I made Kent stop outside the rental car garage for a picture before returning our car at the Atlanta Airport following a great weekend in the Atlanta area.
When you travel with the frequency of Kent and I, you get exposed to a lot of different cars. Given enough time there are bound to be stories - the rental car in Greece that got the side mirror ripped off, the one in New York that smelled like an astray and the power outlet that did not work, the big truck for the ski trip to Lake Tahoe, the numerous times we've been stuck with a mini van or grandpa car, the speeding ticket in Missouri, the convertible in Key West or the big station wagon in Italy. Yes - we have had some interesting and memorable car rental experiences. We really only have three criteria - one that the car has not been smoked in, two that it does not reek of some odor of unknown origin and finally that it have satellite radio. We rent with National all the time and are Emerald Isle customers which allows us to make all arrangements online and completely bypass the rental desk to have to turn down the offer of purchasing insurance and no I don't want to pre-purchase the fuel, I'll bring it back full - thank you very much! Emerald Isle also means that you walk out and pick out your own car - you get to see off it passes the smell test and assure it has satellite radio and that it's activated. We've been know to "test" several car before finding just the right one. You can bet that the grampa cars and mini vans we ended up with had not been smoked in, smell and that they had satellite radio!
We have rented various KIA vehicles over the years and they are surprisingly nice cars. I've never rented one however thinking - "I could see myself buying one of these" until now. The KIA Soul was cute, it got good gas mileage, it was fun to drive, it was nimble and easy to park and had all the room we needed. This one was brand new - we were the first to rent it! I always feel a little bad because we rack up the miles. In our short little visit we put on over 1000 miles!
The story that will accompany this car will be the boot that got put on it when we parked it in a space in an apartment complex for a few minutes while we went into the Atlanta train station. We were literally there for 5 minutes when I looked out and saw security booting our car! Crap - cost us $75!
Glad to be home - we both went right from the airport to the office - it's been a very long day!
Have a good one -
Jim
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It is very sporty looking :) although the convertible in Key West would be sweet.
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