why so many jeeps now on road?

[the old grind]

WW I might have delayed auto engineering progress more than the depression did. (V-8 'Deuce' to '40 in 8 yrs .. not bad.) Model T lasted for ~19 yrs before Edsel Ford (saving FoMoCo the first of several times, btw) convinced the old Man that progress & competition was inevitable and that he'd better keep up.

Anyway, that's not about Jeeps or their modernization. Many of us enjoy tractors, guns, cars, motor-bikes as old as we are. Which ones are more useful/versatile/fun? How about easier to get parts for??

My kinda real bug is the stream of Jeep & Jeep SUV phone junkies that rush by me, ride my six, or pull out/cut in front of me. Too many look 20-40 ish, pass on the right, etc. And IMO there's a generation/culture aspect at play with what & how many we see on the roads. Cup holders, premium sound, etc .. what consumers want.

 

[cathy liebchen]

We have a 1982 Jeep CJ8 pickup with the 6 cylinder and 5 Speed, bought it in 1990. Gets 10mpg but always starts and runs. It’s a rough ride but a great farm vehicle. Everyone wants to buy it. My son has a 2020 JT with automatic on 35” tires and it’s another whole deal, great truck for younger person. But for my personal truck things we have a Tundra V8 4x4 and a couple of trailers

 

[Hay Dude]

CJ8

 

[Hamlin6]

Keep owner here. Bought it back in ‘07 new. It it is just just touching 240k. Love everything about it for what it is designed to be. Just recently purchased and new truck and didn’t consider trading it the Jeep.
I’ve been able to do just about anything I’ve wanted to do with it from driving mostly across country multiple times, trail rides and pulling a trailer with 3 round bales on it without issue

They are currently a fad, but they have been a favorite for decades. The fad will fad but those of us who like them will keep theirs.

 

[rzimmermann]

I also notice how many used Jeeps are in used car lots. Bad reliability! I'll stick to my Toyota.

 

[panamaguy]

in the past few months, i notice a huge increase of Jeeps on the road here in town & on way to place out of town. Why? my theory is covid release. lots of wanna be adventure seekers out there now. most of them will never go off road, mostly mall cruisers, but still, i'm amazed.

covid craze it is. people are on a spending frenzy. same with home remodeling on my block. lots of spending, with lots quitting jobs, with the supply chain starved.... no wonder inflation is skyrocketing (of course for other reasons as well).
what is it about this Jeep craze? then there is the new Jeep Pickup...don't get me started on that wannabe retro model, i have too many enemies already

Not really sure about the new ones except what I hear about gas milage but I sure wish I still owned my M38A1. It was slow and sparce but would go anywhere you pointed it. Even found a manual at a old car swap meet that showed you the pattern to plow fields as I guess lots were used after the war as tractors. That was back in the 70s. Bought a new Warn 8274 8000 lb winch I mounted on the front. Still have the winch now mounted on a car trailer but wish I had the jeep. The body on mine was made by Ford for jeep. I guess everyone pitched in those days. If I remember the flat head 4 had a screaming 40 hp which was lots and 556 gears. A stump puller

 

[Alan46]

My dear wife has a 2015 Rubicon with only 27K mi. Original air in the tires. She loves that thing, compact, sits up high, V6 plenty of power did I say she loves that thing. We live in the woods in Oregon, 20 miles from town does great in the snow without chains.

 

[Thoffman]

I bought my TJ Wrangler is 2001 and am still driving it. A great little vehicle. My wife says it rides like a 2 horse cart but I love it. It is simple and fun to drive. I have noticed a bunch of Wranglers on the road here but I figured that was a function of living in the NC mountains.

The new Wranglers (and now the Gladiator) are much more complicated now. They look cool but I think most of the people buying them never use them to their potential; especially when they buy a Rubicon model. Most will never lock a hub or disengage their sway bar or even know why they would do that.

The Gladiator looks cool but like most hybrid-type vehicles, it's not really a Jeep and it's not really a truck so it doesn't do anything particularly well. I'm sure it works for some.

 

[oldpilot]

The new four-door Jeeps are really a handsome vehicle. But OMG they cost north of $40,000!

When Fiat took over the bankrupt Chrysler company, one of the big lures for the US govt was the promise that the Fiat 500 would at last give Americans a really serviceable sub-compact car. How did that work out? I never seen the Fiats on the road. But when I visit Italy, as I used to do every year until 2020, I'd see little Jeeps everywhere -- Patriots, Libertys, whatever they're called. Now that the French got into the act, the company is called Stellantis, ugh. They should have called it Jeep Inc! It's the one truly great American passenger car (with a touch of truck in there as well).

Pity they're so pricey.

 

[Torvy]

JD Power's initial reliability is a joke. It is taken after 90 days. Some individuals seem to have good luck with Jeep. Statistically, they are among the least reliable vehicles. See Consumer Reports, any year's auto issue will do.

Jeeps look cool, but for me, there are better choices.