Booking/Pick Up
When booking a rental car all I really care about is finding the cheapest car. I am not very picky about what I drive, so long as it is automatic, when it is a rental, and I personally believe that all rental car companies are basically the same so I have no preference on who i rent from. I checked priceline, expedia, hotwire, and the chase travel portal and the cheapest car was a “Special Car” from dollar for $23.33 including taxes. This was defined as a car priced as a compact but can be a car of any size.
The rental car counters at Boise Airport are just downstairs from the gates right before the baggage claim area. When I arrived around 10:30 there were no lines at any of the rental car counters, I was able to walk straight up to the dollar and pick up my car. The rental car agent who helped me was extremely kind and made me feel welcome upon arrival in Boise; he did not push any upgrades or additional insurance options and I was on my way to the car within 5 minutes. At the Boise Airport the rental car pick up area is just steps outside of the baggage claim area so I was gate to car in about ten minutes.
The Car
Surprisingly the car they gave me was the Kia Sorento, an SUV. This Sorento had about 10,000 miles on it and was in pretty good shape, there were only some light scratches on it. In the past several years Kia has made huge steps in the design, look, and performance of their cars and the that shows in the design of the Sorento. The Sorrento is an extremely attractive car with a clean design inside and out. The cabin of the Sorrento was extremely upscale and felt premium. The finishes included a 7 inch LCD screen, bluetooth connectivity, and a really good audio system compared to most rental cars. It also had a handful of safety features that I really appreciated including a backup camera (which is something I can’t believe isn’t standard on cars these days) and blind spot detection that beeps at you when you signal and someone is in your blindspot. The blind spot detection is something I find extremely helpful when driving in a new area, because keeping track of your surroundings can sometimes fall to wayside when you are distracted. I wish that my everyday car (A ford focus electric) included this feature.
While the car handled really well the kia Sorento was significantly lacking in acceleration. Plain and simple the Sorrento just did not accelerate well at all and led to being awkward to drive. I could for the live of me over my 24 hours with the car figure out the sweet spot when it came to accelerating; I was either accelerating to slowly or slamming on the gas way to hard. This frustrated me the entire time I was driving and by the time I returned it I was ready to move on from the car. The fuel economy on the Sorento was pretty good for a midsize SUV, Kia reports that it gets 22 MPG City and 29 MPG Highway; I was able to get about 23.5 miles per gallon and almost all of my driving in the car was on city roads.
If you are considering purchasing a Kia Sorento, if you can get over the lack of acceleration, you are getting great value for your money. The Sorrento Starts at 25,990 which puts it well in the bottom end of the Mid-Size SUV class, but it does not feels anything close to a low end car.