I’m in L.A. this weekend to help celebrate my friends Garr and Adrienne’s marriage. I’ve only been to L.A. once before so I’m looking forward to driving about a bit and seeing whatever there is to see. Not so much South Central, you understand, but other places.
I booked both my hotel and my rental car via Priceline.com, naming my own price to save a considerable amount of money. So long as you don’t care specifically which hotel or car you get, you can save around 50% off retail price.
For a rental car, I’m driving a Dodge Caliber which, no offense to any Caliber owners out there, is a fairly lame vehicle. It’s a gutless 4-cylinder for starters and though the mileage is OK at 29 MPG, I find it an uncomfortable ride. The driver’s seat sits uncommonly high, almost as if Dodge were trying to simulate an SUV with their crazy little underpowered attempt at a crossover. Instead the effect is one where the driver has difficulty seeing out of the vehicle.
Admittedly, I’m a Japanese car guy who by and large can’t stand American-made cars. The Caliber is no different than most in that it features a cheap plastic interior and some weird design/usability choices.
All that said, for a Priceline.com rental price of about $20 a day, I’ve no real complaints.