Never Rent a Car to Photographers

Last week my dad and I put 2200 miles on a rented PT Cruiser. I don't think that car will ever be the same. We drove down many gravel and rutted roads while exploring wyoming. We ran into a little trouble while taking a side trip to view wild horses near Pilot Butte. The PT's low profile tires appartently weren't designed for climbing rocky grades.

Here's my dad changing the tire out in the wilderness.

classic.

That's an awesome shot.
If you cropped it tighter, it would still be awesome, yet quite different.

Thanks for sharing!

Great shot, Dave. Don't you love those western skies? Your trip to WY seems like it was a good one.
Did you get to Beartooth Pass, by chance?

Haha, looks like you had great fun.

I almost wish I hired a car the last two weeks for my trip. I put 7050km (4400miles) on my poor car in 2 weeks. I also had a couple of incidents...

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http://wazza.nfscity.c​om/20d/icicles.jpg

Aren't photography adventures, just wonderful?!

Reminds me of our trip to the USA some five years ago. We wanted to rent a car and asked specifically for a 4x4. Now they said they reserved such a car for us, but they didn't. The guy at the rental station offered us a "better" car (well, actually, more expensive) for the same price.

"But we want to do National Parks with it, so it will have to cross dirt roads and so..." we protested. "Not a problem", he said.

And then, there was this slightly downward dirt road...

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LOL maybe you needed to rent a hummer.

Shoulda entitled the first one "Prarie Schooner."

Thanks for all the comments. Glad you enjoyed this pic of our little missadveture.

When I took that photo I thought of doing a tighter shot, but decided to go for more of a snapshot look. I purposely made the car small in the frame to make the prarie look bigger.

lol, reminds me of a little misshap we had whilst in Lapland, Finland couple years back...ooops

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LOL, I'm sure most people have had some misadventures, all in the fun of trying to take good photos.

I really could have used a 4x4 several different places.

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cool shot!!! The Wild!!

(fortunately I haven't had any surprises that warrant a photo like these others...)

Dave, where's the road?

Never mind renting to photogs, I'll never rent to a pilot. They don't understand the concept of roads, obviously.


Oh, and I *will* be getting a 4x4 since I apparently need one.

I did the same thing last year in Northern California and Nevada with a rented Corolla. That car was filthy when I returned it because of all the dirt and gravel roads I was on. Fortunately, I didn't have any flats or other mishaps. Of course, I've driven my own cars in much worse conditions, and had to call for a tow once when I buried the front end of my current car in soft dirt near Mount Whitney. I found out that AAA doesn't cover the tow when you're on an unpaved road...

Scott,

I'm not sure you'll need a 4x4. Just don't be stupid like us. We saw some wildhorses and pushed the car a bit too hard. The wild horse pics were worth it. I'll post them next week.