Our adventure with "Rick" was amazing! Excellent gas mileage, easy to drive, handles well on all the curvy roads! TIP: Bring an aux cord to play music from your phone. From the outside he's compact, but it was so easy to spend 6 nights - setting up and taking down camp each day was a snap. Sleeping was comfortable - we had some crazy weather, so we experimented with sleeping with the windows open, half open, parking facing different directions etc... the key to being happy camping is being flexible and creative. We car camped mostly at Camp Olowalu which I highly recommend. For any tips feel free to contact me, Christine can pass on my info.
Amenities in Rick are great, everything we needed, except I packed along my own French Press for coffee in the morning, or an afternoon tailgate coffee/picnic. Bedding was comfortable. We each had a second pillow with us, one per person is provided. I also packed a suction cup black out curtain for the back window, but didn't need it for blocking light as we were always up early anyhow. My 15 year old daughter felt more private with it, but I didn't feel it was necessary for a successful trip. I didn't use the bug nets I brought - we slept with the front door windows open with our towels in the door for dual duty drying them/privacy. No bug bites or problems with bugs. The little battery fan provided is great for air circulation and a bit of white noise.
Sunscreen and bug spray is provided, so don't worry about those! We traveled with just carry on so those liquids were appreciated.
Best things about car camping: economical; FREEDOM and versatility; Having all your stuff with you at all times... need to change for dinner, the weather, impromptu snorkel... it's all there! All your food is there... hungry? Pull over and make a sandwich; drop the tailgate and make a pot of coffee while you're watching the early morning surfers at Ho'okipa; Meeting interesting people at the campgrounds! Just a totally different crowd then those that choose to condo/resort. I'm 41 but felt like an early 20's traveler again. We had picnic dinners on the beaches of the resorts in Ka'anapali, so seamlessly moved through both worlds! I love that all the beaches are public in Hawai'i.