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2022 Jeep Wrangler Failed On Every CR Test

TravisRogers

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I had a conversation with the head of the Wrangler division about 10 years ago.

The Wrangler actually has no target demographic. It is one of the few vehicles that appeals to young and old, rich and poor, men and women, etc. You find people from all walks of life buying Wranglers. It's one of the only vehicles on the market that can make that claim.
Depending on which stat you pull, JL owners are 64-72% male with a median age of 45-49 and a household income of $120K—180K. Their target in 2018 was the married suburban Millennial but the actual demo swayed older because of price. FCA spent a lot of money and marketing effort to push the demo younger.
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grimmjeeper

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Depending on which stat you pull, JL owners are 64-72% male with a median age of 45-49 and a household income of $120K—180K. Their target in 2018 was the married suburban Millennial but the actual demo swayed older because of price.
That's just people who buy new. Look at the stats for used sales as well.
 

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Funny, I study consumer behavior for a living and "if Jeeps are so bad, why do people keep buying them" is how I start every pitch.

For a practical family like ours, the Wrangler is an awful vehicle on paper. When I was car shopping, of all the cars I looked at, the Wrangler was the least comfortable, the least practical, had the least amount of 'tech', and had the lowest predicted reliability. So, to compensate, I added the $900 tow package –– you know, to make it practical –– and bought it.

Frankly, it's been a pain in the ass, and the second the extended warranty expires it's going away. It sucks in the snow, it's exhausting to drive on the highway, and it struggles off road where my G-Wagen and Pathfinder thrived. If I could go back in time, would I buy it again? Absolutely, without question.

Why? Because the Wrangler is an emotional purchase. The target demo for Wrangler buyers is middle-aged suburban men 40+. They're not buying a car. They're buying possibility. They're buying the feeling of the option of going off road with the top off even though they never will.

People who buy Honda Pilots and Toyota Highlanders are looking for an appliance that gets you from point A to B. That's why those manufacturers sell features rather than mountain vistas. I didn't know half

My favorite things are that it's an ugly square. That you have to wrestle a lever to coax it into 4WD. That it drives like a dump truck. That you sit straight up with your face against the windshield. That you have to give thought to your path across a sand dune. That my wife hates driving it.
TravisRogers
OK your Wrangler drives bad, the steering is terrible and your wife will not drive it. I have a fix for for the on road driving/tracking issues and I bet when the fix is done your wife will drive it and like it and she might want it to be her car so you may have a new problem. You loose your wheels. PM me for the answer if interested and if you are brave enough
 

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Ok, here's some crash tests I'd like to see CR do:

Get Wrangler Unlimited with tow package and put it in park. Take any Mercedes sedan and crash it into the back of the Wrangler at about 50mph. Then see which one is still drivable and give it 5 stars.

Get Wrangler Unlimited with tow package and put it in park. Take any BMW SUV and crash it into the back of the Wrangler at about 50mph. Then see which one is still drivable and give it 5 stars.

Get Wrangler Unlimited with tow package and put it in park. Take any Toyota and crash it into the back of the Wrangler at about 50mph. Then see which one is still drivable and give it 5 stars.
 

Heimkehr

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Get Wrangler Unlimited with tow package and put it in park. Take any Mercedes sedan and crash it into the back of the Wrangler at about 50mph. Then see which one is still drivable and give it 5 stars.

Get Wrangler Unlimited with tow package and put it in park. Take any BMW SUV...

Get Wrangler Unlimited with tow package and put it in park. Take any Toyota...
What relevance does the tow package have on rear impact testing? The receiver hitch is comparatively small and centrally bolted to the vehicle. Or is there something concurrently linked to having the transmission in Park?
 

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zrickety

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Further down that page...
The Perfect Jeep Wrangler Is 20 Years Old
I would have to agree that a TJ or even a late YJ makes a strong case. My old one was built like a tank.
 

JeezAJeep

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CR hates the Wrangler...they rated the Bronco in this issue, and they killed that too
 
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BRuby

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Yeah CR rates based on their user base which is plain vanilla drivers that hardly if ever go off-road. So if comfort noise smoothness safety power seats adaptive cc reliability easy to get in are key then ratings are better. High seat position good visibility rough and tumble go anywhere lockers ground clearance departure angles removable panels are meh and not really factors.

Interestingly some of their reviewers personally like certain aspects of the Bronco and Wrangler but still these types of vehicles rate poor. So kinda just depends on perspective of what is deemed important or not to their end vanilla user base.

Seems no specific hate towards any 4x4 just that their users prefer SUVs that many Wrangler owners would typically not ever consider buying for off-road use. Some are not 4x4s by any stretch of imagination but just road going cars with AWD falling under their classification of SUV.

In this way makes better sense why their rating of the Wrangler is BS.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/suvs.htm

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jaymz

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OK, but my Prius gets 2.5x the mileage that my Jeep does. The right tool for the job, you know... 🙂
It’s not about miles per gallon with a Wrangler. It’s smiles per gallon. And it beats a Prius by far.
 

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jaymz

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jaymz

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aldo98229

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I’m starting to believe that it is the CR tests that are flawed...
 
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BRuby

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Scroll to 18:30 where they talk about the Wrangler and its low historical rating. “Pick and choose the criteria that is best for them.”. Kinda sums up the CR ratings weighting approach geared for their predominantly on-road biased vanilla user base. In this way Bronco and Wrangler will always rate low and lower. But from a true 4x4 off-road perspective would actually rate high and higher.

https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/cars/talking-cars/6288059987001/talking-cars-episode-339/
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