In reply to John Welsh :
Holy crap that’s funny!
In reply to John Welsh :
Holy crap that’s funny!
This stuff does make me laugh a little when I think back to my Samurai’s with spring-over lift, no doors, cut fenders, 4” angle iron rockers with, no top and 33” Super Swampers with paint scrapes and dents and wood from branches caught in the body seems.
I think I had maybe $2,000 into them and had 50x the fun and got 100x the looks and questions/conversations.
Interestingly enough we just purchased a 4 door wrangler 6-speed to replace my wife's jaguar xk8 that was smashed in the last hurricane.
We wanted a convertible with room for growing children. When I mentioned the wrangler she said "only if it has big tires" 
My wife has zero interest in doing an autocross or a track day but about two weeks after buying the jeep she tells me she wants to take it off road.
These were taken last weekend at the FIRM. She is already talking our neighbors into bringing their mall crawlers out next month...
I don't care what people are buying them, using them for, or how they outfit them. That's their business.
What I don't understand is how Jeep sells so many. It's a horrible driver. It's reputation and ruggedness obviously sells it, but I think the market is ripe for a copycat from another manufacturer. If you made it close enough to accept a lot of the available jeep aftermarket accessories would be a big plus. Also make it drive like a newer vehicle and not something from the 60's.
Honestly the jk unlimited drives pretty well even with 35 inch tires. It is however the slowest modern vehicle I have ever driven. 3.8 liter...
D2W said:I think the market is ripe for a copycat from another manufacturer.
Nope. Jeep fanciers want a Jeep. How many V-twin cruiser bikes are leagues better than a Harley? How many Harleys do you see on a summer's day, compared to those other bikes?
Tom_Spangler said:93EXCivic said:What amazes me is so many people want them for mall crawling. They aren't exactly the best at that.
They're pretty awful at it, IMO. Loud, uncomfortable, not very roomy for an SUV, lousy mileage, and let's not forget that awesome FCA build quality. Most folks would be much better off with a compact SUV/crossover, but hey, if they want to look butch, that's up to them.
I've never been one to judge other people's automotive purchases based on what I think they "need". Once you start down that path, it becomes pretty easy to question why we "need" things like sports cars.
My wife wanted one. I am so glad I talked her out of it. I am pretty sure she would have hated it after a year or two especially in the winter.
Maybe if they get really cheap I will grab one for us to have for fun.
re: Everyone complaining about how horrible Wranglers drive...Have you driven a JK? While still unrefined by modern standards, it is a quantum leap beyond the TJ in refinement and everyday usability, and not even in the same solar system as a YJ or older Jeep. I think this largely explains why you're seeing so many more turned into mall crawlers anymore, there's a threshold of refinement that has now been crossed which makes them largely acceptable to the general public.
SWMBO generally fits this characterization, though she lacks the mom credentials and hers is bone stock. It's her money and I don't particularly give a E36 M3 what she spends it on. Same goes for all the other poseurs out there. At least they're driving something interesting, instead of yet another bland, non-descript crossover.
In reply to John Welsh :
Yowzas! Better stay away from jeeps. Might become a woman groper...
in other news: I’ve always referred to the Jeep brand (pronounced “Heep” en espanol) as the “Strangler”, the “Jerky”, the “Ex-patriot”, the “I’m running Commando”, and the “Libertah” (as pronounced by Eric Cartman).
I have driven one, my buddy had a 2016 4 door. I would take my 2007 FJ over it any day of the week and twice of Sunday. Its more comfortable at any speed, and stock vs stock will go anywhere the wrangler does. I also have 172,000 on mine with just gas, oil and tires, nothing else. He sold the Jeep after a year.
I do agree they are better than they were 20 years ago, but not up to the standard of anything else modern that I've driven.
When it came time for me to buy my next ride, I choose a 2-door JK. I looked at the Tacoma & a few half ton trucks but the Wrangler got the nod and my wife and I absolutely love the thing.
It was over priced but whatever, I've wanted to own one for the last 20 years and now I have it. Makes me smile inside so the price and jittery highway ride were like "whatever, we're buying this thing".
Not to mention how they hold there value. I can drive it for years and it won't depreciate.
We bought ours as a toy, my wife has another vehicle as her daily that is more comfortable, even though the jk would be drivable everyday if the need presented itself.
Just for you guys:
Two friends I know from the local MINI group have 4-door Wranglers. Both women, for whatever that is worth. Both have modified their Jeeps, much in the same way we tended to modify our MINIs. They have also both gone to regional Jeep gatherings and taken them on trails.
I had a older Jeep that I got for free, lifted it, put big tires on and made it look the part. never took it off road as I find no fun off-roading at a speed that wont kill a truck or compress my spine boring. I loved that thing. Just feel cool driving a big ass jeep with the top and doors off. Drove it year round in Ohio.
But it is no different then someone buying a superbike or track focused sportscar like a corvette or boss 302 mustang that they will never take on a road course.
My wife has an H2. I use it now and then. I think I have told this story before but it seems fitting to re cap it here.
I am sitting in the H2 one spring morning at the end of a row of parking spaces with a couple spaces open on either side of me in front of the local Dunkin Donuts. The row of parking has driving lanes in front of it and behind it. Anyway I had just got a cup of coffee and was sitting their going through my schedule for the day on my phone and I notice two attractive young ladies (mid 20's I am guessing) walking up the traffic lane. At the same time a "Bro" in his tricked out brand new wrangler pulls by them loops around behind me aggressively and pulls in next to me. The girls then walk in front of his truck and then in front of mine and say very loudly how cute the Wrangler looks next to the H2. I glanced over at the "Bro" and saw him go from "all that" with the ladies to a deflated kid that just had his homework stolen. The girls then let out a exaggerated loud laugh. They then complemented me on my choice of truck. I thanked them and they walked on. I thought that the "Bro" in the wrangler was going to cry.
It is good to have an H2 sometimes.
Keith Tanner said:I prefer the term "mall terrain vehicle" over "mall crawler".
I am so going to tell my wife that this is what her H2 is. I will probibly by posting here form the sofa tonight.
In reply to D2W :
Well you've got me there, I'd prefer an FJ as well.
Doors and top don't easily come off an fj...
Nobody said anything about the ease of putting them back on, right?
JEEPs stopped being real once they got rid if flat fenders.
BoxheadCougarTim said:Nobody said anything about the ease of putting them back on, right?
My thoughts exactly!
I'm trying to do my part:
And yes, it is my DD. I was looking at Tacomas and other small 4x4s but I got the Jeep for $22k and change brand new in 2012. Its a Sport with just a couple of options. I couldn't afford a Rubicon. No lockers (yet) but I do have a 4.56 gearset and Detroit Truetracs that are waiting to go in.
How is this even a topic of discussion on a forum where the phrase "life is too short to drive boring cars" is practically a religious belief? Shouldn't these people be complimented for choosing "interesting" over "ideal".
Also, if it weren't for non enthusiasts buying them for the image they convey, enthusiast cars wouldn't (couldn't) exist in the first place. So if anything, enthusiasts owe all of these folks a debt of gratitude.
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