Guzzler

Strike three against the Chrysler company. After the debacle of driving a Dodge Magnum on Vancouver's narrow roads, and a so-so experience with a glaring white PT Cruiser, the anachronistic behemoth that is the 300 has closed the door. Granted, I had one generally positive rental with the Dodge Caliber SXT, but it wasn't good enough to convince me not to avoid Chrysler in the future, whenever possible.

I even tried to return the 300 early, to exchange it for another, less monstrous car, but the only vehicles in the the rental lot were 300's in various other colours. I'm convinced that there's a glut of these cars, probably off-lease from Chrysler and auto union executives. The rental companies are probably desperate to push these, and cash in through their exorbitant re-fueling charges.

The numbers:

Chrysler 300 Touring
40.454 L for 255 km (15.864 L/100km)

Ford Fusion SEL
20.666 L for 180 km (11.481 L/100km)

In the stop and go traffic and (baffling!) flashing green lights of Vancouver, even the "green rental" Fusion only gets half the fuel economy of a Prius.