Which Is Better Off-Road: A Brand New Jeep Cherokee Or My Old $600 Craigslist Cherokee?

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/im-tak...com-1737773688

Saw this and thought I would post it.

 

Methinks he overpaid is he paid $600 for that POS.

 

This is one of the reasons I hate EJS.

Everyone and their mother thinks they should show up with whatever.

I did it once.

ONCE.

Never again.

Highly overrated. If you like crowds, jackasses, idiots, and the occasional super cool rig, I guess it's for you. We would normally go a couple weeks before or after. Better camping spots, no waiting for hours on trails for idiots or general overcrowding, easier to get food in town when not eating at camp, no lines for gas or firewood, you get the gist of it. It's a madhouse. Police everywhere, so be on your best, if you know what I mean. I guess you need to experience it at least once, but other than that, no frikkin' way.

Moab is one of the COOLEST places on the planet, IMHO...add a bunch of yahoos to that and it becomes decidedly UN-cool.

As stated, I LOVE Moab. Go with friends. Have a grand time.

Add the general public to that mix, and you get the idea.

People suck, LOL

 

This debates always pop up every so often. Each vehicle has its own strengths and weaknesses. Approach angles, weight, axles, factory options etc.

And guess what, most people will run in here and say the XJ is the best because they are biased. But years ago when the YJ or the first XJs came out, these same debates took place. Each has its own potential.

 

True, but think about it...all these "soccer moms and dads" that have now purchased a KL decide "I have a Jeep, let's go"...and have ZERO clues about wheeling, especially in a place like Moab. Granted, there are lots of others around to help them when they get stuck, but it clogs the trails.

Add to that the people like this, who just want to take out a low dollar rig to "prove" something, factor in some morons and drunks, people who litter, shoot guns off wherever, poop in the road, and you get the idea. Don't even get me started on spotters. LOL

I guess I'd just rather be out there, with others that know what they're doing, who I know and trust, and are of like mind.

 

Stock vs stock, I think the new cherokee trail hawk will be able to tackle a lot more stuff, than and XJ, because of its stock locker and other electronics.

Once you go modified, there's no contest.

 

Omg that's always a problem. Even these jackasses with $10,000 jeeps can have issues because they may not know what their doing. A lot of the time it comes down to driver and spotter. Hell, a decent spotter can get you out and over a lot of stuff.

 

If you hate it on your local trails, imagine this:

Drive 7 1/2 hours to get to Moab. Spend another 3 hours, offroad, at night, passing jackholes the whole way, just to find a campsite. Find a suitable location, set up camp, crash for 3-4 hours.

After you wake up, and head out, imagine the worst case trail scenario you can possibly come up with. Factor that times 100. Even then, you won't even be close, LOL

Some people dig it, but not me. I wanna go out there to get AWAY from idiots, not be *****-deep in them.

 

The answer is always the $600 vehicle, just because you are willing to beat the hell out of it and not care about doing damage.


If someone was willing to beat on a $30k+ KL Trailhawk like you would a $600 XJ it probably is more capable stock for stock, but few would be willing to do that.

 

For $600 you rip the doors off, replace the windshield with one from a junkyard, cage it, hell take the whole roof off it. Take a sawzall to the fenders, 1 ton axles, v8 swap .... point is, for $600 you can't do anything wrong to it!

Buy a $30,000.00 Trailhawk and cry when it gets scratched.

 

I avoid the problem of idiots in Moab while still enjoying Moab by mountain biking.

 

Yup I agree I try to stay far away from other people when we are out for a day or 2, and we are lucky we have lots of places to do so not far away.