Machoo

Hey. You know what I got out of that commercial? That I wouldn't trade my Wrangler for that Ford thing.

Slymoon

In spite of my knee jerk reaction and soap box, I do agree with the others.


The Ford appeals to a different clientele with different needs and desires. Most of the wranglers I see around are not off-road fanatics. Many do not have a single upgrade.

Those are possibly the target demographic and I am sure Ford has done their homework. There is a market share that could possibly be pulled away.

Cutman

They are looking at the people who buy Wranglers but don't know why. They just want to get from A to B. Probably reached a lot of them too. The people that buy a Wrangler and trade it in 6 months later and write horrible Consumer Report reviews because of a rough ride, lack of cargo space and technology. I'd say that's fits a lot of buyers.

Four Low

Damn ! I may be outnumbered, but never outgunned.
I bought my JK for all the Wrong Reasons, apparently. I guess having a vehicle that you actually have to DRIVE (manual transmission, OMG) , can MAKE stuff for ( DIY fabrication), can MAINTAIN ( how Neandratholic is that !) ENJOY in all weather, Top On/Top Off, and, neither last nor least, Go Anywhere, in Fact and Fantasy, counts for nought.
I've owned, built, and driven more Jeeps than would be considered Normal, but then, that's the Point.
For the " Not Normal "! . Each to his/her own Off-Ramp on the Highway of Life.

mr72

Those are the right reasons. But those are very unusual considerations for most car buyers. Ford is just trying to point out that if you have ordinary needs in a vehicle, a Wrangler is a very poor choice. But if you have unusual requirements, like the ones you listed (BTW which I happen to share), then the Ford is a really crappy choice. A lot of people have ordinary vehicle requirements and buy a Wrangler because it looks cool and then get very frustrated at how it doesn't meet their requirements. You know, you can't wave your foot beneath the rear bumper and the rear hatch opens itself and the bluetooth is a joke, etc.

Rednroll

Ok, I watched that commercial and the entire time I was thinking.....that's why my wife preferred the Renegade over the Wrangler and that's not why I prefer the Wrangler over the Renegade. My wife had been considering the Escape, but liked the Renegade more because you got a lot more in a Renegade for less $.

mr72

Exactly. And that's why most people would prefer a Renegade (or Escape) over a Wrangler. That's the point Ford is making: don't make a mistake and buy a Wrangler when you really would prefer a crossover SUV.

Even in their current, much more user-friendly form, Wranglers still have a lot of tradeoffs compared to most other cars. Most buyers really don't want to make those tradeoffs, and they are not fully aware of them until they have lived with a Wrangler for some months. For example when I first bought my Wrangler, my wife was only half-joking when she threatened to force me to trade her my new Wrangler for her Lexus. She loved driving it, loved the idea of it, etc. For about a month or two, that is. But once she figured out that you can't lock anything inside it, the wind noise is really loud even with the top up, it's hard to keep it cool even with the air conditioning on full blast and the top/windows up in TX heat, the ride is ... "busy", etc., now she insists we all cram in the Lexus when we go anywhere that's more than 5 miles away or that doesn't require actually driving off road. The Wrangler, to her, is a special-occasion kind of vehicle. Could never be a DD.

That's the way it is for MOST people. That's why I never would recommend someone else buy one. Probably 90% of car buyers can't tolerate the tradeoffs and will regret it.