Mazda Protege5 Sport Wagon

Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental LLC is always looking for better ways to serve customers. This means updating and expanding the rental fleet. For reasons that we don't really think we need to go into here, our bread and butter vehicle is the station wagon, aka elsewhere as the "break," or "estate." The Toyota Corolla wagon, wildly popular with our customers, was last imported into the US in 1996. All of our fleet Corollas undergo complete overhaul and renovation of the engine, drive-train, body, and interior components; the magic we work on these cars is so effective that we repeatedly hear from customers that their car "is in amazing condition, considering its age." However, on our tiny island, there are just not enough Corolla wagons - we've already bought most of the roadworthy specimens for our fleet. This poses a problem, as it limits our ability to expand our fleet and keep to the same standard of safety, reliability, comfort, and practicality that we can offer with the Corolla wagon. After extensive evaluation, we've decided to add a second line of wagons, and we've selected a new fleet vehicle that is already proving to be just as wildly popular with customers as the Corolla: the Mazda Protege5, also known outside the US as the 323 or Familia S-Wagon.

The Protege5 is a "sport wagon," meaning a cross between a hatchback and a station wagon. It combines practicality with performance, sexy styling, and economy. According to Mazda's President and CEO, Takashi Yamanouchi, Mazda's mission is "providing 'Zoom-Zoom' cars that are fun to drive." The Protege5 fully lives up to this vision. The 2002/2003 model that we are adding is the end result of nine successive generations of development that started in the early 60's, making it a sophisticated, reliable platform. These cars get fantastic consumer reviews. Owners gave it an average of 4.6 on a scale of five stars in reviews posted on cars.com.

We have a few of these cars already in the fleet, and more coming through 2011. Book'em, while they last, and please don't come crying after they're all gone.



You can also visit our Facebook page for Maui Car Rental.

Engine Braking for Going Down Hills Safely and Saving the Brakes

"We love our rental car. The only problem is that it accelerates uncontrollably going downhill, and we have to keep our foot on the brake the whole time."

That's an actual (not made up!) comment, sent in an email by two customers who rented a car from Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental. They stayed Upcountry in Kula, near the 4,000 foot elevation on Maui, for three weeks, driving up and down the long steep incline of the Haleakala Highway every day. Judging from their comment, in those three weeks they probably took six months (if not more) off the life of the brakes, which were brand new, installed only six weeks before their rental.

Anyone following the news has heard a lot about "uncontrolled acceleration" in the last year. In fact, it was "uncontrolled acceleration" that forced a recall and public scandal for the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota.

However, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the car driven by this customer. It was a 1997 Hyundai Elantra, and it was never the subject of any braking or acceleration related recalls.

The real problem was that these customers were missing a very important (if not absolutely crucial) piece of the safe driver's repertoire. How can you keep a car with automatic transmission from "accelerating uncontrollably" going downhill? That's easy. You use engine braking.

For anyone who was not paying attention during that particular session of their Driver's Education class, here is a reminder of how to use engine braking, with illustrations, courtesy of the Toyota Corolla Owner's Manual. This time, please pay close attention.

Using Engine Braking

To use engine braking, you can downshift the transmission as follows:

• Turn off the the overdrive switch. The "O/D OFF" indicator light will come on and the transmission will downshift to the third gear. [Note: The overdrive switch is the small button on the left side of the gear selector lever, clearly labeled in the illustration on the right.]


• Shift into the "2" position. The transmission will downshift to the second gear when the vehicle speed drops down to or lower than the maximum allowable speed for second gear, and more powerful engine braking will be obtained.


• Shift into the "L" position. The transmission will downshift to the first gear when the vehicle speed drops down to or lower than the maximum allowable speed for the "L" position and maximum engine braking will be applied.

MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE SPEEDS
"2" ....... 68 mph
"L" ....... 38 mph

That's it, straight from the horse's mouth. Please refer to the illustration (click on it to make it larger) to see clearly the different gear selector positions, as well as the location of the Overdrive button on the side of the gear shift lever.

What if you're not driving a Toyota? Most, if not all, cars with automatic transmission have a very similar feature. Chances are that any car you're driving has this feature too.

Engine braking is essential if you want to drive safely going down long hills, and it's absolutely essential for extending the life of the car's brakes.

Drive safely! And next time, when you are having a problem with uncontrolled acceleration - or anything else, for that matter - in your rental car, please call us right away, instead of waiting three weeks. Doh!

Green Rental Cars on Maui

According to The New York Times, rental car companies charge a premium for "green" rental cars (The Excessive Rates for Hybrid Rental Cars, by JENNIFER SARANOW SCHULTZ, June 23, 2010, 1:25 pm).

For the record, the Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental fleet includes several green cars. They are all available to rent at the same low rates as their white, red, blue, beige, purple, burgundy, and black counterparts. You can check out the different colors of Frank's rental cars by going to the photo gallery, or the Flickr photostream, or the Facebook page.

And here are just a few photos of our green Maui rental cars.

 

Green is good, yes?

Another Maui Rental Car Gets a New Paint Job

These photos were taken a day after the first wax, which was applied about four weeks after the paint job, to give the paint time to cure. The tint was matched to the factory original "Toyota Heather." This little Maui rental car is just lovely, don't you think?



For more details on our cars, rates, and reservation info, visit our website Maui Car Rental - Frank's Friendly Cars.

You can also visit our Facebook page for Maui Car Rental.

New Picture for the Maui Car Rental Gallery

The latest addition is a picture of a 2000 Toyota Camry mid-size four-door sedan. It's one of the most popular cars in our Maui car rental fleet, with a quiet smooth ride, plenty of cabin space and trunk space, a 2.2 liter double overhead cam four-cylinder engine with plenty of power, and loaded with creature comforts.

For more details on our cars, rates, and reservation info, visit our website Maui Car Rental - Frank's Friendly Cars.

You can also visit our Facebook page for Maui Car Rental.

Maui Rental Cars on flickr

Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental is now on flickr. Have you got a nice photo of your Maui rental car? On top of the Haleakala crater? In Iao Valley? Or anywhere else on Maui? Send it in to be added to the Maui Car Rental photostream on flickr.

For more details on our cars, rates, and reservation info, visit our website Maui Car Rental - Frank's Friendly Cars.

You can also visit our Facebook page for Maui Car Rental.

Maui Car Rental on Facebook

Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental (www.mauicarrental.biz) has its own Facebook page. As of today, it seems to be the only Facebook page for Maui Car Rental.

For more details on our cars, rates, and reservation info, visit our website Maui Car Rental - Frank's Friendly Cars.