Well good news (I think)...my car was appraised at having a paltry $5400 in front end damage. It got towed to the shop today and they are anticipating about 3 weeks to complete the job.

Meanwhile, I've been renting a Dodge intrepid, which I completely loathe. Too big, no visibility, and sdespite a 3.5L engine, it has no go until you hit 5500RPM, but it then shifts at 6300. Funny thing is that I got smoked by a sentra coming back home on the DC beltway last night.
I traded it in tonight for a Camry, but it only has a 4-cyl engine, and I hate to say it, I like the Intrepid better as far as comfort. The positive part is that it "feels" more like my maxima, so I'm more at home in it. Unfortunately the brakes are sonding funny, so I'm going to ditch it tomorrow and get something else. They have Grand Prix's available tomorrow that I want to try. Heck, in the three weeks I'm renting, I may just "test drive" a bunch of stuff as it comes available.

 

Since when does a rental car company allow you to switch between vehicles? I remember when my mom's Camry suffered major front end damage due to an errant deer, it required three weeks to repair. AAA rented us a POS Chevy Monte Carlo for three weeks. It was horrible.

 

cool, make sure you do tons of burnouts/netural drops on them before you gave them back

 

oh man oh my...my friend had a rental car last week...a 2001 chevy monte carlo they got drunk, i drove, and we messed that thing up. spinning out thru grass fields, drivin max speed in first-3rd gears bouncin the rev limiter, neutral drops into reverse from max rpms, everything. the only bad thing was it has a foot e-brake, so i couldnt drift it. i still hit it doing 30-50 though prolly 20 times...ahhaha.

when we parked it that night it wouldnt go over 4k rpms anymore...i gotta find out what happened, hehe

casey

 

i wonder how the rental place feels now..

 

Enterprise has had no problem w/ me swapping cars. But considering I'm going to be in them for another 3 weeks, and they're making $30-40/day off me, I'd expect a little bending. Somewhere in their fleet they have a couple maximas, and they told me they would do what they could to get one to the local office. We shall see.

My reviews of the cars so far...

1st one: 2001 Intrepid R/T 10k miles...Big, slow to get up to speed but if you can keep it around 5000-6300rpm it pulls hard (but not for long because it shifts around 6300or so). The really annoying thing is that when shifting manually throught the automatic gears, it shifts up on it's own when it hits red-line. Not like the maxima that will just bounce off a rev-limiter and remain in gear.

2nd car: 2001 Toyota Camry LE (4-cyl). I hate to say it, but despite the fact that the Camry felt more "at home" than the Intrepid (it definitely feels Japanese), I liked the intrepid a lot better as far as seat-comfort and power. Maybe the 6-cyl camry would be a diffrent story. The suspension was not very firm at all either, and it only had 11k miles on it.

3rd car: 2000 Volvo S40. That's a zipply little volvo! but I had it for only 3 hours before they called me to make sure I was aware of the mileage restrictions on their
high-end cars. Since I would have definitely gone well over the mileage, I returned it so I wouldn't get raped w/ the excess mileage fees.

4th car...the one I have now. A new 2001 Saturn L200 (?) It's the new larger "grown up" saturn with 1890 miles on it. This car suprised me BIG TIME. I am waiting for Enterprise to get another full-size w/ a V-6 in for me to trade this one in for, but I find myself actually content w/ it right now. VERY simple and plain in design, but for a "cheap" mid-sized car, it has wood trim, and a decent stereo w/ CD. Firm suspension, and a suprisingly strong 2.2l I-4 that can chirp the tires from a stop consistantly if you mash the gas! It is definitely faster than the Camry off the line, and I'd even venture a guess to say that it might be quicker (though not as "polished") as my ex's Altima. The engine is REALLY raspy sounding though; I hear they are a direct lift from the Saab 9-3 series. Styling looks strangely similar as well. The other suprising thing is that there is enough space in the engine bay you that could stand behind the engine (between it and the firewall) and straddle the front axle. There is so much empty space in there!!! On a more practical note, my son's carseat fits the best in the Saturn, and it has built-in shoulder strap adjusters to fit small children, and a latch in the trunk to hold the bottom cover up to get access to the spare tire without it falling on you. I hate to say it, but I'm really impressed w/ the thinking that obviously went into the design of the car.

2nd opinions: My kids like the Intrepid the best because of the "more-comfy" seats and the air conditioning vents/cup holders in the back seat, and their friends at the daycare think it looks cool too...imagine that: peer-pressure at age 6...gotta love kids.