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Motoring Discussion > Hire Cars Again	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bromptonaut	Replies: 10

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Tue 25 Mar 25 13:50

Hire Cars Again - Bromptonaut

Mrs B and I arrived in Madeira yesterday for a week's holiday staying in Santa Cruz.

Pre booked hire car with Hertz/Thrifty. Having been disappointed with a 'super mini' that turned out to be a Fiat 500. Had to fold the rear seat just to get two modest sized cases in. This time I requested a Seat Leon or similar.

Arrived early and were through immigration so quickly that, had we been cabin bags only, we'd have been out before our scheduled arrival. Instead we kicked our heels at the baggage carousel. Not too surprising as Jet2 alone had multiple near simultaneous arrivals.

Got to the Hertz counterr to be told I'd printed the wrong voucher and had to scroll through emals bacl to December to find it.

We were then told the car was an Automatic. I'm ambivalent about autos, don't really like them but had actually thought about one as my battles with the fiat mostly involved difficulty with selecting the correct of its 6 forward gears. No alternative to the Auto so took it a a fait accompli.

Turned out it's actually a Toyota Corrolla hybrid. Not driven a full hybrid before, there's an odd delay, albeit only a nano second, when you put your foot down before it picks up its skirts and takes off.

Got in a tangle at a junction where I think my left side running mind went into autopilot and had to abort a left turn and rejoin the main road. Bit of Satnav confusion and Mrs B's mind not keeping pace got us further into a pickle but we're eventually got the car stowed in the hotel's car park.

A large beer and a glass of MAeira calmed my nerves.

Might pop out for a bit of a shop for beer and the AA batteries our travel kit was short of but I think we'll wait until tomorrow to go any serious distance.

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Tue 25 Mar 25 15:07

Hire Cars Again - bathtub tom

I like Madeira, except for the length of flight. After our first visit, we learned to eat out as much as possible - the quality of food is tremendous. We enjoyed exploring the less touristy areas, but I kept finding unlit tunnels with bends in them. Found I went into them 'blind' after coming out of sunlight - scary!

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Tue 25 Mar 25 15:11

Hire Cars Again - zippy

Enjoy Bromp.

Can't go on a foreign holiday as Mrs Z won't leave the dog with anyone!

Re the Corolla. It will be interesting to hear how you get on with it. I had a self-charging Hyundai Tucson for a month or so last year and the electric range was small - about 5 mile and it was gutless, in that the moment you put your foot down to accelerate, the petrol engine kicked in.

I have been in Corolla estates - usually UBERS. I can't get in the back as the roof it too low.

I also find the front passenger seat is invariably set forward, so I need to set it quite far back to be comfortable.

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Tue 25 Mar 25 15:26

Hire Cars Again - Fullchat

Enjoy Madeira. we went last October for some late sunshine and warmth. Stayed on the west side of Funchai. A jeep trek through the forest up to the ancient woodland of Laurissilva forest and omto the north cost is recommended. Didn't bother with the wooden toboggans but did the cable car up the mountain. Weather turned so we came down in a taxi.

Last edited by: Fullchat on Tue 25 Mar 25 at 15:27

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Tue 25 Mar 25 16:19

Hire Cars Again - legacylad

I went to Madeira a few years ago with a group of friends…B & B in a hotel on the outskirts of Funchal.
It was an ok holiday, but I’m not rushing to return. Some excellent evening food, half decent sightseeing but disliked the daytime crowds in Funchal disgorged by the cruise boats… they were expected.

Just back from 2 weeks ( again) in Moraira..excellent walks 4x a week with walking groups. And the Cutting Crew.
Car hire, as usual, with OK Mobility, €81. Peugeot 208 or something similar was a new Dacia Stepway. Perfectly acceptable, car sharing into the mountains. Went ok when thrashed hard.

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Tue 25 Mar 25 16:57

Hire Cars Again - legacylad

Talking of auto hire cars, a few years ago I got a free upgrade to a Pug 208 GT. That had a nice auto box and flappy paddles. Really enjoyed driving it, and it was the first car I drove equipped with flappies.
Normally OK Mobility supply me with a C3, sometimes Jeep Renegade or an Ibiza. They get a bad press, and in the recent collection queue at ALC there were a lot of disgruntled customers. I suppose it’s a question of knowing how the system works.

Last edited by: legacylad on Tue 25 Mar 25 at 16:59

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Tue 25 Mar 25 17:14

Hire Cars Again - bathtub tom

>>Weather turned so we came down in a taxi.

Should've tried the bus, any bus ride in Madeira's a hoot - they ain't slow!

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Tue 25 Mar 25 17:55

Hire Cars Again - smokie

My mate next door and his SWMBO are in Madeira right now so I'll warn them to keep their eyes peeled and keep their distance from any Corollas LOL

I'm just past the middle of our spring 7 week Portugal trip, with an Ibiza till Friday then an Arona for the remainder. Not sure what an Arona is yet! Looks bigger than the Ibiza.

Last edited by: smokie on Tue 25 Mar 25 at 17:58

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Tue 25 Mar 25 18:36

Hire Cars Again - Bromptonaut

Do most Brits stay around Funchal?

Hardly heard a word of English other than from hotel staff

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Tue 25 Mar 25 19:11

Hire Cars Again - Fullchat

Maybe so. Must be the draw of the Ronaldo Museum :)
Fortunately there was only one of the smaller cruise ships per day at the most.

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Sat 5 Apr 25 17:26

Hire Cars Again - Bromptonaut

Home since Monday.

Having driven the Toyota for a few miles it was actually easy to get used to and I'd no trouble keeping my left foot out of the action. Quite weird having the engine go from idle to pretty brisk revs and back to idle or off with absolutely no relation to what was felt through the seat of the pants.

Went up and down some damn steep roads with no issue at all. Went where it was pointed with no gripes, brakes as effective as you'd expect. Not so sure about the B gear for engine braking which frankly felt weird.

Not sure I'd choose one for myself but I've recommended that my son think about hybrids as his fiancee can drive OK but struggles with gears. Has failed the test twice in manuals but we think she'd be better in an auto or other 2 pedal car.

Flight back was interestingly routed. Over water from the NE most finger of Madeira until we crossed the north Cornish coast near Perranporth then a swing across Devon and Dorset before swinging north west over Reading to arrive into Birmingham via waypoint HEMEL and pretty much directly over home.

The over water thing is pretty common on Jet 2 using what I believe are called Tango routes way out in Oceanic airspace west of Biscay. I'd have expected us to coast in over S Wales and then more or less in a straight line to the extended centre line of Brum's runway. The scenic tour in CAVOK condtions with super views of expanses of southern England.
The overwater bit via

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