So I'm on my way to meet my co-workers for dinner tonight in my rental 2017 "Jeep" Patriot when I see an EPIC mud puddle. Now, no self respecting man in America driving a vehicle with the word "JEEP" emblazoned on the side should drive past a puddle like this. It was taunting me!
So I made a couple passes through, putting the FWD to the test. Good times! Mud's spraying, I'm laughing, this "Jeep" is even having fun. On the last turn through, I hit something inside the mud. Not really hard but hard'ish. Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) immediately comes on. Uh Oh. So I limp out of the mud, still laughing, and I get out to look down and the front tire has about 2" gash in it and is off the bead and the rear tire has a similar about 2" gash in it. I laugh a little more as I think about how fun that was, then it starts to set in....
I can't call the rental company and tell them "Oh, I had a flat" because this thing was dripping with mud. There was also a trail out of the puddle to where I was parked from the de-beaded front tire. So I sit and stare at it a few minutes and it dawns on me that one of my co-workers has the EXACT same rental car! I call him and he loans me his spare so I can get back to the hotel and figure out what next.
Local wrecking yard (pick a part) has a 2010 Compass that was pretty thrashed but has at least 1 good tire on it. Google told me some 2010 Compass's wore the same tires as this Patriot. My plan: hopefully I can get 1 good tire from the wrecking mounted, give my buddy his doughnut back and let the Rental company know I nailed a pothole and popped a tire (which is not a lie, it really was a giant pothole). In the meantime I got a carwash on the way home so it doesn't look as intentional.
Good times! HAHAHA!!! I love rental cars! Anyone else have any good rental car stories?
So I made a couple passes through, putting the FWD to the test. Good times! Mud's spraying, I'm laughing, this "Jeep" is even having fun. On the last turn through, I hit something inside the mud. Not really hard but hard'ish. Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) immediately comes on. Uh Oh. So I limp out of the mud, still laughing, and I get out to look down and the front tire has about 2" gash in it and is off the bead and the rear tire has a similar about 2" gash in it. I laugh a little more as I think about how fun that was, then it starts to set in....
I can't call the rental company and tell them "Oh, I had a flat" because this thing was dripping with mud. There was also a trail out of the puddle to where I was parked from the de-beaded front tire. So I sit and stare at it a few minutes and it dawns on me that one of my co-workers has the EXACT same rental car! I call him and he loans me his spare so I can get back to the hotel and figure out what next.
Local wrecking yard (pick a part) has a 2010 Compass that was pretty thrashed but has at least 1 good tire on it. Google told me some 2010 Compass's wore the same tires as this Patriot. My plan: hopefully I can get 1 good tire from the wrecking mounted, give my buddy his doughnut back and let the Rental company know I nailed a pothole and popped a tire (which is not a lie, it really was a giant pothole). In the meantime I got a carwash on the way home so it doesn't look as intentional.
Good times! HAHAHA!!! I love rental cars! Anyone else have any good rental car stories?
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