Jeepy, the Jeep Wrangler

"Ma'am would you like an upgrade?"

Usually sounds like a good thing, right? I got a Florida Enterprise on Sunday and the location was all out of clean cars in my class, the intermediate class. Christian, the adorable Enterprise guy, said as a corporate customer he wanted to make sure I was well taken care of. "You ever driven an SUV?" Sure, I'll take it. Venturing into the parking lot, I hoped for a nice one. "It's a little sportier" he advised. My mouth dropped when I saw my car. A giant 2009 Jeep Wrangler. In case you haven't seen one, it's large, very large. Comparable to an H2, I'd certainly never driven an SUV quite so big and certainly not around unfamiliar areas which may require tight parallel parking.

I drive quite a bit. And I drive a lot of things. Last year my new year's resolution was to drive 5 different cars. I succeeded. This year I may make it to 20. Thank goodness my parents let me drive our big F150 truck, because it was good prep work for this Wrangler. Even with so much time behind the wheel, I had never been so scared to drive a car. Not only was I in a huge SUV in an unfamiliar world, but it started to downpour. My wipers couldn't go fast enough and the roads were flash flooding. I almost pulled over.

By day 2, Jeepy and I made it a great distance and started to bond. I even backed it into a parking spot (on the first try, I might add!) I really enjoy the Wrangler and would certainly take it again. Here's the official roadrunner review

4 out of 5 stars
Pros:

• Handles amazingly, very responsive
• The back window is huge and goes really low. You can just about see the curb behind you when backing up. Makes it really really easy. I wish my Focus at home was like this. A great plus!
  
• Rides great, you hardly feel a bump
  
• Turing radius is impressive
• Windshield is a nice slope and size. This is oddly very important to me.
  
• Its fun to be so high up
• Steering wheel feels great in your hands
• Steering wheel is designed well, so you can rest your hands on a bunch of different spokes (see photo) and it's comfortable to drive for a long time
• Really loud sound system (so you can hear it off-roading?) with an AUX port for the ipod
• The roof comes off and it appears the doors might too. This would be fun if I could store them somewhere! I'd definitely joy ride a little with the wind in my hair!

Cons:

• No private space - there's' no real trunk, so everything is visible at all times. This is especially rotten because I am in a new hotel every night, therefore carrying all my bags, suitcases, jewelry, and electronics with me at all times. This worries me and is the biggest flaw in the design. I'm sure there's a screen you can purchase as an accessory if you bought the car.
• It doesn't have much get up and go. Merging is a little challenging
• No power locks or windows - another big drawback. Because the roof and doors come off to be all Jeep-like, there's no way to put power cords in the door. It's a big pain to run around locking and unlocking doors. And the "trunk" is automatically unlocked and the only way to lock/unlock it is with a key. Just too time consuming for my liking.
  
• Since the top is removable and there's roll bars all over, the inside is very cold and rugged looking. Definitely not a "luxury" car like the leather, heated seats of Texas' Focus
• No scan button on the radio. A minor flaw, but in changing cities all the time, it's helpful to find new stations
• I also liked having the radio controls (station and volume) on the steering wheel as I did in Jersey's Mazda 3. Just a bonus I wish this had if I were purchasing it for daily use.

Over all, the Wrangler's great. Minor issues that simply don't fit my particular lifestyle, but I was highly impressed and would absolutely drive it as a rental again!

I should start waving to other Jeeps. I think the subculture's all into that.


JEEP SLOGANS:

The toughest 4 letter word on wheels.
Have Fun Out There
My Jeep is not an SUV and your SUV is not a Jeep
Only in a Jeep
When I Die, Bury me in my JEEP. 'Cause it's never been in a hole it couldn't get out of!
My JEEP won a war, your Honda mowed my lawn
Go Anywhere, Do Anything
Where the road ends, the fun begins
Eat, Sleep, Jeep

and my favorite