While our 2000 Odyssey is in the shop, we're living with a free rental
car provided by the dealer.  It's a 2005 Nissan Quest with only 3000
miles on it.  Ordinarily, I'd be savoring my chance to drive such a new
and powerful vehicle over our Odyssey that's been around the block quite
a bit.  But oh my, the number of issues I have with the car:

1. Gas mileage is simply horrible.  I'm guessing we're getting 15-18 mpg
in a 50/50 mix of expressway driving and typical short trip suburban
driving.  You can almost watch the gas guage drop on it.

2. Why are such key instruments as the speedometer in the MIDDLE of the
dash, so the driver has to turn his head 45 degrees to see them?  It's
really odd at night, having a black area straight in front of me where
I'd expect the backlit instrument panel to be.

3. The horizontally-oriented climate control and audio panel is just
weird.  Plus, the area it sticks out of takes up a lot of key space.

4. Because the "pod" (for want of a better word) with the audio and
climate controls sticks out so far, it's a major risk to attempt to
insert a CD into the player while driving.  I can't even see the slot
for the player because of the awkward way it's positioned.

5. The rear hatch door opens so high, and closes so hard, that my wife
has a great deal of difficulty closing it.

It's just a loaner, and we've only had it for five days.  I'm wondering
if my observations above are shared by others.  And does the overall
experience with the car improve over time?  Although the car feels like
it's well-built, it's the most nonintuitive car I've ever used, and
seems like it wasn't designed with much foresight.