Jeep Wrangler (Rental) Test Drive
Casey's List: The Good
The Bad
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Wrangler RegretterDollar was out of economy cars when we arrived on the Big Island to pick up our rental, so Chris was told he could pick anything on the lot. After asking for a Ferrari he settled for a Jeep Wrangler. I wasn't thrilled because I knew we wouldn't be able to leave luggage in it, but it did have potential to be a lot of fun. We'd driven down a dirt road on Kauai and could have used a 4x4 on that, so the Jeep could be useful.
The first thing we noticed about it was the hideous color. It was gold with just enough green to make it look like babyshit. At least it'd be easy to spot in parking lots! I climbed in and was excited to find a stereo; my dad had an 87 Wrangler with no radio, not even AM. I played with that a bit but you can only listen to so much Hawaiian music. We had trouble getting our luggage in; we tried first with the back seat folded away, but eventually unfolded the seat and put the luggage on the seat. Off to our hotel!
The ride was very noisy, especially since the Island is windy to begin with. The back plastic windows sounded like they were being beat upon. We both own noisy cars though, so it wasn't too hard to deal with.
A few days later we set off across the Island
to Volcanoes National Park. You have to drive around the perimeter
of the Island; there is a road that goes through the middle but
everything we read warned rental cars not to take it. Chris'
masseuse told him that cars occasionally fell off the road so we
didn't
even think about it.
The highway we took went north for a bit and then east, up a really steep incline that the Jeep did not appreciate. It kept hunting for gears and felt like it had very little acceleration on the mountain. We found ourselves wishing we'd rented a Neon instead. The footwells were very odd shapes; the tunnel was so wide that it cut into both footwells so you find yourself sitting a little crooked in the front seats. We were both pretty miserable after a day of driving in it.
I have always thought a Jeep would be fun to own, but renting this made me realize that if I ever did purchase one, it would be a CJ5 or CJ7--no way would I put up with a Wrangler. Oh, and the photograph doesn't properly render the color of the car; it looked WAY uglier than it shows in the photo. Feed your baby chili, pickles, and peaches and it's about the color you'll see in a few days.