The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

7 September 2006

It's not easy selling green

Or is it? Hertz is offering something called the Green Collection, but it's vaguely chartreuse at best:

The company is touting models with EPA highway ratings of 28 or more miles per gallon, with models like Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Buick LaCrosse, and Hyundai Sonata on the list.

Where are the hybrids? Heck, where are the non-hybrid cars with really decent gas mileage, like a Honda Civic?

The Buick LaCrosse gets 19 mpg in the city, and 27 on the highway, according to the EPA's own site, FuelEconomy.gov. 19. Nine-frickin'-teen miles per gallon is not green.

Actually, none of the Hertz "Collections" qualify as entirely true to the adjective given. Their Fun Collection, inexplicably, includes things like the Chevrolet HHR, a PT Cruiser ripoff that resembles a '49 Suburban, and, well, the PT Cruiser.

Still, 28 mpg on the highway sounds impressive, especially for something that qualifies as a mid-sized sedan — if you haven't driven any recent mid-sized sedans.

Posted at 10:24 AM to Driver's Seat


Heck, where are the non-hybrid cars with really decent gas mileage, like a Honda Civic?

Heh. My wife's '98 Civic gets ... <drumroll> ... 28 miles per gallon!

I sure hope the '07s are doing better than that.

Posted by: McGehee at 10:44 AM on 7 September 2006

Their Fun Collection, inexplicably, includes things like the Chevrolet HHR, a PT Cruiser ripoff that resembles a '49 Suburban, and, well, the PT Cruiser.

We rented an HHR last October for a trip to Virginia while my wife's Isuzu (the one we're selling) was laid up. It got... <drumroll> ...28 miles per gallon!

And it actually was fun to drive. (Until the rear liftgate stopped opening. But that doesn't really apply to the driving, does it? Never mind.)

Posted by: McGehee at 10:47 AM on 7 September 2006

Current Civics (except the hot-rod Si and the hybrid) run 38-40 mpg on the highway.

Posted by: CGHill at 10:51 AM on 7 September 2006

Digging a little further:

A coworker drives a newish Civic with a 5-speed stick; she reports mid-thirties in town, over 40 out on the superslab.

Posted by: CGHill at 9:04 PM on 7 September 2006

Yeah, a stick will make a difference in MPG. All our vehicles are automatic.

Remember when a "standard" transmission was stick? Now the standard tranny is automatic.

Posted by: McGehee at 7:52 PM on 8 September 2006

When Gwendolyn's in the shop, they lend me a G35, and it's got one of those manually-shiftable autoboxes: flick it back to downshift, forward to upshift. It's a little faster than stomping with one's foot.

Posted by: CGHill at 7:53 PM on 11 September 2006