My parents are both from Michigan, specifically Detroit. They grew up on the same street and played in the same sandbox. Crazy right? When you grow up in Detroit during that time it was usually for one reason, your family was somehow associated with cars. My one grandfather worked for Chrysler and my other grandfather was a mechanic for Detroit Edison. When I was growing up we only bought American cars. You bought them new because of the employee discount and you ran them until you could hand them down to someone else. Although, nowadays cars seem to be more expensive. This means that those not as lucky to have someone working in the car industry will usually have to look for used cars for sale online. Buying brand new cars these days would probably cost a fortune, whereas I was able to buy my first car on my own years ago, a German one, although it was definitely to my father’s dismay let me tell you what.
Now, when you marry into another family, you learn that others have different ways of doing things right? Mark and his parents have a variety of cars. I have one. Mark and his father like to rotate through. A truck to haul things, a weekend car, a SUV etc etc. The other thing Mark loves doing is renting cars. He likes trying different cars out. Also, especially if we are driving a long distance, he doesn’t like putting the miles on his car. He has been known to transport his vehicles using services like Cars Relo before now to avoid precisely that. That was such a foreign concept to me but I am now starting to see his ways. You can rent a car for a few days, run miles on that and get to have fun trying out a new ride. We are currently long term thinking about cars that fit car seats (like some day right?) Both of our current cars are fun zip through the city kind of rides.
We divided up the holidays early in our relationship, Thanksgiving with Marks family and Christmas with mine. His family is down in South Florida which is about a 4 hour drive from our Coast. Mark started looking up rental rates and found a fantastic deal with Sixt Rental. I had never heard of them before. I did some research and was intrigued. They are a German based company so all their base cars are luxury rides like BMW and Audi.
The one by the Tampa airport is not on site but they have a nice Mercedes Sprinter van that picks you up directly from the airport and less than 5 minutes you are to the lot. The staff was incredibly friendly. Like seriously. The lobby had water, a Keurig brewing fresh coffee and a swanky lounge feel to it. We had the pick of the lot when it came to selecting our ride for the next few days. Kelly was beyond accommodating and sweet. Naturally we couldn’t narrow down to which one we wanted so she walked us around to show us all the options. They had tons of BMW’s to pick from, convertibles, luxury SUV’s, corvettes, and my favorite……
This beauty. If we didn’t have luggage to haul, I told Mark maybe we could have sweet talked our way into this one.
We finally agreed upon a Cadillac SRX.
The SUV had less than 4k miles on it. Drove like a dream and had plenty of room for hauling around our holiday gear.
The best part of the whole experience? Sixt Rental was one of the most affordable rental options when comparing it to the big names.
Mark and I had never heard of Sixt Rental before but now they are going to be our go to company when traveling. The entire process was seamless and the customer service was top notch. It really feels like a boutique experience. If you have the opportunity to use them in the future or over your holiday travels, I highly recommend them!
Do you rent cars when traveling a long distance? Have you heard of Sixt Rental before? What would you rent if you had your pick of that lot? I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday with their friends and family!
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Sixt Rental are huge here in the UK, I never knew they had them in the US though. My boyfriend and I are driving from Orlando down to Miami for the holidays so it’s good to know you have Sixt! x
http://www.wonkylauren.com
We used SIXT rental down in Miami and they were fabulous. Super friendly and clean cars!
We’ll definitely have to check to see if they are in the Boston area since we don’t own a car and either use zipcar or some rental option when we go to Western, MA and Jersey! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston
What a fun way to try out something new (and feel like you’re on vacay), without putting the miles on your car!
Never heard of Sixt Rental before but looks like they have a sweet line up of cars! Love the choice you went with, perfect for a road trip! <3, Pamela Sequins & Sea Breezes
Love that idea! And the Cadillac SRX is a beautiful car. I used to work for an advertising/marketing agency that specialized in automotive, so I know my fair share about cars and the SRX has always been a favorite! You look cute as always!
Zelle
Southern Style
I’ve never used Sixt Rental before but it sounds like a great option! Loving that Cadillac!
http://www.rosyoutlookblog.com
I love learning about new car rental places – we drive a small prius C so it would be nice to have some extra room for our holiday travels.
I have never heard of Six Rental. My husband travels often, so this would be a great option for him. Have a nice day!
Danielle
http://www.spring2spring.com
Love the idea of renting a car for travel, even just a few hours away. I hate putting extra miles on my own car.
Oh I love that Caddy! I think it’s a great idea to rent a car for travel.
So smart to put the miles on a rental car instead of your own. Love the car you picked out….nice and spacious but not a gas guzzler.
My dad worked for PPG for over 30 years. They supplied glass and pain to GM and other American companies so we grew up with all American cars as well. When I wanted to trade my Jeep in for a Toyota when I was in college…I think a little part of my dad died that day. He still owns nothing but American…and so does my mom…but Chris and I have Nissan and Infiniti cars now and I really don’t see myself going back. They last longer, what can I say? Haha. Love the car you got to try out! I need to start renting cars for our trips instead of putting the miles on mine. I put enough miles on them driving back and forth from work!!! Mine has over 120,000 right now.
I have never heard of it before! What a great idea to not put the miles on your car!
And currently I am frustrated at not knowing what is in the box of style?!?!?
I love the watch you are wearing the pictures. What brand is it?
I like the one you picked! Either that or any kind of convertible!
Love that you still ended up with an American GM car! Isn’t that so funny how big of a deal it is in Michigan whereas other people don’t even think twice?! An Audi has always been my dream car but Nick would throw a fit over it, I can already imagine it now lol!
I grew up having the same attitude towards cars as you…my boyfriend sounds like you husband! If we are driving for a trip, he almost always will rent a car. It was foreign to me as well, but I, too am falling in line with it!
I’m not familiar with Sixt but it sounds like a great company. My husband rents cars a lot for work so he doesn’t have to put miles on his car. I definitely love trying out different types of cars! My father in law has this Cadillac you rented. Definitely a nice car and fun to drive.
Traci
waltzmetoheaven.com
I had heard of them but I didn’t know how exactly they were different! Standing in car rental lines is one of the banes of my travel existence, so I may have to check this out!!
I like your choice of car lady! I’ve seen the signs for Sixt but have never looked into them. Good to know they are affordable!
It’s so funny to me how the Upper Midwest is ALL about those American cars! Like, you’re shunned for driving anything else… My family were Honda people and I drove an Accord until I graduated college and was able to buy my own car – a German import, just like you. My mom was MIFFED let me tell you! And then she drove it. And understood why I loved it. Now, my folks just went over to Sweden to buy a fully loaded Volvo like the one I drive… I think they follow my car lead ;)
Look at all those fun rentals! We typically only rent a car when we fly up to see family in CT so we’re not burdening anyone to use their cars. But this a great idea for long road trips <3
Green Fashionista
What an ideal service! I love the car y’all picked! xo, Champagne&Suburbs