Suggestions for Rental Car for Upcoming California Road Trip

Daughter and I have a road trip planned starting Saturday. We will be taking 10 days to go from San Diego to San Francisco so obviously one way rental. Looking for a fun to drive rental, convertible a preference. How soul sucking are the Mustand and Camaro rent a cars? Those are the only close to fun RAC I have seen. Unlike European RAC, manual transmissions aren't available anymore. Am I missing anything else?

The choices were so depressing we briefly considered driving my C5 FRC from Florida to Cali, but the 10 day window just doesn't make that a good option...

Just throwing this out there, and I don't know the pricing, but Enterprise has an exotic car rental option. There's several 911s, Boxters, C6's, and a Ferrari California among other choices. They rent out of both San Diego and San Diego Airport and San Francisco is a drop off option.

Budget does Mustangs with the v8 and convertible, Hertz still does the GT350 and had a "dream car" option that includes the Boxter but not much else that's sporty and a convertible.

Is there a SIXT in SD and SF? They once rented me a Cooper for the price of an Accent, and were the cheapest one-way rental by a mile.

Buy a car.

Many years ago, we found a company that rented Miatas. Pretty cool until they told us that we would get an MRS. which would not work with luggage.

Since we were going to an AROC convention, we bought a $1500 Milano instead. Which was fun driving from LA to SF.

Make it a real adventure.

Have you priced out one way rentals? They tend to be significantly more expensive.

I had a Mustang from Enterprise on a work trip to Minneapolis last week, in traffic cone orange no less . It was honestly pretty fun to drive, even being a rather basic spec V6 car. Certainly lacks the 'throw you back in the seat' torque of my friend's '15 GT, but much closer to that car on the fun spectrum than another friend's old 05ish V6 convertible Mustang (forever referred to as the Barbie 'Stang .) Didn't get to push it too much, but taught handling, good ride, had some get up and go with a down shift or two. Did OK burnouts.

We tried to talk them into upgrading us to one of the "exotics." Choices on hand included a C6, 911, and Maserati, the latter actually being somewhat reasonably priced.

But I think you'd have plenty of fun in a rental spec Mustang.

I rented a convertible Mustang when trying to decide between that and the FRS. Convinced me to buy the FRS.

The same airport rental location had Vettes on the lot. If you have not owned one the convertible experience itself might be justification for renting the Mustang or the Camaro. The pony-car rentals only had V6 engines, but that was plenty for my needs.

I haven't driven the convertible version of either but I've logged a bunch of miles in both Camaro and Mustang rental cars.

The most recent Mustang rental I had was equipped with the 4 cylinder Ecoboost and that was an improvement over the v6s I've driven in the past but the v6s versions were still far from soul sucking to drive.

Of the two the Camaro is the better car to drive but for some purely emotional reason I like the Mustang better. Either would make an excellent road trip car for two.

I've checked with Avis and Hertz and they will not rent any of the "exotics" for a one way to San Francisco from San Diego Airport location.

Closest Sixt rental location to San Diego is Tijuana....

I'll give that one the big El Paso;)

Avis is $866 for Mustang convertible.

Hertz is $2200 for Camaro convertible.

Looks like I'll be renting a Mustang...

My buddy rented an Ecoboost (hardtop) to take the same drive. He even ran a track day at Sonoma when he got there and was thoroughly impressed with the car.

He bought himself an Ecoboost Stang within 3 months of the trip if that tells you anything.

Have you looked at Turo? A quick search pulls an M3 sedan for $116 a day and a 5.0 Mustang for $76 a day. The only downside is limited mileage. About 1500 for 10 days on those 2 cars.

having driven a rental mustang for a few hundred miles, as well as a Camaro, don't do it. I hated the mustang. I even created a post about how much I hated the mustang. Biggest complaints I remember was the visibility, the 2008 infotainment crap, and the ride quality. I loved the Camaro. It's lightyears ahead of the mustang. But I wouldnt want either for that long of a drive.

My favorite rental I've ever had was a CTS. That would be my choice.

Another option: rent the cheapest thing from National, and do one of the "$x extra per day" impulse rental for a premium car.

I can tell you what not to get. I ended up with an RS Camaro convertible in Ontario. A free upgrade since Hertz messed up and didn't have my name on the President's Circle board and I had to wait at the counter with the unwashed masses

A nice car to drop the top and just cruise in. A HORRIBLE performance car though. Over 300 hp and even in performance mode (or whatever GM calls it) I had a hard time outpowering much more mundane cars between the corners on the road up to Big Bear. I was not at all impressed with the handling either. I came away wishing I would have declined the upgrade and gotten the usual 3.6 Impala. Now that SOB will romp for a front driver.

After 1100 miles over 10 days, from SD to SF, my review of the ecoboost Mustang convertible is as follows:

Liked the color, bright yellow. Top worked well. If this car has 300 hp I'll eat my shorts. What a piece of crap. Wheezy, noisy and lazy. Admitted I could only get an automatic but somehow I feel than a manual won't help. Annoying rattle in drivers door at highway speed that made me want to smash the door to stop it. Other unpleasant noises on rough roads. Harsh ride. The sport setting didn't do much but keep the trans in a lower gear for longer. The steering wheel settings didn't feel much different. Exhaust note sucks. Worst GPS system I've ever experienced. We used my daughters phone app instead. Miatas were allegedly available at Avis in San Diego, but only automatic ones. I hate the idea of an automatic Miata, but it couldn't have been worse than the Mustang.

Roads in California are worse than I anticipated. I'm glad I didn't drive my C5.

Carro Atrezzi wrote: I can tell you what not to get. I ended up with an RS Camaro convertible in Ontario. A free upgrade since Hertz messed up and didn't have my name on the President's Circle board and I had to wait at the counter with the unwashed masses A nice car to drop the top and just cruise in. A HORRIBLE performance car though. Over 300 hp and even in performance mode (or whatever GM calls it) I had a hard time outpowering much more mundane cars between the corners on the road up to Big Bear. I was not at all impressed with the handling either. I came away wishing I would have declined the upgrade and gotten the usual 3.6 Impala. Now that SOB will romp for a front driver.

really? I had the opposite experience when i ended up with a v6 convertible camaro. Although it was no v8 car it still had decent get up and go. I drove the one i had from Phoenix AZ to San Bernardino CA. On the drive from AZ to CA i had the cruise set to 80 thought the desert and when i'd have to pass someone i 'may or may not have' done pulls up to 120 mph and it did it with ease. I also drove the Palm to Pines highway and the Rim of the World highway and a couple roads near there. I do agree in tight corners the car really shows its weight but on more broad curves it can hang in there pretty well. I would say its like a pretty decent GT car, decent power, decent handling, kinda a jack of all trades but a master of none.

Here is the car with the sun setting over the Palm to Pines Hwy

I should clarify. I have no doubt that it really does make the advertised hp. It's just the way it's geared and the terrible transmission. You can't get to the powerband without kicking the pee out of it -- 2 gears lower than I'd like to be. I dunno. I like torque. Torque rules on a twisty road unless you've got a spot on fantastic transmission that can find the meat of the curve right quick and bang off shifts in the milliseconds to keep it there.

The plain jane 3.6 Chevy Impala would smoke it up to Big Bear. Yeah I know...same motor same powerband. Go figure

Also, I'm pretty sure a Wells Fargo truck has better visibility. But then again, I'm a '90's Honda kind of guy.