Fate Of Jeep In Toledo Rests On Supplier Park, Partnerships

You do not understand Wrangler buyers (and I'm not speaking of just the enthusiasts, of which there are many). They make Ford F150 buyers seem like fair weather customers.

You are right. No one cares that the Wrangler is made in Toledo. If it's not made there, Sergio will just move it to Sterling Heights. The State of Michigan and Macomb County will have a pile of cash for him.

@DeadWeight Toledo doesn't matter. If the Wrangler continues to be made in the US, people won't complain. It's a moot point anyway since it's not moving. Toledo/Lucas County/Ohio have the most to lose. The offer will probably reflect that.

I think people will give a damn - particularly if this announced soon. If FCA makes the motions to pull out - think of the resulting bleepstorm in the middle of a presidential campaign. Ohio is the swingiest of swing states and FCA was the recipient of bailout largesse. This will be big news - even if production is moved to another state with UAW jobs preserved - the democrats will use this to whip up their base.

@Frank Galvin The deadline is June 1st.

@DeadWeight As long as Wrangler production doesn't move outside continental North America, I doubt very few people would even notice, and sales would not be affected at all. Really, moving from Toledo to Michigan is gonna hurt them? Not at all.

Gotta agree with Jpolicke here, most of the folks I know on the east coast who have bought Jeeps have no idea where they are made, and truth be told the only reason I know is I drove by the plant on my way to Motor city last year, it production stays in the US no one will care.

@DeadWeight DW, I think you may be missing the point, maybe this people who have been buying the "new Jeeps" are not Jeep people, they are either new to the brand or just shopping a cheap lease, I doubt most renegade buyers will have owned a Jeep in the past. The Wrangler crowd that I know of are middle age rich people who buy one for the experience of having something different. They are popular in metro NY and there is no reason they :should be" but they are and those folk could not find Toledo on a map, much less car where it is made. People do not care if MB are made in Germany or the deep south, I doubt people would care if Vets are made in Bowling Green or Green Bay. The only people who would care have a stake in the location, the workers and the local people who gain from the plant being where it is, and that is a very very very small amount of people in the overall picture. PS- Thank you for not a word about Caddy and I mean that sincerely.

@seth1065 Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

@seth1065: Before you go too far out on a limb, my friend, I suggest you go look up "toasterjeep dot com" to see who is buying some of these new Renegades. While you may be right that in the long run most Renegade owners won't have owned a Jeep in the past, the same can be said of most current Cherokee owners, and they seem to be very appreciative of their purchase. Meanwhile, the Renegade is proving itself TO old-school Jeepers, one of whom now owns a red Renegade and took it down old trails in Nevada before even the new-car smell wore off. And yes, like most Jeeps, it already has 'trail rash' to prove it wasn't exactly babied on that run.

@Vulpine Valpine, I will check out the site, my point was a very high percent of the new jeep models sales will be to first time Jeep owners, Renegade or Cherokee fits that bill I am sure some Jeep folks want a small Jeep, I have no skin in the game, the only Jeep I would consider would be GC oil burner but I am not a truck guy, I am sure the new FCA Jeeps can go off road and earn their trail rash just not sure how many people would ever do that, at least here in the north east.

@seth1065 My comment about Toledo has to do ONLY with the Wrangler, not the Fiat-based chick CUVs. The Wrangler is Americana, all things hard-core mudders, and the Toledo Plant has an affiliation with WWII at that. No one cares where a Fiat Renegade or Fiat Cherokee is made, but moving JEEP Wrangler production will cause backblow for Sergio.

@Vulpine I'm one of those northeastern Jeepers, Seth. I'm really hoping for a Gladiator-type pickup from Jeep in a couple years but if necessary, I'll be selecting a Renegade as my next Jeep. I need to get out from under this poorly-designed Daimler Jeep Wrangler. It took me 50K miles to discover it, but I've finally experienced the dreaded "Death Wobble" and while I've got it minimized, I can't quite get rid of it.

@Frank Galvin Let us not forget MI is now "right to work."

@sgeffe But the existing plant is still unionized, so it's no help (as much as I understand).

@Vulpine Should've put those smooth bolts in while you had the chance, eh? Seriously though, I thought something had to let the track rod to move to get the DW. Otherwise you could get the shakes, but not DW. We have guys with lifted TJs in a local club that push 200k with no problem. I'm on ~72k right now.

@Vulpine For whatever reason, only the JK Wranglers experience this so-called Death Wobble. My personal opinion is that it has something to do with the alignment--as caster is supposed to be a factor in steering stability. The way the Daimler worked around it was by putting a steering damper on the rod, but by 'feel' it seems that there's just enough nose-down pitch to destabilize it. I just loaded it with about 200 pounds of materiel behind the back seat, causing it to sit down a bit in back and the wibble went away. I'm wondering if a 2" lift and maybe a couple of spring rubbers in the front coils might not just balance the suspension enough to finish the job. Officially, nobody as yet has determined the cause, even eight years after the model was released.

You have proof, Mike? Because I know of a LOT of people hoping for something like the Gladiator--myself included.