Posted by Patrick on February 3rd, 2008
Disclaimer: We will, despite the impending birth of our first child, never own a minivan. This review is strictly for informational purposes, and should not be considered as our approval of minivans. Unless you have like 5 kids, and then they’re a better choice then giant SUV’s.
So on our last trip up north, we found ourselves in a situation of sudden awesomeness in terms of stuff for Ted. We also found ourselves with more stuff then would safely fit in the overhead bin, so we decided to drive it on home. Knowing that all the stuff would not fit in our last rental car, we rented a mini van. It was a 2007 Kia Sedona (or as they call it in other countries, the Kia Carnival.)
I wish I had reviewed the minivan we rented (Dodge Grand Caravan) when we started moving things to NC more then a year ago, but I was a little distracted then.
As far as ride quality goes, it was ok. More comfortable then the Focus and way more comfortable then the Malibu Classic. At first the ride was comfortable, but after 14 hours the seats started to feel a little stiff.
The radio situation was disappointing. No MP3 CD compatibility, and no axillary input to plug in iPods. You can just never tell with rentals as to what you’ll get. The interior had the requisite dozen or cup holders that every minivan has, and lots of “blank” buttons on the dash and steering wheel that implied that there are many options available for the Sedona that you don’t have. This van cries for steering wheel volume controls.
The cruise control was borderline useless. As we were driving through Pennsylvania, every time we’d go up a hill (while the cruise was on) the van would lose speed and then not adjust back up to speed once we got over the top of the hill. Lame.
The van part of the minivan was good… the back seats fold totally flat into the floor making plenty of room for the boxes of stuff we had packed in. The center row seats folded forward, but not completely flat. I think you can take them out of the van, but we couldn’t do that because our trip was one-way.
If for some odd reason you’re reading this review and thinking I’m some authority about minivans, then I’d say I’m not sure if I could recommend the Sedona. It wasn’t as nice as the Grand Caravan, and I didn’t get the vibe of of wellputtogetherness. I suppose if you had four kids and money was tight and you really needed a new van, then the Sedona might be the way to go. But really if money is tight, wouldn’t you want a used minivan? Or maybe a sweet wooden-sided Buick Roadmaster.
Posted in Automotive, Car Reviews |
Comments Off
Posted by Patrick on January 5th, 2008
Part of sneaking up north over the holidays involved renting a car. Dropping in from a helicopter would have made far too much noise. We had chosen subcompact for our rental, so I was happy when the rental place did not give us a Chevy Aveo or Hyundai Accent. Frankly I was just glad they held our reservation on file, since it would have thrown our plan into moderate chaos if they didn’t.
We were, instead, given a 2004 Ford Focus. That seemed kind of old to me for a rental car, but it survived the trip so it served its purpose. We got the sedan version of Ford’s smallest car. Back in the day (2001ish) Kate and I test drove a Focus Hatchback, but we did not purchase it because I had just driven a new Mustang and my mind would not permit it. I suspect if I had test-driven the Focus and then not the Mustang, maybe I’d be driving the Focus now? Who knows. Just glad I got the car I did.
I won’t judge the car too harshly, it was almost four years old with 30k miles on it. The car charger didn’t work, but the stereo did and that was good. The stereo worked well and supported MP3 discs. In between picking up the car and setting off, I quickly burned an MP3 cd of about 100 or so songs, hoping that would get us through the trip. The songs I burned were lame, but the player worked well enough. I wish it would show both the name of the artist and song, instead of just the name of the mp3 file.
Trunk space was pretty darn good considering it was a sedan. The back seats could fold down if needed (and really, this should be standard on all cars with back seats at this point), and all of our presents fit. The seats were comfortable enough for the 15 hours we sat in them, but were no where as good as the Celica’s or the Honda Accord’s. My seat also squeaked whenever I moved, but I suspect it has more to do with being a rental car then being a Focus.
The handling and acceleration were fine, I never felt it was underpowered or anything like that. It also passed the swerve test when we were driving up and I almost took the exit into the heart of the Bronx. It was just too late in the day for high-intensity city driving. Gas Mileage was also good, I think we only had to fill the tank 2 1/2 times.
I do wish they had given us the SVT version of the car, but that probably would have lead to speeding tickets, and that would definitely not been part of the day’s plan or budget.
Posted in Automotive, Car Reviews |
Comments Off
Posted by Patrick on May 22nd, 2007
While I was up north the week before last, I was adorned with one of the finer rental cars in the Economy class of cars. The 2007 Chevy Cobalt was mine for the week. I was happy to not have received the Aveo. It was white, four door, and an automatic. I drove it around 400 miles or so during the week, so I got a fair feeling for the car.Compared to the last Chevy rental we had, this car was pretty good. It accelerated quickly enough for Mass Pike driving, and seemed to turn both left and right without any great difficulties. I’d hardly call it quick, but for getting around, it seemed to do well. It felt solid, and there was enough engine to move the chasis.
The most surprising feature (and something I’d been hoping to see in a rental for a while) was a radio with an audio-input connection. Had I known, I would have brought the iPod and plugged it right in. For an OEM radio, it was pretty slick. The radio station call letters displayed, and sometimes even showed the song currently playing on the FM stations. Not to shabby for a rental radio.I can’t say I’d buy one myself (again, Ford family rules apply), but I’d rent one maybe? I’d be curious to try the Cobalt SS model, too. I don’t think you can rent those.
Posted in Automotive, Car Reviews |
1 Comment »
Posted by Patrick on July 7th, 2006
Kate and I just spent the last 5 days and 2100 miles behind the wheel of a 2005 Chevy Malibu “Classic,” and in the spirit of reviewing all the cars I drive, I’ll speak about it here a bit.
It took quite a while to find any reference to this car on Chevrolet’s website. It was tucked in under their commercial fleet listing, which is no surprise as we rented the car for our recent road trip. Enterprise told us we were receiving the Aveo when I made the reservation, so this was a slight step up. This came in handy when packing up our gear, but the weight of our luggage slowed the vehicle down and put a cramp on its already boat-like handling.The car was powered by GM’s 2.2l Ecotec engine, which I’m sure is fine in smaller cars, but felt like it was struggling the entire trip. The car was just too big for the motor.The inside was dull, and after 22k miles, was completely falling apart. Sure, its a rental car, but the carpeting was coming up, plastic was cracked and the seats were worn – and not comfortable at all. There were two power adapters in the front, but neither worked.For basic transportation, it was fine. It got us out and back without any real problems. And really, you can’t go to a dealership and buy one of these since its a rental fleet car. But if you have the option to buy a rental car, you should check out the Toyota Corolla we had in December, or if GM is your bag, you might want to look at the Malibu Maxx – both much better cars then the Classic.
Posted in Automotive, Car Reviews |
1 Comment »
Posted by Patrick on January 13th, 2006
What? Another car review? This has been kind of strange streak in my life where I’ve been driving a lot of different cars. I can’t say it’s a bad thing, as I’m always curious about the driving experience of other people’s cars.The other night, Kate’s sister Kim needed to pick up a car from the airport, so Kate and I drove down with her and I got to drive back to her place in her 2004 (or ‘05, I forgot to ask) Chevy Malibu Maxx (Long time readers will remember my test drive of Kate’s other sister’s car).
It’s like a regular Malibu, except it’s got a hatchbackishly-stationwagon like quality to it. It’s a comfortable car, pretty big. The back seats recline, which was a pretty cool feature that I discovered when we drove to Mount Monadnock. The back seat has two sun roofs and it’s own radio. A highly desirable vehicle if you’re a member of Hike Club.
Up front, I thought the radio controls on the steering wheel were nice. I wish I had that on my car. Speaking of steering, I had some trouble with that when I tried to back out of a tight parking space. I had to do that Austin Powers thing where you back up, turn slightly, go forward, turn slightly… and so on like 8 times. That’s probably because I’m use to driving much smaller cars.Once on the highway, the ride was smooth. It accelerated quickly enough, thanks to the 6 cylinder engine. Not in the same neighborhood as the Charger, but more than the Corolla for sure.I can’t say I’d get a Maxx myself, if only because I was raised in the House of Ford and Chevy was the sworn enemy of Ford. (Wait, did my dad have a Vette once? I think he did. So many mixed signals… )
Posted in Automotive, Car Reviews |
1 Comment »
