably willing to pay a premium to get that choice.

I went to a lot of trouble once to rent an Alfa Romeo 156 from Toulouse airport. I was in the process of ordering a new 156 at the time, had a trip to Toulouse coming up, knew someone there was operating them as rental cars, and wanted to take advantage to do an extended road test. With much detective work I eventually discovered it was Europcar but they don't half make it difficult.

Car manufacturers are missing a trick too. There must be many potential customers willing to actually pay money to a rental company for an extended test like that, or some fun usage like you are looking for. You could easily imagine a link on their site saying something like: "you can rent this car from 'x', click here". It just needs a bit of liaison between manufacturer and rental company.


Beyond that the only advice I can offer, which has worked a treat for me in the past, is when standing at the desk make a deliberate point of confirming that your contract is for unlimited mileage "because I have some enormous journeys to do". This will often result in an upgrade because they don't like big mileage on their small cars, it reduces their resale values too much, not such a big deal on the motorway cruisers.

Oh, and take out your own Excess insurance here. £40 per annum will be a lot less than the rental company will want on the desk, and the excess these days is often GBP ±£1,000.

 

[davy83]

Hertz will let you specify the car and have a "fun" range, not sure much of it is actually fun. you could always push the boat out and rent a Ferrari http://uk.hertzsupercars.com/ I rented a Scirocco in Liverpool recently a diesel with start stop and it was ok, poor rear visibility but a gutsy engine, good on the motor way. I have seen one of the rental companies with the Fiat 500 Arbarth, as a rental, that would be fun, not sure about the long motorway sections? All rental cars go faster than they would if you owned them anyway

 

[safrane]

Why not try one of the small independent companies.
We have a few in the South West...anything from a classic 911 to a TVR.

 

[cobratwin]

Wpuld it not be an idea if we as a forum had a "group" car ? Ive seen a lot resently needing a motor while theres is in fir a service or needing a wedding car or this ... im sure if we all put in a few quid to a kitty we could have one sorted do a calender up someone puts there name down to use the motor and its theres to use for the time required on a first come first served basis unless they can negotiate a swap?.

 

[2b1ask1]

Well there is always:

http://www.classiccarclub.co.uk/home.asp

I'm sure you could negotiate a set of vehicles for your duration, they even have some Maserati I believe. I have never been a member myself but have known people that have been and it seems to work. Some of the motors are a bit shabby but they have been doing it for long enough to know what they are doing. They have just moved to new premises so trade must be ok at the moment.

 

[rich_1979]

Thanks for the replies - ill see who has the Arbarth as that could be fun and not too expensive.