Jeep wranglers are crap. Mechanical nightmares, horrible gas milage, and overpriced.

How about this thought: The xB with a more rugged exterior, larger wheels, and a convertable top. Beats Jeep in all the previous catagories, plus great gas mileage.

What do you think, should this be the next generation scion?

 

Does the Honda Element fill that need? Not my pick for a vehicle, but it has some of the characteristics you mention. For me the XB is the ideal vehicle for my needs.

 

honda suck...............i think they should start selling the open deck bb from asia in US.............very very nice........... super cool to have one........i

 

By the time you have an xB like you have described you'll most likely end up with the same problems..... bad gas mileage, probably come apart after it's bounced over a number of rocks, etc. And I would imagine the price would double as well.

 

I'm not saying you should make an xB for off roading; I know most of the jeeps I see never leave the road. I'm just talking about a soft top and less van like appearence.

 

I think youre dead wrong. A jeep only gets poor milage when you lift it and put larger tires on it. Overpriced? maybe, I dunno that Id pay that much for one but then again I dont love Jeeps like some do.

My best friend has a 98 Wrangler and he still owns it today.

90K on it.

This has what he has gone through
1 battery, replaced with optima 4 years ago.
1 alternator- I replaced it with one from Pep Boys that comes with a LIFETIME warranty
3 catalytic converters- this is the only thing that has ever been defective. Dealer replaced several finally replaced factory with high flow cat when he did his exhaust.

Aside from that nothing.

By the way, his Jeep has been beaten to hell every weekend for the past 4 years with the two of us idiots behind the wheel.

 

Problem is when you take away the top you take away an itegral part of the overall structure. You need to reinforce the frame, or in this case include one that can support the weight of the overall system. Convertables usually weigh more than their hardtop counterparts by 200 to 500 pounds because of the additional reinforcement. The gas mileage, and what performance there is, you get with the box is due in part to a low weight. I like drop tops and own a 78 MG that is a blast to drive. However, over time I have found that there is a temperature window between about 65 ad 75 degrees that makes an open top fun. Less it gets too cold and more it gets too hot especially if the sun is on you.

But, I do see your point. I'm just getting old and crabby ad crabby and have grown to like my comfort.

 

Jeep 4cyl is rated 14/18mpg, 6cyl is 16/20. Sure it get's better mpg than an H2, but I wouldn't call anything under 20mpg anything but bad.

 

I think thats a bad idea...
IMO.

Cya