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CaribbeanSoul

CaribbeanSoul

SBH Insider
First of all...thanks for the wealth of information from all of you in advance of our first trip to SBH! We leave one week from tomorrow! Our hotel package includes a car which is listed as a Hyundai I10. We can upgrade for an add'l daily rate to a mini Cooper convertible or a Fiat with a big sunroof. Leaning towards the convertible....pros and cons? I'm not too concerned with theft on SBH unless someone thinks differently. Thanks for the feedback....we cannot wait for our honeymoon!

Brett
 
Unfortunately, I would leave nothing valuable in an open car in St. Barth these days.
 
We have not had any trouble getting uphill in the rain in Minis. Not sure if Fiat has as much power.
 
MINI is more powerful than Fiat 500. I changed our Fiat 500 for a MINI due to inadequate power last year. I have read others with similar complaints about the Fiat 500. Now if you get an Abarth, it would be more powerful.
 
Do your shopping and unload the car before parking it somewhere for a time period. Unfortunately things in site are disappearing from cars but more often those that are unlocked.
 
A Mini is super fun, small, easily maneuverable and performs great on the hills...but, we did find, depending upon which year the car...the newer, the more zoom.
In the rain?...does fine, just make sure your top is up (that's a joke)
 
And the "manual" shift mode is almost as fun as a stick shift, and will get you up any hill on the island.....
 
Any thoughts on a Terios? That's what I ended up reserving. All I know is it was the cheapest 4WD vehicle they had. Didn't put much thought into it so don't feel bad telling me if I made a poor decision. Since coming in August, I was thinking maybe AC over a convertible would be the choice and hearing about the hills and the parking on the side of the road and the difficult driveways...this St Barth novice thought 4WD would be the smart choice...
 
Jim A said:
Any thoughts on a Terios? That's what I ended up reserving. All I know is it was the cheapest 4WD vehicle they had. Didn't put much thought into it so don't feel bad telling me if I made a poor decision. Since coming in August, I was thinking maybe AC over a convertible would be the choice and hearing about the hills and the parking on the side of the road and the difficult driveways...this St Barth novice thought 4WD would be the smart choice...
Click to expand...

4WD is a great choice, as is the Terios. We used to rent Jimnys, and now rent Terios. We have had no problems, except when the engagement of 4 WD was necessary in the rain, uphill, and the method to do such was not explained by the rental company.
Since you said you were a novice, when you park on a driving street, make sure you put your side mirrors in. It keeps them from getting bumped off by passing cars.
 
We have used Terios cars many many times-they seem to handle everything in wet or dry weather. They do have problems with passing cars zipping by too close and mirrors colliding, but that's another story.
 
I always rent a Terios. AWD (unless you turn it off), A/C, and room for bags in the back. I never have a problem on hills, rain or shine.

Tip - when you go to refuel, you'll find the gas cap door release on the floor under the driver's left leg. And yes, fold in the mirror when parking.
 
AWD/4WD is a great choice on SBH. Not a sexy choice like a Mini convertible. It will seem like overkill in round-town driving. But if the rain comes, having AWD can be a HUGE comfort, safety factor. Roads are notoriously steep, narrow and intimidating.

AWD and a large-ish engine can be very useful navigating SBH roads. Part of the fun of being on the island is exploring - especially on your First Trip to the island - driving on roads you don't know and checking things out. We've found great sites, amazing houses, spectacular views and even found our way back home afterward (no tow trucks, or dog bites, so far.) I've been known to drive down a road or two beyond signs indicating... well, I'm not exactly sure what that sign said since my French isn't very good - but if the road ends in a driveway, oops, we went too far, wave/smile turn around and off we go.
 
On our first visit, we rented the Fiat and it couldn't make it up the villa driveway. We swapped it out for a Jimny and have been driving them ever since. Not sexy, but 4WD and fairly narrow. Enough room in back for (sandy) beach chairs and bags.
 
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