You never know what car youre going to get at the rental counter. Whether youre in an airport in Anchorage, a suburb of Milwaukee, or Tahiti, you will not know how to get from point A to point B, or if you already on holiday in Tahiti, A to A. It might better than your usual car, a newer version of your usual car, worse than your usual car, or horribly worse than your usual car, the last category reserved for the Dodge Avenger and Chevy Spark.
When I was at the counter, my reservation specified a full-size car, so that, hopefully not meant Avenger or Spark. Taurus and Impala, perennial holiday full size, got good enough, so I was really looking forward to one of those. Alas, there was no full size or even midsize cars in my Hertz Loc al Edition. So I had to get a Corolla 2013. I did not want the Corolla, as he looked tired and had plates of Iowa, he) certainly had a lot of miles on it, and b) the plates were me a target for California purposes of making law.
After asking the representative of all the cars he had ( "how about that Avenger comes in?"), I found myself with a black tuxedo 2013 Ford focus parked in the back lot. its true. 2013 . You might think, "Oh, he probably does not have much mileage Hertz therefore decided to maintain the fleet." well, I can safely write that was not the case. There was 44.594 miles on the clock. This is not a typo. Hertz is seriously keep cars in their fleet for so long.
on my drive home, many questions have become known. the car had obviously sat in the large part of my Hertz Local Edition for so long inside was stifling, the air conditioning blowing the stale air, clutches transmission is not in the best condition, and there was so much static coming from the stereo. In addition, the transmission never seemed to choose the right speed when climbing the steep hill to get to my house.
Im not going to discuss inside as much as most of you have probably rented the Focus, sat her at a car show, bought, read the brochure, given the TV ads, made in the back seat, etc. But I liked it. The gauge cluster and stereo interface was very intuitive. I have not n oticed big gaps panel as I would have done in a Ford Focus 05 after 40,000 miles. The contact points still felt fine. The seats were surprisingly comfortable after having the rental car lot. The only qualm I had with SYNC answer me in Spanish because someone named Arturo had plugged his iPhone at some point.
I did not like the engine. The timing valve system was not the best, especially when climbing stee p hills. 0 horsepower was not enough for this especially in higher gears. However, if your goal is to get to the speed limit on the roads and local highways, the engine has enough strength to hold his own.
More important to discuss the engine, however, is the transmission. Around the city, even if you have the habit of dual clutch transmissions (which is what the Ford PowerShift transmission is), this car is horrible. The clutches always feel like they will go every time you accelerate from a stoplight. When I got the car, the representative had taken special care to tell me how the accelerator and the transmission was acted normal.
I wish Ford would have selectable speeds, instead of giving us the usual PRNDL, which makes most drivers treat the transmission as they would all automatic. As the owner of a Jetta 2.0T 40,000-mile with the DSG, my VW struck me as more refined (though Im very careful with my footwork in traffic), and I found it interesting Ford does not recommend transmission fluid changes to certain service intervals.
The handling was something that brought a smile to my face. Ford won the spot-on suspension tuning. On winding roads, I do feel compelled to slow down on bends and the tires squeal either. Traction control is incredibly accurate, and if the intervention is perceived, it still lets you enjoy the car. After 40,000 miles worth of car rental abuse, Im amazed at the amount of sensation that I am by management.
As for trunk space, the area is enough for two to three bags, but it probably would not be able to swallow as much cargo as of a Jetta. Fortunately though, the spare wheel is located under the trunk is full-size. In addition, rear legroom was fine, but I do not think most people would be able to stay there for more than two hours, as in most compact cars.
Now I wanted the review to be about what a Focus would be like after 44,000 miles. I wanted to make sure the car was maintained, was not involved in accidents, and was loved unconditionally by its owner. Therefore, one who would consider a 2013 Focus, or other 2013 Focus with 40,000 miles, would know what they were themselves into.
Consequently, I went the extra mile (not that the Focus needed) and ran the Autocheck on the car to get an idea of ​​what he went through. He gave no details, except for the initial date of registration of the car. After more than 44,000 miles, there were dents all over the car, including a major on any door (seriously, the inspection form when I signed for the car is marked everywhere). In addition, the car must have been through several services, none of which appear on the report. And according to the Hertz representative who signed the car for me, the windows had been replaced after being crushed by the last tenant. I only knew that soon after lying on the pieces of paper in the rear passenger windows. Even these details are not presented on the Autocheck report.
But I find even more disturbing things when I just entered VIN of the car in Google. I managed to discover that Hertz was actually my very car on eBay in December to about 44,500 miles. I also managed to catch a listing in November Google cache of the car at the Hertz Auto Sales site. Moreover, the person surprised by this point the Autocheck report did not take that too. Meanwhile, Hertz has known for at least the last two months that he needs to get rid of this car!
So how the hell did I end up with a car that Hertz could not sell? My guess is Hertz ended up pulling their share of sales after the holiday demand for rental cars happened, and automakers were too busy selling cars to individual customers they may be not having enough inventory to grow in fleet sales. Therefore, when I watched 2013 Ford Focus on Hertz Auto Local Sales site, not one was under 50,000 miles, and some had well over 60,000, which demonstrates that leasing companies do not turn on their fleet as much as they did.
Ultimately, if you buy a 2013 Ford Focus sE with more than 40,000 miles on the clock?
I do not think it would be a bad idea, as the transmission is inspected, you have insured all recall work is done, and you have an idea of ​​the history department.
But should you buy a high mileage ex-rental car, especially one that a rental company was unable to sell at normal pe ople and one with a questionable double-clutch transmission?
As my car could have told me after hearing my broken voice commands in Spanish, " No way, Jose ."
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