With the Wrangler nearing the end of its stay in our long-term fleet, I decided to give its prodigious trail-busting talents one more chance to shine. So I told Vehicle Testing Coordinator Mike Schmidt that I was going to take the long way home.

Schmidt cocked an eyebrow. "The long way home?"

I nodded slyly. "That's right."

"Well," he sighed, "I guess we know what you're driving tonight."

"Beep beep," I grinned. "Who's got the keys to my Jeep?"

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On any other scale, the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is not a good car. It's shaped like a brick. It's louder than a dinner with Fran Drescher and Gilbert Gottfried. The engine is anemic, thirsty and sounds horrible. The brake feel instills zero confidence. The steering at highway speeds is nebulous at best. The interior materials are terrible. The doors smack into your leg when open because they're attached by a strap. Riding in the back seat is just generally unpleasant. The vinyl roof takes 10 minutes, a tall person, RTFMing and perhaps an engineering degree to properly erect. The turn signal stalk feels like it's about to be broken off with every use. The trunk can be broken into by undoing a zipper. The plastic rear windows are defogged by undoing a zipper. The passenger side mirror is adjusted by the passenger or a driver-wielded nine iron.

And yet, this seemingly horrific vehicle sold 119,243 units in 2007. Only seven SUVs sold better, with the Trailblazer and Grand Cherokee ahead by less than 2,000 units. The Wrangler sold more than the once mighty Explorer.

The thing is, I get it. Even though every drive in the Wrangler reaps another annoyance and flaw, I still like this lumbering beast -- partially because of the flaws. It's also strangely fun, our jungle green Unlimited looks cool and that off-road capability is attractive despite being an irrelevance on my daily drive. I'm guessing this is how a majority of those 119,243 Wrangler buyers feel. I'd never buy one though, that list above is just too ridiculous.

James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 15,006 miles

You can only find the soul of the 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara in the wilderness. The farther you drive off the beaten path the more clearly this car asserts itself. Around town, it seems gimmicky and impractical. But tackle a washed out mountain road, or piles of snow, and it seems to say, "Now I'm gonna show you what I'm all about."

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I just got the 2007 Jeep Wrangler washed and was waiting at a red light waiting to turn down the street to our offices in Santa Monica when I felt a shove from behind. You've gotta be kidding me! Rear-ended? With no thought to traffic, I immediately jumped out of the car (dumb move I know but I was in shock at this person's recklessness) and ran to the back of the Jeep.

The car that hit me was a first-gen Nissan 240SX. I had glimpsed him in my rearview mirror when I first pulled to a stop and he wasn't going that fast. It looked like he was slowing down as well he should have been. That's why I was really surprised he ended up hitting me anyway.

When I went to check out the damage and looked at the driver, he threw up his hands and apologized profusely from his seat and said that it was OK. But I looked at his front bumper that had a big gouge in it where it had met the Jeep's tow hook. "But you hurt your car," was all I could think to say. But he continued to insist that everything was all right saying that he just bumped me. So I jumped back in my car deciding that I would complete the turn and pull over to the side of the road so I could assess the damage to the Jeep and take down his information.

But when I had pulled over, he kept on driving and didn't even look back at me. I took down his license plate number and then returned to the back of the Jeep to see if there was any damage. Fortunately there didn't appear to be any. Even the hook that left the gouge on his bumper appeared untouched. No paint transfer at all, no bent metal. Oh well, at least the Jeep emerged unscathed.

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 13,703 miles

This past Saturday I spent the afternoon and most of my knuckle skin reinstalling the doors and top of our 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited. Good fun. Ranks right up there with root canal and the musical stylings of Chikezie.

During the process I realized three things:

1) Reinstalling the doors and top of our 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited royally sucks.

2) This Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is the VW Thing of our time.

3) I'm a wimp with soft, easily torn flesh.

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 15,601 miles

Up to now, I haven't particularly enjoyed driving our long-term 2007 Jeep Wrangler. I think the Unlimited body style adds bulk without adding enough utility, and I don't like having an automatic transmission in a Wrangler.

However, I like our Jeep a lot more with the doors off. It makes our nav-equipped Sahara Unlimited feel much less serious -- and more like the adventure vehicle it's supposed to be.

In addition, it encourages resourcefulness on the part of its driver. I carry my lunch to work in a plastic bag. So I simply tie it to the grab handle to keep it from flying away.

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I remember the first time I actually got up to any decent speed on my bicycle as a kid. It was down one of those 'Dead Man's HIll' type streets that we would all stand around and dare each other to ride down. Inevitably, this boulevard of death took you past the Creepy Lady's house, past the house that always hands out raisins on Halloween, and past the Haunted House where the Axe Murderer lives.

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This weekend I learned that removing the doors from our 2007 Jeep Wrangler is actually easier than lowering or raising its top. Each door simply pops off after the removal of two bolts (I had to go buy a T-50 Torx head socket) and the unplugging of an electrical connection. Total operation took about 10 minutes.

Trouble is, I now have four huge doors taking up my back porch and of course there's no way to lock the vehicle. Side mirrors aren't a problem, because there aren't any. They went with the doors. We're also getting a hard lesson in aerodynamics. Anything above 60 mph now requires goggles and a tucked in shirt.

Whatever. Sometimes you've just got to go for it. Just don't expect any of us to take the Jeep on any long trips until I put her back together.

Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 13,481 miles

So this past Saturday, I had to take our 2007 Jeep Wrangler downtown to the L.A. Convention Center to pick up my L.A. Marathon bib. The thing is, though, that parking at the center's garage was $12 and I had only intended to be there for less than half an hour so I really didn't want to pay that. Instead I decided to park four blocks away in the sketchy neighborhood and just walk it (I had a friend with me). Parking's free on the other side of the freeway and it was only 10 in the morning so I figured the Jeep would be OK. Plus other center patrons had the same idea as I saw them walking down the street from the direction where I intended to park. These side streets seemed well-trafficked in the daytime so I wasn't too worried.

But as I locked up the Jeep and started to walk away, I glanced back at the plastic windows of the rear cargo area. I started to feel a twinge of fear thinking about past stories I've heard of thieves cutting into convertibles to gain access to them. And I wondered if the Jeep's plastic windows invite that sort of behavior. The Wrangler isn't on the top 10 list of the most stolen vehicles but you never know.

In any case I was still relieved to find the Jeep where I left it and intact when I got back. I wonder if this is something Jeep owners in particular have to contend with though. I know every car is susceptible to thievery but....those Jeep windows are made of plastic.

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 13,382 miles

I got the jeep over the weekend thinking I might take off and do a solo night of camping. The girlfriend was out of town, a bunch of friends were out of town, and I had nothing to do. Even those plans got canceled since Mother Nature decided to swing a rain storm on through Southern Cali.

I mostly stayed indoors for the weekend, but on Sunday I had to scout out a new location for an upcoming shoot. When I opened the door to the Jeep, I was appalled to see the drivers seat wet (again) and water dripping into the passenger foot well from underneath the door forming a nice little puddle there.

I did my scouting sitting on a towel.

After talking to some folk around here in the office Monday morning, I learned a leak from a soft-top Jeep is nothing new. I guess it's time for the super absorbent towels to be a new standard feature.

Scott Jacobs, Senior Photographer