We analyse disturbance rejection for a platoon of vehicles with intelligent cruise control, both for the spatially discrete model and the continuum model with open and periodic boundary conditions. By explicitly calculating the eigenmodes for both the discrete and the continuum models, we derive the dynamic response of an individual discrete mode, as well as the response of a single vehicle to disturbances generated through either boundary vehicles or vehicles within the platoon. It is shown that if the biasing is small then the n-mode truncated continuum model and the spatially discrete model predict same qualitative responses to disturbances for the lower order modes. In the case of periodic boundary conditions, the two types of models predict quantitatively the same responses to disturbances for a range of feedback gains.