Jeeps

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 10/19/2015 at 12:30 • Filed to: observations

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Took my family to the Jeep dealership this weekend to get our free prize for coming in ($5 cash and some candy!) while my wife’s TDI was getting its 50k service and while we were there I had her check out the JKU’s. She loves the 4 door wranglers for their looks and she would easily qualify as the type of person that would buy one and live with its eccentricities just for the looks of the thing...or used it. We got up inside a sport model and we crawled around it for a while and she said to me as we were leaving

“Boy, up those really look cheap.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t know, they just look and feel...cheap.”

“Well, they are.”

Don’t get me wrong, I still like a wrangler, and so does she but she’s right, compared to a 4Runner or even a frontier the interiors look and feel like many pennies were pinched. We checked out a Rubicon with leather too and discovered that its the same thing...just with leather. Its not even that I mind cheap interiors, I really don’t care about the pampering I get in a wrangler its more a feeling of...well if they cheaped out here, what else did they cheap out on?

Here’s hoping the next generation gets a heaping dose of quality improvement.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:35

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I had the same conversation when we were buying the Commander, and test drove a Wrangler Unlimited. I had to remind my wife, the interior has exposed painted panels and cheap plastic. You’re not interested in a Wrangler for the interior - but the lifestyle.

Tripper > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:37

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My fiancee also loves the 4 door wranglers, but had a similar reaction after driving one. I think wranglers look awesome in just about any flavor, and I can certainly appreciate what they’re capable of, but it’s like driving a refrigerator on wheels. I tried to talk her into the 4 runner, but I think shes going to end up with a Subaru which I’m not unhappy about.

Wacko > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:40

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I get where your going, but I have to say you are wrong.

Jeeps are jeeps. they are made to go everywhere. they are not pretending to be luxury SUVs, except for the leather...

when you go somewhere doorless and roof less, you don’t really want thousands of dollars of damage from rain.... Go buy a grand cherokee if you are looking for luxury, but the wrangler should, but won’t remain a true offroader.

like i said i get where you are going, but that’s against the point of a wrangler.

and for the rest, nothing really changed in the past 20 years. so if was cheap then, is cheap now.

Party-vi > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:40

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The JK is the cheapest shittiest Jeep they’ve made since the TJ, which is the cheapest shittiest Jeep they’ve made since the YJ, which is the cheapest shittiest Jeep they’ve made since the CJ, which is the best Jeep ever.

~CJ* Owner

*3,000lb pile of rust and tires.

450X_FTW > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:44

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They spent the money on the drivetrain. That being said, they sell so many wranglers they hardly ever give a discount on them.

Ash78, voting early and often > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:46

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Cheap even compared to a 4Runner? Ouch, I didn’t realize they had gotten so bad! I’m not sure which one I’m insulting more...but the 4R always struck me as way too low-rent for the price of the vehicle, but I feel that way about most Toyotas.

I semi-seriously looked at Wranglers when the 4-door first came out, but I actually found the interior cheapness to be refreshing in its simplicity. But not refreshing enough for me to accept the price tag on a vehicle made for offroading, which I would probably offroad maybe once a month.

HammerheadFistpunch > Wacko 10/19/2015 at 12:48

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No, you don’t get what I’m saying; I appreciate “rawness” but that’s different than “cheapness”. The Wranglers have both.

HammerheadFistpunch > Party-vi 10/19/2015 at 12:50

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So true. Even still, I remember my 91 XJ and my grandmothers 97 TJ giving my a lot less of the “wow, they really did less with less in here” feeling.

Wacko > Party-vi 10/19/2015 at 12:50

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TJ owner here and yeah you are right. well at least I got the 4.0 in mine. until the motor mounts rust away.

4 door wranglers look wrong, so wrong to me. Even jeep LJs look wrong to me.

HammerheadFistpunch > 450X_FTW 10/19/2015 at 12:52

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That’s just it; how could they even be bothered to care if they can’t build them fast enough.

BigBlock440 > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:52

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It seems the general consensus is that it’s better to cheap out on the running gear and spend money on the interior. Nobody will notice the cuts where they’re not looking, especially if they’re wrapped in leather and ultra-suede.

HammerheadFistpunch > Ash78, voting early and often 10/19/2015 at 12:55

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The 4Runners materials are cheap, no question, but they at least feel put together well. Like I was saying in another post, I appreciate rawness, i think that’s endearing (my former 91 XJ is still one of my favorite interiors of all time), but we both kinda just got the strong whiff of cheap for the whole thing.

450X_FTW > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:55

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And it’s not like design changes much over the course of the 10 years each model last.

Wacko > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 12:57

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I already find that jeep sold out with the 4 doors, I prefer my jeeps to have manual everything, and easy to clean plastics. I hate that every car is now a luxury car. just give me barebones, 4 wheels and crankup windows(*or zipup)

but on my daily driver, I got heated seats, mirrors, steering wheel, 3 zone automatic climate controls, 9 way power seats, 13 speaker stereo.....

the point of a wrangler to me is roughing it.

HammerheadFistpunch > BigBlock440 10/19/2015 at 12:58

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If the running gear on the JK was solid, I wouldn’t care. Like I said, it wasn’t so much “this interior isn’t nice” as much as it was “The car feels like it was assembled in an inexpensive way.”

jjhats > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:01

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i got in an argument a while back with my brother who claimed his jku windshield was flat and not curved. he is most certainly wrong

HammerheadFistpunch > Wacko 10/19/2015 at 13:04

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The model we looked at first was all manual (except it was an auto) with wind up windows and the like. We kinda expected that one to look and feel cheap, its when we also sat in a loaded rubicon with leather and the touchscreen, et al. that we realized its the same cheap, just with a thin veneer of luxury.

HammerheadFistpunch > jjhats 10/19/2015 at 13:06

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yeah, its for sure curved. You can tell him some random person on the internet said so.

BigBlock440 > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:09

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I’m just saying, it seems the general consensus is that if you’re going to cheap out somewhere, the interior will have the most effect on public perception regardless of the rest of the car. Right or wrong, it seems that’s what sets the car up for perceived quality.

HammerheadFistpunch > BigBlock440 10/19/2015 at 13:10

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Good points, which doesn’t bode well for the underpinnings of the JK then, because the interior quality did NOT impress.

jjhats > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:11

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or show him that picture. he has to know by now he obliterated a deer last week and shattered it

HammerheadFistpunch > jjhats 10/19/2015 at 13:14

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seems like a more fun way to show him would be to put a yard stick against it, and then if he still argues to beat him with said yardstick. Though if he hit a deer maybe you should wait till its fixed before you beat him with a yardstick.

jjhats > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:14

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real talk I don’t buy into the whole “its ok its a jeep” argument. the car is shitty. it drives like a 1980 Toyota. that was ok back then but today it baffles me that its a new car. the ride is awful mpg awful performance awful. yes they stayed true to formula but they could have at least improved in some way and they haven’t.

jjhats > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:16

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its already been fixed. he hit it perfectly because only the windshield got damaged. either these things really are tanks or he has perfect accuracy

HammerheadFistpunch > jjhats 10/19/2015 at 13:17

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Eh, that doesn’t bother me so much, some times the worse the car is the better it is. And I can tell you one thing, as someone who’s grown up with Jeeps his whole life and drives a 90’s Toyota...the mileage and general civility is definitely up...as sad as that is.

Textured Soy Protein > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:27

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The interior in my WK Grand Cherokee, even in Limited form with the fake wood trim and (I think?) fake leather, has loads of Playskool-quality hard plastic on the dash and doors.

It feels “nicer” than my old WJ Grand Cherokee, because even though the plastic in that interior was maybe a little nicer, just didn’t feel like it was well-built at all. Nothing fit together right, there were loads of rattles, and it definitely felt like it had aged a lot over time.

The WK at least mostly feels like a solid, modern vehicle.

In my experience with 4Runners, the interior is not really any fancier but it does at least give the impression of being more well-assembled. Some of the trim choices are a bit misguided, like the super-fakeass looking wood trim in the 3rd gen Limited.

It’s so obviously hard, shiny, molded plastic with a “wood” design on it. Just not good.

HammerheadFistpunch > Textured Soy Protein 10/19/2015 at 13:28

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I’m so glad my cruiser missed out on that option. Such barf. Thats the secret sauce of Toyota though, don’t make it fancy, just make it well. Toyota sucks at fancy

Viggen > jjhats 10/19/2015 at 13:30

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Perfect accuracy. Friend of mine hit a deer or and elk in his YJ and it totaled his front end. Though a lot of that has to do with it being the I4 instead of the I6.

Wacko > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:32

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As a 97 sahara owner, I would say that any new jeep is luxury compared to mine.

HammerheadFistpunch > Wacko 10/19/2015 at 13:35

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Sahara eh? with those fancy seats? well la tee da

Wacko > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 13:40

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green and beige yes sir, and it’s got pouches on the back of the seats too.

still beats the 90s-tastic seats of the 97 sport i had before that.

HammerheadFistpunch > Wacko 10/19/2015 at 13:42

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My grandmothers 97 had the 90’s tastic seats, I liked em, the sahara seats are rad though, I love the green and khaki combo. 10/10 would buy an off road vehicle with green/khaki seats.

WiscoProud > Wacko 10/19/2015 at 14:07

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There is definitely a difference between luxury and quality of materials. I had a base level LR3, and while the plastic interior was far from luxurious, it felt solid and durable.

Wacko > WiscoProud 10/19/2015 at 14:12

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of course, that’s why it’s a LR3 and not a jeep made by Chrysler. And with that price difference I would expect nothing less.

apples and oranges = jeeps and landrovers

a jeep wrangler to me is basically a ATV with removable doors and roof.

WiscoProud > Wacko 10/19/2015 at 14:27

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You’re missing my point. My point is an interior can be utilitarian without feeling “cheap”. Fit and finish go a long way, and can be done with cheaper materials just as easily.

atrombs > HammerheadFistpunch 10/19/2015 at 14:52

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Took me a moment to figure out what was so different about this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a jeep with the windshield actually folded down. it looks pretty bad ass.