Compact Car vs. Small SUV
 

Message: We are going to Ireland late May/early June and are considering renting a small SUV (ie, a Honda CRV or Toyota Rav 4) to be able to have visibility above the stone walls and at the same time have a somewhat compact vehicle. Most Fodorites recommend a vehicle such as a Ford Focus or Nissan Micro. Any thoughts/recommendations on this subject?

If you can afford it, brilliant. And for the right reason, too.

Just curious - - what car rental company did you have in mind that will stock such a vehicle as a "small SUV" - - I just checked three of the most prominent names I can think of for Ireland - - autoeurope, Murrays europcar and CountyCars, and none of them shows anything like that.

Are you thinking you need an automatic? Is that the reason for mentioning a Nissan Micra? (note spelling)

Looks to be an under-sized, underpowered, overpriced choice to me. On autoeurope.com they show a Ford _Fusion_ (wagon) and a Ford Mondeo that are appealing looking to me. I drove one of those Mondeo's once (though it was a long time ago when they first came out - - it was an excellent car).

Best wishes,

Rex

Well I would vote against it for 2 reasons - first the price of gas is very high and these SUVs even though small still use way more than a car. I prefer something safer - these are way too likely to turn over on uneven ground (like unpaved lanes) becuase of the higher center of gravity.

If you can find one, rent a Renault Scenic SUV. It's not really that much different than the regular Scenic (even in gas consumption), but it does sit higher. And it's pretty compact.

Not a bad idea really, as Gardyloo says, as long as you can afford the rate and gas. Be careful in town before turning down any narrow streets. The Focus sometimes has a hard time squeezing through these spots. I can swear to that...

Hertz and Nova (Brokering for National) have manual Landrover Freelanders - Hertz hugely expensive, as usual, but also had an automatic trans version. Landrover is pretty big. Nova was much cheaper.

Argus has a Nissan X-Trail (looks like an X-Terra w/ manual trans). Pretty cheap compared to Hertz. $600-ish per week inclusive.

Nothing on Dan Dooley, Avis, Sixt or Autoeurope in the way of SUVs.

Interesting to learn about Argus (thanks for the e-mail, "Fitzy") - - but at two and a half times a "D class" (which includes a Passat) or almost double a "D1" (Ford Mondeo), it would not appeal to me enough to spend that extra money.

I second the rental for a Renault Scenic. I drove one, manual and diesel engine, for a 3 days in Provence last October and it sits tall, like a small SUV/Van. It is also torquey with more than adequate HP kick for cruising power - can easily do 140 - 160 kph on the highway.

Another vote for the Renault Scenic.