How did Jeep lose the plot? It became a rolling fortress for tin soldiers.
Well you just got me to listen to a guy rant in his basement bar for 25 minutes
I’ve revisited his channel off and on over the years. Most vids are, as the channel name implies, reviews of regular cars. I think it’s the first long form video of his I’ve seen tackling a brand and what has become of its image. The humor and dry delivery is up my alley, and I figured it was worth sharing here.
I’ve also got family in rural PA and his basement bar could be any one of theirs. Those small towns and their old houses are frozen in time.
There actually two guys. This guy (roman) handles most of the technical stuff for their videos, and often makes long form historical videos about the car industry.
Every person I’ve known that has a Jeep: I LOVE MY JEEP!
Me: You never have any problems with it?
Everyone: Oh yeah, all the time. But it’s a JEEP!
Unironically this is just me with arch linux
Btw
For me it has been the exact opposite.Once you’ve set up arch, it just works ™. On pop_os I get constant freezes and on W11 shit just randomly stops working.
Samesies. Garuda Linux has pretty much been “set and forget” for me 🤔
Linux is fucking awesome. I can just fix so many of my problems in the terminal.
“Just Empty Every Pocket,” or “Just Expect Every Problem.”
My parents bought a Chrysler/ Stellantis product to tow their camper after I told them to buy literally anything else. Unsurprisingly it’s a heap of shit.
The engine has a plastic oil cooler - sits in the engine valley, it cracked and leaked oil everywhere at 40k miles. Their plastic intake manifold leaks and sometimes when you start the shitbox there is a strong odor of gasoline 60k. The plastic valve covers leak 70k. Needed an entire front accessory/pulley assembly because the water pump was leaking - made of…plastic 80k. Shocks and struts are shot and causing tread cupping on the tires - 90k. In addition to this, when i drive it around I notice a few things - it’s loud as shit. The engine sounds like it has shit timing or a flat cam or something. Exterior noise is terrible you hear everything. It shifts like an automatic from the 80s and it has 27 gears so it shifts constantly. I’m so sad for them but Dad got a great “deal” on it, I wonder why.
Most Often Parked At Roadside. Company Highly Recommends You Start Learning Engine Repair. Doing Overhauls Daily Gets Expensive. Fix It Again Tony.
I think they might have gone with “Stellantis” because it’s harder to make a derogatory acronym out of
You forgot Really Ain’t Moving.
Like the Alfa Romeo loyalists in Europe. I’ll admit the 156 and 159 series are still nice looking automobiles, but they are rolling junk.
I’ve got an '11 and have never had any problems.
“Off road” pretty much always means “on crude roads,” and this bothers me more than it should
Some of those crude roads have boulders over a meter tall littered all about.
I camp on jeep trails all the time but I’ve never owned a jeep. Currently driving a lifted Subaru. Thinking about a Tacoma for the future.
Stick with the Subie unless you need a truck bed.
My Dad owned a CJ4 for offroading out in the desert. POS broke down all the time. Ended up getting a Pathfinder and it was more capable and reliable.
Across Africa, Toyota Land Cruisers do the work. Defenders look cool and break a lot.
Jeeps were really innovative when they were created… in World War 2. That’s when they really were off-road vehicles. The pattern was repeated again with the Humvee, or HMMVW. It’s not just converted military vehicles either. It’s also race cars and rally cars. Some series have rules that to be legal a car also has to be a production model. Sometimes if you get that exact model you get a race-capable car. But, mostly the cars they sell are variants of the race design, which maintain the fast-looking design, but one which would handle terribly if you put it on an actual racetrack.
I think a JLTV or Unicorn Stadium Super Truck is where the smart post-collapse money goes.
The JLTV apparently has a curb weight of 6.4 tonnes, that’s almost 4x the weight of the modern oversized F150 at 1.8 tonnes. Not ideal for a post-collapse world where energy is expensive.
Those Stadium Super Trucks though. Also impractical, but those sure are goofy fun to watch.
Any car is no longer practical in a high energy cost world.
Now, a mule OTOH
Shit. I made edibles. Had to test them. Now high. This made me laugh way too much 🤣🫠
Oddly enough the only time I was heckled about driving a 4x4 in a city was when it was clean.
If I left the mud splatter on the wheel arches I never got heckled.
If you don’t “look the part” then people will judge harshly regardless of how (in)capable you are at something.
Goes for a lot of things in life.
I don’t wear a black hoodie to indicate that I know computer stuff, but it is remarkable how much more receptive non-techies are when I wear one. It’s like a lab coat for computer doctors.
That’s funny and fascinating.
I never clean mine or have bothered fixing panel damages and paint scrapes. But I take the time to oil and fluid change every 5000 kms lol
It wasn’t made to be pretty, it was made to be reliable and capable.
It’s almost 100% off-roading but gets used as a back up car when the much more efficient and sensible one isn’t available.
Because you’re not, in fact, a pavement princess.
If I wash the mud off my truck I’m a pavement princess in the eyes of the public for the duration of the trip from the car wash back to the garage.
Other than that classic front grill and round headlights … those things are just glorified hatchbacks with a lift-kit
Glorified hatchbacks with a lift-kit and a cult.
The rubicons do have a good kit and package for off roading, they are rarely used for that when new these days. Locking differentials and thick metal skid plates for example are typically an off road specific feature.
I’ve known several friends who have gone out to buy and own Jeeps … a few with Rubicons … and I have yet to see any of them take them off roading, or even on a rough dirt road. I had one female friend who constantly kept hers shined up and would get terribly upset if any mud or dust accumulated on the paint finish.
The culture has changed. The rubicon has been a package offer for several models and years. Usually its the 3rd or 4th owner that finally takes advantage of the package.
Google once took me the back way up a mountain on a mild 4x4 trail while I was towing my 18’ trailer with my 17 year old Toyota sequoia. I’ve not respected a jeep driver since
They’re fun to drive, they just break incredibly easy in weird spots. Like the seatbelt holder/guide? Why would that break. We don’t own one, but have rented a few of them when we go to Hawaii.
I’m sure they are fun to drive off road, but the only time I’ve been in wranglers has been pavement princesses and they are super uncomfortable and drive like steaming dog shit on paved roads
They’re fun to drive on pavement too. They have good turning radius and they’re fast. I wouldn’t own one though, I think they’d be in the shop a lot.
Well, if you’re renting, you have no idea what the previous renters treated it like. Just remember, you’re sharing a planet with idiots. They might have just been punching the seatbelt holder for no reason. And then you, not having that information, are like “why’s the seatbelt holder broken?”
It was pretty fucking cheaply made. There were other things that were odd too, I just don’t remember them all. I understand what you’re saying though, especially in Hawaii. Even having taken that into account, there were some really odd, cheaply made decisions on jeep’s part.
My hybrid bike has seen more mud in the past month than most trucks will see in a lifetime.
Jeep hasn’t made a decent Jeep since 2004 now their just mom rides
Their mom rides what?
Their mom rides only indecent jeeps since 2004
The last TJ was 2006 but yeah everything after that hurts my soul.
JK is solid. 2012 got the better engine my my '11 has never had any problems. I know the engine will die on me at some point and I’ll just have to swap. Hoping someone makes a kit to fit the hurricane in there by then.
Making 4 door Wranglers is really my biggest gripe. I also love the I-6 and them putting a minivan motor in the wrangler was easy to make fun of.
Yup, I can’t stand the 4 door.
The four door has a longer wheelbase and because of that it tackles many obstacles moee easily.
But most, worse.
Downvote me if you want but longer wheelbase means its easier to ground out in the middle. It also means it can’t hit higher angles or turn as tight.
Trying to get the 4 liter emissions compliant kinda ruined the reliability of the late TJ’s then there’s the glass 6 speeds
The tj ended production in 2006 and the last manual model had an impressive low gear. The 6 speed tranmission had a lower 1st gear than the 5 speed, and also somehow a lower 6th gear than the 5 speeds 5th.
It did and if you we’re just driving it was fine OTOH as soon as the terrain got challenging the transmission checked out.
I still stand behind the 04 being the last good Jeep
I never had a problem with mine. My 6 speed stick took more abuse than the 3 speed auto I had in my 02.
I have an 11 and it bangs, never had any problems with it either.
I live where being able to have the option to go off-road would be useful. But I took a Wrangler out for a test drive and it was like trying to fit in a Power Wheels. Thing was way too small for my tall ass. They didn’t have the bigger one to check out at the dealer I went to. :(
I had a 1998 Jeep Wrangler. I’m 6 ft 6 in and and 255 lb. I fit in that pretty well. The box style cabin was very open and easy to get in and out of. Maybe it’s different with the newer ones. I haven’t tried one yet
I am the same height. I don’t even remember what year make the one I tried was. I’ve always wanted one tho because they are actually well suited to off-road stuff and you can just take the doors and roof off to have a kick ass convertible.
I FUCKING HATE THIS GRILLE SO MUCH
Big trucks and SUVs tend to be horrible off road
I would rather a old minivan
Depends how off road. Cottage dirt road? Yea thats fine. Genuine off road trail with 2+ feet of water in some puddles and rocks/ruts that you actually need some bumper height for? Mini van probably won’t cut it.
I remember when everyone made fun of getting a sports car or muscle car saying it was a way to compensate for a small dick.
I guess folks who drove jeeps wanted in on that particular segment of being made fun of and went hard into it.
Now those of us who do drive fast things are largely left in peace with our tiny peckers.
I’d be a lot more tolerant of people buying whatever they wanted if what they bought wasn’t so goddamn offensive and dangerous
huge, loud, blinding headlights, blocks my view of the road, they always fucking pull up past the stop line so you can’t see if it’s safe to turn right on red, they have to hammer the gas to accelerate decently because they’re massive, they can’t fucking see anything around them because of blind spots and so they are always trying to back into people walking in parking lots, etc
Everyone should just get what makes them happy and ignore the weird shaming for driving anything other than a standard beige sedan.
Fast cars, off-road cars, big cars, small cars, electric cars, big trucks, custom wrapped/painted cars, ducked out jeeps, w/e.
I agree in principle, but I do think people should be shamed for endangering others because they want to feel cool. Large SUVs and trucks are much more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists and such than normal cars.
Sports cars aren’t inherently more dangerous for others unless you fuck with them or drive like a cock.
Damn beige sedans! they ruined beige sedans!
I don’t think it’s weird for people who are pedestrians, have children, or care about the environment we live in to have some pretty strong opinions on this. Your choice to drive a big ass truck has a real implications for other people that didn’t get to play a part in that decision.
There are still pressing environmental reasons to shame people for driving very inefficient cars when they don’t need one.
Yeah, I agree on the larger environmental goals and necessity. I suppose what I’m getting at is more of the part that feels like normative pressure and shaming eccentricities. As in, the same thing that has contributed to car colors becoming more and more bland over the years too. There’s a pressure for conformity that pushes people back into their box when they stick a toe out.
What’s wrong with a standard beige sedan?
Infiniti M37x is a delightful beige sedan. Big comfy, quiet, a delight in so many ways.
