[Stomper]

"And, as crazy as it may seem, a majority of SUV buyers—even a majority of Rubicon buyers—will never take them any farther off-road than a carwash. Off-road? I just paid 45 grand for it.
So what you have here is a growing audience driving these super-specialized, fairly finicky vehicles, with earth-moving undercarriages and full agro tires, for looks."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323906804579039263294337136.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle

 

[MoparNorm]

While the review is fairly positive, the candy boy writer damns it with faint praise and a complete ignorance of just how far Wrangler has come along in it's on road manners.
My 2013 Sahara is not tippy, crude,,harsh or tractor-like.
The author is a wimp.

 

[JTE]

Odd the money rag didn't mention return on investment.

 

[Dave Z]

I have to agree with his assessment of a majority of Wrangler buyers while noting that the same has long been true of pickup truck buyers, particularly from Chevy and Ford. I guess the real question is, "In the context of a review, so what?"

I agree that it's not tippy. Compared with, say, a Durango, at the same price quoted ($45,000), a Wrangler is somewhat crude and harsh, ... not sure about tractor-like. Not with the engine it's got now.

 

[dfarc]

Odd the money rag didn't mention return on investment.

Yeah, keep in mind it is the Wall Street Journal. All the potholes there are filled with money, more correctly our money!

 

[hmk123]

My brother drives his through the urban jungle daily, LA that is. Beyond that it hasn't seen anything else... But he loves it because it is like hardly anything else out there. I guess it is about being unique (to the extend of being the same with the other 10k buyers a month ).

 

[JRS200x]

While the review is fairly positive, the candy boy writer damns it with faint praise and a complete ignorance of just how far Wrangler has come along in it's on road manners.
My 2013 Sahara is not tippy, crude,,harsh or tractor-like.
The author is a wimp.

No, he is just your standard car buyer. To them, the Wrangler is still rough, still crude etc. Has it come a long way? Absolutely, but that doesn't mean it is a great DD, it just the best DD Wrangler that has ever been. Doesn't make him a wimp, just makes his tastes different from yours. It's an opinion piece, not a personal affront to you.

 

[TWX]

Of course it's crude! It's not nearly as refined as the Maybach!

I expect the WSJ to do no better a job explaining the popularity or qualities of a vehicle than I expect Motortrend to do commenting on the stock market characteristics and desirability of a car company.

 

[fargo59]

i have a friend of mine who wanted a wrangler for years, but when he finally went for a test drive, he called it all of those things. i felt slighted. I may not be a jeep girl but my reply has always been 'its a jeep, dont expect cushy" not because its not refined but because it has other purposes that very few other vehicles can do or even consider.

even funnier is we had a customer a few years ago who special ordered a TJ wrangler in blue without even a road test. she spent months afterward in arbitration with the dealer and chrysler trying to return it because it was 'too rough, crude" etc. some people expect a buick.

 

[PCRMike]

His six year olds thought it better than Disney world. Welcome to Jeepness!!! THAT is why we love Jeeps.

The "hog iron 3.8 liter straight six"? Lol. (Shakes head). Yhe writer prolly got into a Caravan with a "hog iron straight six" cut in half and glued together at the crankcase. Lol. No car guy there.

 

[JTE]

So, did the article turn off or excite buyers?

FYI bio;

http://topics.wsj.com/person/A/biography/6135

 

[TrailDuster45]

And with that review, what do you think they would say about a modern XJ? About the same thing.

 

[CudaPete]

I thought it was a fair review. My wife loves her JK, "in-line" 3.8 and all. LOL! As for me, I like its little 3.3L brother in my smooth riding, very car-like GC.

 

[AutoTechnician]

While the review is fairly positive, the candy boy writer damns it with faint praise and a complete ignorance of just how far Wrangler has come along in it's on road manners.
My 2013 Sahara is not tippy, crude,,harsh or tractor-like.
The author is a wimp.

The '07 JK my mother has is all of those things. Is it as bad as something like a TJ or an FJ60 series LandCruiser? No. But its road manners are still very poor compared to other modern SUVs, even ones that have solid rear axles.

Good for a Wrangler still doesn't make it a good riding vehicle.

 

[MoparNorm]

The '07 JK my mother has is all of those things. .

My 2013 is nothing like my 2007.
It's night and day better, in NVH, ride and handling. It's better riding than my 2002 Ram, or my KJ.

 

[Dave Z]

Yeah, but comparing something to its earlier selves is kind of a cop-out. Like, "My new Freightliner is sure better than my five year old Freightliner! How dare you call it crude and hard-riding compared with typical cars?"

Not having read the article, I do understand that for the average buyer who does not use the JKU's capabilities, it is a harsh ride... but that's not the point. Or is it? M.Manley claimed that most buyers wanted it for the convertible feature, and every Jeep buyer I've ever met outside of Allpar has bought it for that same reason. Some went rock crawling or off-roading because they already had the Jeep but they didn't buy it for that.

While I know that's largely a factor of living in the Northeast, where there are darned few off-road courses and precious little need for off-roading, to the point where I have a really hard time finding dirt roads for photography (the one I used for the last review is now barricaded behind "do not enter" signs as is the “Jeep trail” in the Scranton area I tried to use last week), but ... the Northeast is Jeep's largest market.

I have no problem with telling people "the ride is harsh if you're not using this for its intended purpose." Again, you can say the same about any "heavy duty" pickup (save Ram 2500, apparently), many sports cars, etc. (I often wonder about people who pay huge sums of cash to get a BMW and then drive it like a granny -- indeed, I wondered that yesterday as I followed in my humble Valiant, impatient with the BMW driver in front who was scared to take a highway curve at over 25 mph, which I know my Valiant can do without fuss at 40.) A Corvette is a punishing vehicle as a daily driver, and if you’re like 80% of drivers out there and never push the car to its limits, what's the point? (It's the looks and reputation - trick question - which is probably why many people buy Wranglers, too.)

 

[JTE]

But it isn't a harsh ride, I've driven more vehicles in the course of my work than most people and find it rides very good. Suspension dynamics is evolutionary even on a 20 year old design. On smooth asphalt it's a smooth ride, throw in some pot holes a railroad crossing, ill maintained or flooded roads and it will handle it as good as any vehicle and better than most. Last winter I drove my Wrangler 1050 miles in one day, 500 the next with no discomfort. In my opinion it's the perfect vehicle to have in this day of crumbling infrastructure and wild weather. It's the perfect "drivers car" as evidenced by the sales increases.

As far as his comments on the shape and its handling in a cross wind, try driving a Sprinter or a B Van in the same conditions if we're reviewing apples.

And as icing on the cake my 2013 Wrangler is cheaper to insure than my 12 year old Neon R/T was.

 

[JRS200x]

A Sprinter or B van? Really? Pretty sure we talking about vastly different markets there and very differently purposed vehicles. Further, the Wrangler DOES NOT handle as well or better than most vehicles, it just doesn't. It's not a bad ride by any means and is light years ahead of where it used to be, but come on, lets be serious.

That being said, I DO NOT think that is SHOULD handle as good as other vehicles, that's not it's intended purpose and I would think would ruin what makes it the off road beast that it is, so I would rather give up some comfort so that it stay what it is, than have it ride like a 300 down the road.

 

[MoparNorm]

But it isn't a harsh ride, I've driven more vehicles in the course of my work than most people and find it rides very good. Suspension dynamics is evolutionary even on a 20 year old design. On smooth asphalt it's a smooth ride, throw in some pot holes a railroad crossing, ill maintained or flooded roads and it will handle it as good as any vehicle and better than most. Last winter I drove my Wrangler 1050 miles in one day, 500 the next with no discomfort. In my opinion it's the perfect vehicle to have in this day of crumbling infrastructure and wild weather. It's the perfect "drivers car" as evidenced by the sales increases.
As far as his comments on the shape and its handling in a cross wind, try driving a Sprinter or a B Van in the same conditions if we're reviewing apples.
And as icing on the cake my 2013 Wrangler is cheaper to insure than my 12 year old Neon R/T was.

Amen!
I took my soft top, 2007 on a 17 day, nearly 6,000 mile, cross country interstate trip last year. I had more than a few inquiries and comments, such as, "you're going how far in that!?", or "my wife would never let me do that!".

If I had my hard top 2013, it would have been as comfy as a minivan, in fact I can't wait to do it again!
Dave needs to read the article before defending the writer, the writer was too soft.
...and it's safe to say that the 2013 Wrangler rides better than the Neon!

 

[Beentherebefore]

While the review is fairly positive, the candy boy writer damns it with faint praise and a complete ignorance of just how far Wrangler has come along in it's on road manners.
My 2013 Sahara is not tippy, crude,,harsh or tractor-like.
The author is a wimp.

I read the original article in the WSJ paper. Dan Neil has never been a fan of Chrysler products. He did the car/truck reviews for the L.A.Times for 5 or 6 years before he went over to the WSJ. His best Chrysler reviews, if I'm recalling correctly, were of the RAM trucks and the old Sebring convertible, of all things. Just about all other Chrysler products got more negative than positive from him.