It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand

Maintenance/Repairs
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21

Hey Mark,
I didn’t mean to seem upset. I have actually enjoyed this conversation more than any other post I have put up on Car Talk.

Thanks for the positive message. J.H.

22

I don’t see a problem with praising what has been a good vehicle for you. With any make of vehicle you generally only hear the bad, never the good, and many times the bad is misplaced. Look at the Banks post as a prime example.

23

Thanks for the dime! I will use it at a parking meter when my transfer case breaks!

Now I have to go look up the phrase 10 cent word.

24

Seeing how the ZJ and XJ share many common parts, it’s more relevant that you think [/smug]

25

Correct. I was mocking the guy who drove the Jeep for thinking his magic Grand Cherokee would be able to pull out the F-650. He was the only person there who legitimately thought it could do it. In my experience the Jeep fanboys are to off-road enthusiasts basically what the import tuner car fanboys are to sports car enthusiasts.

I will say that the newer jeeps aside from the Wrangler are just posuermobiles. Here is a picture of their newest marketing proposal.

26

Personally, I’m just happy to hear a good story and appreciate the post.

Most of the folks who post here post because they’re having a problem. Many are minor, but some are serious. The hardest ones are the ones from people who are being “rolled over the coals” by some dishonest shop or dealer and don’t know where to turn.

Thanks for reminding me that there are people out there who are happy with their ride. The overwhelming majority probably are, but those aren’t the ones that typically write in.

Happy motoring.

27

I thank you kind sir. That was exactly the point of the post. Well done.

28

I have been driving 60 miles a day lately, and can’t get more than 16 or 17 mpg on the highway. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Something about driving the Jeep at 80 and getting 15 mpg and ripping by a Prius that is driving 50 and getting 50 mpg is very satisfying, I can’t even tell you why.

29

Thanks for the positive feedback.

30

Jeepheap likes the way you think. But why get on the highway with a dune buggy? You could drive in straight lines to anywhere.

31

You’re welcome.

You live,
you drive,
you am.

(or however that commercial goes)

32

I think it’s likely the Jeep driver didn’t know how to use his Low range.

33

There was an article in the most recent Car and Driver, reviewing the 2011 Grand Cherokee. (I’m paraphrasing here) Apparently some bigwigs at Chrysler mentioned that only 5% of Jeep owners ever take their vehicles off-road, so why overbuild the Grand Cherokee to withstand the Rubicon trail when it would be much lighter, better performing, and get better mileage if it wasn’t? The response was, “But then, what would make it special?” It got a good review BTW.

34

Yes, it’s definitely a marketing decision to make it an off-road vehicle. 95% of the Jeep owners who never drive off-road aspire to be like those 5% who do. There are lots of things we buy simply because we aspire to be like someone else. I am not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s just the way consumers think and respond to marketing.

35

I would take the highway for the same reason I take the interstate when I tour on my motorcycle: taking the back-roads takes too darn long to get where I am going. The back-roads are a lot more fun than the interstate, as I recently discovered on New York state’s Amish Trail (http://amishtrail.com/), but when the temperature goes above 95(F), I want to get where I am going ASAP.

36

The Grand Cherokee is definitely used by most people as a commuter, and it does that job very well. My brother had a '02 Laredo, and it was a very comfortable highway/commuter car that seemed almost as though it were never intended to go off-road. He took it to the Jeep Jamboree in French Lick, IN and it did very well, with only rock sliders and highway-friendly all terrain tires. The rock sliders did save his rocker panels from an agonizing death, BTW.

37

A good(?) Jeep story;

Long ago and far away, when I had hair on my head and three boys eating me out of house and home and each wanted a Honda 3-wheeler, I bought a yard full of junk M38A1s and pieced together a working model complete and near original. After adding a roll-bar and seat belts I taught the boys to drive it on the trails and hills where the 3 wheelers played. The worst hill was nearly impossible for the 3 wheelers to climb but my youngest could ‘chug’ up and back down with no trouble. It amazed all the boys friends that the jeep would make it when so many three wheelers were stalling and flipping. When the boys got older I sold the Jeep and all the spare pieces. It’s at the top of my list of vehicles I wish I had kept along with a '72 Bronco.

38

After working on four Jeeps this week, I had to go back to this thread and see how it was going. I realize as a mechanic, that even though we work on plenty of a particular vehicles, it is still a small percentage of the ones on the road.

Jeeps have certainly proven their worth and have a loyal following.Long live the JEEP!

39

Rene Descartes of the 21st century… Who is your publisher?

40

Yeah, we have two Wranglers …son has a Cherokee Sport. I figure that they’ll last beyond my ability to buy fuel for them …and we should have parts availability until the sun runs out of hydrogen.

I’ll never have another car payment as long as I can climb into the things.