Yeah, I know the commercial has been out for a long time, but I wanted to mention it anyway. A guy is in a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a rock tied to the front (leading it as one would use a carrot to lead a horse). Joe Isuzu pulls up and says (more or less), “You’re never going to take that thing offroad! Buy an Isuzu!”
The implication is that the Isuzu is a poseur-mobile that looks like it can go offroad (part of the appeal of SUV is their offroad ability) but is incapable of handling anything more than a gravel driveway.
I take my Cherokee Sport offroad and it does very well even on the stock tyres. (Okay, it slips a little after it rains and the mud is a bit snotty; but I haven’t been stuck yet. Maybe I’ll get proper rubber later.) I know that 90% of SUV drivers never let a speck of mud touch their precious vehicles, but I would never get a specialized vehicle unless I intended to use its special abilities. The now-discontinued Cherokee is too small for a “working” vehicle (i.e., for hauling construction supplies), but it has come in very handy for camping and hauling my movie equipment. Even if I didn’t take it into the bush for fun, I’d still want 4WD since I’ve used it on unimproved roads.
Isuzu’s commercial makes me NOT want to get one of their "SUV"s.
I haven’t seen the commercial in question, but I can tell you that Isuzus are quite capable four-wheelers. I have a '95 Rodeo LS, and aside from the leather interior and power toys, it’s definitely built on a real truck frame (unlike the RX300, RAV4, CRX, Tracker, etc…) and it’ll get over or around anything I’ve been nutty enough to try.
The claim to fame for Jeep is that all the models they sell are tested on the Rubicon, a trail famous for its difficulty. I don’t know if Isuzus are quite to that standard, but they’re not poseur mobiles…
The new Chevy Tracker is actually pretty solid. it’s built like a miniature SUV (like they all tout). The older Geo Trackers were crap just like the rest.
Me? I’ll stick with my 1985 S10 Sport Blazer. Got a nice towing package on it with a ridiculous low gear in 4WD. I pulled a huge tree out of a canal when lightning hit it in my parent’s backyard once. New sport (read: small) SUV’s might be built to go off road, but they have little ground clearance. Especially after running boards and body packages. It’s like the manufacturers forgot what they were built for when they were thinking about how the vehicle looks.
The_Raven: Actually the implication of the commercial is that the Isuzu won’t go offroad, because Joe Isuzu in effect says, “Hey, if you’re not going to go offroad, why not get one of these?” They might be perfectly good offroad, but the commercial makes it seem otherwise.
As for The Rubicon Trail, yes all Jeeps have to pass it; and they’ve done so quite well for decades… until now. Technically the Jeep Liberty did pass the Rubicon; but it was done with a team of rock stackers who went ahead to make the trail as easy as possible, and I think I also read that it suffered major damage to the drivetrain that had to be repaired before they could continue.
Johnny, I was thinking of looking at a Liberty next year (I kinda like the look of them) but I heard something to that respect as well. Therefore, my Cherokee is going to be staying in my driveway for a few years longer. I may be old fashioned, but I like a solid front axle for my off-roading… even though I don’t do it much. My 4WD usually is just for snow duty now.
Do you have any links for that info on the Liberty sucking ass on the Rubicon? Which components failed? I’d like to read more about that.
BTW - Do you have any idea why that ZJ had a rock swinging in front of it in the first place?
This thread asks the question directly: Did the Liberty do it, or didn’t it? The first reply says:
Another writes, “THE LIBERTY HAS NO BUISNESS ON THE RUBICON AND SHOULD NOT BE SOLD AS SUCH A VEHICLE.” [caps his.]
As for the rock… Jeep had a commercial that I saw one time. A guy in an apartment in the middle of the city gets out of bed. He pickes up a boulder and groggily goes downstairs with it. He suspends it from a pole that is attached to the top of his Jeep. The idea is the same as hanging a carrot from a stick when you’re riding a horse. The horse tries to get the carrot and walks toward it. In the commercial, the gag is that the Jeep likes rocks so much that it will follow one around in the city.
I drive an SUV and I’ll NEVER take it off road. I DRIVE an SUV because I refuse to drive a station wagon or minivan.
I may be a yuppified soccer mom, but I want the space to throw my daughter’s wagon in the back w/o worrying about getting the trunk lid down. I wanna be able to put a bike or a Christmas tree in there. I certainly don’t have any asperations of looking like I can haul a boat with a deer carcass slung over the front. I drive it simply because it is an alternative!
Have all the SUV bashers noticed that station wagons have virtually disappeared from the scene? They are only now making a comeback because all the SUV drivers who are sick and frigging tired of hearing crap are finally at their lease’s end.
I’m sick of taking flack for driving a pansy SUV (Benz ML320). Some of us WANT SUVs that drive like cars, I know I do! Mine doesn’t, it drives like a truck and I hate it.
I’m sick of hearing that I drive like a lunatic. Well guess what, I drive like a lunatic in whatever car I’m in. Put me in my husbands sedan and I drive worse with 320 HP under me.
I’m sick of hearing it. All you REAL truck drivers go haul your asses into the woods and rot, I’ll be happily spending my husband’s money at Bloomingdale’s.
I won’t even park next to an Isuzu now because of that commercial. Does Isuzu honestly think that commercial is going to convince me to buy one of their vehicles? Yes, I have a Grand Cherokee (a ZJ). Though I do use it for commuting to school, I also have fun with it off-road (I think my Jeep looks better with mud spattered all over the sides!). And it’s the only thing I’ll drive when it snows.
I know other Jeep drivers might frown on my ZJ as a “luxury” SUV, but I really don’t see it that way–I have cloth seats, my aftermarket-stereo is the cheapest thing I could find on “Big Sale Day” at the local sound shop, I don’t have power seats, I don’t have a built-in programmable garage door opener…I could go on and on.
Since Isuzu seems to think that my Jeep has never been off-road, I wonder if they would mind explaining where that huge scrape on the left side of the front bumper came from.
Notice that you can get a 4x4 package, but as far as that goes who knows???
“This platform is as truck as trucks get. So Isuzu has stacked every electronic fandangle in its arsenal to make the Axiom drive more like the Highlander, the Subaru Outback, and other car-based curb jumpers in its kill zone.”
I myself love, the Axiom and also thought it was a “truck looking car” until I started reading around on it.
I think it’s one of the best looking SUV’s on the market.
Definetely the best for the price, IMHO
Sue Duhnym: I’m not actually ragging on people who don’t use their SUVs for their designed purpose. I’m ragging on Isuzu for implying that their vehicle is incapable of going offroad (and that is the implication).
I think the old Suzuki Samurai had solid axles. I’ve heard they’re a lot of fun offroad, and I think it would be fun to have one.
Oh hell. I really don’t want to get mad at you, Sue.
But a SUV isn’t the only alternative. I used to haul all that sort of stuff around in a Ram 50 small pickup. And station wagons disappeared, why? Because people were pounding on the dealership doors, begging to buy one?
I’m tired of SUVs that never go into the backwoods because they’re cluttering up my morning commute. Unlike with standard passenger cars, I can’t easily see around you or through you.
When I drive, my mantra is: pay attention. But all the attention-paying in the world won’t help me see what the second car ahead of me is doing, if the car directly ahead of me is a SUV or minivan.
It used to be that vision-obstructing vehicles were very much the exception. Now it seems like they’re about every fourth car out there. I hate having to change lanes all the time, just to be able to see. And I’m tired of having to make a special effort to be in front of, rather than behind, SUVs and minivans traveling at roughly the same speed I am. I really don’t care whether I get to the next light one car sooner, but dammit, I want my line of sight, and I can only have that if I’m the one in front, OK?
