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Thread: Rentavette

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    Default Rentavette

    I flew down to South FL to help my Dad open his house up after spending the summer up on Cape Cod. I got in before 10am and his flight wasn't due until 4pm so I had plenty of time to relax and maybe take a drive. I went to the rental area which had about 8 vendors in it, very few people there so I sat down, got my phone out and looked up what kind of deals were available. Budget had a great deal on a Mustang for $125 for the three days through USAA. I haven't driven the new IRS model so I went to that counter.

    I was immediately served by a nice gentleman and asked for the car, gave him the time I'd be back. He asked for my license and I gave it to him. He gave me a big smile when my perfect driving record display on his computer screen. "Sir, would you like to upgrade that to a new Corvette?" and he wrote down a price of $99 and gave it to me. I asked him "per day?" and he nodded yes. I shook my head, gave him my credit card and said "I'll just take the Mustang". He took my card and scanned it, revealing my excellent credit rating and he threw his head back. "Sir, I see that you qualify for an excellent discount on the upgrade." He wrote down a figure of $49 and placed it on the counter. "OK," I agreed, somewhat reluctantly.

    But what the hell, I haven't driven a new Vette either. In fact, I've never driven an old one lol. I knew I was in for two solid days of repairing stuff around my dad's house with tons of crap in the way and never the right tools available and all that shit. "You deserve it!" the agent said. He seemed to read the look on my face quite well.

    The car is stunning from the outside. It is by far the best looking Vette to date and I've read a lot of praise about the new design. I looked the car over carefully and took photos of each defect on the body. There were several. In fact the rear bumper cover was scuffed up pretty good and misaligned. The trunk is huge- I have formerly measured a client's car finding it to be able to manage ten foot lengths of plumbing pipe.

    Sitting in the driver's seat reminds me of the old animated TV show of the 70's: Speed Racer. The Mach V had these huge bulbous front fenders. They don't look large from the outside, but in the drivers seat They make Stormy Daniels look line a B-cup. I maneuvered out of the parking space very carefully.

    Once on the road the car handles very nicely. There's a lot of road noise, so much so that going the speed limit feels fast to me. Can't see anything on the sides and rear, only what's in front of you. Cornering into an on ramp, throttle response if good enough to be able to "steer with the pedal". The seat and driving position is very comfortable, albeit low, but I think I could drive the car cross county very easily.

    I got on I75 and headed south. I set the cruise on the posted limit of 70 and got acquainted with my new friend. Controls are simple. 8-speed automatic. Paddle shifters automatically set it into manual mode, then it goes back to auto after maintaining a steady speed and 0 Gs for a few moments. There is a center electronic display showing digital speed and analog tach. Touch screen display off to the side for radio, nav, etc. A few dial and hard button controls so you don't have to "menu down" to control basic functions like fan speed, temperature, and radio volume. A knob on the console changes to driving mode from sport to touring, track (did not use), eco (nix that) and weather.

    A few miles after discovering the "weather" setting the Florida skies opened up and I dutifully slowed down to about 45 and set the correct mode. The car did OK but I would have rather have been in the Jeep set to AWD "snow" mode.

    I did my errands in the car. Stopped off at a Dollar store to buy a cheap pair of sunglasses (I left mine in the Jeep, dammit), a liquor store to buy a bottle of Vat 69 and had lunch at Chick-fil-A. There is no mechanical door opener. Instead, you press small button and it unlocks and opens. There is a mechanical lever on the floor in case of electrical malfunction. The dash display shows you a split screen display for parking assist in the front and front tires with guide lines when maneuvering forward. In reverse it shows the rear camera with guide lines that move with the steering wheel.

    I picked my Dad up later and he rolled his eyes. Manged to squeeze his elderly frame into it with my help and a scowl. We drove off and soon was approaching the interstate on a two lane on ramp. I got stuck being a slow car but passed it on the curve, again using the throttle for steering. I then blipped the throttle and we were at the posted 70mph limit only about half way up the ramp. "What just happened!" i asked my Dad. "Just a lot of noise" was his response, and I laughed.

    The trip to his house was about 45 minutes and getting out of the car was a challenge that required my assistance. We opened up the house, and I got his old Lincoln Town Car started, first turn of the key. I drove it to the car wash and used the booth sprayer and $5 worth of quarters to get off six months of debris. Then I wiped it down and examined it in some detail, getting more filth off the paint. I made a mental list of what I would need: clay bar, leather cleaner, Windex, detail brushes. One of the turn signal bulbs was out so I stopped at OReillys and bought a complete set of exterior bulbs, and a set of wrenches to do the disassembly that I could see in the parking lot.

    Got back and my Dad asked, "where to dinner?" and I said "which car to take?". He responded "The Corvette, of course". LOL I know the old dude better than he does himself sometimes.

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    Is this for real or a copy/paste job?

    If it's real then c'mon...admit it, you opened that car up a little bit on the freeway didn't you?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Guille View Post
    Is this for real or a copy/paste job?

    If it's real then c'mon...admit it, you opened that car up a little bit on the freeway didn't you?
    One time I got in the passing lane and followed 1/4 mile behind some moron doing 15 over. Within a minute we passed a trooper who luckily must have been on his phone. South FL is crawling with traffic cops, and there is a reason why I have a clean driving record.

    I couple times I "opened it up" off a stop light. Any more than half way down and the rear starts to come around. That is with traction control on. In the wrong hands that car is off road very quickly.

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    All my Dad's neighbors loved the car.

    On Tuesday after having breakfast out I started the car in the parking lot to get it cooled down while I helped the old man in. An attractive blond about my age commented on how beautiful the car was; asked to look in the interior. "It's a rental" I offered, and told her about the deal. "I've always wanted to do that" she said.

    Lots of thumbs up and approving looks from other drivers.

    Unlike other supercars, the 'Vette is very approachable. Although it's over-the-top, somehow it's not pretentious.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Soul View Post
    All my Dad's neighbors loved the car.

    On Tuesday after having breakfast out I started the car in the parking lot to get it cooled down while I helped the old man in. An attractive blond about my age commented on how beautiful the car was; asked to look in the interior. "It's a rental" I offered, and told her about the deal. "I've always wanted to do that" she said.

    Lots of thumbs up and approving looks from other drivers.

    Unlike other supercars, the 'Vette is very approachable. Although it's over-the-top, somehow it's not pretentious.
    $49 per day was awesome but how much was the insurance?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Guille View Post
    $49 per day was awesome but how much was the insurance?
    $49 x 3 days + $125 that I was planning to pay for the Mustang. My USAA auto policy covers rental cars- all auto insurance policies do. Buying insurance from the rental agency is unnecessary for most people and a complete rip off.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Soul View Post
    $49 x 3 days + $125 that I was planning to pay for the Mustang. My USAA auto policy covers rental cars- all auto insurance policies do. Buying insurance from the rental agency is unnecessary for most people and a complete rip off.
    I haven't rented a car since the 1990's. Back then my insurance didn't cover rentals. How is that USAA? They keep sending me letters.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Guille View Post
    I haven't rented a car since the 1990's. Back then my insurance didn't cover rentals. How is that USAA? They keep sending me letters.
    They are good to me for auto insurance so far. I asked them to quote on my homeowners at they were a lot higher than Nationwide. My Dad went with another company because they kept raising his rates.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Guille View Post
    Is this for real or a copy/paste job?

    If it's real then c'mon...admit it, you opened that car up a little bit on the freeway didn't you?
    Oh hell no. He wouldn’t do that. He’s like my sister. She just bought a vette and talk about wasting money. She couldn’t possibly risk getting a paint chip or worse...a smudge of dirt! They wouldn’t do anything to devalue the car or risk their rating.

    The only fun she has with, and she admits this is going 0-60 fast. She doesn’t even really do that. She accelerates it to 60 in 5 seconds. The damned car will do it in 3.5 sec but no she can’t do that cause it might spin those pretty Pirelli tires!

    She so damned conservative driving that Vette i’ve Passed her in my Miata on more than occasion.

    She let me drive it once and a turned off the TC and hit the throttle and was quickly doing 90mph. Grinning from ear to ear I turned my head to look at her and she was like

    So I dropped to 55 and said “Nice car sis.”. She should have bought a Lincoln MKZ like I did.

    So no...I’m reasonably sure Right wouldn’t turn of the TC and do a fishtail around a curve at 80 mph. LOL
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mott the Hoople View Post
    She should have bought a Lincoln MKZ like I did.
    Lincoln...good man.

    Turning off the traction control in that car may not have been the wisest thing you've ever done.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Soul View Post
    All my Dad's neighbors loved the car.

    On Tuesday after having breakfast out I started the car in the parking lot to get it cooled down while I helped the old man in. An attractive blond about my age commented on how beautiful the car was; asked to look in the interior. "It's a rental" I offered, and told her about the deal. "I've always wanted to do that" she said.

    Lots of thumbs up and approving looks from other drivers.

    Unlike other supercars, the 'Vette is very approachable. Although it's over-the-top, somehow it's not pretentious.

    It’s also very reasonably priced for a supercar but still and all it’s gross overkill for road use. You need to put one on the track and have professional level training to use all that potential.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mott the Hoople View Post

    So no...I’m reasonably sure Right wouldn’t turn of the TC and do a fishtail around a curve at 80 mph. LOL
    As I said earlier, there's a reason why I have a clean- no, perfect- driving record.

    I had to do 90 last night though, in my Jeep coming back from the airport. Some dumbass in a Honda minivan was doing 4-over in the left. No traffic. I had the cruise set at 7 over and passed him on the right. When he saw this he sped up, and I was like, you want to race me you miserable muthafucka? He did. He kept up with me until we both hit 85, then I put it to the floor and cut in front of him. He turned on his high beams (of course) and then mummy in the passenger seat made him slow down. I coasted back to 7 over and dumbass kept his highs on for the next 20 miles, 1/4 mile behind me.

    I've found Honda minivan drivers to be the worst left lane offenders. They must be so pissed of at having to drive shut a shitty car that they feel the need to make everyone around them miserable.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mott the Hoople View Post
    It’s also very reasonably priced for a supercar but still and all it’s gross overkill for road use. You need to put one on the track and have professional level training to use all that potential.
    I agree. Anyone who hasn't had the training shouldn't be in one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Guille View Post
    Lincoln...good man.

    Turning off the traction control in that car may not have been the wisest thing you've ever done.

    I just did that cause I wanted to fish tail it at low speed. Vettes autocorrect beautifully at low speeds. Just let off the gas a little counter steer...but yea...at speed turning if TC is a good way to wrap your self around a telephone pole.

    I like to turn off TC when I first drive a sports car to get a feel for where it’s limits are. Vettes communicate that quickly. LOL
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mott the Hoople View Post
    I just did that cause I wanted to fish tail it at low speed. Vettes autocorrect beautifully at low speeds. Just let off the gas a little counter steer...but yea...at speed turning if TC is a good way to wrap your self around a telephone pole.

    I like to turn off TC when I first drive a sports car to get a feel for where it’s limits are. Vettes communicate that quickly. LOL
    The last "modern" Vette I drove was an '86 and that one was too fast for most people and it wasn't anywhere near as fast as today's Vettes and it didn't handle well either. I inherited a '74 and that one is much easier to get in and out of than the modern ones.

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