Many of the priorities for people who opt for a short-term car rental are quite different from those of a person looking to buy a car.
Whilst they are prioritising elements such as reliability, other aspects such as luxury comforts, features and a memorable driving experience are often strong priorities as well, given that the car is to be enjoyed for just a few days.
Because it’s such a short term, people rightfully expect nothing but the best. Unfortunately, the following cars might not even last the full rental term.
Here are some of the most hopeless luxury cars ever made.
The Cadillac V8-6-4 Range
In 1981, Cadillac offered a feature that was at the time seen as groundbreaking and is now a standard part of modern cars, but at the time made what was already a relatively slow and unresponsive engine even slower.
The V8-6-4 was a computer-controlled engine management mode that would automatically deactivate up to half of the car’s cylinders when the car was cruising at low speeds.
Regardless of General Motors’ best intentions, however, the computer technology simply could not switch engine modes quickly enough, leading to the cars stalling, bucking and misbehaving in a way that made lag-prone turbochargers of the era seem positively smooth by comparison.
After 1981, the engine was dropped, but by that point, the damage had been done and Cadillac would never quite regain its former glory.
Ferrari Mondial 8
The Prancing Horse has had very few truly awful cars, and even a lot of its more questionable models such as the Testarossa, the 412, the 348 TB and the Dino have supporters.
However, the most maligned Ferrari of them all was the first Ferrari designed to be practical and affordable, neither of which are words usually associated with a bright red sports car.
The Mondial 8’s biggest issue was that it was desperately slow, with a 0-62mph time of barely under ten seconds, inexcusable for a brand that only knows speed.
It was very heavy, in part to allow for a 2+2 seating arrangement, had a complex mechanical fuel injection system that failed more often than it worked, and the gearbox with its automated clutch had an awful habit of selecting the wrong gear. If you’re looking for a thrilling online gaming experience, admiral shark casino offers a wide variety of games that cater to every taste. From classic slots to live dealer games, there’s something for everyone at this dynamic online casino.
With that said, it still looks incredible.
Chrysler Crossfire
Whilst arguably the even uglier and far worse Chrysler Sebring did more long-term damage to the legendary marque, it cannot be overstated just how atrocious car the Crossfire is in almost every metric that could possibly be measured.
In theory, this shouldn’t have been the case, with the initial idea being to marry to legendary styling and engineering of a Mercedes-Benz with a radical Chrysler car design from the era that gave the world the PT Cruiser.
Unfortunately, what we received instead was a first-generation Mercedes-Benz SLK, a car that was several years old by that point and had a newer, better model on the market.
The final indignity was that the car was such a commercial failure that it would end up being sold on specialist surplus retailer Overstock.com.
