Rental Miata?

So, I've sold my autocross car and the replacement isn't likely to be ready for the out of town double autocross at the end of the month. I could blow the events off, but I've already pre-registered and booked a hotel for the weekend.

So the thought occurred to me to rent myself a Miata, have a great drive over the weekend, see if I like one enough to buy one, etc. I've been all over the rental agency sites looking at their vehicle lists and they all say that you basically get what we give you when you show up. Unless of course you join their silly "clubs" then maybe you'll get some extra shtuff.

So how do I maximize my ability to actually pick up a Miata at a rental agency? Heck, I'd take a Mini or a Solstice/Sky just for some variety. Also, outside of Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, EZ and National does anyone have any other ideas for rental places in/around the Portland Metro area that might have a Miata?

BTW, if I do this and end up with a Sebring 'vert as a rental, someone will pay dearly :whatthe: :twisted:

I rented a miata once. The rental agency was across the street from my house(hertz), and I was fairly friendly with the staff there.

They knew me pretty well because I had been back to their store repeatedly while my old DD was having its auto tragic fixed again and again and again. It was a rainy day and it was one of the last cars they had left on the lot, they cut me a discount due to the rain. I really fell in love with that car.

Unfortunately, from what I have heard they (hertz) no longer rent miatas. Though I am pretty sure you can get the solstice / sky

I would reccomend trying to rent from one of the "neighborhood" locations and do a drive by on their stock ahead of time. -- oops, this is an out of town event, hmm that might not work too well...

Seeing as this is GRM I am sure that there is somebody on this board who autoXs sebrings, and loudly proclaims that they: "don't handel as bad as you might think" they could probably give you hot setup tips... :nice:

Well, I don't mind paying for the mileage and driving it to the event and back. I'll check out some of the local lots this weekend perhaps and see what's what.

FWIW The stock at the neighborhood location fluctuats differently then at the airport locations.

At the airports customers are tourists so there tends to be more demand weekends / holidays.

At the neighborhood locations demand is driven by repair shops so they tend to be low on stock mon-wed or so.

this is at least what I was told by a manager of a rental location when I wondered outloud why they didn't have any cars in stock on a tuesday...

When I was going to LA around New Years' I found a local independent agency that advertised a Miata for rent on their website, it was a little more than the corolla I was going to rent, but I figured I'd go for it. When I showed up, I was led to a dirty, banged up 1999 Miata with well over 100k on it. I started looking for the hidden cameras, because I was sure this was a joke. Not only was it ratty, but it barely ran (horrible 2-3k skipping). I had to take it though, because nobody else at LAX had a car on zero notice. Not saying that the Miata you find for rent will be anything like this, just beware of local agencies you've never heard of, even if they do have a somewhat professional looking website :).

haha Rent-A-Wreck FTW!

Are you aware that if you do find a Miata from one of the major rental companies that it will only be available in an automatic?

Also keep in mind that this is a holiday weekend. You will need to have a reservation. Do not expect to just walk up to the rental counter on a busy weekend.

Screw the Miata. Rent a Viper.

Actually, there are companies that specialize in renting sports cars of all varieties. Does anyone here have any experience with these companies?

http://www.viperrent.com/index.html

These folks will rent you anything from a Mini Cooper for a pretty good price (something you said you might like :nice:) to a new SRT-10 for 700 dollars a day. Check it out.

I agree that I've never seen a rental with a standard transmission. That's such a shame too :twisted:

Anyway...why not just partner up and drive another person's car who will be at the event? I haven't done it, but it seems like a really common thing to do in the benevolent autocross circles...

Clem

ClemSparks wrote: Anyway...why not just partner up and drive another person's car who will be at the event? I haven't done it, but it seems like a really common thing to do in the benevolent autocross circles... Clem

Good point! I've been on the giving end of this equation before. It worked out well, the car got some exercise, and the guy whose car broke got to have fun.

You should try to pair up with somebody beforehand though so you don't get left out at the event if nobody wants to do this. Maybe you could buy them lunch or something. :cool:

Well, I had thought of that, but I don't really know anybody else in my class well enough to ask if I can co-drive with them.

The weekend in question, isn't this coming weekend, but the following weekend so the demand won't be quite so high.

The autocross car I just sold was automatic and aside from not having enough gear on the highway, it was a lot of fun to drive on the course. Left foot braking + turbo FTW!

The last Miata I rented had their manumatic, it was okay. The shift delay inherent in all manumatics is annoying, but given enough time the timing can be matched up between your brain, hand and the transmission. Much like driving a laggy turbo car, you just learn how long to wait before reacting and how much earlier you have to press the gas, shift, etc.

I'd rent a Viper, Elise, etc except that A) the local company that did this, packed up and moved to Seattle. B) I'd embarass the hell out of myself on course with it and I really don't want to be "that guy". C) neither would be legal for STS, which is what I'm campaigning in and would like to try and build championship points towards a season championship.

I guess I'll have to just cold-call all of the rental agencies and see what they can do. Thanks for the help folks!

Stefan

Give the rental car companies some BS statement like you want to rent it for a wedding where the bride and the groom plan to drive away from the church with the top down. See if you can draw some sympathy for your cause. In now way, what so ever, tell the rental car company that you plan to use the car in any sort of competition.

why won't a standard cooper be legal in sts? nobody said it would have to be competitive.

that said, you'd probably have better luck looking to rent a mustang or thunderbird(from hertz) or a solstice/sky(from budget). if you want a 2-door top-down car