|
Unfamiliar Vehicles | |
Posted Apr 11, 2011 - 9:35:24
|
|
 As I wrote on Friday, I went up to Milwaukee this weekend to get some furniture from Crysta's father's house (and can I say, it's really hard to not write "went down" -- as my brain is still programmed to assume I live North of everything). For those who didn't read that blog post, I rented a car in Lafayette, drove it to Milwaukee, dropped it off, and then picked up a UHaul and drove it back home.
The plan was a simple one, and it surprisingly went off without a hitch.
It's always strange though to drive cars you aren't used to. That Toyota I rented wasn't terrible, but it handled completely differently than my similarly sized Nissan. The way it moved on the highway, the way it handled turns... it was an alien experience. Frankly, it handled considerably worse than my Versa.
I'm not trying to make a general statement about Toyotas - merely this particular rental car. Considering Hertz told me they were going to sell off the particular car after I dropped it off, I can only assume it wasn't exactly a shining example of their fleet.
Of course, on the way home I was driving a UHaul, which is an experience completely different to any compact car. It was just a little ten footer, and I was considerably more comfortable driving it than I was the last time I drove a UHaul. Chalk it up to a smaller truck, or maybe I'm just getting better at using the side mirrors, but it was a fairly painless experience to navigate the massive thing.
I will say the guys at UHaul I rented it from are slightly crooked. It's my own fault for not double checking - but they had me sign off on having a 3/4 tank of gas... when the truck only had a 1/4 tank. I didn't notice until I got to Lafayette though, as the Full and Empty on the form (and the touch screen I approved it on) are reversed from the gauge on the truck. I should also mention the ash tray was full of cigarette butts, and there was sticky stuff on the floor of the truck bed.
If I ever rent another truck from UHaul in Milwaukee, I'm not going to the one on Appleton and 76th ever again.
On the upside, the trip itself was uneventful, and besides having to spend money on more gas than I should have had to, it was a painless experience (and the UHaul people in Lafayette are pretty decent, so the return went fine). Life goes on I guess.
- Traegorn
|
