Here us an article I just read on yahoo http://autos.yahoo.com/news/disappoi...023648565.html

Whoever wrote this report is stupid. It's a jeep not a sports car or SUV yes it will have wind noise, bad fuel mileage, handling and ride won't be great on road but who cares it's a Jeep.

 

I read that yesterday. It's funny when I test drove my jk 3weeks ago I thought boy this rides smooth, wow no wind noise, these are really comfortable seats. I only own jeeps so I guess I don't know any better.

 

I wouldnt say that whoever wrote this is stupid... but I will say that there is #1 - zero common sense in these types of reports and #2 - a completely skewed view of the SUV anymore.


There are distinctions that need to be made... Porsche and BMW "sport utility vehicles" and FJ cruiser, Jeep Wrangler "sport utility vehicles" serve different purposes and put their emphasis on "sport" or "utility". but actually comparing like vehicles would be boring and no one would read it... that doesnt generate any site traffic or forum posts, which is what its all really about.

 

It's rigged, no way the Avenger scored that high.


I DO wonder, however, how many first-time Jeep buyers feel this way. The four-door opened the Pandora's box of idiot consumers. I know of 2 people who bought unlimiteds, then sold them a year later because it didn't handle like a Camry.

For the sake of profitability, which consumer will Chrysler-Fiat listen to? The one that reads CP or the one that reads JP?

 

I have been a subscriber to Consumer Reports for many years and I am ashamed to say "drank their Kool Aid" about the Wrangler far too long. I had wanted one, but because I would read "expert reviews" like this I was hesitant. I finally test drove one last August and I thought I was in the wrong vehicle. I knew the pluses and minuses before I drove (from consumer reviews) and I was more than pleased that this thing exceeded my expectations. As said, it isn't a sports car or luxury sedan, etc. I have had mine for 7 months and love every minute driving it. No regrets.

 

CR is way, way past it's prime: they were the go to mag in the 70's before the Internet. For household items like irons and washing machines they still hold sway. They are clueless on computers (don't understand operating systems) and cars. They report for the lowest common denominator 90-IQ buyer. Items that can not be quantified like "spirited driving;" feel of the road; value of whole is more than sum of its parts, are lost to CR. Everything is distilled to a number. How else to explain so many Camrys, the bane of a car with any life.

 

One has to consider the source. CR must live in a world of smooth paved roads and have never ventured beyond a city limit. There is not even a muddy puddle in their experience.

I saw some of the CR followers out on my roads this winter. Cute little reliable cars with their aerodynamic plastic front ends giving <2 inches of ground clearance.

They looked quite stylish stuck in the 2-tracks made by real 4x4's. Perhaps as they huddled inside their vehicle in -20 wind chill, the cell phone call they made was to CR!

Meanwhile, my "unreliable" and "inefficient" Wrangler got me to work every time.

 

Once again, CR is for people who need to be told how to spend their money. I think their basic belief is that a car is a necessity, not a hobby or source of pleasure. I guess if you know nothing about cars, you have to get your information from somewhere...

 

CR has been bashing Wranglers for years. When I bought my ’94 YJ, CR was bashing it as being very unreliable. Well guess what? I drove that baby for 6 years, 153K and only put on a new set of tires and had to replace a radiator.
Granted, I really didn’t go off-road with it except for multiple ski trips to VT every year. One trip every year was to a farmhouse, up a washed out dirt road on top of a mountain.
When I got rid of it (because the impending arrival of my second kid), it still had the original brakes and clutch. That was a fantastic vehicle!
I'm very happy to be back in a Jeep...and....my JK is like a luxury vehicle compared to my previous two Jeeps!
A confession….I still read CR but with a grain of salt.