It seems like it has been decades since @anomadsoul went full time on the blockchain and was regularly posting his "thoughts from (wherever) posts". Several people have picked up that theme over the years including @kommienezuspadt and @anomadsoul himself when he isn't busy with his duties with LEO.
As @mrsbozz and I find ourselves settling back into home after a couple of days on the road, I decided I am going to do a post of my own.
Enterprise Sucks
For the last couple of years when we head out on large Spring Break road trips like this, we have been renting a vehicle. Sure, we could put the miles on our own vehicles, but when you are racking up 1500 miles or so in a short amount of time, it might be better to put that wear and tear on someone else's car.
Typically we rent through Enterprise Rental and that was the case here. After our recent experience and some issues @ericvancewalton recently had with Enterprise, I am not sure I will ever go through them again.
This was the cart that we received as our rental. According to the lady behind the desk, it was the only car they had available in inventory so I didn't even have the option to choose something else.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate the 2023 Hyundai Kona, but it probably wouldn't have been my first option.
Compact SUV's really are compact!
We were only able to fit our three main bags across the back of the hatchback space. That meant everything else had to be piled into the back seat of the car and there was very little space back there. While the front had quite a bit of room (especially compared to the BMW we rented last year), the back seat would maybe fit a couple of toddlers and not much else.
The positive of being so compact is the fact that you can pretty much get in and out of any spot you want to in the big city. Parallel parking is quite a breeze, and weaving in and out of traffic on the expressway is relatively easy.
This isn't the Buick you are looking for
This definitely wasn't the ride my wife and I are used to. While some of the amenities were nice (I will get to those in a second), the car itself was a far cry from @mrsbozz's Buick Lacrosse.
While our 2014 Buick Lacrosse has a smooth ride and a 304 horsepower engine that provides plenty of get up and go, the Kona rides more like my 3/4 ton pickup truck. Additionally, it only has a 150 horsepower engine provided by a 4 cylinder turbo, that just can't compete with our 6 cylinder sedan.
Another thing that drove me crazy (see what I did there) with the Kona is the fact that the cruise control felt more like a suggestion than a set convenience. I would set the cruise at 78 MPH only to find someone creeping up behind me and realizing that my speed had tumbled down to 75 or 76.
Eventually, the car would realize the error and accelerate to 80 or 81 before it settled back down to 78. I'm more used to vehicles being fairly rock steady when set on a specific cruise speed.
Drive it like you stole it
The rollerskate (as @mrsbozz not so affectionally called it), did get the job done. I tend to have a bit of a lead foot, but I beat up on this thing a bit more than I probably would have if I owned it. With decent insurance and the additional protection I added from Enterprise, I wasn't afraid to virtually beat the hell out of this thing.
I did return it with zero scratches, but there is a good chance the engine wasn't ready to work that hard. There were only 5000 miles on the odometer when I got it. I returned it with close to 6500. On top of that engines often need a certain number of miles to break them in before you run them full speed. If the magic number is higher than 6000, the Kona might be in trouble.
Android Auto is awesome
This is the first time I have ever driven a vehicle that uses Android Auto. It was a pretty seamless integration with my phone. I did have some issues where my phone kept wanting to connect to WiFi instead of Bluetooth and since there was no WiFi it kept hanging. I think that would have been different if I owned the car and had a WiFi subscription.
The map and music integration was pretty awesome and I can't wait to have Android Auto on my next vehicle. I saw a story the other day that Apple is going to shutter its carplay offering. That kind of sucks for those folks.
Another thing that drove me a little crazy with the Kona was the fact that everything seemed opposite of what I am used to in our car. The steering wheel controls were on opposite sides and levers you usually move up or down were also opposite.
I also wasn't impressed with the hands free driving tech in the car. Maybe the car was just too light or something, but when you are barreling down the expressway at 80 MPH it is a little unnerving watching the car try to keep itself in between the lines without your hands on the wheel.
People are wusses
Finally, my last observation from this trip is the fact that people are wusses. I don't know what it is about rain that makes people feel like they have to drive like a grandmother on her way home from church on Sunday afternoon.
I think people actually drive faster in the snow than they do in the rain. It's pathetic.
In addition to that, throw a semi in the mix and you might as well get out and walk. I don't know if @jongolson can speak to this yet, but people slow way down when they have to pass a semi on the expressway. To the point that they end up driving side by side next to the semi for multiple miles.
They must not realize if they just speed up for a quick second, they can be past the semi quicker. It's like there is this anxiety that makes them freeze when they get next to one. I don't know, but I wish people would get over it.
It has the makings to cause so many accidents.
In Conclusion
In case you missed it, I went on a trip recently. I gathered a ton of content and I am going to be sharing that over the next couple of weeks. I hope you come along with me!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
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Today most come with the engine so setup that you can drive like normal, after the first 1000 miles, so no worry.
Nice to see that you had fun and a long trip.
You have such big roads, and really don't understand why semis must be in the middle or fastlane. And yes, people tend to be stupid when they take over these beasts.
I found driving in the USA a bit more chaotic than in Europe. The safest I feel in Germany, where at least half of them are decent drivers, going with 150 miles/hour on the highway, and having less accidents per capita, than in most parts of the world. One thing, in Germany people don't take over on single lane roads.
Both systems, Android Auto and Apple Car Play are now even better than the original car navigation.
Thanks for the info. I wondered if that might be the case. I knew it was something I had heard when I was younger about engines and I had a feeling it might not apply the same way today.
You know, I have heard that about Germany. They actually say that the autobahn is safer than our roads. The reason I heard was that our roads are so big that people get bored and they don't pay attention like they should.
I guess I would be paying a lot of attention if I was going 150 MPH too.
I booked a large car for rental a few years ago and ended with one of these. I was so mad to get a small car when I booked a larger car. Although I got compensation, I still prefer to get what I had booked. I admit that I drive slower in the rain. lol
For me a lot of it just depends on how hard it is raining. There are times it is coming down so hard that visibility is bad and I can understand that. Still though, getting by the big truck quicker will help your view. They claimed this car was actually an upgrade, but I think it was just a bunch of smoke and BS.
Sounds like it would make for a decent car for someone who lived in an urban area that didn't do a lot of traveling very far. But I am tall, so I hate compact cars all around.
Yes, it would be perfect if you lived in a city or something like that. It actually had a lot of leg room in the front. In the back... not so much!
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The car may not be light but the problem is that you are not used to the car yet
That could be part of it, but it was also very light. We were getting pushed around by the wind quite a bit.
Your trouble with the cruse may have been because newer cars try to adjust the speed to keep you from getting too close to cars in front of you. I've seen this auto-adjust feature confused by cars in the other lanes, so that also could have been the problem.
Everything on the opposite side sounds strange. I had to deal with that in Japan, where they drive on the other side so the steering wheel and all the controls are reversed. Tough to get used to. But why would they reverse the controls in an American car...? Weird.
That could be what was going on. It was frustrating to say the least. Especially when there were no cars in front of me. The opposite wasn't anything as drastic as driving on the left, but it was just the little things. Up to shut the wipers off versus down... Etc.
Rented cars are fun because you can drive them UNlike driving your own. My wife and I had a mini-SUV once in Colorado and drove that thing over all mountains and terrain. Fun stuff.
Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Drive it like you stole it! No mercy! Sounds like an awesome trip.
I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Enterprise too. To be fair, they ended up giving us a pretty decent discount on the back-end for leaving us stranded without a vehicle for three days. Their overall attitude was pretty poor though and if I have another option I won' t be using them again either. We ended up with a Honda CRV hybrid. It was extremely comfortable and great on gas but SO underpowered. I had to put it into "sport" mode just to merge into traffic. After six weeks of driving the CRV I've had to get used to driving the Model 3 all over again, there's about a 300 HP difference between the two. Lol.
Yeah, nothing nearly as bad as your ordeal. I need to call them tomorrow because I don't think they prorated me for the day early we brought it back. I should have tried sport mode but I just kept it in smart mode. I shouldn't have to change to do basic stuff... It was nice getting back behind the wheel of the Buick again. It's dangerous fast!
I think the Kona is in the low range of Hyundai suvs, the "bigger" model would the Tucson that is only 2.5 and Kona 2.0 but since they are Croossovers more likely the engines are low torque, the Kona is probably in the range of a Ford Escape, relative small and low torque engines meaning when you try to go hard on it the car takes a few seconds to suddenly wake up, its not meant to drive like you stole it jajaja 😎
That's the only way I know though. Apparently there was a sport mode I could have used but oh well. I'm still not sure I am a fan of the turbo lag in these four cylinder jobs.
You make a point
Thank you!