Back in 2014 I was stuck with a Jeep Compass rental as a complimentary “upgrade” from the original subcompact I booked at National. To this day I have never driven a more miserable machine.
The 2 liter four-banger and CVT made for an absolutely awful drivetrain that buzzed and protested anytime I came near the throttle, and when I did request full power the drone of the engine consumed the cabin. Even unladen, acceleration was so dismal I struggled to merge onto highways even with long downhill onramps.
The suspension and chassis had to have been made of plastic. At the slightest bump the entire car felt like it was shuddering and skittering through an intersection, inspiring no confidence even at low speeds. As a kid I drove Power Wheels with better vehicle dynamics.
Under braking, the whole car would pitch forward with an alarming amount of nosedive, like the car was twice as heavy as its spec sheet would suggest. Compounded with the awful suspension tuning, I was weaving under braking just to keep the car in a straight line, and the brake pedal was spongy at best. I’ve driven Subarus on track with overheated, faded brakes that felt more predictable.
The thing is, I could have chalked any of these up to wear & tear, customer abuse, and poor maintenance and would have expected that of a rental car. Except I distinctly remember the odometer reading *465 miles* as I was leaving the rental lot.
Absolutely miserable machine to drive. The non-driving parts of the car were equally terrible, but that’s a rant for another QOTD.