BA Hire Car

GreenMachine · 27-07-2006, 10:13 AM

Kind of a BA story, kind of a hire car abuse story.

Just returned the sorriest BA XT hire car on the face of the earth. 23,000k's on the clock, interior is absolutely trashed, didn't steer straight, knocking from the front suspension etc.

All that wasn't the biggest problem though. After I picked it up on Monday, I noticed it was running fairly hot (2/3rds up the guage). Figured this was a BA thing, although every newish Ford I've driven up to now had normal operating temp waaay down on the guage.

After a little while in traffic, this crept up slightly. Was momentarily concerned, but hey - it's a hire car and I had work to do. Did a few hundred k's a day on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday, on the way to work, it started running like a bag of excrement, and the temp was now up to 3/4's and rising. I assume the missing and lack of power was the engine shutting down cylinders due to the overheat failsafe mode these things have. There was plenty of water in the coolant tank.

So I got on the mobile to the rental company.

"This car I've got sucks, can I have another one?"

"Sure, drop it back to our depot, fill out a breakdown form and we'll have another car for you in 24 hours."

"Oh, look, it's miraculously got better!" and hung up.

So I guess it's a testament to the toughness of the new I6 that it lasted several hundred more k's in that state.

The question is: a) Have I committed a crime against a Ford, or are hire cars exempt from any form of care and b) has anyone else experienced this in a BA?

Apart from all the faults, it was a perfectly fine car to drive. Decent power (when it was running on 6 cylinders) and good on the highway, but the interior felt a little cheap to me.

macca_779 · 27-07-2006, 06:23 PM

Hire cars are exempt i have next to zero mechanical sympathy for hire cars and work cars alike. The boys and I at work frequently indulge in cluthless shifting holding revlimiters for extended periods of time. Compressions lockups. Havent killed one yet. Its murphys law if i treated my car like a work car it wouldn't last a week. Go figure.

Scott · 27-07-2006, 06:44 PM

Hire cars are quite similar to Company cars where they will withstand an incredible beating and will often give you those "special moments" to share with your mates.

Out of interest, did you check to see if the thermos were running?

Full Spectrum · 27-07-2006, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenMachine

Kind of a BA story, kind of a hire car abuse story.

Just returned the sorriest BA XT hire car on the face of the earth. 23,000k's on the clock, interior is absolutely trashed, didn't steer straight, knocking from the front suspension etc.

All that wasn't the biggest problem though. After I picked it up on Monday, I noticed it was running fairly hot (2/3rds up the guage). Figured this was a BA thing, although every newish Ford I've driven up to now had normal operating temp waaay down on the guage.

After a little while in traffic, this crept up slightly. Was momentarily concerned, but hey - it's a hire car and I had work to do. Did a few hundred k's a day on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday, on the way to work, it started running like a bag of excrement, and the temp was now up to 3/4's and rising. I assume the missing and lack of power was the engine shutting down cylinders due to the overheat failsafe mode these things have. There was plenty of water in the coolant tank.

So I got on the mobile to the rental company.

"This car I've got sucks, can I have another one?"

"Sure, drop it back to our depot, fill out a breakdown form and we'll have another car for you in 24 hours."

"Oh, look, it's miraculously got better!" and hung up.

So I guess it's a testament to the toughness of the new I6 that it lasted several hundred more k's in that state.

The question is: a) Have I committed a crime against a Ford, or are hire cars exempt from any form of care and b) has anyone else experienced this in a BA?

Apart from all the faults, it was a perfectly fine car to drive. Decent power (when it was running on 6 cylinders) and good on the highway, but the interior felt a little cheap to me.

Thats a hire car people treat them like they wouldn't there own, Thats why you never buy rental cars

We hired a Territory for Bathurst last year and it had 34,000km and not 1 and i mean not 1 serves done on it.

Doctor Sodways · 27-07-2006, 07:50 PM

Hire cars are great fun, much the same as fleet cars, you dont buy em after, but when you get em, jeez you can have some fun. Some geelong members of the eseries club would remember mightxr6turbo and my visit, and the sub 5000k old BF XR6 we thrashed, great memories

gbright · 28-07-2006, 12:31 PM

Nothing drive's like a hire car

Ringo · 28-07-2006, 12:55 PM

They go faster, They corner faster, They can take speed humps without slowing down....

I had a Diahastu Curore as a hire car in Cairns once. What a little rocket. It would 130 happily, bouce over railway tracks, potholes, cattle grids, take corners faster than any Falcon and did it all on $30 worth of fuel.

Okay....granted.....I have exagerated a little.....to hit 130 I had to switch off the airconditioning first.

gbright · 28-07-2006, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ringo

They go faster, They corner faster, They can take speed humps without slowing down....

I had a Diahastu Curore as a hire car in Cairns once. What a little rocket. It would 130 happily, bouce over railway tracks, potholes, cattle grids, take corners faster than any Falcon and did it all on $30 worth of fuel.

Okay....granted.....I have exagerated a little.....to hit 130 I had to switch off the airconditioning first.

yeah but the darndest thing that i found with my accent is that when doing u turns the back wheels just kept wanting to lock up....uncanny????