Adventures in Rental Cars it is.

So this afternoon we set out on our 24th of July Rental Car Adventure. We didn't have to turn the car in until 6:00PM. We got the Pittsburgh a lot earlier. We went to eat at the Quaker Steak and Lube. It was actually pretty good! Then we went and strolled around in IKEA to kill some time. After a few hours we decided to just cut our losses and take the car back early. The Saturn was starting to make noises and the seats were uncomfortable. We were glad to take it back and see what was next!

We get to the rental place and turn in the Saturn Vue. We wait in line for awhile. Get the the front and then they start the "you can't use a debit card if you don't have a return flight". Blah, blah, blah. We all know that we can use our debit card! It worked last week! Well I remembered I do have a credit card for Emergency purposes. That way we can put it on there and then pay for it with our debit card when we get back. Well.... it declined! WHAT? There is nothing on the card and it has a really high limit! He continued to say that we could not rent a car. So I told him we'd be back.

I stepped aside and called the Credit Card people. Of course I have used it so much.... it has never been activated. Duh! So we go get in line. This time a whole bunch of people have gathered in line. So we wait... and wait.... and wait! We finally get up there. I give him the card... he looks at me like you have got to be kidding me. He tried it! Much to his surprise it went through. It is amazing what you can do when you activate your credit cards! Blah! But he did charge us 17.94 for the extra time we had (since we picked it up at 5:22 and not 6:00).

So we get our car! Yay! A Jeep Cherokee! I was excited! We got the car and headed towards Pittsburgh again. Just about the time we get to the Fort Pitt Tunnel the car dings and shows a warning light. Of course they don't leave owners manuals in the cars... so we have no idea what it means. It blinks for awhile. (It looked like a horseshoe (with the legs in the air) sitting in dirt with a exclamation mark in the middle). Eventually it went off. So we figured we'd just watch it. I looked at the temp and everything seemed fine. Well we get into Pittsburgh and were going slow. We were actually coasting down a hill and the warning sign comes on that says check gages. I look at the Temp gage and it is all the way over to HOT! I was like... Oh great! So I watched it. All of a sudden it went down to about half in like 10 seconds. Then we drove a little father and it did it like 2 more times. The rest of the time it was going hotter and colder and couldn't make up it's mind. It was weird. So we called Roadside Assistance to see what they wanted us to do. We didn't want to drive it and ruin it... and end up in Johnstown and have it break down. They told us to go back to the airport. So we turned around. Of course on the way back when we were going 65 it cooled down and stopped getting hot. It was dumb. Anyways we took it back.

We went inside and there were about 10 people in line. I was so annoyed! We waited and waited... and waited! It was at least 45 minutes later when we finally got helped. He looked at me like... oh great! (This is the third time we have rented a car from him... he was just as annoyed with us when we came in May. We are like on a first name basis now. We LOVE Brad! Blah!!) So he asked if there was something wrong with our car. We said yes, it's overheating. He said, well... I can give you a Saturn Vue for the same rate! OH YES!! PLEASE, PLEASE GIVE US THE VUE AGAIN!! We said okay. He gives us the keys. I asked if since it was 7:22 if we could get the charge removed for the extra hour. Afterall... it was their car that wasted two hours of our lives! Of course he said no because our rental started at 5:22. But if we bring it back before 5:00... then they will take it off. That really annoyed me. Oh well.

So we walk out to pick up the Vue that we just returned. I mean we would have just kept it and extended our stay and saved everyone time and evergy... but they were going to add on like 22.00 a day. So driving to Pittsburgh saved us around $100.00 even with gas. So we get the keys... What? No keyless entry? We walked to the Vue. It was just like the other one. We get in... No leather seats? No heated seats? No power seats? Hello!! Did we just get down graded?!?! Ha ha. Oh well. So we are in a different Saturn Vue that looks just like the other Saturn Vue. Only not as fancy!

So that was our lame rental car experience. Stay tuned in for next weeks Rental car story!