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The Last Cowboy

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I had to pick my words when saying they do it better than anyone else, as I didn’t want to say they are doing it great. While their cycle line is lacking, their band management is great, probably the best in the US and among the best in the world. Also, the initial quality/fit and finish on their bikes is very good. I don’t know about the longterm reliability of the new Milwaukee 8 though, but it seems to be doing very well so far.

Politics aside, who didn’t take or advocate for bailout loans 14 years ago? Even Ford was an advocate for others and quietly took some themselves. We won’t get into how GM manipulated their corporate structure and bankruptcy laws. Or the sale of Chrysler to Cerberus and then to Fiat.

Anyway, I’m having a difficult time right now not buying a new R1200GS. I had one of the new water cooled ones in 2013 and it was the best riding bike I’ve owned to this point.
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Hennessey17

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Land/Range Rover did those showrooms that looked like a Cabella's, minus the taxidermy, but that was it. The sales staff were still in dress clothes and the place was a confliction of rugged vs luxury. Now they are on the douchey side of luxury, like may so called luxury brands these days, not just cars.
I was living on the Northside of Chicago 18 years ago and there was one of those Land Rover dealers nearby. It was kind of in an odd area. In between two gentrified and affluent neighborhoods, there was an old school industrial district (that has since been torn down). The dealer itself was in one of the neighborhoods, right next to 90/94, but they had that "demonstration trail" a couple of blocks away on a very industrial street... totally looked out of place.
 

longfiredragon

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I have not replied to this yet. Read a good chunk of it. I am still in amazement at how many people own Jeep Wranglers and come on here and bash Jeep. Some of them it seems like they are just looking for an excuse to bash Jeep. I get it, there is room for improvement. Hell the entire automotive industry could use some series improvements.

Personally I like going to a showroom and touching, looking at the lines, sitting in vehicles getting a feel for them. So much so that I will never buy a vehicle without actually seeing it up close and checking everything out. And I research vehicles first also. And yes I can say no! I have no issue with telling anyone no! I am just looking. Then order it, or go find best deal somewhere, or buy it, whatever. I have also had the experience of rolling into a dealership and having a dealer give me a killer deal, and being hard pressed to find as good of deal anywhere else.

So consider this. The top 3 concerns people have in America when it comes to buying a new vehicle are. In this order.

1) Color
2) Whether or not it is cute, or they like the way it looks
3) Price

So what does this tell us. The majority are almost 100% ignorant of anything about cars, trucks, any vehicle. So will they sit their butts on their couch, order a new vehicle on their phone, do all the paperwork online and have the vehicle delivered to their house without every laying eyes on it. Yes they will. And they do not want to know about their new car, almost nothing except how to work the blue tooth and a few others things. They are not planning on touching it, most don't even wash it. They can barley drive them, and only a small handful actually know the limitations of the vehicle.

You can try and blame it on a dealership experience, but it is only a small part of the equation. Really it is the complete and utter ignorance of the car buying public.

So, for me, who does not fit into the above category. I would love to see exclusive Jeep dealerships. Hell yea. It will help to set Jeep apart, because really it is different and apart from pretty much everything built already. Everyone else can buy their new vehicles the way they want and stay that way as far as I am concerned. I will go to a exclusive Jeep dealership and hang with just Jeep people and love it.
 

Shibadog

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Lucas elect was junk, constantly crashes. Thankfully my Triumph had a magneto so I could get home albeit without lights. BTY— E Type hood?
When I was a kid back in the late ‘60’s the local Triumph motorcycle shop had a sign above the parts counter “Why do the English drink warm beer? Because they have Lucas refrigerators”. 😁
 

astglenn

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Yes, I saw this article on Auto News.

This is my letter to the editor which, apparently, will appear on next week's print edition.

"I love Jeeps; I have been a Jeep customer for 25-plus years.
Jeep dealer service was never stellar, but I saw the dealership experience steadily deteriorate under Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ownership, particularly over the past seven or so years.
Opening up new stores makes OEMs feel good, but it rarely solves the underlying problems. Worse, opening new stores/showrooms automatically increases the number of vehicles that need to be sold to break even. And it is the individual dealers left to bear most of the risk — just look at what happened to Fiat USA dealers.
Granted, Jeep is not Fiat, especially not in North America. But unless Jeep implements better training for sales and tech staff and stricter customer service requirements, and/or enlists dealers with a reputation for delivering a better customer experience, making existing dealers to build separate showrooms is not going to fix any of Jeepthe underlying problems.
As the old saying goes, it is simply putting lipstick on a pig."
Exactly this. Jeep sits on a gold mine, however, they really need to go well beyond a rebranding to capitalize and leverage this lifestyle -customer identity loyalty. I absolutely love my JL. But in a whole lot of ways, it is like getting married to a total 10 at 20, and after 5 years she now has a mustache and beer belly. Ya love her, but damn. Fix the ridiculous steering box and basic front end geometry failure modes. Kick the bad dealers in the balls, and do it very visibly. Stand up for your dedicated customer base. Much can be greatly improved at the dealer interface. I dig the rebranding, but it ain’t enough.
 

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Cajun21

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Well sometimes change is good, yet I wonder who they are actually catering to. Just hope the negative Nancy's don't blow it with their remarks. Well we will see in the coming year or two- maybe the workmanship will get better, but if not we've been suckers for this vehicle for 20 plus years-well let me rephrase this idiot here has been a sucker for this vehicle. LOL Keep the Jeep wave going folks.
 

aldo98229

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Problem is auto executives often do change for the sake of change; mostly as a way to leave their mark and satisfy their big egos. But they never stick around long enough to see the unexpected costs and the unintended consequences of their decisions.
 
 



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