I was going to say the same thing. Any time BMW ranks higher than middle of the pack you know some money has changed hands somewhere.
Within the CR mode of thinking this makes sense. I've owned several BMW's and it's like the old saying, even the king has to put his pants on one leg at a time. In January I had an X3 rental while my Rubicon was in the body shop from hell. The Beemer had all sorts of little electric motors to retract the mirrors and annoyingly tighten the seat belts. It had pleather upholstery. When it was floored there was a long downshift lag followed by a long turbo lag. It seemed like forever. It might have accelerated smartly after those lags, but I and most drivers want the pickup right away. My eTorque Rubicon had that immediate pickup even if the max acceleration of the BMW after too much time for contemplation was better.
We've owned a number of Grand Cherokees since they first came out - ZJ, 3 WJs, WK, you name it, more than one of each. Never any big problem. Batteries after 2.5 years (DUH) in one of them, spark plugs in another.Being in company with Land Rover is not a prestigious accomplishment and is rather confusing
That said, the 3 years I owned my 2019 GC SRT, I never had a problem. Not sure what to expect with my Wrangler, but you'd think I'd made the biggest mistake of my life if I based my purchase on all the "media" types out there
It's the same reason high end restaurants desire to get awards from a tire company.
Yeah but Michelin is considered the premier authority in culinary arts. CR rates dishwashers. You want the authority in automotive quality - check out JD power.
Consumer Reports released its 2023 auto buying guide a few weeks ago and, as is pretty much usual, Jeep was near the bottom--this year, one slot above Land Rover, which was at the bottom.
I'm posting this because every year when this comes out, my "gearhead" friends say "I guess you'd better think about trying to sell your Jeep." To which I reply, "Not a chance." Jeep (particularly Wrangler) buyers seek out these vehicles for reasons other than the cognitive ones (reliability, safety, etc.) that Consumer Reports uses for its rankings. And in most of these Jeeps perform horribly in...except owner satisfaction. Depending on how you measure it, Jeep owners may or not produce good satisfaction numbers. That's because we'll gripe and complain about Chrysler, FCA, Stellantis, or whoever owns them now, but we'll pretty much always buy them again. In 2007 I said publicly I was done with Jeeps because they put electric locks and windows in them. In 2014 I said I was done with Jeeps because they made them with four doors. In 2016 I said I'd never drive a Jeep again because they have seat warmers. Today I drive a four-door Jeep with electric locks and windows. See what I mean?
People who want to drive Jeeps want a Jeep no matter what the cognitive side of the brain says. That's why they always perform so well in resale value (something CR did not factor in their rankings). They're ugly babies, but they're our ugly babies.
