Road Tripping in the USA!

Joe T said:
If you go Mustang or similar and end up with a Camaro, you've probably won not lost. :)
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Honestly??? we picked up our 2016 Mustang in LA 4 weeks ago and the Camaro's there looked cheap and nasty compared to the Mustang! just the dash and nav and seats were no way near as good! after we broke our first Mustang we went back to get another and i sat and looked at the Camaro and didn't like it at all.

This was at Alamo who just let you pick any car in the lot (class wise) they all have the keys in the cars so you drive whatever you pick! I would highly recommend them.

Granted i didn't miss it much when i got back into my BMW at Gatwick but it did make me wish it was auto! From LA to barstow and on to Vegas it wasn't hard to drive, it would have been annoying in a car without auto.
 
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They are both fairly crap cars with nasty interiors and cheap fit and finish everywhere but the point is both look cool, are fun to have for a few weeks and look great in your holiday snaps.

It honestly doesn't really matter which one you have, Camaro or Mustang, for that reason.
 
[TW]Fox;29019731 said:
Well use the rest of this year to work out why you perhaps shouldn't be :p

This time last year, return flights to LAX on the dates I wanted were £900 per person.

I paid half that a few months later...
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so 4 months on, looking at prices for August, Vegas is still a good couple of hundred of £ cheaper than LAX. This is flying with Virgin Atlantic

Flying with BA However....

LA is £200 cheaper than Las Vegas, but still comes out at around the same price however BA to LA is the same price as Virgin to Las Vegas so isn't really saving any money.

Can only assume your experiences don't carry over to August where there's much larger passenger numbers and less need for discounting on the LA route.
 
leon4112 said:
Honestly??? we picked up our 2016 Mustang in LA 4 weeks ago and the Camaro's there looked cheap and nasty compared to the Mustang! just the dash and nav and seats were no way near as good! after we broke our first Mustang we went back to get another and i sat and looked at the Camaro and didn't like it at all.

This was at Alamo who just let you pick any car in the lot (class wise) they all have the keys in the cars so you drive whatever you pick! I would highly recommend them.

Granted i didn't miss it much when i got back into my BMW at Gatwick but it did make me wish it was auto! From LA to barstow and on to Vegas it wasn't hard to drive, it would have been annoying in a car without auto.
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The Camaros were probably the old model which has just been replaced. The Mustangs were probably the current model (same as we get over here).
 
Joe T said:
The Camaros were probably the old model which has just been replaced. The Mustangs were probably the current model (same as we get over here).
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Yes Camaro will be old model, new version is a big step up, lighter, more powerful though interior is still a bit poor. :(

Mustang is new model but rentals seem limited to ecoboost 4cyl and V6, when I went US in January renting a V8 Mustang seemed far harder to source and the ones found were not Performance Pack cars or had upgraded interior. As a V8 was a must just took a GM Tahoe instead, no point in going US and renting a 4 pot or 6 pot. :D

However if your visting the US later this year Ford have produced 140 of these cars for Hertz:
http://www.thedrive.com/article/266...ustang-gt-h?xid=the-drive_socialflow_facebook


Probably one of the best rental cars for reasonable money unless you can rent a Corvette. Its a full on GT PP car but with further upgrades to suspension and an exhaust so sounds the part as well. Not much for colour scheme though!
 
[TW]Fox;29354202 said:
Errr no. It might very well be a great rental car but it won't be reasonable money. Expect it to incur a daily rate well over the top for it's list price.
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True they will probably say its a Shelby and commands a huge premium. :(
 
Rental firms must love the V8 Mustangs, barely any more money than an Ecoboost yet they can rent them out to tourists at enormous daily rates.

Renting a large SUV or Luxury Sedan with a list price of often twice the amount is often much, much cheaper. The yield on the V8's must be incredible :D
 
[TW]Fox;29354238 said:
Rental firms must love the V8 Mustangs, barely any more money than an Ecoboost yet they can rent them out to tourists at enormous daily rates.

Renting a large SUV or Luxury Sedan with a list price of often twice the amount is often much, much cheaper. The yield on the V8's must be incredible :D
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Why we rented a GM Tahoe, something like $50k over there, had a nice 350BHP V8 inside it and was perfect well suited to the task if you don't mind filling it up so often. :D
 
[TW]Fox;29354238 said:
Rental firms must love the V8 Mustangs, barely any more money than an Ecoboost yet they can rent them out to tourists at enormous daily rates.

Renting a large SUV or Luxury Sedan with a list price of often twice the amount is often much, much cheaper. The yield on the V8's must be incredible :D
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The tourist market is tiny compared to business rentals in the US, doubt they care to much to be honest. But yeah the cost to hire vs cost to buy ratio is hilarious.

In general, I can understand your not a mustang fan but part of the appeal isn't the car itself, it's the idea of driving around in a little bit of American culture. I've rented all sorts in the US, cars that you'd call "better" but there's something about renting a mustang in the US and driving around that's just, well, pretty cool, and if it costs a bit more then screw it your on holiday! I'd hate to drive around the US in some god awful generic massive SUV even if it's price tag is higher. just my PoV
 
It doesn't cost more if you rent a V6/Ecoboost though which is pretty much the same. I've done the Mustang thing over there and I doubt a V8 would have made my experience three times as good as the 300bhp Cabrio I rented, yet it was three times the price.

The regular 'Stangs are everywhere at sensible money.

Personally I dislike SUV's and don't rent them but there is nothing 'godawful and generic' about an 6 litre V8 Tahoe, that's almost as 'American experience' as the Mustang!!
 
ultralaser said:
The tourist market is tiny compared to business rentals in the US, doubt they care to much to be honest.
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Overall of course you are right but proportionally those paying excessive money for Hertz V8's will be leisure not business travellers.

Business travellers will be renting Midsize but picking a V6 Camaro from the Executive Aisle at National thanks to the frequent renter benefits :D
 
rossk26 said:
Going to be booking hotels tonight, and just wanting my route double checked if it's good. Also added the hotels we've picked, in case anyone has stayed in these before, and advise to avoid!

Wednesday - 7/9 - Arrive LA 6pm - Hilton LAX
Thursday - 8/9 - LA - Hilton LAX
Friday - 9/9 - San Diego - Best Western Plus
Saturday - 10/9 - San Diego - Best Western Plus
Sunday - 11/9 - San Diego - Best Western Plus
Monday - 12/9 - Vegas - MGM
Tuesday - 13/9 - Vegas - MGM
Wednesday - 14/9 - Vegas - MGM
Thursday - 15/9 - Vegas - MGM
Friday - 16/9 - Mammoth Lakes - Village Lodge
Saturday - 17/9 - Modesto - Doubletree
Sunday - 18/9 - San Fransisco - Holiday Inn Express Airpt
Monday - 19/9 - San Fransisco - Holiday Inn Express Airpt
Tuesday - 20/9 - San Fransisco - Holiday Inn Express Airpt
Wednesday - 21/9 - Monterey - Quail Lodge
Thursday - 22/9 - Monterey - Quail Lodge
Friday - 23/9 - Morro Bay - Blue Sail Inn
Saturday - 24/9 - Santa Barbara - Ramada
Sunday - 25/9 - LA - Hilton LAX
Monday - 26/9 - Fly Home
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I'd have a night in Yosemite booked so you can really enjoy ML and the park.

We stayed in Santa Barbara on our last night with a flight home the next day at about 3pm, it was honestly the easiest journey to the airport ever and a really cool ending to the trip (driving through Malibu and down the final bits of the PCH). There is no way I'd waste a night in a hotel near LAX for an afternoon evening flight home - it'll just feel like the trip has finished a day early!

On another note thanks to the recent Amtrak crash my train from New York to Washington DC was cancelled this week and I had to get an impromptu Avis one way rental which was unexpected but a pleasant enough experience.
 
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Anyone know of good apps for Andriod for Sat Nav?

Wanting to use my phone, but only solution I can think of so far is to get a 3 SIM with the 'feel at home' service to use Google Maps. Not ideal, as I'd like to keep my existing SIM and number for normal use whilst away
 
Here maps, free and includes the USA offline, used this last time worked perfectly. Also used 3 sims so no data charges.
 
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