Double Blind

I have the opportunity (or misfortune, depending on how I feel at the time) to travel quite a bit on business to the USA. When I arrive at the airport, I rent a vehicle to get around. All of the rented vehicles I have driven are recent editions to GM’s product line, specifically the Pontiac, Buick or Chevrolet series of cars.

I have driven quite a few of those vehicles, both in urban and distance (freeway) driving, and there are two cars that stand out particularly as bad. One car is the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which suffered from having no steering response with the steering wheel AND had no rear visibility (the trunk is raised so much that it cuts the view of the headlights of vehicles driving six nanometers from your rear end). I likened it to a mobile deathtrap. There were other things wrong with the car (e.g. it was ugly), but I am mainly concerned with how functional the car is.

Now I have a Pontiac G6 with a V6, 3.5L engine with automatic transmission. I can’t tell whether it’s a 2005 or 2006 model, but since there is 5000 miles logged into the car, I suspect it is a 2005 model. The list of things wrong with this vehicle are numerous. Here we go:

When you press the gas pedal, the time it takes for the car to accelerate is about double what you would otherwise expect in a vehicle. Maybe the computer chip is thinking too long when it tells the engine how much juice it gets?

The brakes are atrocious. I drive a car that’s embarrassingly older and it has better brakes than this new car has! You really have to press that thing down to get a decent brake response.

The area underneath the heater dials in most vehicles normally has enough room to fit some CD cases. Instead, there is a small slot which is perfectly good for storing NOTHING except sunglasses. Instead, the area where you could fit CDs is sitting underneath the armrest. It is nearly impossible to open this thing while driving to change CDs.

The seat cannot be adjusted at such an angle where you can comfortably rest your elbow on the left hand side window sill AND also rest your right elbow on the right armrest. You can move it forwards and backwards and there is a dial to move the seat up and down, but the up and down is at a very awkward angle. Even worse, the maximum height you can bring the steering wheel is very limited.

Rear visibility is not good, but it’s not nearly as bad as the Monte Carlo.

The engine, despite being a V6, feels and sounds like a V4.

The dashboard just looks ugly and is not easy to easily ascertain your speed by a quick glance at the speedometer.

The steering wheel has about as much “feel” as the Monte Carlo (and Buick Century), i.e. none.

The driver’s seat is perpetually on lumbar mode. This huge bulge protrudes in the lower back area and is quite annoying (although probably good for me because I slouch too much).

There are some redeeming aspects to the vehicle, but in the grand scheme of things, the car sucks.

Out of all the rental cars that I have driven so far, the winner by far and away is the Pontiac Grand Prix. It seems to get the little things right that don’t leave you annoyed when you’re in the car driving.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2006 and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.