Cars and Drivers

Jeep's Image Flattened

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Jeep has struggled in several recent surveys of car quality. Most recently, Hot Cars named it America’s least reliable brand. A recent story by editors of Insider showed how severe Jeep’s sales have been recently in an article titled: “What Happened to Jeep? The mother of all SUVs has lost its edge as sales fall and cars pile up on dealer lots.” (These are the bestselling cars in America.)
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The Hot Cars analysis showed that, based on a numerical measure, Jeep scored 30 out of a possible score of 100. This tied it with Land Rover Range Rover, which also does poorly in many car quality studies.

Hot Cars’ editors singled out among the brand’s best-selling models. They wrote, “The Gladiator and Wrangler’s unreliability is infamous now due to the issues in suspension, body integrity, and the drive system rendering them impractical.” The market is full of SUVs and crossover alternatives. Jeep cannot afford to be seen as a broken brand.


Jeep has had a huge lead in the SUV race. It was launched in 1943 and was famous for its wide use by the U.S. military in World War II. This image helped push sales for decades.


A recent study of how long dealers have to hold cars, from when the manufacturer delivers them and when customers pick them up, showed the Jeep Cherokee at the wrong end of the list. According to a 24/7 Wall St. article: “The model with the highest days on market is the Jeep Cherokee. Its figure is 128.7 days.” No dealer wants to face that problem.

Jeep’s best days are behind it. It is doubtful its brand can be fully revived. Its eight-decade reputation has taken too much of a beating.

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