This is almost the reverse of what i have booked for next April!!.... let me know how you get on
Road Tripping in the USA!
- Thread starter [TW]Fox
- Start date
This is almost the reverse of what i have booked for next April!!.... let me know how you get on
Associate
- Joined
- 30 Nov 2010
- Posts
- 2,296
- Location
- UK
[TW]Fox;29739890 said:
What I suspected, thanks.
This is almost the reverse of what i have booked for next April!!.... let me know how you get on
Will do
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
4k in 3 weeks? Lightweight...
Did over to 2000miles in a week on our Yellowstone trip
I kinda ran out of obvious places to include on the route
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 27 Sep 2004
- Posts
- 25,821
- Location
- Glasgow
4k in 3 weeks? Lightweight...
Did over to 2000miles in a week on our Yellowstone trip
Just don't forget to stop and enjoy some of the places you're travelling to. Unless the travelling is the main part of the trip. I've done over 700 miles in less than three days from Mountain View to Malibu and back which was a nice drive when on the PCH but didn't give me much time to see anything.
Exactly - what he didn't mention is that he lives in Alberta and presumably most of those miles were the journey to and from Yellowstone.
I covered 10,000 miles on my journey to and from where I drove around
I was half expecting another "lightweight" post from someone else. I assume you did take it in jest as it was supposed to be.
And yes Fox, about 2/3rds of those miles/km were going to and from AB (about 12 hours non stop each way, but we did it over a couple of days each way), the rest was in the park, which as anyone who has been can attest is ******* huge. We were there for a week so did a couple of hours a day driving just to get to places and view animals.
We did stop at a couple of places on the way down though, but not enough. We're planning on going again in Jan/Feb time so will hopefully stop at a few more places on the way (and do less driving in the park as only one of the roads is actually open. Montana is a stunning place.
And yes Fox, about 2/3rds of those miles/km were going to and from AB (about 12 hours non stop each way, but we did it over a couple of days each way), the rest was in the park, which as anyone who has been can attest is ******* huge. We were there for a week so did a couple of hours a day driving just to get to places and view animals.
We did stop at a couple of places on the way down though, but not enough. We're planning on going again in Jan/Feb time so will hopefully stop at a few more places on the way (and do less driving in the park as only one of the roads is actually open. Montana is a stunning place.
Heading over to Boston end of July then 2 weeks in New England and into Canada. Don't plan too much driving as we both need to just sit, do nothing much and recharge, but looking forward to some Vermont, Maine and suchlike chilling by the water, be it sea, river or lake.
Gents - about to book car for Cali - LV road trip.
Options I'm getting are:
Virgin Holidays
(Mustang) £583
Net Flights
(Mustang) £532
(Jeep Compass) £412
(Chrysler 200) £386
Alamo.co.uk
(Mustang) not showing up
(GMC Terrain) £470
(Chrysler 200) £424
Autoeurope
(Impala) £403
(Mustang) £502
(Lincoln MKZ) £610
For some reason I can't find a Mustang on Alamo.co.uk but I get the option if I go through one of the brokers. Since it will be me and my wife and we will have two large suitcases (16 day trip) I'm wondering if it might make more sense to get an Impala or Lincoln MKZ or even one of the SUVs. I want something fun and comfortable to drive though! Does Alamo offer Camaros in the same category as the Mustang?
Options I'm getting are:
Virgin Holidays
(Mustang) £583
Net Flights
(Mustang) £532
(Jeep Compass) £412
(Chrysler 200) £386
Alamo.co.uk
(Mustang) not showing up
(GMC Terrain) £470
(Chrysler 200) £424
Autoeurope
(Impala) £403
(Mustang) £502
(Lincoln MKZ) £610
For some reason I can't find a Mustang on Alamo.co.uk but I get the option if I go through one of the brokers. Since it will be me and my wife and we will have two large suitcases (16 day trip) I'm wondering if it might make more sense to get an Impala or Lincoln MKZ or even one of the SUVs. I want something fun and comfortable to drive though! Does Alamo offer Camaros in the same category as the Mustang?
Netflights use Alamo so it's the same product you'll get with Virgin or Alamo direct. But you won't fit two large suitcases in one.
I'd be questioning the 'Impala' from autoeurope. These firms often have out of date car classifications, the rate looks odd compared ot the other and the current generation Impala is a Premium at all major firms now - historically it was always a Fullsize/Standard. So I'd be doubtful you'll get something as big as an Impala at that rate.
The MKZ is the example car for the Luxury class at most agencies. There will be no more space available than a Premium. I always rent Luxury but only to improve the car quality, typically many of the luxury cars offered are actually smaller - I almost always end up with a Cadillac ATS which is a great car but is the size of a 3 Series rather than a proper luxury car.
I'd be questioning the 'Impala' from autoeurope. These firms often have out of date car classifications, the rate looks odd compared ot the other and the current generation Impala is a Premium at all major firms now - historically it was always a Fullsize/Standard. So I'd be doubtful you'll get something as big as an Impala at that rate.
The MKZ is the example car for the Luxury class at most agencies. There will be no more space available than a Premium. I always rent Luxury but only to improve the car quality, typically many of the luxury cars offered are actually smaller - I almost always end up with a Cadillac ATS which is a great car but is the size of a 3 Series rather than a proper luxury car.
You could get 2 large suitcases in a Mustang (1 in the boot and 1 across the back seats), but it'd be a bit annoying.
We got large soft suitcases (which hold as much as our large hard suitcases) and they both fit into the boot of a Mustang (we did a 4 week trip last year, and just got back from a 3 week trip).
Personally I'd usually aim to book the cheapest place which gets me a convertible (Mustang or similar) from Alamo or National. The Mustang is ideal for a west coast trip as there are no really big drives. Having a roof down is great and it really does make the trip. Most will argue the car itself is nothing special, but for a west coast trip I don't think I'd rent anything else.
We got large soft suitcases (which hold as much as our large hard suitcases) and they both fit into the boot of a Mustang (we did a 4 week trip last year, and just got back from a 3 week trip).
Personally I'd usually aim to book the cheapest place which gets me a convertible (Mustang or similar) from Alamo or National. The Mustang is ideal for a west coast trip as there are no really big drives. Having a roof down is great and it really does make the trip. Most will argue the car itself is nothing special, but for a west coast trip I don't think I'd rent anything else.
We did the same in terms of baggage for a 3 week holiday. Took with us 2 large soft holdalls that held as much as a suitcase. Both cases, one hand luggage and some supplies fitted in the trunk and we had one hand luggage on the back seat.
It took a little bit longer to load the car up but worked great.
[TW]Fox;29785087 said:
So, if I opt for the MKZ (Alamo) I'm likely to get an ATZ instead? the MKZ seems like an E-Class car whereas the ATZ, as you rightly say, seems more like a 3-series.
Regarding the Impala - what am I actually likely to get if it seems too good to be true for the price?
Most importantly which of these cars makes the most sense for the intended trip? 16 days driving around, including from San Diego to Las Vegas and Las Vegas to San Francisco and back down again on the PCH. As much as I want a mustang or Camaro I almost feel that driving for hours in one of these is going to get tiring real fast when the novelty's worn off or am I completely wrong?
p.s. Is the Camaro/Mustang same category? any thoughts about the Chrysler 200?
I think the problem with a duffle bag is it's going to squish all our clothes so shirts and trousers will need to be ironed when you plan to use them and we'll be on the road so much that it could be get quite expensive. We also don't own any dufflebags and a decent wheelie one is north of £100 each
But there are quite large drives...LA to LV is 4 hours. LV to SF is 14 hours. SF back to LA is 10 hours. Are mustangs really suited to those kind of drives? i.e. ignoring the lack of boot space, are they actually comfortable cruisers?
I literally landed back on Saturday from a Cali trip including LA, LV, SD etc.... (3 weeks, 2700 miles in a Mustang). Our clothes were perfectly fine for the entire trip. You won't be needing more than 1 pair of trousers really and everything else is just folded into the bags and keeps fine. My wife hung up her expensive 'going out' dresses when we arrived at each place but that was it.
We bought our bags in Debenhams for £40 each, we've now done 5 (I think!?) road trips in them over the last 2.5 years (so roughly 15 weeks of driving round the US in a Mustang) and I've never had ruined clothes.
Yes, for the places you are going you really do need a Mustang. It's not the best car, nor is it the most comfortable but it's perfectly fine. The rental spec ones have heated and cooled seats, climate, auto, leather, cruise, USB, bluetooth and you can easily relax in one. I often just chucked the cruise on 70mph, roof down, seat cooler on, plugged in the iPad and drove enjoying the amazing views that part of the world has to offer.
You'll really appreciate the ability to remove the roof as you drive down the PCH, down the LV strip, over the Golden Gate bridge etc....
I did a few long days in ours last week (North rim of the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley, and then to Flagstaff - so roughly 7 hours of driving) with the roof down the entire time and it was fine.
LV to SF is 14 hours but surely you are stopping in Yosemite so that will be broken up?
Alamo / National won't have any Chrysler 200's (I've not seen a single one in the lot in my trips). Mustang or similar means either a Mustang or a Camaro. Usually I arrive into LAX and they have a few Camaro's and maybe 1 Mustang, I had to wait about 5 minutes the first time I went as I insisted on a Mustang. The Camaro boot is smaller than the Mustang and the opening is smaller so it's harder to get bags in.
Book a Mustang or similar, wait the extra few minutes if required to ensure you get one and you will really enjoy the trip and appreciate that the Mustang is the right car for this drive.
Last edited:
This is not true, they have loads - but none of them are convertibles. The Chrysler 200 in his list is presumably the Fullsize Saloon category.
You won't be doing those drives in 14 hours or 10 hours because there is too much to see on the way. You'll do them over 2-4 days each.
Correct - the MKZ is a Luxury, as is the ATS. The Luxury class is a bit of a mess - it contains both traditionally full-size luxury cars and also smaller but more 'posh' cars. You also sometimes get allocated Premium Elite cars as well such as the BMW 3 Series.
There is usually a choice between cars in the Luxury category but not exactly huge.
The ATS is an excellent car and the only car I'd pick over it in this class is a CTS or an XTS (Both of which highlight how random Luxury is given all 3 of these cars are included in it, though the last two are comparatively rare).
Something fullsize - Chevrolet Malibu kinda thing. Perhaps the old model Impala which they still make and is total crap.
The convertible thing is fun once. It makes good holiday photos and it's cool to say you've driven a Mustang Cab down the Pacfic Coast Highway. I did it once, ticked the box and wouldn't rent one again - when the novelty wears off you'll find them fairly crap cars, they are very over-hyped. I now just rent Luxury each time because when covering big miles it's nice to have something well equipped and refined so you don't finish each day thinking you've been driving all day.
For a first trip though it's fun to do the Mustang thing.
Yes.
An average and generic sedan.