I was in Denver for 26 hours a few months ago and had to rent a car. If there had been light rail from the airport, maybe I could’ve pulled it off, but I had a series of meetings, including one in Boulder, so car rental it was. Anyway, I choose the cheapest model, figuring it would give me the best gas mileage. Think about that for a minute. On a trip to Colorado several years prior for my brother’s wedding, a family member rented a rather large, gas guzzling vehicle that I imagine ran somewhere in the $500/week range and probably got 12-15 miles/gallon.
Anyway, back to the rental and its comparative fuel efficiency. According to the instant readout, I hit an average of 40.0 miles at one point, but was in the low to mid 30s for the entirety of the trip. Not bad, but really it should/could be better.
When I first arrived at the vast lot of cars, I picked a clean looking Hyundai Accent. In fact, all the cars looked clean. It had 445 miles on it and smelled like it too. Upon opening the door, an overpowering chemical odor arose from what I gather was the vinyl and plastic interior. Luckily I was in Colorado and the sun was out. A crisp 56 degree day begged me to open the window almost as much as the noxious mix of scents and aromas wafting in the car. As it turns out, the Accent is ranked in the top 10 for most odoriferous cars, coming in at number 6.
For the uninformed, this volatile amalgam comes from off-gassing the process in which new materials (not all mind you) abrade and give off an unpleasant aroma after manufacturing. This is not to say this is the only time off gassing (also referred to as outgassing) occurs, but it’s at its most potent during this time. So next time you pine for that new car smell instead of pine, stop and ask yourself why exactly does the car smell in the first place.
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** As a follow up, I was in Denver again over this past weekend and had to rent a car again. Different make and model, same nauseating smell.
