I know this will sounds horrible, and surely ruin our current sponsorship negotiations with Thrifty Car Rental, but where are all the good rental car abuse videos? It used to be that you found all kinds of them, but in the last year or two they have dwindled horribly. Check out YouTube and you won’t find much new at all. As the guy who religiously, ask Brian, tests the rev limiter in the rental car immediately upon first startup and regularly throughout the rental period, I have come to believe that a certain amount of rage is expected to be directed toward each and every rental car. Daphne swears that I’ve gotten pay back for that on several occasions, but I beg to differ.
I think the poor bastard cleaning cars at the rental car lot is hoping, no begging, for some carnage so he can at least wonder what the hell happened during the rental period. And don’t think that dude hasn’t done an E-Brake slide, burnout, or neutral drop in all the cars you are renting anyway! If they haven’t, then their Professional Rental Car Driver card is being pulled as we speak.
All you racers out there know that I am not alone here. It’s practically a competitive element of every race weekend to see what fellow racers will do in their rental. Some of us have been on the No Rent List, others have not. It’s good to set goals in life.
Here are a couple videos of rental car abuse that we approve of.
Call me a stick in the mud but I don’t support the stuff. Just makes renting cars cost more and more of a hassle.
The last car I rented was an Altima (I was hoping for an Impala or better). It was brand new wouldn’t even make it up hills without dropping to 2nd gear. There was no power to squeeze out of it.
I can see testing the speed/acceleration of a rental, but beating on it just for yucks? Why?
If that Altima was 2007 or newer it had a CVT. No gears. The 2012 (rental) Altima I drove clearly had some sort of power restriction and refused to go past 4,000 RPM. Dunno if that is something Nissan puts on all to be rentals.
In my younger days I was a lot attendant for a major car rental agency. The single best job I ever had, not pay wise, but just a cool job! And ,yes, I pulled a few stunts. I can honestly say that I have left the surface of the planet in a ’83 Lincoln Town car.
I’ve made my living in the rental industry for many years. I’m against the abuse of any equipment. I don’t use a ratchet as a hammer, and I don’t like seeing anything beat on. Especially when it doesn’t belong to you. Most rental cars end up as late model, low mile used cars on dealers lots. Think of the people who end up with these cars. When Carfax shows “rental”, I take a pass. I’ll step down off my soapbox.
If you won’t do it to your own ride, don’t do it to someone else’s, plain and simple.
Greg, I agree with you 100%.
Chad, so as a business owner you get your yuks by attempting to ruin another business owners equipment? Grow up and think if some asshole vandalized a piece of equipment you invested in to make a living.