I saw some older threads about rental agencies possibly selling off their Prii. Well, Enterprise still rents them, at least here in the southeast. I pulled up beside a white one with GA tags at a light today, gave a honk and a thumbs up. I took the driver a minute to figure out what I meant, but then she rolled down the window and explained that it was rented, but said she was loving it. Next time I have to rent a car (no time soon, I hope) I'm calling Enterprise.
my friend works at enterprise... i think he said that they were considered luxury car... so they cost more than the regular car...
That's where I first test drove a Prius. Back in 2004 my wife's car had damage (nobody hurt) and we went to Enterprise to rent a car. I didn't care which car, but when they said they had a Prius, I jumped at the chance (I was on a list at a dealer and waiting to be called when one would be available to purchase). We ended up renting it for two weeks and was able to decide if a Prius would be good for us. Yes, it did cost more, but the insurance covered part of it. I would recommend anyone who's interested in getting a Prius to rent one first to see how it would feel to drive for more than a test drive.
I'm thinking of buying a Prius and reserved an rental with Enterprise for next month. I got the weekend deal which is I get to keep the car from Friday to Monday for $49.00 plus tax. I plan on taking the car on an 800 mile road trip to see if it something I want to buy. The Enterprise is right in the Toyota dealership.
Well, it makes perfect sense. Enterprise is a Star Ship, And Prius resembles a Shuttle Craft. Keep On Trekking.
The Enterprise that I rented from recently did not have any hybrids. Which is odd, since they're so popular around here, so there is definitely a market for them.
Renting a Prius, as a way to take an extended test drive before buying, is a great idea. But Enterprise categorizes it as an "exotic" car, making it too expensive, in my opinion, when all you need is a rental car. Last time I rented a car, because my Prius was in the body shop after being bumped, I asked about a Prius. The insurance would not have covered it, and they didn't have one available just then. The rather mediocre car they rented me was 100% covered by the insurance, and was adequate until I got my Prius back. You could argue that as it was the other driver's fault, their insurance should pay for me to have a car identical to my own. But in the eyes of the law, any car of similar size would be "equivalent," and the difference in gas consumption would likely be dismissed as "not significant." So I took the Lancer they gave me. A pretty lousy car, but it got me where I needed to go. And most days it sat in the garage as I drove my Xebra, which I much prefer when it will go the distance I need to go. But to anyone considering buying a Prius, if the dealership will not let you take an extended drive, or if you regularly drive several hours at a time and want to assess the comfort of the seats for such a long drive, rent one, absolutely!
The value of rentals in my life has been to show me what cars I would NOT want to own. We had an issue where we had to rent a car... I forget what kind, but it was a sporty-ish, expensive (30k-ish), snazzy thing. I hated driving it. This was before the Prius, so it wasn't that comparison. I rode in a rental car some years ago, and it was also rather... uncomfortable. I don't remember the make of that one.
