Yes, I do see the reviews in Consumer Reports, trashing many domestic vehicles, but I live in the snowbelt, As much as I’d love to have anther Mustang, RWD cars are not the best option here.
I drove a Jeep CJ once, and I liked it–not comfortable at all, no power windows and locks, no luxury features, but I don’t need them.
I’m thinking my next vehicle will be a Jeep Wrangler, with a 4.0 engine, and a manual transmission. I’m spoiled by the Toyota parts in my car. Will a Jeep Wrangler force me into the repair shop as often as my Saab 900S did? There are plenty of Jeep Commanders around me–I don’t like them, the Compass, or the Renegade. If I settle on a Grand Cherokee, which generation of that vehicle is more reliable?
Jeep is owned by Fiat now. Fiat is often said to stand for Fix It Again, Tony.
Jeeps (some of them) are great off-road and in the snow, but they have never been paragons of reliability, and Fiat’s ownership hasn’t done them any favors in that department.
If you’re just looking for a car that’s good in the snow, any FWD or AWD vehicle with a set of winter rims and tires will do you just fine. The exception is if you have some sort of job where you have to get down unplowed rural roads no matter what. If that’s not you, and you want reliability, shop Accords, Camrys, etc, and budget $1500-2000 for the winter wheel-set. Or less if you’re good with putting unattractive steel rims on in the winter.
My daily winter driver for the last decade plus has been an Acura TL. I didn’t even get the winter tires for it, mainly because I just never got around to it (and I’m about to sell it, so I never will). It did just fine, and I live in Minnesnowta. Occasionally if it was really slippery I’d start in 2nd gear to reduce power to the wheels, and of course I would (as everyone should) slow down to make sure I wasn’t overdriving my traction capabilities.
Why do you think a later model will be that much more comfortable . It is a Jeep .Front wheel drive and good tires will work most of the time . And when they don’t many places are going to be closed anyway. Wanting to avoid repair shops will take any Jeep product of a buying list.
Oh yes, my grandma had one that was constantly breaking down. The Renegade is just a better-looking FIAT 500, ugh!
Actually, my Vibe is decent in the snow, it is FWD, and has traction control, but it is NOT a Jeep. It has the power equipment, and can haul small loads. I have NO desire for a Soob Forrester, Legacy, or Impreza.
This is not what I’m thinking. I did write, “not comfortable at all.”
I am more into 4WD, as opposed to FWD. Your last sentence seems to confirm what CR says about Jeeps. During most “snow days,” many places, here, are still open, we’re used to snow.
OP can use the forum search feature to see the sort of posts we get here for particular makes & models. Click the search icon, upper right on this page. As I recall there’s a particular electronic module that’s thought to be related to many of the Jeep posters problems. Search on “Jeep TIPM” for example. I see a lot of Jeeps on the road here though, so they must be pretty reliable on the whole.
That they’re reliable enough to be seen driving on the roads. If they were 100% unreliable then they’d all be parked or in the shop. “Reliability” means different things to different people. In comparison to a new-ish Corolla a Jeep is probably not as reliable. But in comparison to another car a Jeep might be very reliable. Car owners in these modern times expect more reliability than in say the early 60’s. If the ignition points stop working in the early 60’s you’d pull over to the side of the road and adjust them, taking it in stride. Some of my high school buddies would carry a points-file tool with them in their shirt pocket. If a modern car puts you on the side of the road these days, the owner is not going to be a happy camper.
The wrangler is not a good highway car in the winter. Must of them are old school 4 wheel drive, not AWD.
Too many people drive them at highway speeds in the winter and the combo of 4WD and a short wheelbase make them spin like a top if you hit the on the road.
You are right, when I hear Wrangler I am thinking the CJ5. I have never wanted a dedicated off road vehicle though I have taken some of my $200 Dusters into Allegany State Park and Allegheny National Forest and done forest trail and stream wading with them. I have never figured out why anyone wants a Wrangler to go to the mall, or any other 4 or all wheel drive. I have lived in Western NY all my life, sometimes in the hills of the Southern Tier, sometimes near or in Buffalo and never been stuck in the snow with my vehicle.
During our Blizzard of 77 Buffalo plower every streetgoing into the city shut and the plowd drivers went home until tje wind dropped below 50 mph, days later. My wife’s 80+ year old grandmother lived close to the Eastern Border of Buffalo. She had opened the back door of her appartment and the snow had come crashing in. She could not get it closed. This was kife threatening. I called the Buffalo Police to see if they could help her and they said all that they could do was deliver food or medicne by snowmobile. Many of the suburbs had driving ban on, including one I had to go through to get to her. I called that police department to ask for permission. They said, absolutely not. if we see you we will arrest you. It is so bad thatwe have even pulled all of our cars off the road. I said Thanks for the information, just how do you think you will be able to see me?
I took a sled in the car and drove around to the border and my wife and I walked in her street to her house. The snow was so hard and wind packed we could walk on top of the crust. I tripped on something sticking uo an inch or two out of the crust. It was the yop edge of an advertizing sign they used to mount verticaly on top of the roof of taxicabs. Thay is how deep the snow was on her street on the level, not on top of the drifts.
She quite enjoyed the sled ride out to where our car wasand after 5 days I could take her back.