canadian bacon
|
Hyundai Getz 1.5CRDiWe tried booking a hire car for Portugal and found 2 things:
A lack of cars - as has been mentioned, this may be due to a dirth of finance available to re stock fleets, or simply the hire cos are reducing their fleets to trim losses, eitherway, last time around we got a BMW 118i from Sixt, this time not so lucky.
The cars that were available were not cheap, having tried various companies that had stock we were being quoted 500 bucks to hire one for 4 days, this is approx double what I would have expected to pay, so was a nasty shock.
Easycar eventually quoted for the economy class car we wanted, though even that took 48 hours to check they could get one, turned out Hertz would do one through easycar cheaper than through their own website, but who am I to argue - total cost was 270 bucks for the 4 days, still not that cheap, but reasonable compared to the quotes we had been getting.
 [/img]
The car turned out to have a really small boot, we only just got our bags into it, but surprisingly, there was plenty of room for my frame in the front, the doors shut with a clunk that belied the size of the whole car, and although it was a diesel, it was quiet and responsive.
The steering was a little dead, I presume due to the power steering that was deemed necessary to counter the extra weight of the diesel engine, but I wasn't expecting a sportscar. We made our way out to the Vasco de Gama bridge, which turns out is one of the longest in Europe at 17 km.
The traffic was light so we made good time to the IP2 toll road,to head south to the Algarve. the Getz held its own on this fast, sweeping road, I can't say I am overly impressed with the standard of Portuguese driving, they have a 'size/might is right philosophy' where basically anything smaller than you should get out the way, ordinarily I wouldn't have an issue with this, but when you are clearly in the middle of overtaking a slower car and a Citroen C5 tries to climb into the boot, I felt a quick tap on the brake pedal come over me, he backed off quick enough.
Once we were off the main road (total toll was 18 euro) the roads become basically single file, with some duel carriageway, but the Getz was well able to cope with those. We did go the scenic route from Lagos to Salema, this turned out to be an unmade road, so we thoroughly tested the ride and suspension, there was much crashing and shuddering, as I don't think it was meant for a hire car, but we made it, I tried some scandinavian flicks but I don't think Trisha was too impressed....
Overall fuel consumption wasn't that bad, over the 4 days we did 800 km and spent 45 euro on fuel, so not terrible, but not earth shattering either.
I wouldn't want to own one of these, as it clearly no more than white goods, but it was built well and performed pretty much to my expectations, but I can't wait for the credit crisis/recession to be over, as the Passat we hired once back in England only cost 40 bucks more for 3 more days, and its hard to argue with that, I pity anyone who has to take one of these for more than 4 days.
|
BeN
|
My friend used to have one of these. We managed to pile 8 people into it once.
|
Nice Guy Eddie
|
I was given a Getz 1.4 16v as a loan car once and thought it was a great little car. It was quick enough and handled well. Much nicer then a Polo or Corsa I've tried. I can only assume that the diesel engine was the killer, which usually is the case in small cars.
|
Dr. Hfuhruhurr
|
That bridge is superb.
|
Big TC
|
| Dr. Hfuhruhurr wrote: | | That bridge is superb. |
My thoughts precisely - well, my precise thought was "fuck me, that bridge is superb".
Can't bring myself to make a comment on the car, though.
|
woof woof
|
My mam bought a Getz when her much loved Rover 100 couldn't be fixed...and I've driven her about in it quite a, it's a petrol.
I wanted her to get an i10 but she couldn't get comfortable and therefore got one of the last remaining Getz and it looks quite nice in
a sort of metallic dark grey.
I think it's a good car although the specialist press would probably criticise the "build quality" as there are exposed screw heads and the like.
This is of course nothing to do with poor build quality and nothing has so far even looked like falling off or not working. I find the seating
position to be very high but everything seems smooth, quiet and precise and it does everything that's required of it. I actually think that it's
very much like the Rover 100, just more modern, and quite surprisingly it was cheaper than her Rover was when bought new. Came with
air con and a nice stereo too.
|
|