So I've been traveling a bunch and as such I've been having to rent vehicles.
Week 1 I had a Dodge Ram. It was pretty nice for a truck. Comfortable, rode well, and had a bunch of creature comforts that actually lead me to just price them out. Not terrible in terms of price. This was my baseline for "Modern" vehicles. I haven't driven anything but my LJ or my old TJ in a decade.
The following week I end up in a Cherokee. This thing was hot garbage. The road noise was at least as bad as my LJ. The interior was poorly designed and uncomfortable. No matter how I adjusted the seat, I couldn't make it feel good. Then it starts doing this thing where it would randomly sound the horn once and the hazard lights would come on and couldn't be turned off. Turns out this is a common glitch.
The next week, I had a Compass. Oddly enough, for being a "step down" from the Cherokee, was actually quieter inside and didn't have the electrical issue. But still, just terrible inside.
This week, I get to the rental lot and they have a Gladiator and a JLU. I've been interested in the Gladiator since I generally use my LJ as a mini pickup.
I get in and immediately notice that this thing doesn't have CarPlay. Even the shitty Compass had that.
Then I try to adjust the seat- I can't figure out how to adjust the seat back. There's a knob- that adjusts the lumbar support. There's a lever- this thing just pumps the seat up and down like a barber chair. And... nothing. I can't figure out how to make the seat recline. I poke around and eventually find a little strap- like a backpack strap. This? This is the adjustment method? WTF?
The truck drives ok. I was happy with how the transmission did it's job getting the power down. But it had a noticeable pull to the right. I'd expect that on a rental, except that this thing had 38 miles on it when I got in!
So I get to my job site and I'm looking at this thing. Putting aside for a moment that it looks ridiculous with the dinky little tires, I can't help but notice that behind the rear wheel, there is a trim piece on the bottom, yet under the passenger cabin, where a rock slider should be is... nothing. There is just an exposed edge of sheet metal with a handful of holes.
I get it- the higher tier trims have rails mounted there, but at a BARE MINIMUM it seems like there ought to have been a little trim piece or something to make it look finished!
So I had some spare time and the rental company left the toolkit in the glovebox, so naturally I started playing around- took the panels off the top. I do like that feature.
Folded the windshield down. Neat party trick, but really, why? Why spend time engineering that and ignoring the issues above!
I look at the press photos of the Bronco and whatever you think of the aesthetics, at least it looks like a finished design.
Anyway, it feels like Jeep has rested on its laurels for too long. Here's hoping the Bronco forces them to grow up.
Week 1 I had a Dodge Ram. It was pretty nice for a truck. Comfortable, rode well, and had a bunch of creature comforts that actually lead me to just price them out. Not terrible in terms of price. This was my baseline for "Modern" vehicles. I haven't driven anything but my LJ or my old TJ in a decade.
The following week I end up in a Cherokee. This thing was hot garbage. The road noise was at least as bad as my LJ. The interior was poorly designed and uncomfortable. No matter how I adjusted the seat, I couldn't make it feel good. Then it starts doing this thing where it would randomly sound the horn once and the hazard lights would come on and couldn't be turned off. Turns out this is a common glitch.
The next week, I had a Compass. Oddly enough, for being a "step down" from the Cherokee, was actually quieter inside and didn't have the electrical issue. But still, just terrible inside.
This week, I get to the rental lot and they have a Gladiator and a JLU. I've been interested in the Gladiator since I generally use my LJ as a mini pickup.
I get in and immediately notice that this thing doesn't have CarPlay. Even the shitty Compass had that.
Then I try to adjust the seat- I can't figure out how to adjust the seat back. There's a knob- that adjusts the lumbar support. There's a lever- this thing just pumps the seat up and down like a barber chair. And... nothing. I can't figure out how to make the seat recline. I poke around and eventually find a little strap- like a backpack strap. This? This is the adjustment method? WTF?
The truck drives ok. I was happy with how the transmission did it's job getting the power down. But it had a noticeable pull to the right. I'd expect that on a rental, except that this thing had 38 miles on it when I got in!
So I get to my job site and I'm looking at this thing. Putting aside for a moment that it looks ridiculous with the dinky little tires, I can't help but notice that behind the rear wheel, there is a trim piece on the bottom, yet under the passenger cabin, where a rock slider should be is... nothing. There is just an exposed edge of sheet metal with a handful of holes.
I get it- the higher tier trims have rails mounted there, but at a BARE MINIMUM it seems like there ought to have been a little trim piece or something to make it look finished!
So I had some spare time and the rental company left the toolkit in the glovebox, so naturally I started playing around- took the panels off the top. I do like that feature.
Folded the windshield down. Neat party trick, but really, why? Why spend time engineering that and ignoring the issues above!
I look at the press photos of the Bronco and whatever you think of the aesthetics, at least it looks like a finished design.
Anyway, it feels like Jeep has rested on its laurels for too long. Here's hoping the Bronco forces them to grow up.