What's Wrong With This Picture: Jeep Finds Its Moral Compass (By Accident?) Edition

by Edward Niedermeyer

March 9th, 2011 6:39 PM

what s wrong with this picture jeep finds its moral compass by accident edition

When we first heard that the updated Jeep Compass would be “Trail Rated,” a number of commenters pointed out that the term “Trail Rated” is little more than a Jeep marketing phrase, and argued that the Compass had no business pretending to be a true off-roader. Well, according to this picture, which Michael Karesh found on Jeep’s website, the upgraded Compass will even go so far as to offer that talisman of off-road capability, a solid front axle. Unless, of course, this is actually a misplaced picture of a Wrangler, which it almost certainly is. Oh well…

#3WTP #4x4 #Branding #Enthusiasm #Off-Road

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9 of 34 comments

Z71_Silvy on Mar 09, 2011
a number of commenters pointed out that the term “Trail Rated” is little more than a Jeep marketing phrase, They are ignorant. The Jeep Wrangler/Grand Cherokee are the best domestic off roaders in America today. Even the mediocre new Explorer with it's fancy traction control knob (that does nothing) can't come close to the Jeeps. Trail Rated is FAR more than a marketing term.

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- BigOldChryslers on Mar 09, 2011
  
  The thing with the "Trail Rated" designation is that it distinguishes between "real" Jeeps which are "Trail Rated" and lesser (soft-roader) vehicles that are still sold as Jeeps. Does the "Trail Rated" badge ultimately hurt Jeep's image by reminding people that not all Jeeps are created equal? ie:They're not all the great off-roaders that Jeep is known for?
  
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NulloModo on Mar 09, 2011

Forgive me for being a bit confused here, but does the trail rating package on the Compass come with the solid front axle or not? The picture shows a Wrangler, as state above, and none of the text in the image says anything about the Freedom Drive II coming with the solid axle. In fact, on the specs page for the Compass, it lists it as having independent front and rear suspensions. Solid axles and independent suspensions both have their strengths and weaknesses, so let's not get into which is better, but it appears that the issue here is that Jeep is indicating that the Compass can come with a solid front axle, when really, it can't.

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- Golden2husky on Mar 10, 2011
  
  Z71_Silvy could have told you that. Now about that knob that does nothing...
  
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Junebug on Mar 10, 2011

really, who gives a shit? How many morons are going to take a new Jeep off roading anyway?

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- TTCat on Mar 10, 2011
  
  Well, that's really missing the point - its later on down the line when a used buyer is looking for a clean non-munged up rig with a lower cost of entry and all the the depreciation has pretty much been run through, that what equipement can be had at a now reasonable price comes into play. That's why Jeeper's who stop and take a moment think about it are really happy all those "mall crawlers" are out there - that's where the next generation of trail rigs come from...
  
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Geozinger on Mar 10, 2011

Solid axle or not, I've liked the Jeep Compass since it's introduction. It seemed like the modern version of the Jeepster, the metal roofed one. I'd be interested in one, but solely for on road work. It's great that it's 'Trail Rated', but honestly, I hope to never have to use that kind of capability. I have to say I liked the original styling better. I'm not totally sold on the mini GC styling. Maybe it will grow on me.

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- BigOldChryslers on Mar 10, 2011
  
  I feel the opposite towards the Compass. I thought it was a poor fit with Jeep and the original styling was ugly. I see little point to Jeep having both the Compass and the Patriot, both built on the same platform as the Dodge Caliber. Now that Compass and Patriot look even more similar, and are both available with the same FWD or "Trail Rated" 4WD powertrains, there seems to be little to differentiate them except price. IMO, the newly restyled version should have become the Patriot and they should have dropped the Compass altogether.
  
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- Geozinger on Mar 10, 2011
  
  @BOC: As much as I like the Compass, I agree with you that there's a great deal of product overlap with the Patriot and the Compass in the same lineup. If I were in charge of that, one of them would have to go.
  
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