Ok, I was up at Big Sky Montana from Saturday and we rented a 04 Camry LE 4 Banger to tour YellowStone. Initially I was pretty happy about getting a Camry, I figured it would be a great ride, comfortable and good on gas. Well only two of those things held true.

It was a rental with 10,500 miles (16,800 km's). This thing rattled like a baby's toy and worse than any other TSX I've heard of. There was a sterring column rattle, about 3 headliner rattles, one above the driver, one above the passenger and one in the back. The HVAC controls were cheap and moved in and out of there slots as if they were'nt entirely screwed in. I was amazed at the lack of quality to say the least. Afterall, hearing Gilbo and others praise Toyota quality I was expecting more, alot more.

The handling was lets just say soft, which is understandable since its a Camry but it was no fun on those mountain raods. Some may agrue that since its a rental its not a fair comparo. I'd agrue that the car was pratically new at 10,500 miles. And by the way, the front tires were just about bald as well, no doubt due to the roads up there.

Lets just say I'm glad to have a Honda/TSX right now.

What did impress me was the fuel consumption. 269 miles (430 km's) on less than half a tank (8.6 G) and then 222 miles (355 km's) on just under a quater tank. It was very impressive. And I can see how they sell so many Camry's. Every second car in Yellowstone was a Camry LE. Coincidence? not really, the Bozeman airport rental lot had nothing but Camry's.

Pics of the trip to follow.

 

I would think a lot of people beat on rental cars and thats why the ride was so bad. I have beaten on rental cars before. The worst beating on a rental car was a 1998 Mitsu Eclipse.

Obscure reference: "Days of Thunder" the car rental scence between Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns. Chevy Lumina vs. Ford Taurus.

 

OMG....that scene was hilarious in that movie.

As for the Camry, you can't really expect much from a rental. Most rentals are in pretty bad shape. On a recent business trip up to NJ, My colleague rented a 2005 Nissan Altima with only 9K+ miles on the odo. The thing rattled like crazy and had shit gas mileage. Conclusion, rentals suck.

 

At 10,500 miles? So lets asume that a rental is abused at double the rate of an owned car. Then the Camry will start its rattling at 20,000 miles. Still no excuse for shabby quality.

 

Maybe it was in an accident before

 

My 1995 Accord was beaten to death, and still, with well over 500,000km on the odometer, the car did not have one single rattle. And fuel economy was as good as ever.

Three words: Toyota Isn't Better.

 

Wifey's '98 Civic now has 220k on the odo, and no squeeks. Even though it was once lowered, and still needs new struts.

 

I would say it's probably more like three or four times the rate of an owned car.

I know that when I get rentals, I beat the crap out of them. It's fun to do stuff to a car you don't own because you'd never dare to try it with your own car.

 

Maybe every maker that sells to rental fleets has a special production run of POSs.

 

Exactly. I remember reading some quote on here about "the fastest car in the world is a rented car" or something like that. It was much funnier than that, of course. I think it's somebody's sig...

I wouldn't judge manufacturer quality on a car that's been through that kind of abuse.

 

wouldn't that be hilarious...

 

LOL!

Perhaps, eh!

 

i rented a 04 camry before as well and likewise i was happy i was getting a toyota instead of the standard olds, ford, chevy, etc. unfortunately it also had rattles and some of the other problems you mentioned. suprisingly, out of the all the rental cars i've driven, they hyundai's seem to be the best

 

Yeah. I rented a Hyundai Santa Fe one time, and it was GREAT! I might even think of buying one if I was in the market for a small SUV. Awesome for the price.

 

I've rented a Toyota Corolla and a Camry and was very happy driving both of them. The Corolla was a bit noisy, but the Camry did well, even in slush and snow. Neither had any rattles to speak of. Must say a Camry is a lot more comfortable then a Corolla on a 900+ trip (duh!)

One difference though is that I rented from a Toyota Rental place, not a regular rent-a-car place. Maybe Biker is on to something, maybe manufacturers do sell they're B-grade stock to the rent-a-car places. . .

My '96 4Runner never had any rattles. . . and my 91 Landcruiser has a rattle in the passenger side rear door, but hey it's like 14 years old. My dad's 97 Camry doesn't rattle and neither does my Mom's '04 Matrix XR.

 

I think Honda and Toyota have high quality of material, but I concede that build quality, like the actual assembly, is better on Toyotas; I see it on the TL vs. the ES330, but TSX is a pretty good exception. And actually, on some models, the Hondas have the better quality of materials, e.g. Accord vs. Camry, and vice versa IMO.

 

I agree. Seems like the best thing possible to unload QC rejects.

 

I rented an '04 Civic LX last summer for a road trip to Ohio, it was one of the worse cars I've ever driven. It only had 7,7xx miles and it seems it didn't have power, had a rattle in the passenger side area, and fuel economy wasn't impressive for a small car. Also, I averaged 29mpg in the crappy Civic, my TSX can do much better and its a bigger car!

I'd take a Camry or Corolla rental anyday.

 

my family once owned a 1998 toyota Sienna before...it was a great van ....but it had one big problem...there a this annoying rattle comming from the sliding door...and the dealer just could not fix it for over a year...

after that...we just got tired of it...and went though the lemon law.~~ and got cash back for our van....

but i've heard that TOYOTA lemons are RARE~~

 

the most fun i have came from a corolla rental... i was playing with it in the parking lot and cornered so hard that the engine died and various burnouts and racing through speed bumps...

 

I'm surprised sick hasn't weighed in on this thread.

 

Rentals are some of the most beat up cars on the planet. Most all rentals rattle UNLESS it is a new one. People don't care for them and you would be surprised what people do with rentals inside and out.
I do think the Accord interior has THE BEST family car interior, better than the Camry. The Camry interior is nice but nothing special[IMG]Three words: Toyota Isn't Better.[/IMG] It seems more people disagree with you, looking at sales figures.

You want a rental to shock you. Get a 6th gen Maxima. What a total POS for 30-35k. There is NO reason to buy this car over a TL.

And when I get a Chevy or Ford rental, it is CLEARLY obvious why these cars do not sell or need tons of rebates.

 

Your avatar is a bit inappropriate. I can't check this forum at work with GIFs like that coming up.

 

My TSX has more rattles than any other car I've driven in the U.S., including a 4Runner, A6, GTI, Jetta, Excel, and Civic. (all family cars at one time or another)

Kinda sad, really.