Mr.Quack.

Eh, from what I've seen Jeep products review pretty well these days. The modern Wrangler, with four doors, the Pentastar, a modern 6-speed transmission, and heavily upgraded interiors have come a long way from the 2007 model. They're perfectly liveable vehicles. And I imagine most Wrangler buyers don't read or care what Road and Track says about the car. If they read a magazine it's probably Peterson's Off-road or something, which loves Wranglers. But the best adivertisement is the countless thousands of Wranglers you see with winches, big tires, light bars and no roof or doors driving around on the beach or crusing the town on a pleasant summers day. It looks like so much fun. Makes you want to buy one. Makes me want to buy one. Thats worth than any amount of magazine ink. Then you go on Craigslist or Autotrader and you see second hand Jeeps going for more than new ones. You see 1998 TJs going for $12,000. Supply and demand right there. The FJ Cruiser and Xterra tried the exact play you advised the Bronco go for. They had better engines, drove better, quieter, better NVH, more fuel efficient, better towing, payload capacity, Nissan and Toyota reliability vs Jeep reliability...both are dead and gone while Jeep is switching to higher capacity factory for the Wrangler because they can't make enough of them. I hope Ford knows something Toyota and Nissan didn't.

Jeep has always been "under attack by competitors". Suzuki Samurai (1980s-1998)? Nissan Xterra (1999-2016)? Toyota FJ Cruiser (2006-2016)? (Old) Ford Bronco? Toyota Landcruiser and 4Runner are still around like always. Many have tried to compete with Jeep at their own game over the years. Few have succeeded. Thing is, nobody cares about jeepin more than Jeep. Any competitor put on the market might be as good of a lifestyle vehicle, probably won't be cheaper, and won't have the brand image, name, and style that Jeep has spent the past several decades cultivating. I.E., Jeeps, jeepin, Jeep Jamborees, Jeep Safaris, Jeep roads, Jeep Wave, Jeep clubs, Jeep apparel... So why buy the knockoff when you can buy the real thing?

Actually, I think the ad's attacking the whole "Momplorer" thing is really clever. I think Dodge consumers love that kind of thing. --- You guys should check really all the new Durango ads. They're great. Any ad that talks about post-apocalyptic mercenaries with crossbows and hockey sticks is wins in my book. Whoever Chrysler has that is doing their ads, they're not paying them enough.

Car consumption, period, has dropped by a huge amount over the past 8-10 years... or am I wrong for remembering that the car market today being overall much smaller than what it used to be at the turn of the century? In fact, I believe people DO want to drive be ole honkin' dinosaurs for cars, and they do when they can. But times are hard, gas prices are high, and we're all learning to make do with less. Plus the government CAFEing trucks/off roaders out of existence... But I wonder: How small is this market really? If it is so bad, why would Ford bring forth the Raptor at the seeming worst possible time, when the market was burning to the ground and gas prices were soaring? When many were commenting on how stupid and bone-headed and look-at-the-Detroit-auto-staying-stuck-in-it's-old-ways-behind-the-times? Yet Ford is expanding engine options and door options and they're selling more Raptors than GT500s by a bunch (I think). If I remember correctly (could be perfectly wrong), Ford research/marketing/whatever said the off road market is RED HOT, and now something like twice the size of the sports car enthusiast market, and that is why they never gave up on the Raptor (the most successful SVT ever?), in spite of all the hard times. And consider: Ford sold last month as many F-series, E-series, Rangers, and Expeditions as they sold Fiestas, Focuses, Fusions, and Escapes. You tell me: Which ones are really making Ford money? Which ones are really keeping Ford afloat? Or what about GM? Do you have any idea how many giant SUVS/trucks they sale? Dodge? Let me bring this back to the Escape for a moment: Ford trucks have a lot of brand equity. They have reputation, quality. When you say "Ford truck" it means something, something good. When I think of Ford truck, I think of blue-collar, hard working, I-need-to-get-up-every-morning-and-rain-hail-or-sunshine-go-work-with-my-hands-and-put-food-on-the-table-and-pay-the-bills. Ford truck knows precious takes time and reputations aren't build in a day and and you have to be consistent and persistent and life means your in it for the long haul. Honor and integrity and high ethics. Ford cars? They're cars' reputation are improving and they're good products but Ford's trucks, I think, I have a special reputation in the automotive industry built over GENERATIONS of people. Now here's the thing: real Ford trucks are expensive. A lot of us can't afford them. And here is were the Escape comes in it. It's affordable, practical. It's not a real truck and it never was but it had some truck practically in it and it look like a truck, a Ford truck, and I could buy in to that. Now Ford is ditching the straight truck lines and giving it aggressive curves and huge rims and sleek edges and turning it into latest generation-X/Y "me wants everything and me wants it now while me texts on me phone all day while me at work" fad thing. 180-degrees from Ford truck. Sure, I am positive the new Escape will be a better product than the old one, but it's putting on a personality I despise so I'll never buy one. ---- To all of you who have been saying "the rest of the market has been going more carlike, so Ford needs to," well that just makes me think that Ford is a follower and not a leader. I've read on other forums how Toyota and Honda and Subaru, and in general "foreign" car owners really like the new Escape while current Escape buyers don't. I mean of course! There is a reason those people bought what they bought and not the other. And now Ford is bringing some European SUV thing over that other car owners like and I can't help but wondering if the current Escape owners thinking, "Well, what FORD SUV/truck am I suppose to be buy now"? I bet some of them feel a little sold out. They helped make the Escape a class leader and now they're being left behind while the Escape runs off to be like everything else. Is Ford really following on what made the Escape the success that it is? Really, I don't want to buy a Jeep with it's rattletrap quality or built-in-the-land-of-economic-protectionism Nissans. I rather have a Ford truck, even if it's really not a truck. But if Ford doesn't build them what can I do?

Hey, have you seen what Fiatsler did with Patriot for 2011? Much better, though I kinda like hard plastic interiors myself. They're durable and beatable. It can't tow as much as a Escape, but it can go places an Escape couldn't dream of (to my knowledge). Really, though, a Jeep Liberty is closer to an Escape in price than a Patriot and is seems to be (for all it's good and bad points) twice the "truck" of the Ford. ---- For all this talk about Ford making the Escape and Explorer more carlike, I've come to accept that if Ford doesn't really want to make trucky stuff anymore then someone else will. Hello, Jeep and Nissian.

With the Jeep Liberty, Nissan Xterra, and Toyota FJ Cruiser, I'm guessing Ford considered this aspect of the market covered and focused on improving the qualities that people really used the Explorer for. And that isn't off roading, and it's been that way for some time (in my understanding.) A pity, really, because I like Fords. But I like Jeeps too. F-series four-doors are what really replaced the 'Explorer' for Ford I think, and that didn't happen with this latest model renovation.

Ranger-type truck for a Range-type customer. Younger, single, usually male. No/few mates/offspring to haul around. Not a lot of goods to move about. Active/adventurous, wants the durability/versatility/mobility of a pick up but not the cumbersomeness/gas penalty of a fullsize four door. Probably doesn't need/want-to-pay-for electronic goodies, leather seats, or carpeted floors. Will probably wear out/dirty those things up in no time anyway-doesn't want to bother trying to keep them looking nice and clean. Needs to be on the cheap. High value. Frugal. Doesn't have a wife's income to help pay for it, probably. An automotive equivalent of well-worn jeans for a well-worn jean type person. Personally, give this vehicle a 4x4 system and it's about perfect for me. Could maybe live with a locking/limited-slip differential and/or traction control. That's non-optimal though. But the 4x4 system on the most basic f-150 adds over 4k while a limited slip diff adds only $300. With that kind of price difference, and at the frugality of this price point, one needs to be really honest about what they really need vs what they really want.

I was going to suggest this. A small SUV with a towing package has things going for it IMO. You'll get the ability to seat 5, fold down seats, a rear opening hatch, decent gas mileage, nimble maneuvering in the parking lot, and the ability to leave the bed at home when you don't need it. They can get pretty peppy too, if that is a plus with you.