How embarrasing!

My car is at the dealer for some warranty items and they arranged for a rental car for me. It is a Pontiac Grand Prix. What a POS! Soft and unresponsive, terrible seats with no support, a/c whistles, chintzy interior and exterior gimmicks, etc,etc. I am embarrased to drive this thing! It has been a long time since I have driven a GM car, but I will certainly never buy one. It is disappointing that they have not improved at all. No wonder they continue to lose market share. On a happier note, I drove the 997S while I was there and was very impressed with the firmness and responsiveness of the car. I am thinking about trading up Only negatives I felt were no satellite radio option, and no auxillary input jack. Carrera Sport wheel XRR is beautiful! Cheers. Paul.

I totally understand where you come from. GM vehicles are just getting worse. Has anyone seen the Chevy HHR? That is probably the ugliest vehicle I've ever seen. When I see it I realize how the engineers designed it in SolidWorks. Take a box, chamfer one edge, round another edge ... and so on Also, why do rental car companies carry so many GM / Ford cars?

I would suggest a disguise, just in case you're spotted by anyone you know.

Because the major rental companies are owned by Ford & GM!!

You just know you are going to pull up next to your ex-girlfriend in it!

Chevy and GM always make claims of being some of the most sold vehicles. Most of the sales are to Police, Fbi and other gov't agencies , rental cars or Hollywood movie cars that are trashed. But ya, I think they also own the rental car companies. They sell it to themselfs and count the unit as a sale.

dont tell me you bought a porsche to stick it to your ex-girlfriend. porsche engineers must be cursing you right now i actually enjoy situations like these. i get perverse pleasure out of selling myself short - in general i hate bragging. when people ask me what i do, i come up with some lame job (ex: i work in the warehouse, i stack boxes on top of each other). and the way i dress (except for friday/saturday nights) you'd never think i am worth more than $10,000 -- its alsmost funny to find ways to out-humble myself.

reality check. there are people who buy these cars new and for them its the best thing ever. we are all fortunate to know and enjoy finer things in life. not sure what i did in my previous life to deserve this, but it sure is worth it now

I like to refer to them as WDV, wretched domestic vehicles.

Well not anymore. Hertz was owned by Ford until January of this year and GM and Chrysler sold their intrests in rental car companies some time ago. Fact is Rental car companies, fleet sales in general, get a great deal from the US automakers. Vulture is right in that all of these claims to be number one sold vehicle, F150 excluded, are due to huge fleet sales. I do not think to many individuals bought the Ford Taurus. This is also why the resale on these cars are crap. The used car market is flooded with a lot of cars that nobody wants unless they almost give them away. I saw a commercial for Chevy...72 months 0% financing and $1,000 cash back on most vehicles, unbelievable.

Hell I had a brand new Camry rental car a few weeks ago that was a danged rattle trap. Poor fit and finish. The drivers door had so much winde noise it sounded like a barn door flopping around in a tornado. Bad FWD, no steering, no power, horrible brakes, and this is the car everyone gushes over? Count me unimpressed. People might say "well it was a rental" well it had less than 200 miles on it. I wouldn't drive one of those if I could help it. It did get rather good gas mileage though.

When I had my SSK installed, Brandywine Porsche arranged a loaner through Enterprise. When the agent pulled in with a silver-blue Kia Sedona minivan , the apologies began to flow from the dealership - they were pretty embarrassed. What a total POS the Kia is - ouch. Anyway, I just laughed it off, because I knew that I'd have my C4S back that afternoon!!

Try driving around in a Hyundai for two weeks while the dealer dicks with your car. I left the Hyundai at home and opted to drive my commuter smerf-mobile, a Honda Civic to work so nobody would see me in the Korean piece of crap. Oh well, I am only being a jerk. Porsche is the only dealership that I ever get a loaner from anyway...so how can one really bitch? Tom L 2002 C2

And jkb, I'm with you....I dress so poorly, almost never shave, look like a hippie from the sixties which I am, could easily have a second job standing on a street corner with a sign, "Will Work for Food. Most people look at me like I am trying to steal the car I am driving. I have even been asked if I knew where the owner of the car was when refueling it!!! Ain't life grand! Tom L 2002 C2

I had to drive a Dodge Durango for 2 weeks in 2001 while my C4 was in the shop, really was a sobering experience.

That Pontiac Grand Prix weighs about 15,000 pounds and can't take a corner over 30 degrees. Sometimes taking a beater to work as a loaner from the dealer is the only option

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I hate american cars just as much as the next person, but i'm not embarrased when I drive my Ram truck?

Agree and understand your point. Please understand it was not my intent to state the obvious, which is that a Pontiac does not compare to a Porsche; two very different price points. My point was that I am very surprised at how pathetic this car is within its own class. The fit quality is poor, attention to detail is non-existent, etc. I guess where I was coming from is that I had read in automotive reviews that GM has made significant improvements to their product quality but I just don't see it. The Grand Prix is in the same price category as a Honda Accord, so it is possible to design and construct a quality product at that price, GM just seems unable (or unwilling to do so). I wonder if the GM executives ever drive these cars, or if they are all driving European cars??

Let's see, my loaner for tires was a Cayenne S, and for the 15K service a Boxster.................

GM owns Saab... And Cadillac.

Hey - we're renting one of those right now while we're in Maryland. Although I would not catagorize it as "stylish", it is certainly "functional", and the power is pretty good. The Porsche certainly couldn't haul the wife, three kids, and 5 suitcases, a stroller, travel crib, ...... It could have been a, what was that a few years back? Pontiac Transsport?

I had an HHR from Hertz in Columbia, SC last month. It is just wierd. On one hand it is almost decently screwed together. On the other hand it has a totally anemic engine with no power. Perhaps the strangest thing is that the engine does not sound like an internal combustion engine. It has sounds like the Singer sewing machine my mom had 40 years ago. When I drive a "truck" I kind of expect it to sound like a truck. And because all the windows are small with rounded corners, the visibility is limited. The gauges are small chronometer-like dials, with a tach so small as to be pointless, that look like they belong in a sporty sedan, not a truck. All in all, it is an unexplainable combination of details and strangeness that I would never buy.

Actually, Grand Prix is one of the better rental cars. At least it doesn't start to get loose at 75 mph. I also had a DTS as a rental. Total bling but car couldn't corner better than a 20 yo Buick. Totally squeal in any turn over 20 mph. There are decent American cars out there as rental cars. I'd never buy one though. American automakers only excel in two things: cheap prices and large SUVs.

Tom - that last line had me rolling! That's a classic!

The more dissapointing part was that Porsche would let this happen... I could see this from an airport or something... -Keith

my daily driver is a suburban

Do you have a tanker truck follow you around?

no, but i have a 42 gallon fuel tank that takes me 500 miles between fillups. this creates the illusion of having a 14 gallon tank in a camry that goes 500 miles

for my work vehicle, i drive a suburban loaded with equipment (and a V1 and Lidatek laser jammer!). its interesting to notice that some gas pumps used to shut off at $50 - which sometimes wasn't enough to fill it up. now i've found that they shut off at $75!!

i fill mine all the way up to 90 (or whatever it is) then charge it inside to avoid that shutoff limit

is my '87 Buick Electra station wagon. DC drivers can't drive in the snow, but they do get out of the way when they see this coming

I guess I should consider myself lucky here in Houston. Momentum Porsche has always given me a Boxster every time they needed to keep my car for service.

Hey, I just got back from Boston where I rented the Hertz Shelby. Pretty sweet car -- hot looking and sounding, strong pulling, better-than-expected handling, but the live rear axle is a joke. Felt and sounded like the whole damn thing was ready to drop off the car. And, with 1200 miles on it. The most bittersweet part of the whole experience: the Shelby gets WAY more looks than my 911! -- M

momentum and advantage are under one owner now am i correct? i've always had great service at advantage - they do complimentary tech inspections for the LSR crew

Your responses makes you sound like a bunch of yuppies. "I only drive Imports and P Cars and wear 7 jeans and...." Just drive the loaner or don't. Being embarrassed in one? Well, you need help if that's what embarrasses you. PS. I took my Rolex in for repair and they gave me a Seiko... I was so embarrassed. Sounds childish.

I just took my Kia Sedona in for service and the guy gave me a 997S for a loaner. What was he thinking? Where am I going to put the tools and fence posts? Car rides stiff and it sits too low, keeps dragging the bottom in pot holes. Those Germans will never learn.

Does it look like this? God bless GM!

That's what we have the A6 Avant for! Phil

Don't misunderstand me - I said the DEALER was embarrassed - I'm happy when the dealer arranges for me to have any car to drive as a loaner! I think they expected me to be pissed - I wasn't.

I did misunderstand you then, sorry. When you finished by saying it was a POS, I just assumed you were embarrassed to either be seen in the car or to drive it. My dealer doesn't give out P cars for loaners, then again the closest dealership is in Tacoma, WA. Run the demographics of this city... wow. Happy 4th. L8~

I just re-read the post. I didn't imagine it. Anyway, maybe it's not what you meant, but it's what you said. Just thought I'd let you know. Later.

It's better than what I wound up in at the BMW dealership when I took my wife's X5 in 5 days after we bought it and the AC pooped out: a purple PT Cruiser