Friday, 31 August 2012

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The Rental Roundup

We've rented a lot of cars in our travels, and it's cost us lots of money. Even though I spend tons of time searching for deals and trying out every car rental code available, I'd still venture to say that we've probably spent enough on renting cars to actually buy one outright for ourselves. How I'd magically teleport that car to wherever I need it is another question (you can't drive to Hawaii), but it's still a little sobering to think of all the money spent on something we can't take home with us.

When we started renting cars though, we thought it was the coolest thing. Our early travels were sans kids, so we opted for whatever the best looking car available was whenever we needed to rent, and then we made sure to take a picture of it.


We started to take pictures of our rental cars in places that would remind us of our trip...


...but after renting quite a few, we found that we were taking pictures of our rental more to remind ourselves of what we were driving. Nothing like looking at an open surface parking lot when you can't even remember what make of car you're looking for. Thank goodness for panic alarms.


Once our kids started joining us on our journeys, the cool looking cars became less of a concern and we started looking for space...


...and eventually we decided that the easiest way to do things was just to rent a minivan. Preferably the exact same one that we had at home.


So now our vehicle rental life has become fairly boring. It's still nice to drive a newer (and much cleaner) version of our own van, but it definitely lacks the excitement of renting the sportier cars we started out with. Still, whenever I feel like I'm missing out, I think back to a certain trio of rentals early on in our car rental careers. These might not have been the flashiest or most impressive rentals that we've had, but I'll always remember them as the first three rentals after Lori quit her job as a Price is Right model...




C'mon...I know you want to say it with me..."It's a New Car!"


This post is a part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby and Friday Daydreamin at R We There Yet Mom. If you didn't get here from one of those sites, you should really go check them out. There's people there whose kids can sit in the back of a normal sized car without killing each other. For a few minutes anyways.

Written by Steve Pratt

Comments (16)

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I love the collection. I don't usually think of taking a collection of photos of a certain thing until years later.
1 reply · active 644 weeks ago
It didn't start out as a collection. We're just kind of hams when we get away from the kids.
The PT Cruiser one is my favorite. I love that we (my husband) are not the only ones who pose for cheesy photos with our rental cars! Here he is: http://wildtalesof.com/2012/08/07/travel-tips-sav...
1 reply · active 644 weeks ago
LOL. You guys are even cornier than we are. Although in all fairness, your kids are too young to object to you embarrassing them.
Love it - gotta say, we always go for the cheapest......

Thanks for linking up!!
1 reply · active 644 weeks ago
I'm all for cheapest, but I can usually find a full size withing a couple of dollars of the economy size. For that amount, I'll get the car with the air conditioning that can handle those summer temperatures.
If there's a family out there whose kids don't engage in backseat warfare then I want to meet them. I'd like to know what their secret is! :) Love your car pics - and Lori would make a great Price is Right girl!
1 reply · active 644 weeks ago
No no Lisa. I've seen the pictures. Your girls are always all lovey dovey in your pictures. They must get along perfectly at all time. Either that, or you're a whiz with Photoshop.
Yeah . . . I remember the flashy red convertible we rented on our honeymoon. Those were the days. Now we get the cheapest vehicle that'll hold us and our luggage. Fun times.
1 reply · active 644 weeks ago
Somebody needs to make a flashy red convertible that seats seven and has lots of trunk space. Now THAT'S a million dollar idea.
I also love my rental cars. We're lucky to have enough grandparent support that the Mrs and I still get to rent some fun cars once in awhile. Last year we got a sweet red Mustang to drive around LA. In Italy we got a fun little convertible Peugeot and bombed around Tuscany. My favorite rental car memory was when we rented a Pontiac Solstice and cruised the Las Vegas strip with the top down while listening to Shorty and Tom call the Canucks game on satellite radio!
1 reply · active 644 weeks ago
I'm most impressed by the fact that you actually made it the length of the Strip before the hockey game ended. I've seen that drive take longer than 3 periods on more than a few occasions.
I don't have a car and have never rented one, yet I did wonder how people find their cars among many others. Taking pictures is a good idea!
1 reply · active 644 weeks ago
They have this really handy button called a panic button on all the rental cars. Just press it and it will show you (and everybody else in hearing distance) where your car is.

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I always rent the cheapest car on four wheels and then the rental folks give me the evil eye. Just once though it would be great fun to rent a sports car for a day - as long as there were long highways nearby with no cops. I do take photos of all my rental cars - not so I remember what they look like but to prove I didn't make any scratches or dents I found.
1 reply · active 643 weeks ago
I think most of the places you frequent would involve long stretches of highway with no cops around. Might too many curves to really get up too much speed, but it would probably be a lot of fun to try.

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