Heading to Maui in the fall with another couple. I have two car rental reservations on hold. One is for your standard Chrysler Sebring/Ford Mustang convertible. But since my friends want to drive around Hana, which would best be done in an SUV, I put in a reservation for a Jeep Wrangler ragtop. I told the rental agent that we’d have 4 adults and she said it wouldn’t be a problem except for luggage space.
However, my husband called this morning. He passed a Wrangler on his way to work and said it would only fit 2 comfortably. I checked the Jeep website and it’s not very helpful because the dimensions on all the Wrangler models are the same. It says it fits 4, but fitting 4 and fitting 4 comfortably are 2 different things.
Acc. to Aloha Rent A Car, I’ll get a 2004 or younger Jeep Wrangler. Does anyone have one of these? If so, what do you think about seating for 4 adults. The two women in the group are 5’5" or shorter.
I used to have an old CJ7. 4 adults. Yeah, but not for too long or far.
The new wranglers may be a bit bigger.
The upside? They are fun to drive. It’s a blast to take the roof/top down.
The downside? Hawaii? The air-conditioning probably won’t work that great. Also not as comfortable as a car, or as secure against theft for stuff like cameras and stuff you might leave in it.
On of the other choices is a Ford Mustang? Can that fit 4 comfortably? It will have some more lugage space, but if your not dragging your luggage around the island, I’d think it’s a wash.
Can you just go visit your local Jeep dealer and check it out? That’s what I’d do.
The rear seat in a Wrangler, CJ, YJ, or whatever the “classic” Jeep is called, is quite narrow and located between the rear wheel wells. You can fit two adults in it, but that leaves almost no space for luggage. It is also uncomrotable due to the choppy ride and short wheelbase of the vehicle. I’ve ridden in the back of a Jeep for as long as an hour, and for comfort I really wouldn’t recommend it beyond that.
Here is the latest version: Jeep TJ. Notice the picture of the interior at the bottom right. This is a 2006 model, and does seem to be larger than the examples I have ridden in.
I have a 2001 Jeep Wrangler. The back seat is small. There’s enough butt room for two adults, but the space for heads, feet and knees is pretty cramped. It’s much better with the top down. I’ve rented a Mustang ragtop on vacation, and the back seat on it was worse than the Wrangler, if I’m remembering right. But the Mustang had a trunk; the Jeep has a luggage compartment so small it is a tight fit for one overnight bag. Another thing to consider is that putting the top up and down on the Wrangler is not a trivial one minute operation, especially if you have never done it. It’s all manual and can take five minutes or more. The Mustang or Sebring will have this magic button…
Hm, it’s not looking good for the home team. I don’t think it would be bad for short trips, but the road to Hana and around takes all day. Not sure I want to be cramped in the back of an itty bitty seat all day, even with the top off.
Bummer. I guess it’s the Sebring convertible, though I’m not sure that’ll be comfortable either.
Oddly enough, my brother got married in Maui. I rented a Sebring 'vert, and fore the trip to Hana, he rented a Jeep Wrangler for himself, his wife, and her parents.
Now, her parients weren’t the complainy type since he basically footed the bill for their trip, but they made it out to the Blue Pools and back and seemed none the worse for wear. A Mustang convertible is going to be incredibly cramped in back.
Our Sebring did not have a lot of room in the back, but almost certainly more than the wrangler. We alternated between top-down and top-up driving in the sebring to avoid windblown hair and sunburn…there is a lot of sun in Maui, even in the shade It certainly was convenient to be able to do this in less than 60 seconds, but I suspect it would impact the headroom in the rear as well as the view (which is a good part of the reason to drive the road to Hana).
If you’re heading to the Blue Pool as your destination, there are a lot of warning signs about needing a 4WD vehicle to get back there. There are some intimidating hills, etc back there, but we made all of them by driving carefully with the Sebring.
Enjoy your trip to Maui, it really is a paradise there.
I have an "02 Wrangler, and the back seat is not all that spacious. If you have the top down, there is very limited luggage space. If you’re just taking your cameras and such, take them with you when you get out. You would want to do the same in any ragtop, or put valuables in the trunk.
The legroom for the rear seats depends a lot on the leg length of the people in the front seats.
A Wrangler is more fun to drive than anything, though.
Having been in the back of a jeep wrangler with another adult: no. Will two adults fit in the backseat? Possibly, but I’m pretty little, so that helped. Comfortably? Hell no.
