2012 Nissan Altima 4DR

2012 Nissan Altima 4 DR

 18 - 23 city / 27 - 32 highway <- MSN Auto

Where to being with the Nissan Altima?  I’m just going to put it out there and say, straight up that I do not like this car.  Obviously I’m going to go into those reasons in this review, and I hope my opinions can help you if you are seriously looking to buy this car, but if you absolutely love the Nissan Altima and do not want to see me throwing shade on it, then perhaps you should not read this.  While perusing the All Mighty Interwebz I noticed pictures of the Altima with lots of different options, this car does not have those options.  This is a disclaimer I have included in all of my reviews and I will say it again, the model that was used in this review is used in a rental fleet and even though we only keep them for a short time (yes, you can purchase used rentals cars but I would not recommend it) they still do not have special options included, we get the standard models.  And with the price tag that is associated for just the standard options who could afford anything special in it anyway?  Definitely not a twenty-something who is just trying to figure out how to pay all the bills… D:

In the shady underbelly of the rental car world the Nissan Altima is classified as a full size car, so you would expect it to be big and it does not disappoint.  The exterior of the vehicle is rounded on all sides which I suppose could be considered giving it a sleek look, if something big and cumbersome can even be sleek.  The car is long but what really stands out to me is how long and wide the front end of this car is.  I suppose comparing it to smaller cars is not fair because of course the front is smaller if they are in a smaller category but the hood is like three times larger than the hood on my Kia Forte.  But it does look a lot like the hood for the large Ford Crown Victoria (the cop car, for those of you who don’t know).  This large and wide front end obviously has some consequences when getting behind the wheel but we will get to that later.

Look at how long and wide that hood is. Ugly.

The trunk is not as large as you may think, it is not by any means small, but it is still the same approximate size of the trunk on the standard size Ford Fusion and the midsize Chevy Cruze.  The back seats do go down and that will give you a larger trunk, but for a vehicle that feels as big and cumbersome as this one, I think they should have made the trunk bigger.  The seats and other parts of the interior are made from suede or a suede-like material, a fabric that is nice to touch but could you imagine if someone spilled a milkshake or something equally as disastrous?  It would be a nightmare to get out of those seats, and even if you could get it all out, I don’t think you would be able to do it without leaving a terrible scar where you would be forever reminded of the traumatizing event.  That being said, at least the seats are comfortable.  The back doors have a small open space that looks like you could use as a cup holder but it doesn’t seem like it has been expressly put there for this purpose – some cars have little diagrams so you get the picture (pun intended!).  Like many cars that are a midsize or larger, there is an armrest/cup holder that can be pulled down to sit between the two back seats, and then… that’s it.  There is nothing more in the back seats, not even one 12 volt jack for the passengers to fight over.  With the prices that are associated with Nissans they should have at least put some more pizazz in the back, I’m not impressed.

Moving on up the ladder brings you to the front; the seats are still made of the suede fabric and to be fair they are large and comfortable, but they should be in this class, so it’s really nothing special if it’s to be expected.  The glove compartment is actually pretty large, a good quality if you have lots of beanie babies to hide so no one smashes your window to get to them (remember when that actually happened?), and it also locks, which seems to be a common feature in this car group.  An uncommon feature that you find in this glove compartment is a small lever that sits on the left side, it is a trunk lock button.  If you want to make it so the trunk does not open even if you press the trunk button in the car or on the key fob.  It is an interesting feature that I have not seen before, but I wonder what is the point?  If someone has your key or is inside your car then that is not going to stop them from getting into your trunk.  Maybe if you kidnapped someone, put them in the trunk, but their brave yet stupid friend chased you down, got a hold of your key, tried to open the trunk , and in the time it took for them to realize the trunk isn’t opening you hit them in the face and take your key back.  Although I’m sure there are plenty of other possibilities.  Because we are already talking about the trunk and trunk related things I want to bring up the button to open the trunk that is actually in the car.  I bring it up because it’s difficult to find.  It’s not on the bottom by the gas button, oh no, that would be too easy.  The trunk button is actually located on the bottom left side behind the steering wheel.  It is a little black lever that has a picture of the trunk on it, but because it is placed near the bottom of the board it is difficult to see the picture.  It took me a while to find this dumb button. 

The front doors have cup holders in them that are intended for bottles only so I don’t suggest suing Nissan if hot coffee spills all over your leg.  The middle cubby is a pretty good size, I’ve seen bigger, and trust me, size does matter.  The middle has two sections, the top one is shallow where the bottom one is deep and inside there is a 12 volt AC jack.  Directly in front of the cubby is another lidded section and you have to press down on the lid to open it.  Inside you will find 3 distinct dishes and two small carved out areas.  Two of the dishes are obviously cup holders, one being larger than the other and you can make it even larger by taking a plastic piece out (finally, a place to put my giant Slurpee!), but the third dish is not so obvious.  It is too shallow to effectively hold a cup, possibly a cup of ice cream?  Who knows, you can put whatever the hell you want in there, I don’t really care.  I can only assume the small crevices are made for coins, what else would fit?  But I have seen this in other cars, and I just hate it, the only way to actually hold any coins in there is if you took the time to line them all up on their sides, ain’t nobody got time for that.  One thing I do like about this middle unit is that you can take the whole piece out, whether you’re supposed to or not is probably a good question, but it makes it super easy to clean the whole unit and if you don’t want to put it back in then you another lidded compartment.

See the 2 spaces on the right?  What are those for??

Moving towards the front of the car, above the cup holders is the shifter, and then you hit the middle console.  On the bottom is yet another lidded compartment that you have to press on the lid for it to open.  This space is felt-lined (fancy) and is actually a nice size, most of the time the little compartments here and there in cars seem small and pointless, but you could fit a GPS or GPS-sized item in this one. 

Above this compartment are the temperature controls which are basic and easy to understand, always a good thing.  From the temperature control you find the radio controls where you will find the AUX port to the right.  I applaud Nissan for putting the AUX port in an easy to get to and obvious place, unlike other car makers who feel it is their solemn duty to hide this port (like in the glove compartment, wtf Ford?), but I still shake my head at Nissan because there is no USB port.  When even a teeny tiny Kia Rio has a USB port, the hulking Nissan Altima does not have one?  How does that make sense and why would you pay so much more for something that isn’t even as well-equipped?  Above the radio buttons is the actual display, it is long and narrow and pretty simple.  The whole middle console is simple but so incredibly ugly!  It looks like this would be found in the Flintstones car, even the font on the radio looks ugly and antiquated.  All of this would be fine if it weren’t pricey.  Why in the world would I shell out the cash for a car that looks this ugly?  It seems to be a full size problem though, because the interior of the Chevy Impala is also less than impressive, but the Toyota Camry is nice, so it can’t be all of them.

So ugly

Moving on to an important feature is that the Nissan Altima is keyless (I will get to the key soon) and therefore it does not have the tradition ignition; in the place of the key hole is the start/stop button which even says START/STOP on it.  This button is almost exactly where the key hole usually is so I don’t know why it is so hard for people to find this button (which even lights up in a Nissan), but wonders never cease and customers just have the hardest time finding it.

You can see the Start/Stop button pretty clearly on the right side.

Like I explained, this car is keyless, but that does not mean you can just hop in and drive it away.  You do still need a key but it doesn’t look like a traditional key.  It looks like another cars key fob, like the fobs that come on some Kias, and it has all of the same buttons – lock, unlock, trunk, and panic.  To start the car you only need the key inside of the car, it can be in your pocket, bag, etc. and you will then put your foot on the brake and press the start button at the same time.  You need to have your foot on the brake and pressing the button at the same time or it won’t start.  There have been countless customers who just don’t get this concept even after I have told them what to do, and there is even a little diagram that pops up on the digital display (where it shows the odometer) that tells you that you need to have your foot on the brake.  I don’t know why this concept is so strange to people, but they just can’t fathom it I guess.  To turn off the vehicle you just do the same thing – foot on the brake and press the button.  I also explain this to people because there have been some who have just walked away not realizing the car was still on.  This little fob is hiding a secret though, there is still a physical key hidden in it.  On the back of the unit there is a little tiny lever you pull down and the key pops out from the top.  You can use this key to get in and out of the car, but if you need to start it then you are SOL.  Some people could then ask, what do you do when it runs out of batteries?  Well then you have to pay out the $300 (yes $300) to get a new one.  I’m not sure how long the batteries last, but I have to imagine it’s pretty long although I really don’t know.

To Nissans credit the steering wheel is not actually too big and cumbersome, something that happens far too often in my opinion, but that is overshadowed by how lackluster it is.  There are only cruise control settings that are found on the right side of the wheel, that’s it, and (surprise, surprise) it’s ugly.  I feel like a broken record with this car; why would I pay money for an ugly car that isn’t even as nicely equipped as so-called “cheap” brands that at least have media and Bluetooth controls integrated on the wheel.

Still ugly.

I think I have made it pretty clear that I do not like the important parts of the inside of this vehicle, but what I hate the most about the Nissan Altima is how it drives.  First, the wheel is not smooth, fluid, or any of that, it is the exact opposite.  This is the steering wheel that feels like you are pulling it through molasses, and I know it has nothing to do with the size of the vehicle because the full size Toyota Camry steers like a dream.  Second is how it moves – this cars is so unwieldy (a customer called it clumsy) and because the front end is so long and wide it makes you feel like you will have to drop anchor when you park.  For real, it feels like you are driving a Ford Crown Victoria and this car is a step away from an old man car.  The turning radius on this car is also really poor, not quite as bad as a Lincoln Town Car, but definitely up there with the Crown Vic.  If you’re going to buy this car you might as well just get a Crown Vic and be done with it.

So there you have it, I don’t like this car.  The interior is ugly and boring, the exterior is long and wide, and it is cumbersome to drive.  If you want a full size go with a Toyota Camry; a Chevy Impala isn’t much better but for some reason I don’t dislike it as much, maybe because it doesn’t seem like Chevy is going for the wrong audience.  Nissan seems to be marketing the Altima to a younger crowd, not people in their 20s, but more like professionals in their 30s, when they should be going for people in their 60s.  My biggest beef is that Nissans are supposed to be nice cars and are marketed as such, but in reality they are clunky, ugly, and unequipped. 

2013 Chevy Cruze LT

2013 Chevy Cruze LT

 26 cty/38 hwy mpg < - Edmunds.com

When I used to think of Chevys I would think of either big stupid pickup trucks or the Impala, neither of which are my favorites.  I didn’t really care for any Chevys until I drove two of their smaller cars, the adorable Chevy Sonic and the midsize Chevy Cruise.  I like the Cruise, enough to look into buying one when I was shopping for a vehicle myself, but the price tag, although not unreasonable, was too high for little ol’ me.  All that nonsense being said, I introduce the 2013 Chevy Cruise LT!  As with all of the cars, this one is intended for use by a rental company, therefore there are no fancy shenanigans going on with this car, all features are standard.

Like most midsize vehicles the exterior is pretty standard, pretty cute and pleasant to look at, but it is not flashy and doesn’t stand out too much – which is probably a good thing because as long as you’re not an attention whore or a me-monster, I’m sure you don’t want to attract any unwanted attention from the wrong kind of people aka carjackers. 

 

The Cruise has a large trunk and could probably fit two big suitcases or two treasures chests for, you know, whatever.  The seats are made of leather or pleather, I couldn’t really tell if it was real leather because of the texture, either way it is easier to clean than fabric and still looks nice.  The back seats can go down, making the trunk space larger (three treasure chests!), and there is an armrest/cup holder that can be pulled down between the back two seats.  This is not unusual in a midsize car, but the actual piece is pretty short making it both adorable in its stubbiness but also pretty useless as an armrest.  One last thing to mention about the backseat area is a 12 volt AC jack that is located on the bottom of the middle cubby so it faces the back seats.  There is only one, so if I were you I would make my passengers fight over it, only champions are allowed in my car.

Look at how cute/useless that armrest is!

Moving towards the front there is a medium sized glove compartment, similar sized to other midsize cars like the Kia Forte.  I had a theory that the smaller the vehicle the bigger the glove compartment, which held true for many of the cars I had reviewed so far, but was then broken by the claustrophobic 2012 Ford Focus Hatchback 4DR, but that might have just been an exception, only time will tell…  But I do think the glove compartment should be bigger because the lidded cubby in the middle is very small, exceptionally small for any sized vehicle, so if you have a GPS and something that is similar in size to a GPS (two GPSs? I don’t know you, I don’t know your life, maybe you have, like, 5 GPSs) then you will not have room to hide both of them away out of sight so get ready for some smashed windows.  Inside the cubby you will find AUX and USB ports, one of the dumbest places to put these things.  USB maybe because it’s just a stick, but the AUX is a cord!  Why not just put it right by the radio controls?  It isn’t the dumbest best place though, that would be in the glove compartment like the Ford Focus.  But it still makes it difficult to find, so from the rental point of view it’s just absurd because you have so many customers who just complain about not being able to find it.  Directly in front of the cubby is both the parking brake and two “adjustable” cup holders where one is larger and deeper than the other.  Adjustable meaning that there are pieces of rubber around the cup holders that allow larger or smaller drinks, a nice little detail that probably adds to that nice big price tag.  Above the cup holders in another 12 volt jack and next to the jack is a little, for lack of a better word, bucket that is small and deep, making it a good place to put coins even though it’s probably hard to get the coins out and it’s definitely hard to clean, so don’t even think about spilling any soda or coffee or food crumbs down there.  Moving up the middle console is the shifter, nothing special about it, but above the shifter is another open space, like the bucket below, but this one is long and narrow, so it’s good for like… your phone?  Sometimes I wonder why car makers even put these little crevices in cars that seem so useless, if you put them in at least make them large enough is hold something.  Above the useless space are the temperature controls, which I like because they are nice and easy to use and not too clunky, ease of use is pretty important to me, why buy a confusing car?  Instead of the master lock/unlock button being on the driver’s side door it is on the middle console, next to the temperature control buttons.  Why car makers have decided go move this button is beyond me because I have seen it in other car makes as well like Ford. 

The red circle is the lock/unlock button, usually found on the driver's side door, and the blue oval is where the long narrow space is found. 

The radio display is touch screen, so you can control it with the touch screen, but there are still physical buttons that sit below the display.  In this particular model the touch screen display only controlled the radio/media, not anything else.  From some of the pictures I have seen online there are other Cruze models that have other controls integrated in the touch screen, but this is not one of them.

The dashboard on this particular Cruze used a mix of plastic and a fabric that looked like small honeycombs (hexagons for you smart folks), which does little to nothing for usefulness but I decided to mention it because it looks pretty darn cool.  Something surprising about the Cruze is that there is no designated holder for your sunglasses.  In most midsize and larger vehicles there is the little compartment by the rearview mirror that you press and it comes down, creating a nifty spot for your sunglasses.  It is rare, but not unheard of that a midsize or larger car does not have this feature.  What this car does have, though is small, square compartment that sits on the top of the dashboard and opens by pulling a little lever on it.  I tried to find a picture of this, but for some reason on the vast internet I could not find one.  It is very similar to the one that is on the Ford Fusion (there is a picture of that one in that review), it is located in the same spot but the one in the Cruze is a lot smaller, so pretty much only your sunglasses and an iPod would fit in there. 

The dashboard display is pretty straight forward, and includes both the normal speedometer with the needle and also a digital display that shows the speedometer and the odometer.  I like digital speedometers, so much more accurate than the needle but so much harder to try to lie to cops about your speed.  I like the steering wheel in this car because it is not too large for the size of the car (like the Ford Focus) and also not too small, although I haven’t yet come across a steering wheel that is too small.  Integrated on the steering wheel are the cruise control settings on the left and the volume controls and also Bluetooth controls on the right.  Since I have really started to pay attention to the features on the cars, I like how Chevy has laid out this particular steering wheel a lot.  My favorite so far is the steering wheel in any Kia (they are all the same), but this is a close second.  I like that it is not too big (Toyota Camry) and also not too cluttered (Ford Focus) and it’s also not ugly (Ford Fusion).  The controls are easy to use and also easy for your thumbs to find when you are driving, you don’t need to take your eyes off the road.  Important things to think about and that you don’t really get a feel of when you are doing the short test drive.  Two honorable mentions that I didn’t know where to place are that 1) there are cup holders in the front doors that are intended for bottles, do not put a Starbucks-like cup in these if you do not want a big mess, and 2) the seat controls are electric.

Close-up of right steering wheel details.

I really like the way this car drives, the steering is very fluid (maybe even more fluid than my beloved Kia Forte) and turning radius is wonderful, definitely not hard to park in this car.  It accelerates smoothly with no jerking and it also drives smoothly, the wheel does a lot of the work and you don’t have to keep a tight grip on it, which is obviously comfortable for long rides.  Although the driving is smooth you do still feel the road in the pedals, not uncommon for something smaller than a SUV or full size car, but it does not move up into the steering wheel.  The brakes in this car are not sensitive, so if you are used to an older car with older brakes then no problem, but if you are used to sensitive brakes then you will really want to make sure you are aware of this, unless of course you like rear ending people.

All in all, this is a nice midsize vehicle but you will be paying for the little extras like a touch screen radio, electric seat controls, etc.  If you can afford it then by all means go for it, but if you are looking for the same amount of room with less gadgets then go for something a bit simpler like a Kia Forte.

2012 Ford Focus Hatchback

2012 Ford Focus Hatchback (5DR)

26 - 28 city / 36 - 38 highway <- MSN auto

The compact Ford Focus seems to be a popular car considering I see them everywhere, this particular one is the hatchback model, which I see less frequently then its 4DR counterpart.  This model is also a 4DR but actually falls under a 5DR classification.  Apparently whoever makes up these classifications thinks that people should enter through the trunk.  I always say this but it bears repeating, this model is used in a rental fleet, therefore there are no super special options, we don’t have enough money for that.

The first thing I noticed about this car (besides that it is a hatchback) is how low to the ground it is; I am 5’5” and I could very easily hop on top of this thing it’s so small.  With that said, it also looks very cute, cuter than the 4DR model in my opinion.  It’s so cute you just want to put a little bow on it, but considering the smaller something is the cuter it is, this isn’t surprising.  If you are big, burly, lumberjack man then this might not be the right choice for you.  The rear windshield has a wiper, and I’m starting to see a trend with hatchbacks that they all have the rear wiper.  I don’t know why hatchbacks only get this goody, the rear windshield isn’t even that much larger than a regular 4DR car, but apparently hatchbacks are better and therefore they deserve better features.  An exterior feature that definitely deserves a mention is the fact that this particular Focus does not have a gas cap.  The gas lid opens by just pressing it and there is a yellow ring around the hole explaining that there is no need for a cap and that you can just go ahead and put the nozzle right on in.  I want to explain this to everyone because customers just do not understand this – you don’t need a gas cap!  It even explains that on the yellow ring; so please, people, if you are renting a car and see this don’t come back in all confused saying someone stole the gas cap, just use your eyes and read.

So cute <3

Not surprisingly the trunk is large, but what I did find surprising was that this trunk was larger than other hatchback trunks I have seen, including the midsize Toyota Prius.  For such a small car the trunk is quite large, but upon moving inward you see why – the backseats are so tiny and give very little leg room.  In smaller cars and even smaller SUVs this is a common trade off, if you want a large trunk space you better hope you don’t drive around tall people.  You can make the trunk even larger by putting down the back seats, a common feature in all cars. 

You can put a lot junk in that trunk!  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

The fabric that is used for the seats was surprising because at first glance it looks pretty cool.  It is difficult to explain but they look like what I imagine race car (or even jacked up, fast and furious-style drag race car) seats look like.  In this model the seats were two-toned with black on the outsides of the seats and gray for the middle of the seats.  The gray, middle section was made out of some tightly woven fabric, which I think is what gives them the race car appearance.  They are also surprisingly comfy and the woven part feels quite nice on the skin.  So at first glance you think “wow, this looks really nice!  It might even hold up well,” but stop there because they do not.  The back seats look just fine, but when looking at the front seats (which utilizes the same material and design, obvs) you can see that there are many places where the middle, woven parts have been almost pulled out, like a snag in a sweater.  It seems that things like to catch on this material, like pocket details on jeans if you wear fancy jeans or safety pins if you are a punk cruising around in a Ford Focus, and that causes the material is get pulled out of the seat.  It doesn’t look very nice and if it’s happening in a 2012, imagine what it will look like in 5 years.  A fabric that looks nice but will not last is not worth the trouble.  Odd features in the back seats of this car are two small carved out spaces near the middle and bottom sides on the seats, closest to the doors.  They are shallow and oddly shaped so I don’t even know what you could put in there that wouldn’t just like, fall over and make a mess.  There is the possibility they are strictly for design, meaning they are useless.  One last thing to mention in the back is that there are small plastic pieces in the back doors that are supposed to make the area a cup holder, but they do not look very secure and unlike most door cup holders they are not carved out, creating a nice shape to fit a bottle, so it doesn’t even seem like a bottle would fit in this area.  Door cup holders are made exclusively for bottles, not actual cups, and I don’t recommend putting something like a Starbucks cup in one of them if you don’t want liquid all over the side of your leg.

Inside the red circles are where the little spaces are located.  Seriously useless.

Moving on to the front of the vehicle there is a small but long glove compartment, making it pretty shallow.  This disproves my totally scientific hypothesis that the smaller the car the bigger the glove compartment.  In other compacts like the Kia Soul and Nissan Versa the glove compartments are huge, while in SUVs and larger sized cars the glove compartments tend to be small.  I thought I had detected a trend, but sadly I am proven wrong.  Inside the glove compartment you will find the AUX port, which is one of the most stupid places to put it and it took quite a while for me to find the dumb thing for a customer, and ultimately someone from another rental car booth next to mine had to go out there and help me find it.  This isn’t the first time Ford has put the AUX port in strange places, it is almost hidden inside the middle cubby of the 2012 Ford Fusion, and I bet the engineers get some sort of sick satisfaction by imagining people looking all over for it, why else would they make it so hard to find? 

You’ll notice that the middle section is very compact.  It includes a lidded cubby that is quite small even for a compact and directly in front of it is a covered 12 volt AC jack with two small carved out notches that look like they might be for change, but are practically useless because 1) you would have to line the coins up on their sides so that they are standing straight up and who has time for that when driving down the highway away from a toll, 2) the only way the change would stay up is if it was all full, and 3) it is large enough for quarters which means it is too large for dimes.  I wish I could have found  pictures of this so you could see it because I might be wrong about the whole thing but if it’s not meant for change I have no idea what it could be used for.   There are also two, shallow cup holders that seem too shallow to effectively hold something in place during a turn, the parking brake which is very short and small therefore very cute (as cute as a parking brake can be), and the shifter is above the brake and takes a quite a bit of space for such a small area.  On the left side of the shifter is another carved out area, much bigger than the alleged change holder, and more like the size of the pointless spaces in the backseats but this one is longer and narrower, like an oval.  Why, Ford, did you include all of these totally pointless areas?  The shape, the angle, and the placement make this particular spot totally useless!  On the bottom of the middle console you will see that the temperature controls are large but straight forward and easy to use, and directly above them is the lock/unlock button for the whole car.  None of the doors have a physical locking mechanism (the little tab you push or pull), and there is not even a lock/unlock button on the driver’s side door, there is only the one in the middle console.  I don’t like this idea because it makes it more difficult to get into the car if you lock yourself out (but maybe it makes it more difficult to steal, so that’s a plus), and what if there is a blown fuse and makes the electricity go nuts?  You wouldn’t even be able to physically lock your car.  It was also difficult to find, hiding in plain sight if you will. 

Inside this red circle is another carved out space.  This also gives a good idea of the two-toned seats, and before anyone calls me a lying liar who lies, the colors in this model are inverted from the one that I was in.

Moving up is the radio/media control that has a strange/interesting lay out where all of the buttons are on a slant either to the right or the left.  When you first look at it you think “whoa,” but I actually like it because it doesn’t look too clunky to me, you can quickly get used to it, and it’s easy to use.  Above the controls is actual radio display which is nothing special. 

I little goofy looking, right?  Notice the lock/unlock button near the bottom center, above the hazard flasher button.

There are a few miscellaneous features that deserve to be noted.  First, the dashboard is very long, and that gives you a longer and larger windshield, but I feel like that space could have been utilized better.  Second, there are no cup holders inside the front doors, and I only point this out because it is one of the only cars I have been in so far that has something of a cup holder in the back door but nothing in the front.  Third, there is no spot for your sunglasses, and I am finding that most compact and smaller cars do not have a designated place for these.

The thing I like the least about this car is sitting behind the steering wheel, which is definitely not a good thing if you actually like being comfortable while you drive.  First, the steering wheel is large and the front door opening is rather small, so it makes it difficult to get in and out of this car for a large and in charge individual like myself.  The passenger door opening is also small, but without the steering wheel in the way it’s easy to get in and out.  Also, because the car sits so low it almost feel likes pulling yourself off of the ground when getting out; not bad for a young person with good knees, but if you do have chronic knee/leg problems or pain this is something to consider.  The small door obviously leads to a small driver’s side window and creates a blind spot on your left side that you don’t normally get in cars.  In fact, it was a lot like a blind spot that was in a big stupid Dodge Ram pickup truck I used to drive.  Getting past blind spots is obviously something everyone has to do to drive, but if you are used to driving little cars this particular spot might take some time to get acclimated to, so proceed with caution.  The large steering wheel has pretty standard features integrated in it, including the radio/media controls on the right hand side, the dashboard display controls on the left hand side (I will get to those shortly), and on the bottom left hand side are the cruise control settings.  I like that the cruise control settings are buttons (I hate the dumb stick controls), but I don’t like the design of these ones, they are so unnecessarily big, awkward, and take up a lot of space.  The only good thing about cruise control settings being so large is that customers can find them easily and they won’t call me when they are on the road already asking where they are, because I know every little detail about every car we rent without even looking at it.  All of these features combined creates a claustrophobic feeling that makes it quite uncomfortable (at least for me) to even sit behind the wheel.  Maybe a petite person might not feel this way and maybe it is a feeling you will get over after a while, but why even go for a car that makes you feel that way to begin with?

First, the red circle on the radio section is the location of the lock/unlock button.  The red circle on the steering wheel is where the clunky cruise control settings are, and I have no idea what is in the blue circle, hence the red question mark.  Possibly some feature you can upgrade to?

I want to take a sidebar and talk a bit about the dashboard display.  In the middle of the display is a little box, where if you are lucky enough to figure it out, it shows the odometer and trip meters, but the stupid interface (is that the right term?) is a freaking labyrinth, press the wrong button and you are face to face with the Minotaur.  As I mentioned, the dashboard display controls are found on the steering wheel and using those you can move through the countless menus and try your best to get to the information you’re actually trying to find.  Features that are needlessly complicated are not good for rental cars and if you are looking to purchase this vehicle then you will have to sit down and read through the manual to be able to properly utilize this display, and who knows, there might actually be some useful information buried in there somewhere but I will probably never know.  The display itself is quite small and digital but in our fast-paced, high-tech world this particular display is looking ever more antiquated because it has an analog feel.  I have been in other Ford Focuses (Foci?) that have a more modern looking display but they are equally, if not more, complicated.

The combination of the car being so low to the ground and so small makes driving it feel like you are driving a go-cart, but that’s not too out of the ordinary for a compact or sub-compact (i.e. Chevy Sonic, Hyundai Accent).  Not surprisingly you feel the road through the pedals and the steering wheel, but maybe combined with the seats it could be fun to go really fast and feel like are driving a race car (but you have to make the gear shifting noises, too. rrrrRRRRRrrrrr).  The car accelerates very easily but it’s not smooth and it jerks you around a bit.  The steering wheel doesn’t move as freely as some other compact cars (not even close to the Kia Soul), and it feels just like moving the wheel in the standard size Ford Fusion.  It’s not bad, but I would have liked it to be easier to compete with some of the other compacts, but the turning radius for this little car is great, getting into parking spots would be no problem.

Ultimately I would not get this car and it’s because of how claustrophobic it makes me feel, and why would I shell out the cash for a car that makes me uncomfortable?  The features are also too complicated and many are useless (all of those pointless nooks and crannies). But if you are looking for something small that can still fit a lot of stuff in the trunk (just not people) it could be a viable option.

2012 Ford Fusion

2012 Ford Fusion

17 - 23 city / 25 - 33 highway <-MSN auto

I think that for last couple of years Ford has had kind of a bad rap, which was perfectly justified during the late 90s and 2000s.  But for the past 3(ish) years I think they have been trying to turn that around.  I find that you can really see it in their new SUVs and the new, totally revamped Ford Taurus, but not so much in their smaller cars.  Performance wise they seem to have taken a lot of the kinks out of all of their vehicles, but it’s too early to tell the longevity of any of the new models.  That being said I will dive into the underwhelming 2012 Ford Fusion.  As per usual this post is about a car that is used in a rental car fleet so all of the features are going to be standard, no high-end fancy shmancy options here.

 I like to start with the way the car looks on the outside, considering that is the first thing you notice about a car, but the 2012 Ford Fusion has little to nothing to say about the exterior view.  It is not ugly but it does not stand out either, which could be a good thing if you live in a place where you don’t want to attract extra attention. If the Fusion was a person they would be Plain Jane, not ugly but nothing to write home about either.

I wouldn't be able to pick it out of a crowd.

 

Moving on, the Fusion has a nice sized trunk, and like the exterior there is really noting special about it, not too big and not too small.  Going into the interior of the vehicle is a different story.  First, the back seats go down, making more room for luggage or people or whatever you are into, not unusual.  What is pretty awful are the seats themselves.  The fabric that was used in this car was just awful!  It is not nice to touch and feels almost scratchy, I can’t imagine how horrible it would feel against the skin during the summer if you were wearing a tank top and shorts.  And that’s not all, whatever foam or stuffing is used for the seats does not hold up well at all.  It felt like pieces of the foam had broken off from one another and you could just pull it apart. The foam and the fabric combine in a terrible way and the seats have started to pucker and crease, making it look almost cracked.  These were obvious poor choices made by Ford, and considering this is only a 2012 can you imagine how terrible it will look in 5 or 10 years?  Granted, you can argue that rental cars see a lot more action than a car owned by the typical driver, but I think that fact gives you a good look in the future and see how the car will age, and these seats will not stand up to the test of time.  Seriously bad choice, Ford.

Another bad choice made for the Fusion is the type of material used for the floor of this car.  Devotees will notice that I have commented on this subjected quite a bit, and most of the time the floor fabric is the same, presumably cheap felt-like material that gets nappy quickly.  The reason why I bring it up now is because the material in the Fusion seems to be even worse than the usual stuff!  If the usual stuff is cheap we can safely assume Ford found this material from some guy hanging out in the back of an alley.  It doesn’t seem to me as nappy, but it gets matted and prickly and quite ugly.  I think if your shoes were wet and muddy it would probably destroy the floor of this car. 

The back does have an armrest/cup holder that comes down and sits between the two back seats.  The cup holders have a rubber liner on the bottom that you can take out which is a feature I like very much because it makes it easier to clean them, and I definitely wanted to mention this because it is the first cup holders in the back armrest that have had a liner in them that I have encountered.  Something that I find very odd in comparison to the other cars I have reviewed so far is the fact that there are no cup holders in the back doors, which is a feature I was starting to assume was in all of the newer cars, but jokes on me I suppose because we all know what assuming does… I assume we all know that saying.

Moving up from the disaster that is the back, shows that Ford made the same mistakes with the awful material for the seats, seat stuffing, and floors in the front that were in the back.  The middle cubby is lidded with a small sized compartment, but what is odd about it is that the lid is covered in leather and it is the only piece of leather found in the vehicle.  It stand out as pretty strange and I don’t know if Ford was trying to class up the joint, but it just doesn’t work.  Another oddity of this cubby is that inside, on the side that is closest to the front of the vehicle you will find a 12 volt AC jack and an AUX port.  I call it an oddity because I think that is such a strange place for an AUX port, why not just next to the radio?  Why make it so difficult to find?  It’s a bother for me because customers can never find the stupid thing and so they come back in and complain that it doesn’t have one, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t satisfying when I go out with them, show them where it is, and prove them wrong.  It is also a strange place for an AC jack, but there is another one in the car we will get to, so it’s not that bad.  One important thing to know is that there is no USB port in the 2012 Ford Fusion! The space between the two front seats includes two standard cup holders (with removable liner!), shifter, and parking brake.  It is rather narrow but I like that because it is no-nonsense and gives the driver and passenger more room on the seats, even if those seats aren’t that comfy against the skin and the foam is dying.

Starting at the base of the middle console is another 12 volt AC jack along with a very small and very shallow space that can really fit nothing more than like 3 pennies, and I don’t think Ford even meant for anyone put anything there, it must be purely design aka useless.  Above that there are the temperature controls which are easy to understand but are so clunky and take up so much space!  The radio controls are equally large and cumbersome, which leads me to believe Ford just ran out of things to put in this car.  The whole clunky button ensemble makes it unappealing to look at and I wouldn’t want to pay money for a car and not even like looking at it.  Above the ugly buttons is the actual radio display which feels very antiquated given our modern cars.  It is very small and narrow and really only displays the time or the station you are on (and presumably track number of a CD, but I don’t really know that because I wasn’t listening to a CD).  Some might like harkening back to a simpler radio, others may think it’s too old, and still others might not care at all.

You can see the clunky buttons and small radio.

 Above the radio is a wide, shallow, square compartment that opens with a button, and is the only compartment I have seen of that kind in a vehicle. Its size and more especially its placement is what makes it unusual and for a little while I wondered what you would put in it, but then I thought it was the perfect place for CDs, but really you could put whatever you wanted in it, and pressing a button to make something open is always satisfying. 

Apparently Ford wants you to keep your sunglasses and some unknown object (school fire alarm?) in there. 

The steering wheel is large with buttons for cruise controls settings on the left and media controls on the right.  It is not an especially pretty lay out, but it is easy to understand and ultimately that makes it effective.  I mean, do you really want to struggle with poorly placed buttons when trying to make sure you don’t rear end that jerk who just cut you off even though you kind of want to  because that would show him!  The Ford Fusion has what is called Microsoft Sync, which is what Ford calls its Bluetooth and you can find it in pretty much all new Ford vehicles.  I don’t care for Sync though because it is not easy to use or set up, even when you Google it you get a bunch of people asking how to even get it started.  I don’t know why Ford couldn’t just make the cars with an easy to connect Bluetooth system that you find in other cars like all new models Kia.

Not great to look at but gets the job done.

On the left side of the speedometer, gas, odometer, etc. display there is a slide out ashtray; I mention this because it is so odd to see a true, designated ash tray in new cars, which is a good thing because smoking is nasty and smoking in your car makes it nasty, too.  Rental car companies even put a little “no smoking” sticker in the bottom of the tray that you see when you pull it out.  A word to the wise though if you do smoke, do not smoke in a rental car or you will be charged a couple hundred dollars – it’s no joke because it makes cleaning that car very difficult.  A small detail I like about this car is that all of the display lights are blue, which I found is nice on your eyes when driving at night.

I have a bit more experience driving a Fusion than other cars in the fleet because I drove to training in other locations, so I spent a total of 5 ½ hours in one.  The steering is fluid with a little resistance, but nothing that could count as difficult to drive or that it feels like you’re pulling it through syrup (trust me, some cars, like the Nissan Altima, do feel like that).  While you’re driving you can feel the road in your feet but it doesn’t travel up through the wheel, making it a comfortable driving experience.  The turning radius leaves something to be desired, especially for a car that isn’t as big or long as a Chevy Impala or Kia Optima, but you’re most likely not going to have to do three point turns in the parking lot any time soon.

The physical act of driving is pretty good in the 2012 Ford Fusion but there are so many awful choices Ford made with this car that are not only ugly but they will also not last long.  The interior construction doesn’t seem like it will age well at all and the design is not pleasing to the eye.  I am calling this a no go, do not buy this car.

 

2012 Toyota Camry

2012 Toyota Camry
21 - 25 city / 30 - 35 highway <- MSN auto

I have always thought (for as long as I thought about cars) that Toyotas were good cars, which I think is a pretty justifiable thought.  They are sturdy and dependable but they also come with a price tag that some people (like myself) can not afford.  But if you are the lucky ones who shop at Target instead of Wal-Mart and can afford a Toyota, the Camry might be a good fit.  Remember, readers, this car is used in a rental fleet so it is the standard model with none of parts and shots that can come with paying more for upgraded features.

The design on the outside looks a bit strange to me and that all has to do with the front of the body.  It is wide, tall, and looks like it juts out at certain angles.  It almost reaches the ground, which would definitely cause some people to scrape the ground on steep declines or those cement stops in a parking spot, lord knows I would probably do that all the time if I drove one of these cars.  To me it looks like some kid who wants to get into some Fast and Furious nonsense put this body kit on but it seems to come standard.  Aside from that it is a nice looking car that is a tad long, but it is considered a full size so that’s to be expected.  To give perspective, other cars in this size include a Chevy Impala and Nissan Altima.

The scenic background is optional.



First, you can see how close to the ground the front is.  Second, if you look at the bottom right corner you can see where it juts out.  It looks strange to me.

 

Inside the vehicle there is a spacious trunk which can become larger by putting down the back seats, a feature that is standard with most 4DR cars.  Something that deserves a mention is the material Toyota used for the floors.  I don’t know what it is made of but it is different than the material that is usually found in cars.  I also don’t know what the usual material is made of but it is a felt-like fabric and if you drive something smaller than a full size is probably in your own car, and it gets very nappy very quickly and is also difficult to clean.  Think of the fuzzies you get on an old sweater but like 5 times bigger and impossible to get out.  It is the natural life cycle for this material, though, and if you haul a lot of stuff and/or people, this will happen, but Toyota has used some other material.  It is still felty but it feels more sturdy and compact, if you have felt a nice, expensive carpet pile (not anything long like shag) then it feels like that.  If you have not felt a nice, expensive carpet pile then go to the flooring store and feel it! This is an interactive experience.  This particular material seems to hold up much better than the other, presumably cheaper material and overall looks much nicer.  It’s not a big deal of course, but it does warrant an honorable mention.

The material used for the seats are a mixture of leather and fabric.  Leather is used for the majority of the seat while the fabric is used for the middle, and in the particular Camry I was in they used two different colors, black for leather and gray for fabric.  This gives the car a nice look and pleasing to the eye but, in my not so humble opinion, it brings up a practical problem of cleaning.  Leather has its obvious benefits but to someone like myself who has to clean up customers nasty messes the best benefit is that it is easy to clean.  Leather does not soak up fluids, preventing stains, and it is very easy to wipe off the gross, crusty cupcake icing you let your kid smear all over the back seats.  Fabric is very different and as long as you’re not some spoiled rich person who has never cleaned anything I’m sure you know that it is not as forgiving.  So, the mixture of leather and fabric is nice in theory, but it makes the seats more difficult to clean. 

The backseats also boast the armrest (with two cup holders) that can go down between the two seats, and an astonishing three cup holders in each back door, which doing the math (I was in AP Calculus in high school, so I’m pretty much the best at math there ever was) gives you 8 cup holders in the back seats alone.  Why would you need that many cup holders?  I think it’s safe to assume that if you have all of those filled, it’s time to clean out your car.  One last little detail about the back is that in the back of the middle cubby is a small space to put… I don’t know, it’s pretty small and narrow so I have no idea what is intended to be put there, but there is a liner that you can take out so it is easy to clean, which I appreciate.

The front seats are large and comfortable, as they should be considering the class.  In the middle you will find a lidded cubby that when opened has only one compartment but it is rather large.  In front of said cubby is a small lidded compartment that houses a 12 volt AC jack and a small space that looks like you can use as a place for coins or even an ash tray (but don’t because that is nasty and will make your car smell! And especially don’t do it in a rental car because it will, no joke, cost you hundreds of dollars.).  The shifter itself looks pretty standard, but around whole area is a piece of what feels like faux-metal plating.  It feels cheap to me but I’m sure it’s intended to look nice.  Something to note about the shifter is it takes some muscle to move it; whereas in most cars (as long as the shifter is in the middle and not by the steering wheel) the shifter moves pretty freely, in this car you have to put just a little bit of heft into it, but I can’t see how that is a bad thing.  Directly to the right of the shifter are the two cup holders that are adjustable to a point, meaning that there are pieces of plastic that can move down, allowing larger drinks to fit. Apparently the Japanese know the American (forbidden in NY) love affair with large drinks.

This gives a good view of the faux-metal finish.

The center console in the Camry is nice because it is easy to understand.  The temperature controls sit under the radio and are very straight forward.  The radio is a touch screen and only controls the radio/media.  I mention this because there are some vehicles where the touch screen controls everything, this is not one of them.  I’m torn about touch screens, I’m not sure the pros outweigh the very big con.  I like the ease of use of a touch screen, especially when you can do a direct tune to a radio station and of course they are nice to look at, but they get so filthy!  Fingers are incredibly greasy, just look at touch screen phones, tablets, mp3 players, etc. and I am constantly wiping away the fingerprints on my phone, so I’m not sure if I would be just as neurotic about my radio screen.  And throw in someone who was eating fast food or a kid who has sticky, gross fingers and I just don’t know if it’s worth it anymore.  Underneath the temperature controls in another small lidded compartment that has another 12 volt AC jack, AUX port, and USB.  The compartment in pretty small so, like with the other small compartments in this car, I’m not sure what you could fit in there.

There is a holder for your sunglasses on top near rearview mirror, and I only mention this because I have actually seen a lot of 2012/2013 vehicles that don’t have one, which I found odd.  The glove compartment is small, too small for a full size car in my opinion.  But I am finding a trend: the bigger the car, the smaller the glove compartment.  The compact Nissan Versa has a huge glove compartment but the full size Toyota Camry has such a small one?  It doesn’t make sense to me, but a good thing about this one is that you can lock it.  So if you can actually fit anything in there at least you know it will be safe.  The dashboard deserves a note because of its unique mix of plastic and leather, which looks kind of cool, adding another element of pizazz.

Leather details and a lock for your oh-so-important tiny documents.

Another small detail is that there are cup holders (that are only good for bottles! Putting in a Starbucks cup full of hot coffee could very well end up disastrous) in the front doors, which is not at all odd with newer cars, the reason I bring it up is that they are very narrow, leading me to believe Toyota must have some stock in Smart Water because those are probably the only bottle that could fit in this space.

The feature I like the least in the Camry is actually the steering wheel, it is so cumbersome!  Not only in size, it’s a big wheel, but mostly because of the actual features that are integrated in it.  The components are the standard ones that you will find on most new vehicles; cruise control, media controls, and Bluetooth control, but I don’t like the placement of any of them.  To start, the central media control is shaped in a circle on the left side of the wheel but because the wheel is so large my hands cannot comfortably use the controls, and let it be known I am not a petite girl with tiny hands, and for some reason there are two spots for the volume control; one is on the circular media control and the others are on the back of the steering wheel on the top left corner (lower volume) and the top right corner (raise volume).  The only need for this is because you can’t properly control the volume from the circular media controls, and if that is why Toyota put the additional volume controls in, then they should have changed it entirely.  On the right side of the steering wheel you will find the Bluetooth controls, where the designers also utilized the circle design used for the media controls, but it is just too large, really unnecessarily large.  I’m sure they did it for symmetry but I think they should have just scrapped the whole thing and thought up something better.  And finally, on the bottom right side of the steering, slightly behind are the cruise control settings.  I have found (and I’m sure you have, too) that the cruise control is found two different ways – buttons on the steering wheel or on a stick.  In the Camry it is on the stupid little stick, and I hate when the cruise control is setup this way, it’s just not as easy as when they are buttons.  I know it’s a dumb thing it harp on, but everyone has something they just don’t like.

For those of you with no imagination CC means cruise control.

With all of the flaws of the wheel itself, I still love the way this car drives!  It steers like an absolute dream with very little resistance.  This is a big thing for this particular car class; other full size cars feel like you are dragging the wheel through molasses just to turn the darn thing but not the Camry.  The car accelerates smoothly and easily, it does not jerk about and you also don’t have to put the pedal to the metal to get this car going.  Again, it does this better than any other full size car I have driven, and the turning radius is really sharp in this car, which (say it with me) is better than other full sizes.  I generally do not like the full sizes for that very reason – it’s impossible (okay, not impossible, but still very difficult!) to park or maneuver these cars especially the awful Nissan Altima.  You could not pay me to drive an Altima.  The driving is very smooth, but (surprisingly) that is no different than other full sizes; you know you are going to get a smooth ride with almost any full size.  I cannot emphasize how much I like to actually drive this car, and I bet if you took it to some backwoods country road it would be so fun to just drive around it in and see how fast it could go.

Like all vehicles the Toyota Camry has its pros and cons, but if you are looking for a larger vehicle without getting into the Ford Crown Victoria size, then the Camry would be a good choice.  It is the best full size car I have driven and that’s mostly because of how it handles, and that’s really what is important in a car.  The seats are comfortable, the drive is smooth, and also fun, besides some small issues it with the design of the steering wheel, what more could you ask for? (A smaller price tag!)