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Comment by bombcar | Hacker News Reader

That coupled with customer complaints and annoyance could definitely sour the company on it.

Adrian Cockcroft wrote about his Hertz experiences back in April.

Update: Bad experiences renting electric cars from Hertz https://adrianco.medium.com/experiences-renting-electric-car...

Seems like a lot of random complaints, from mobile apps to lane-keeping software. Not much seems specific to EVs, more just about new technologies.

I guess you can rent a $20k Kia and avoid all the new tech.

If a brand popped up and offered a gasoline ICE with old toyota-level reliability and longevity, and without electronics (save for maybe bluetooth for some music) I'd pay a sizeable premium for it.

I'd like to think I would. I hope new buyers would.I would stick with used toyotas. I suspect the manufacturers know this and build accordingly.

Problem for Hertz is that everyone wants a Toyota. Why sell a fleet at fleet pricing when you have 100k in the retail waitlist queue.

I'm with you on that. I don't need a screen full of soon-to-be outdated software on it. I carry one with me everywhere and it works just fine.

CarPlay is all I need. I use the car screen for navigation and that's about it.

I'd be fine ditching bluetooth. I'd be fine with an AUX cable. Most people have their phone on some charging mount anyways, so there's already a cable running to the location so wireless isn't much of an advantage here

Yep I can confirm this works quite well since it's what I used for over a decade until I got a new car a couple years ago. Bluetooth can be annoyingly flaky in many cars but plugging in a cable literally just works. My old sound system and traditional controls worked great and I have considered replacing the more modern system that came with my current car with something more like the old one.

My pet peeve about BT in cars is that it can interrupt phone calls when your spouse starts the car or arrives home. I guess it's nice that cars have good BT range, but it would be nice if it could sense whether the phone is in the car, or perhaps 30 feet away, in my bedroom (and I'm on a call!).

For now, I stick to wired USB...

so far I'm really happy with my 21 tacoma... it's got just enough tech but lots of physical buttons. I just use android auto with a wireless dongle. the only issue with that is it takes about 12-20 seconds to pair on car start. The stereo is just a 2 din box as well with minimal car interactions, just a forward back/up down volume button on the wheel. which reminds me the volume is left right not up down, which is crazy.

it's a very nice mix so far of just truck and modern.

> brand popped up and offered a gasoline ICE with old toyota-level reliability and longevity, and without electronics

Bought that car last year for about 20K - Kia Rio 5 door. Wonderful little car.

Oh yeah? I will definitely look it up. Thanks for the info.

Kia has really turned things around, definitely worth a look.

No complaints on the Kia Carnival I got.

I was looking at used compact cars but the market was insane. Even with a COVID markup on the new Rio, the price was competitive with used Corollas/Civics that were 10 years old and had 75K+ miles. This is my 6th or 7th Hyundai/Kia and they've all been fantastic.

Edit: I forgot but I have some bad news, Kia is probably killing the Rio so you might be out of luck. Makes sense as the dealerships heavily promote the Forte and barely stock any Rios. The salespeople were a little surprised we loved the Rio so much, I think it's just too small for most Americans.

Yeah, looks like '23 was the last year. I'm also reading that it's a bit underpowered. I like small calls, but I don't like struggling to get a up hill. Though, I have driven a few Hyundai-labeled hatchbacks (can't remember the name) from around '15, and they were quite good. I don't know much about their operation. Is Kia the same underlying tech?

> Kia Rio 5 door

You missed a very important bit: 'old toyota-level reliability and longevity' ;)

Was customer complaints cited as one of the reasons?

Hertz doesn't care about customer complaints, other than as a KPI that they A) still have customers and B) aren't "wasting" money on such luxury things as making sure the customer's rental is actually available when they contracted for it.

Please do not look for excuses to post irrelevant rants.

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