Wrangler Unlimited Fashion Accessory

Boza · 13-06-2016, 11:58 PM

Has the Jeepo wrangler unlimited become the latest poser mobile or fashion accessory. In my local area S.E burbs of Melbourne they seem to be on every corner and every driveway with all sorts of accessory's hanging of them. Where I go for my daily bike ride there are heaps parked either out the front of people's houses with heap's of stuff on them lift kit's wheel's etc...
There one parked out the front of a house that's been sitting in the same spot for age's I know cause the wheels have been turned to the right for the past month. Also when I have been to the trendy area's they seem to be parked out the front of every cafe.

Also in hollywood it seems like everyone has one there are even companies that only build JK's for celebrity's that bewer take them off road.

What is the appeal of these things I know the roof come's off in sections and you can take it off completely but what else is it about them seems like every off road poser has one but newer uses it for that.

FG50T · 14-06-2016, 06:56 AM

No idea but you're right, girls are getting on board to (which is scary). It's probably the most inconvenient car I've driven, hate everything about them. They have no place in the city.

Crazy Dazz · 14-06-2016, 02:29 PM

Just goes to show (FA take note) what actually advertising your product can do.

Whoever came up with the idea, of turning the "WTF? You bought a Jeep???"
into a social meme, is a genius.

I have always had time for jeeps, I actually liked the Cherokee back in the day when it was an oversize truck with a massive donk. And for most of that time, I have been in a tiny minority.

Chrysler have marketed the heck out of these things, and it has worked.

There is a growing "schism" in Australia. There are those who want to live in trendy apartments and drive little hybrids or battery cars and consider themselves "European", and those who aspire to the more traditional Aussie lifestyle (which is far closer to American than we would like to admit.) For those, the family car is no-longer a big powerful RWD sedan or wagon, its a big SUV.

Wretched · 14-06-2016, 02:34 PM

No worse than those with old Patrols and Landcruisers lifted to the high heavens, wobbling about on the road with mods that make them sound like trucks. Again most just get driven around the 'burbs anyway.

Vesper Martini · 14-06-2016, 03:20 PM

I don't mind seeing a few Wrangers on the road, its good not having every car on the road look the same.

But I imagine dads are Buying these for their daughters on the perception they are safe

chevypower · 14-06-2016, 04:00 PM

They are fun off-road, particularly the Rubicon. Not the greatest to drive on road, but they aren't that bad either. I certainly wouldn't "ban" them from normal roads. It takes a bit of highway driving to get to where you want to take it on the weekends. The nice thing is you can drive them to work during the week too. I wouldn't buy one just to drive purely on the road.

SumoDog68 · 14-06-2016, 04:26 PM

I don't have a Wrangler but know 2 guys that own them and both are taken off road regularly .
It is not a kind of car thats enjoyable to drive in the city or on the freeways but it is very capable off road. Some use it for its intended purpose and some buy it just for the image they project. No different to any other product.

XB GS 351 Coupe · 14-06-2016, 06:41 PM

If I was single I would buy one in a heart beat, great off road and a fun car to drive.

My daughter who is 13 wants one , and it would get used off road, just like our H3 regularly sees dirt tracks and mud puddles and off road action to get to camping, hunting and fishing spots.

Great car for people who like the outdoors and have some fun.

Ben73 · 14-06-2016, 08:50 PM

I don't see that many really. No more than several years ago anyway.
Grand Cherokees, on the other hand, are everywhere. But they are good to drive, look good and well equipped for the price.
I have never seen the appeal of a Wrangler though, unless you are going go off road.

CyberWasp · 14-06-2016, 09:00 PM

Wrangler probably has more options to customise the look than any other vehicle.
I would love to make one with the theme of Apocalypse Vehicle if I had the money.

smoo · 15-06-2016, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FG50T

It's probably the most inconvenient car I've driven, hate everything about them. They have no place in the city.

What makes them so unsuited for the city? When there's thousands of real pieces of **** getting around for daily duties that excel at nothing except maybe reliability Corolla, Hyundai, CRV RAV4 types of vehicles, the wrangler does no worse of a job than any of these for day to day living. In fact when I had my Wrangler if I needed to go to the CBD it was first choice because I wasn't worried if someone opened their door into it or backed into the arb bar as it had already been scratched up from 4wding and they'd come off second best.
They have a killer factory sound system and the V6 sounds bloody awesome with a snorkel so not a bad place to be on a daily commute.

The ultimate fashion accessory still belongs to the double cab ute.

Junkyard-Dog · 15-06-2016, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoo

The ultimate fashion accessory still belongs to the double cab ute.

I totally agree with you. There are only twenty-two houses on my street and on my way to work today, I counted that seven of them have dual-cab utes parked out front. I don't reckon any of them go four-wheeling very often either.

For many people, a vehicle is a fashion accessory. It's nothing new. "Bikies" have their Harleys, ram-raiders have their Imprezas and now inner-city people that want to pretend they head out bush have their Wranglers...

it's all good.

**Giant Cranium** · 15-06-2016, 11:24 AM

i love seeing them in nyc, lifted with all the arb bar work, light and high lift jacks. all coupled with perfect black or bright orange paint with not a scratch on them. i had a glance under one with a 6 inch lift and 35's. it had never seen dirt

**Grunter** · 15-06-2016, 11:52 AM

Seems a bit like all the performance/sports based cars that market speed, handling and race bred performance but never, or rarely see a race track.

josh1990 · 15-06-2016, 11:58 AM

Used to change tyres on a golden eagle wrangler that the guy used to drift over in W.A, he seem to think that was a good idea

Ben73 · 15-06-2016, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grunter

Seems a bit like all the performance/sports based cars that market speed, handling and race bred performance but never, or rarely see a race track.

That's true. Those cars are terrible for daily city commuting.
Scraping on speed bumps and driveways, terrible visibility, bad fuel consumption and a pothole will destroy the low profile wheels.
I don't know how these people think it's a good idea to drive these cars on public roads.

BTW that was sarcasm, but it is still somewhat true. I would still buy a Mustang even though it would suffer from those issues.

I love driving the Ranger in town, it's good to be able to exit a driveway at 3km/h without smashing the front or rear bumper.

It's no wonder everyone in the city are buying small SUVs these days. I had a Kuga titanium as a loan car yesterday and I think it would be a better around town family car than the average sedan. Most people don't care that they are slower and handle worse than a sedan.

My theory is let people drive whatever they want.