I've rented a bunch of cars traveling for work, I'm currently away from home and have a Hyundai Accent, it's not bad, no frills, not even any arm rests in the middle up front but at least it doesn't have the auto stop that must stuff has... a few years ago some of the first to have electric power steering had no road feel and were weird... my least favorite I've had have been Nissan's, mainly the Rogue, horrid throttle response, couldn't see anything, I think it had auto stop... but that was the before the complete redesign they did about a year ago... for the most part I don't give a rats patootie what I get for a rental car... I've had mostly bottom of the barrel stuff but haven't had a horrible experience yet... heck I didn't even mind the Chevy Spark or whatever I had last month, in big cities that I'm not used to small isn't bad...
I don't think much has a CVT anymore, they just have a bunch of gears in the trans, less warranty issues, the Fiesta with that weird transmission I had a couple years ago drove strange but I didn't mind, apparently they go out all the time though...