Just had 3 rental cars in the last 10 days on some travels. Thought I'd post:
1) Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4xE (the hybrid) - took it from San Fran to Napa, all around Napa, and back to San Fran. 230 miles driven, 9 gallons of gas used (25.5 mpg). Really enjoyed it around town - so much so that my wife and I were wondering if we could possibly make it work for our family.. This was a hard top so we had to manually remove the top but it was really easy. On the highway it's pretty noisy with road noise, but we both just enjoyed the experience overall - I'm sure it didn't hurt we were in wine country and it was 80 and sunny everyday.. The hybrid option was interesting, but I'm not sure I'd go with it if we were to buy one. One thing that always amazes me about a Wrangler is the turning radius; it's really awesome seeing how tight of a turn these can make.

2) Ford Escape - only had this for 1 day and about 90 miles of highway driving but I really disliked it. This only had 8k miles on it but the transmission was really strange. It had a hard time finding the appropriate gear at times and overall just felt really clunky to drive.

3) Chevy Malibu - this is the car I end up with 75% of the time when renting- I just always seem to end up choosing this or a Chevy Equinox. I find them both to be relatively comfortable on highway drives. Overall the Malibu is a "good enough" vehicle that just kind of delivers what it's supposed to and acts as a good rental option for me.

 

Ah, good old non-V8 Chevy cars!

"It's good enough, nothing more nothing less. We will see you when the warranty period is up"

 

LOL, true. But based on the way that Ford Escape felt when driving those owners are seeing the service department during the warranty period!

 

a friend has a wrangler 4xe (plug in hybrid) and really likes it. it helps that he's in hawaii and doesn't have to drive far and has a plug in connector in his condo parking garage, so he drives electric most of the time. in electric it's quiet, quick, and smooth. when the engine kicks on though it sounds and feels like a lawn mower.

 

I also have a friend that has a 4xe Wrangler and loves it

 

It makes some weird noises in electric mode that you can hear when driving at very slow speeds (compared to a Tesla which has no sound at all). With the Jeep in drive it almost sounds a little like a Tesla when a Tesla is in reverse.

Can't disagree on the lawn mower comment..! That being said, I still loved it. It just is what it is and I like that about the Wrangler. I just wish Toyota would go old school and make the new 4 Runner have a removable top somehow. I imagine a lot of people would be excited about that and then you really have something to compete against the Bronco and Wrangler.

 

just to be clear, i thought the 4xe was great, bringing modern tech with the rugged wrangler what you expect stuff.

 

What is the deal with Nissan Z? I hardly ever see one. Actually, I haven't seen one at all. Are they not producing enough or is it a flop?

 

I've only seen ONE.

 

Outside of the new Corvette and possibly the Miata, the market for traditional RWD sports-cars has not done well lately. Fiat was forced to cancel the Miata-based 124 Spyder for lack of sales.

 

Fair question. I can't recall seeing a new one in the flesh yet. I do see Supras quite frequently.

 

The more I look at the new Z, the uglier it is ……

 

Come to think of it, I haven't seen one either...

 

It's in a hard place, it's expensive yet doesn't beat its rivals. Less potential as well so many just go for supras or V8s

 

I’ve seen a couple Z’s, not impressed.