Renting American Cars

As a traveling consultant I've developed a pretty poor opinion of American cars. Sliding doors that won't close, unfathomable glove boxes, ugly/boring interiors, boring/ugly exteriors, crazy placements for the radio/ac/heating/trunk release buttons, plastic doors with tails of extra material hanging off poorly drilled holes... The other day I was sitting in a Chrysler 300 talking with one of our tech leads about how he really wishes the rental company hadn't upgraded him and would've much preferred a Hyundai Elantra -- a car that costs half as much as the 300. It's a bit depressing.



Comments

Unknown said…
We have a simple policy here. Don't buy an American car. They all have poor build quality and poor fuel efficiency. The Germans have beautiful cars, but there aren't that many available in India and they don't understand 'fuel efficiency' either.

The Koreans are actually doing a phenomenal job these days. Almost as good as the Japs...
Anonymous said…
Actually the Diesel german cars have superb fuel efficiency.

And it's funny how the US car industry has been on a downslide for years (decades?) and they still don't understand what they are doing wrong.
Steven Deobald said…
Sidu's right. I've seen but a scant few American cars here in Pune. Every time I see one, I'm shocked.

If the poor manufacturing and horrendous fuel efficiency weren't enough, they also take up four fifths of the road. Perhaps the owners simply have a great sense of humor.
Unknown said…
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