New Jeep First Impressions

The Reader's Digest version is pretty simple: I love my Jeep!

I drove the 14 miles from the dealership to my parents' house with a big, dumb smile on my face. Driving it, there's no mistaking it for anything other than a short-wheelbase, Universal Jeep. But for what it is, it has an incredible ride. I feel at home behind the wheel. I cannot believe how quiet it is. Even with a soft top and almost zero sound deadening, the thing is much quieter than my Liberty was (on my Liberty, the roof rack would rattle and the off-road lights created lots of wind noise).

The interior doesn't set any luxury standards, nor should it. It's basic and functional. I find the seats to be very comfortable. Visibility is excellent. The back seat is essentially useless, and will likely spend the rest of it's life under my ownership in my basement under a dust cover. If I need to haul a third or fourth person...that's what my Dodge is for. Even a gymnast would struggle getting in the back seat of this thing.

We installed the Bestop Flexatrunk today, and it functions very well. However if I choose to discard the back seat, I won't be using the "flexi" function very much. It will do an excellent job keeping stuff concealed and secured, and will prevent stuff from flying out when topless.

The radio is nice and the sound system sounds great. It's so nice to finally have an aux jack for my XM and iPod...no more cassette player noise! Finding a place to mount the iPod and XM will likely present an engineering challenge tomorrow.

My first reaction to the exterior was that it's the biggest little truck ever made...when/if you see it in person, you'll probably think the same thing. It's a very short vehicle, but it's extraordinarily wide and extraordinarily tall. The width is nice for stability. I'm riding on big honking 32" tires, and getting in requires a big step. This factor is what makes getting into the back seat practically impossible.

Those 14 miles were as far as I drove it today; the rest of the day was spent working on it in the garage. But so far so good: I'm happy, I don't have buyer's remorse, and I don't miss the Liberty.