I wonder why rental cars don't have more leverage over car companies. It seems that having a really nice rental would be a great opportunity for car companies to potentially acquire new customers. 

Case in point: I was in NC and rented a Kia Rio. The Kia Rio is essentially a go-cart made into the size of an economy car. This whole experience has made me never to want to buy a Kia... cause now I think they're cheap, trashy cars. 

Same with Zipcar. While I originally considered buying Hondas in the past, after driving their fleet of cars... I totally know they're not worth it. Seems if Honda gave a financial discount to Zipcar to utilize their best-of fleet (the Accord over the Civic, mayhaps), it'd make me want to eventually buy a Honda.

For now, I'll stick with Audis.