It’s hard to find things to disagree about with my fine coworker Mike Ballaban anymore. We’ve worked together for a few years now, and most of our takes are fairly aligned. Until... I remembered this article I wrote a year ago, entitled “Just Buy A Jeep” arguing that if you want an offroader in the U.S., you don’t need a fancy Land Rover or Land Cruiser. Then the yelling started.
I still hold to my opinion that if you want a super offroader or even an off road-ready SUV, you should not feel so superior that you must dump a ton more money into something foreign. XJ Cherokees are cool! Woodgrain Wagoneers are classy! Your Discovery or FJ80 is great, but it’s not like it’s a sacrifice you have to make to get something both charming and capable.
My coworker Mike, however, thinks I am fool, and does not ever want to associate with the “It’s a Jeep thing” and “if you can read this roll me over” crowd, which I perfectly understand, even though he’s immature and wrong.