Jeep snobbery - RANT

[Whaler27]

If I was looking for status I certainly wouldn't have bought so many jeeps in my life. In fact it is just the opposite because all I hear is how terrible they are.......which frankly they are comparatively. But I still love them, and buy them for myself not what anyone else thinks about it. Maybe this is a left coast thing because where Im from, people don't care what you drive, and those that do aren't in my sphere of influence anyway.

The left coast is definitely more of a car culture.. but let’s not forget that the right coast has Miami, the epicenter of vehicle idiocy.

Sponsored

 

[verapx]

I think most people care about the image they project more than they care about what other people think. Most people in my area don't do the Jeep wave and such. More people notice and acknowledge my beat up trail scrambler when it's one the road than my 22JLUR but that's okay because bottom line is I have them for my pleasure and don't really care whether others approve or not.

 

[jeepoch]

Aldo, et. al.,

From someone that drove the most boring vehicle ever invented (a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan) for about 15 years, your vehicle says a lot about your inner self.

For me, the boring and unremarkable schmoe that I generally am, I'd likely still be driving that thing if it wasn't for a distracted 16 year old driver that pulled his Dad's new Prius blindly out into traffic. I could have T-Boned him at 40mph. If I hadn't swerved, I'm very certain he'd be pushing up daisies.

The end result is he still clobbered the side of my minivan, enough to where my insurance totalled it. Thus leading the way for me to go way out on a whim and purchase something that's the total opposite of boring, this JL. Unfortunately, at that particular time, my budget didn't allow me many options. I found this Sport for a song ($28K). Even then, I was scraping every damn piggy bank I could find in order to keep my payments affordable. Recall, I hadn't a car payment for over a decade.

Not everyone on this planet is rich. I can certainly claim to be a part of that crowd.

However, driving this JL is such a pick-me-up psychologically, that I'll admit I wish I had purchased a Jeep a whole lot sooner. Practicality be damned. I was now, for the first time in my life, focusing more on 'fun'.

Yet, do I really care what someone thinks of what I drive, where I drive or how I drive it? Not one single iota. Do I like bragging about how I enjoy my new on and off-road experience (you bet). This also means that I do care learning about your experience, either good or bad. This allows me to compare/contrast and even be more empathetic with you (and others) in driving towards our own unique concept of vehicle ownership nirvana.

I do enjoy your thoughts; that's why I have responded to this thread. To be truthful however, if you or anyone gives a shit about my jeeping happiness, this matters little to the thread's overall purpose.

We are all jeepers, sharing our experience. My JL has brought me more joy in the last three years than the entire 20 before it. That itself is priceless, independent of any foul comment or argument.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Jay

 

[Whaler27]

Anyway, talk about "hierarchy" and look at the brand itself. When was the last time you Wrangler owners acknowledged a Compass or a Renegade?

Back in the 60s my dad bought our family one of the first Wagoneers. It’s was the new family truckster. (A less comfortable station wagon with lots of steel and 4-wheel drive). It was a useful vehicle, but not a wave producer. “The wave” has always been a CJ/YJ/TJ/JL thing. I remember when I first became aware if it in the mid 70s. In those days Jeeps were rare and the wave was an acknowledgment of a rare kindred spirit. It made sense back then, as Jeep ownership signified common interests — outdoor stuff, like fishing, hunting, beaching, skiing, farming, etc. In the early days CJs could be fitted with PTOs that would drive all sorts of cool farm equipment.

I’ve used this analogy many times here, but Jeeps used to communicate lifestyle like dive watches communicated SCUBA as a hobby or vocation. That hasn’t been the case since 1990 or so. Everybody and their dog has been buying dive watches since the 90s, whether they can swim or not, just as people who never leave the city are buying jeeps — so the jeep wave means something different now (but it still has zero to do with social “status”).

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

You peasants still getting your feathers all ruffled?!

 

[Dyolfknip74]

Firstly, you really need to learn some forum etiquette. To join a forum and start attacking others on your few posts is not what this is about.

Secondly, you clearly have no clue how advertising works. Those who loudly deny being under the influence of marketing and advertising, usually turn out to be the most gullible.

Now it’s time to place you on “ignore.”

Ya, he was winning hearts and minds LITERALLY on his first thread.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/oil-pan-skid-plate.106061/

Too bad he got banned so quickly, seemed like a nice fella. Maybe just misunderstood.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

Aldo, et. al.,

From someone that drove the most boring vehicle ever invented (a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan) for about 15 years, your vehicle says a lot about your inner self.

For me, the boring and unremarkable schmoe that I generally am, I'd likely still be driving that thing if it wasn't for a distracted 16 year old driver that pulled his Dad's new Prius blindly out into traffic. I could have T-Boned him at 40mph. If I hadn't swerved, I'm very certain he'd be pushing up daisies.

The end result is he still clobbered the side of my minivan, enough to where my insurance totalled it. Thus leading the way for me to go way out on a whim and purchase something that's the total opposite of boring, this JL. Unfortunately, at that particular time, my budget didn't allow me many options. I found this Sport for a song ($28K). Even then, I was scraping every damn piggy bank I could find in order to keep my payments affordable. Recall, I hadn't a car payment for over a decade.

Not everyone on this planet is rich. I can certainly claim to be a part of that crowd.

However, driving this JL is such a pick-me-up psychologically, that I'll admit I wish I had purchased a Jeep a whole lot sooner. Practicality be damned. I was now, for the first time in my life, focusing more on 'fun'.

Yet, do I really care what someone thinks of what I drive, where I drive or how I drive it? Not one single iota. Do I like bragging about how I enjoy my new on and off-road experience (you bet). This also means that I do care learning about your experience, either good or bad. This allows me to compare/contrast and even be more empathetic with you (and others) in driving towards our own unique concept of vehicle ownership nirvana.

I do enjoy your thoughts; that's why I have responded to this thread. To be truthful however, if you or anyone gives a shit about my jeeping happiness, this matters little to the thread's overall purpose.

We are all jeepers, sharing our experience. My JL has brought me more joy in the last three years than the entire 20 before it. That itself is priceless, independent of any foul comment or argument.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Jay

Clearly you never drove the turbo Grand Caravan. That thing was one of the best sleepers ever built.

 

[Heimkehr]

Ya, he was winning hearts and minds LITERALLY on his first thread.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/oil-pan-skid-plate.106061/

Too bad he got banned so quickly

The previous record for a short interval between a Join date and a banning was one full week. This guy barely lasted four days. Unsurprising, given the pointed crassness of his posts. Not everyone is equipped to have an online presence.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

The previous record between a Join date and a banning was one full week. This guy barely lasted four days. Unsurprising, given the pointed crassness of his posts. Not everyone is equipped to have an online presence.

I'm a firm believer that the internet has given way too many people a voice. Remember when they were just that weird relative you had to invite to dinner then you spent the whole meal wishing they would leave? Ya, those people ALL have a voice now. Lol

 

[Heimkehr]

I'm a firm believer that the internet has given way too many people a voice.

Absolutely. YouTube makes this reality achingly plain.

 

[Zandcwhite]

My point is: if you didn’t really care about what others thought, you wouldn’t care about what color you got, what wheels you got, what options you ordered, and even less paying through the nose to own an overpriced Jeep.

Buying an automobile is the most outward manifestation of ourselves towards those around us, only after buying a home.

To keep repeating “I don’t care what others think”, on a Jeep forum of all places, perhaps makes some feel better, but also shows lack of self awareness.

None of us live in a bubble and should be aware of our outward persona, but I didn't buy the Jeep for anyone else. We bought it to use it. Wheel it. Take the dogs out into the woods. I didn't pick a single option for the perception. I bought the cold weather package because the seat heater and steering wheel heater feel amazing after packing up camp in sub-freezing weather. I didn't pick the color for what others might think, I spend more time looking at the thing than anyone else will. The idea that the only reason to buy a Jeep is to impress others and that color and interior options are for that same image is nuts. Nobody knows what options I have on my Jeep as they don't get inside?

 

[Dyolfknip74]

Absolutely. YouTube makes this reality achingly plain.

Jesus. Try Twitter. Regardless of whatever way you lean, you will find the most vile, right out to lunch ass hats on there. It's like the wild west.

 

[aldo98229]

Clearly you never drove the turbo Grand Caravan. That thing was one of the best sleepers ever built.

Or the Dodge Man Van... That thing got a HEMI!

 

[aldo98229]

I am super late to this thread, and I know it. I also admit to not having read through 40 odd pages of the thread.

But having seen it pop up on my active threads it caught my eye, because I truly believe there is a F-ed up "hierarchy" of Jeeps.

I built a sweet WJ 12 years ago, put it on 35's and crawled all over everything. It was my family daily driver and I loved it. I passed it on to my son when he was driver aged.

I have driven a KJ, a TJ, and currently in the fleet we have a KL, XJ, JL, JLR, and my WK2. My WK2 is a stout and capable as about anything. But you know what, the only "JEEP wave" i get is in my JLR. Why not a wave for the WK2 with rails, winch, skids and 32" BFG AT tires?

Wranglers in general don't understand that it was the high volume family cars that kept the wrangler around. The KJ and the WJ saved the TJ because of the volume of units sold and the profit created.

Anyway, talk about "hierarchy" and look at the brand itself. When was the last time you Wrangler owners acknowledged a Compass or a Renegade?

That’s the inconvenient truth right there, isn’t it.

 

[aldo98229]

I think most people care about the image they project more than they care about what other people think. Most people in my area don't do the Jeep wave and such. More people notice and acknowledge my beat up trail scrambler when it's one the road than my 22JLUR but that's okay because bottom line is I have them for my pleasure and don't really care whether others approve or not.

There’s no such thing as “image” without what other people think. Plain and simple.

Sponsored