USA car hire question

loki101 · 6 Sep 2013 at 10:16

Bit of a random question and I appreciate no one might have a definitive answer.

I am renting a full size car from Alamo (Stanford, FL) in 2 weeks and just wondered if anyone know what sort of stereo spec they have out there, as to whether it is likely to be able to play MP3 CD's or take USB stick for music?

Thanks!

mjt · 6 Sep 2013 at 10:23

I'd put my money on neither.
My money's on tape deck.

Jez · 6 Sep 2013 at 11:10

I would bet that most cars would have both. I normally go for sports type cars rather than full size but most 2013/14 US cars will have these features.

loki101 · 6 Sep 2013 at 11:21

At home i use a 32gig USB stick so really just hoping to use the same out there.

But I can always burn some MP3 CD's just in case, I would be annoyed if it only played CDs and not taken any and be stuck with the radio.

Who want to carry that many cds nowadays anyway, when you can fit lots more music on MP3 CD's / USB.

Lethal` · 6 Sep 2013 at 11:35

Almost all cars have a USB port now, most have Bluetooth for music streaming and calls too.

You get to choose the car... if you fancy it try find one with an active Sirius Satellite Radio subscription - they often get them free for 6 months so if you find a new enough car you'll get it. This was the only good part about the Chrysler Town and Country I rented in May.

Jez · 6 Sep 2013 at 12:36

I think every car i have ever rented in the states has had active Sirius (which is good enough not to need your own music imo, and provides some "authenticity" to the trip)

Lethal` · 6 Sep 2013 at 13:31

Jez said:
I think every car i have ever rented in the states has had active Sirius (which is good enough not to need your own music imo, and provides some "authenticity" to the trip)

I've only rented two out of about 8-10 cars in the last year that had it active so you can't rely on it being there.

[TW]Fox · 6 Sep 2013 at 16:34

Almost everything will have USB these days, no idea what mjt is on about with tape decks.

Rented 2 so far this week and both have had active Sirius too.

rishy · 15 Sep 2013 at 09:27

Ive just come back two weeks ago and we had a 7 seater car from alamo the radio was a bog standard cd player with a aux input

Capt Doufos · 15 Sep 2013 at 10:07

Every car I have rented since 2008 in the US has had a MP3 capable CD player. Sebring, Mustang, Dodge minivan, Chrysler minivan, Cadillac DTS.

As people have said, most now have USB or BT, but I would take CD's as a backup. If the car has Sirius you won't need it, about 3 out of the 5 I hired have had it.