Test Drive: 2013 Audi A4 Premium 2.0T Quattro

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With my S2000 in the body shop after being rammed in a parking lot during a doctor's appointment, I needed a rental car to get me to and from work. Unable to find anything at a reasonable price from the large rental chains near LAX, a Google search led me to Silvercar.com (you can read my review of Silvercar by clicking here). Long story short, I ended up with an Audi A4 2.0T Quattro for two and a half days instead of whatever econobox one of the large chains would have stuck me with for a higher price.

At first glance, the current generation of the A4 is a fairly handsome car. Since this car came with the lighting package, it had the new LED daytime running lights and xenon HID headlamps. The LED daytime lights have a very sinister and aggressive look and offers a good contrast to the rest of the car with its fairly smooth lines. There is one major thing working against the look of the A4 though, and that is the standard 17 inch wheels for the Premium trim, which are far too small for the car. They look tiny inside those large wheel wells. The optional 18 inch S-Line wheels, or the standard 18 inch wheels in the Premium Plus and Prestige trims look far better on the car. In fact, it seems to be the case with a lot of cars these days, where 17 inch wheels just no longer cut it.

Consumer Advice: Silvercar

Silvercar's garage near LAX

At some point in time, we have all had to rent a car from a car rental company. For the most part, people generally rent from one of the major national car rental chains like Hertz, Enterprise or Avis. Unless you sign up for one of their memberships, getting a car from one of these chains can be a gigantic pain. Long lines, lots of questions, sometimes unruly customer service, and let us also not forget that sometimes the car you reserve is not even available when you show up. And what are you supposed to do when you arrive at the rental counter after hours? At least at LAX, unless you are a Hertz customer, you are basically out of luck. Even if you are a Hertz customer, assuming you do not have their gold membership, you are stuck using one of their automated kiosks that can take up to 30 to 40 minutes just to get a car. Is there a car rental company out there that does away with the long lines, paperwork, and overall ridiculousness of renting a car from one of the major chains? Enter Silvercar.