When it comes to off-roaders, Australia has more choice than most. We have the Nissan Patrol, the Jeep Wrangler, and both kinds of Toyota Land Cruiser, just for starters. The China-developed GWM Tank 300 is still seen as an oddball outsider, perhaps undeserving of a mention against such hallowed names. And yet, as I found out—China’s mud brawler is more than happy to go rugged against any of the the big guns.
The Tank 300 first showed up in China in 2020 under the Wey brand. Great Wall Motors then brought it down under in late 2022, and the plucky off-roader has expanded to many global markets since. At times, it’s criticized as a knock-off for certain design elements and a slight resemblance to the Ford Bronco, or seen as a cheap alternative to more established nameplates from other brands.
Yet, to truly understand the Tank 300, it needs to be evaluated on its own merits. Not for what people think it is, but for what it’s actually capable of. In the week I spent behind the wheel, I learned that’s actually rather a lot.
Built Body
The designers didn’t mess around when they set out the parameters for the Tank 300’s design. This was not going to be some cheap soft-roader with cushy suspension for the school run and a weedy front-biased all-wheel-drive system. Nope, the Tank 300 was built with an eye to tackling the rough stuff as a priority. It got a proper body-on-frame design with a longitudinal engine driving a proper four-wheel-drive system. The ethos? Mud first, motorway second. Simple as that.
GWM first hit the Australian market with the 2.0-liter gasoline hybrid, offering 241 hp from the engine and 105 horsepower from the electric motor. A petrol-only version came later, offering 217 hp and 280 pound-feet of torque. It was a longer wait for diesel fans, however, with the compression-ignition model only landing in 2025. It boasts a 2.4-liter turbodiesel engine good for 181 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque, paired with a nine-speed automatic and a dual-range transfer case.
It was the long-awaited diesel that I was lucky enough to drive Down Under. It’s a popular fuel for off-roaders in this land, particularly amongst the agricultural set. GWM’s Australian executives took great pride in pushing the Chinese automaker to pursue diesel power, which was not initially on the cards for the model.
The hope is that that the diesel powertrain will attract a broader customer base towards the GWM off-roader. Indeed, it seems only fitting, given the Tank’s positioning as a rugged vehicle for backwoods duties.
On The Road
The important thing about the Tank 300 is how it feels, and GWM gets it pretty much right from first impressions. It’s got the ride height and the sideboards, which instantly make it feel like it’s built for the the country. Chunkier tires would go further, but you’re already getting the right idea just from the look of this thing. Climb inside, and you’ve got a nice high seating position with a great view out of the boxy greenhouse. By your hand, a smattering of controls for all the off-road gubbins you might need on the trail. The Tank’s purpose is clear from the outset.
Start the engine, and that feeling continues. It’s not exactly the most refined engine, but few four-cylinder diesels are. It’s adequate on the road, delivering enough grunt to shove the 5000-pound around at an appreciable clip. GWM claims you’ll get up to 7.8 L/100 km (30 mpg) combined, which is pretty decent fuel economy, albeit a ways away from the 9.0 L/100 km (26 mpg) I achieved. Meanwhile, off-road, it’s got that really pleasant low-down torque to muscle along as needed.
So far, so good—the diesel does the job, right? Well… there’s just one thing. It’s lacking in responsiveness. Perhaps its the automatic start stop, perhaps its the calibration of the accelerator… but multiple times, this thing felt flat-footed. At one point, I was trying to merge on to a highway and it took a full second for the drivetrain to respond after I leaned into the pedal. I nearly missed a traffic light! It’s only an occasional problem during slow-speed driving, but it’s a frustrating one when it does happen.
As for the interior, it’s quite a nice place to be. The idea of the “cheap Chinese car” continues to maintain a hold on Australian consumers, though it becomes less relevant as time goes on. Step into the Tank 300, and “cheap” isn’t the first thing that springs to mind.
[Ed Note: That interior look really familiar.
[Ed note: That’s the current Jeep Wrangler cabin above. Quite similar! -DT]
It’s by no means a luxury vehicle, but the switchgear and touch surfaces all feel pleasant enough for the price bracket. You also get niceties like heated and ventilated seats in the higher trims, a heated steering wheel, and an excellent high-resolution 360-degree parking camera. The only thing it’s really missing is the quirky massage seats of the GWM Ora GT. Regarding the infotainment, GWM hasn’t quite mastered the software world yet. Its UI is a little clunky compared to some of the latest efforts from legacy automakers, but everything is functional and fit for purpose. Plus, you get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you’re spending very little time in the GWM software anyway.
There are a few irritants, though. Mostly the indicators, which GWM can never quite get right. It’s very easy to flick them on by accident, and very frustrating to try and cancel them. In the first few days, I ended up flicking back and forth multiple times until I could shut them off. The alarm is also ready to go off at the drop of a hat. I often sit in my car with the engine off when I’m out and about… and that’s a recipe for trouble here. Multiple times, the Tank’s alarm started screaming its head off, even though I had the keys literally in my hand in the driver’s seat. The only surefire fix I found was leaving the car “on” but with the engine off. Frustrating, but workable.
Ultimately, the day-to-day on road experience is perfectly fine for this category of vehicle. It handles well enough, soaks up most of the bumps, and the ride height is great for getting over the endless speedbumps of inner city areas. It’s not as smooth or comfortable as your average commuter car, but that’s the tradeoff you make when you go for a chunky off-roader. If anything, it’s refreshing that GWM didn’t try and hedge between building a lush SUV and a go-anywhere four-wheel-drive. That’s more the goal of the larger Tank 500; the 300 is more focused in its goals.
On The Beat-Up Paths
What you’re really wondering, though, is how the Tank 300 handles the rough and tumble. In a word, it’s great—but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s got all the basic ingredients of a solid off-roader—a torquey engine, a dual-range transfer case, and a chassis with the legs to get over the chunky stuff.
The critical numbers are good—the Tank 300 has approach, departure, and breakover angles of 33, 34, and 23.1 degrees. That trounces the Land Cruiser 300 Series (31, 25, 22), and even bests the older, more rugged 80 Series (33, 23, 23). It’s not quite up there with the Jeep Wrangler (44, 37, 27.8), but it’s plenty good enough to handle a lot of off-road trails out there. You’re also blessed with 8.8 inches of ground clearance and a wading depth of 27.6 inches.
Overall, it feels steady and competent on the trail. The engine and driveline provides good drive and traction, and the earlier-mentioned throttle response issues never reared their head during my dirt play sessions. The available front and rear diff locks are great to have, too, particularly if you regularly find yourself tackling slipperier stuff.
A nice inclusion is the “Conqueror perspective” mode, which is a cute title for the off-road camera system. It’s useful for getting a view of roughly what the front tires are doing while you’re sitting in the driver’s seat. It beats having to get out of the vehicle to inspect an obstacle, particularly when you’re on a steep slope or muddy area.
Of course, as a press car, I couldn’t put the Tank 300 through any real strenuous challenges, lest I bin it in a river and get yelled at by the GWM people. But that’s okay—you needn’t take my word for the Tank 300’s prowess. Just take a look at it tackling the fearsome Beer O’Clock Hill in Australia below, as David Tracy discussed last year. Fair note, this is a petrol-engined model, but it goes to show the basic competence of the Tank 300 design.
A Great Value, But Not Much Of A Reputation
The GWM Tank 300 is not a flawless vehicle. The diesel engine is not particularly nice around town, and I doubt you’d ever hit the company’s claimed fuel economy in regular driving. It also has those terrible GWM indicators that are supremely difficult to cancel until you really get the hang of things. Meanwhile, if you care about brand cachet, it has none. GWM has been in Australia for a while, but it’s yet to build up much of a positive reputation.
But the Tank 300 does a lot well—and I’ve avoided mentioning the best part until now. Yes, it’s a capable off-roader, and yes, it’s got a solid interior and lots of creature comforts. But what really makes this a potential segment champion is the price. This thing starts at just $46,990 AUD (~$29,900 USD) for the cheapest petrol model; you only need tack on another $1000 if you want the diesel. Meanwhile, if you want the nicer Ultra trim with front and rear lockers? It starts at just $51,990 AUD ($33,100 USD).
It’s worth putting those numbers up against the other off-roaders on sale in the Australian market. These days, a 70-series Toyota Land Cruiser will set you back a monstrous $80,000 AUD (~$50,900 USD) for the basic WorkMate trim. You can’t even get near a full-fat 300 Series for less than $105,000 AUD ($66,837 USD). Even the humble Jeep Wrangler comes at a pretty penny these days—kicking off at $75,950 AUD ($48,345 USD) Down Under.
Australians have suffered these high prices for a long time. There simply isn’t a lot of competition in the pure off-roader segment, and it shows. Toyota knows what you want, and they’re happy to squeeze you for the privilege of driving home in a capital-LC Land Cruiser. Meanwhile, Nissan’s pricing isn’t far behind, and Jeep is happy pricing the Wrangler like an exclusive lifestyle vehicle. You could consider the Suzuki Jimny, but it’s remarkably hard to actually lay your hands on one.
If you want a cheap and capable off-roader for a budget price, it’s hard to look past the GWM offering. There just isn’t much else out there in the same price range. The Tank 300 offers everything you want—body on frame construction, proper four-wheel-drive, low range, and front and rear lockers—all for well under $60,000 AUD.
It’s for this reason alone that I’d probably consider buying the Tank over most of the competition. You could buy two for the price of a single 300 Series Land Cruiser, and you’d probably take delivery a lot quicker, too. You could trash one up and down your farm for a whole year, sink it in a bog, and then start driving the second one after that—and you’d still come out ahead of most 300 Series buyers. It’s also a lot more interesting to look at. I’m not just talking about the general design, either—GWM offers more interesting colors than the current Toyota lookbook, which pretty much ends at silver and white.
There’s one thing that holds me back on the Tank, though, and it’s a difficult one. A new vehicle is always a big investment, and you want something stout and reliable for your money. That goes double for off-roaders—you’re relying on them to get you to far-flung nowheres and all the way back to civilization. The problem that GWM has is a lack of reputation. These vehicles just haven’t been around long enough to rack up hundreds of thousands of miles and impress us all with their longevity.
They could be pretty solid, but we just don’t know yet. It’s sometimes hard to read through the lines when it comes to bluster online. A lot of people will talk a lot of crap about Chinese cars, but how much of it is rooted in reality? It’s hard to say, but a question mark still hangs over these vehicles for a lot of consumers. Time is the only thing that can change that. Given the pricing, GWM’s likely got a pretty good shot at winning people over.
Ultimately, though, the Tank 300 tells me GWM is doing something right. It’s figured out how to build a capable four-wheel-drive and sell it at a very tasty price. It’s not a bad looker, to boot. Now that it’s available as a diesel, too, it should continue to win fans in Australia and across the world. We’re still near the beginning of the Tank story, and I’ll be very interested to see where it goes from here.
Image credits: Lewin Day
GWM is steadily gaining power in Qatar. It looks nice and has a TT V6.
And, they (and maybe SAIC-MAXUS) have been making vehicles for a longer time than other Chinese manufacturers have…
The GWM TANK 500 would definitely threaten the 4RUNNER and the LC250 prado given the V6 Turbo , but won’t be sold unfortunately…
I wonder what you’d think of the Mahindra SUVs that they sell in Australia too, as a comparison to this? Especially the Scorpio, which is based on a ladder frame chassis and has commendable off-road skills. Pricing wise, both seem about the same.
I’d definitely be interested to try one if I can make it work.
That “agricultural” 2.4 liter diesel has its origins in a much older Isuzu engine, which GWM reverse-engineered and copied (along with the truck it was sold with). GWM then built the Isuzu engine under license and likely this is an evolution of that old engine.
My coworker has one. Says he drove it in a flood during the recent typhoon. That cops tried to stop him, but he knew what he was doing. Has a snorkel and everything.
“You came in that?! You’re braver than I thought.”
Nice. I think longevity is the one thing we’re waiting to find out, but they certainly can handle a bit of the rough stuff.
That’s my big question mark for all of the Chinese automakers. I recall seeing a Chinese reliability survey from circa 2017 or 18 where the top Chinese brands were about equal to the middle of the pack internationally…think Nissan level. I expect they’ve only improved, but while China has had some sales success, a Corolla or Camry isn’t a Corolla or Camry because it sells well, it’s because it will do a quarter million miles without breaking a sweat.
These things are the rental V6 Mustangs of snowy northwest China; you’re gonna see fleets of orange and black Tank 300s with mismatched balding snow tires everytime ski season rolls around. Put an inexperienced coastal Chinese tourist behind the wheel, and you end up with plenty of Tanks lying belly-up in snowy ditches.
Like most rental cars they get sold off after a few years, so reliability really isn’t certain at this point.
Reads like a bought and paid for ad.
God, I wish. These reviews take four to six times longer to produce than just about anything else I write here, so it would be nice if there were some perks (there aren’t). I haven’t had so much as a steak dinner from an automaker and I’ve been in this business for years.
Hit me up next time you’re in Nashville – I’ll happily buy you a steak dinner!
Hahaha, noted!
Hey Lewin – I’m confused by your numbers. You’re writing about an Australian-market vehicle, but somehow you’re citing fuel economy in miles per US gallon? I know Australia’s gone metric, but don’t people still use Imperial gallons in discussion of mpg?
I convert fuel economy, power etc. to US customary units as per The Autopian’s editorial norms.
Those norms are rubbish, as the developed world doesn’t choose useless units.
Do you think it’s a good idea to alienate your primary market by using metrics they are largely unfamiliar with? By Lewin and others not converting you’re just making the reader (and source of income) run the conversion themselves when they don’t know the foreign customary unit.
My bad, I was under the impression that the website is aimed at a global audience.
No, Tanks. I don’t really mean that, I just thought it’d be funny to write it. Rather have a Jimny, though, better size for me.
I’d love a Jimny too.
Every chinese I’ve seen in Mexico so far, as well as any other seen in pictures like this one has an amazing gap and flush finish. Manufacture-wise are incredible machines.
Its pretty shameful that they beat Ford QC in this…
Initial impressions are great, but I wonder how this thing would hold up over 5 or even 10 years of ownership. Also, I wonder about parts availability in a place like Australia for a brand that hasn’t had a very long presence there.
Finally… I’d love to see these stateside, but that’s highly unlikely during the current administration as a result of the trade war we’re in.
Probably can’t be any worse after 5 or 10 years as any Stellantis product to be honest
Yeah, really no idea how that’s going to turn out. Very interested to see how Tanks hold up after 5, 10, and 20 years.
20 years – that’s really optimistic…
True, but some of Toyota’s modern diesels have been absolute clangers, too…
You guys get great pricing over there. I’ve spotted a handful of Mexican-plated Tank 300 near the CA-Mexico border, just to find out they start at the equivalent of $47K. And they’re the gas Hybrid version, no Diesel offered this side of the world. At least it’s the top of the line model with F/R lockers, park assist and adaptive CC, but that’s still about $14K more than AUS market vehicles.
It doesn’t help that the Jimny 5dr costs $22K less, yes I know it’s way more spartan, but still. The Mexican buyer will spend $20K to $30K in a China nameplate but anything more than that becomes a hard sell.
I wonder if they’re discounting their prices in some markets, to try and build their brand
That’s Chinese business SOP: undercut your competition to gain market share and use the lower price to lure peeps who are buying with their wallet and not brand reputation. Once established, slowly raise prices so that you’re either profitable or no longer need Govt subsidies.
That’s not an exclusively Chinese practice, it’s used by companies all over the world. It’s just a refinement of ‘first hit is for free’
Well holy crap, they put a big screen in a vehicle and the WHOLE THING IS IN THE DASHBOARD. No floating tablet. How refreshing! How sad that almost no one in the US can manage that feat, regardless of what country the brand originates from.
Id buy one as no american automakers cater to manual trans serious machines anymore..
If it could come here they would quickly find a way to ban it to protect their crappy market.
So much this, had a rental Jimney in Greece last summer and would happily hoon one back home. Slow car fast, with a 5 speed stick. And a drop top.
You tease….
Teal green 2 door with targa roof and drop down rear window. Wonderful for a day on the Greek Islands
3000KG(6600 lbs and change) tow capacity is a decent amount compared to most of the others which tend to cap out at 5000 lbs. I get why we are still going with IFS on this thing, but I also kind of wish a company would make a subframe cradle that could literally bolt in that housed IFS or a Straight axle. this way it could be optioned like Can-Am’s with specific offroad capabilities better designed for.
Lifting IFS is always kind of terrible, and in the end the articulation is still just not on par. Yet I do realize on road the IFS rides better and is far less likely to wobble.
Chinese cars seem to keep getting better and have been pretty good for a few years. It reminds me of when the Japanese cars came to the west. Same kind of claims of copying not very good and junk. The rural roads in China are pretty terrible so anything that is designed for them would probably be ok in Aus. Will be very interesting to see what happens in Aus I think just as the Japanese did the Chinese could take over. They used to run Mitsubishi diesels the GW diesel still has a the look of a Mitsubishi to me.
Certainly it helps that our companies tooled up and shared design information to greedily let slave wage employees build them for us.
Once they have the tools and knowledge, making there own and likely either better or at least cheaper is a no brainer. The Toyota Production System was learned from Deming and Ford.
The Chinese listened just like the Japanese and later Ford did to Dr. Deming. Look at all Japanese and Western companies that went to Vietnam when they opened in 95. What do they have vinfast. Japanese have production all over but until China no real challenger. There is more to it then just having them build something but they certainly learned how. I see Munro taking the torch from Dr. Deming and the Chinese listened to him where the Japanese and Western OEMs didn’t really. History repeating it’s self. Maybe Ford will reach out to Munro like they did Dr. Deming to get them back on track.
You skipped the Korea chapter between Japan and China.
For tech and some manufactured goods true but not sure it really went fully there with cars. Korea seems to hold on to it the least amount of time. The last person I heard say a Japanese car was junk was about 4 years ago a fully inbred junkyard guy that had an IQ of just able to speak. You get more well versed people that think the Hyundais and Kias aren’t exactly quality even pointing to specific examples.
Umm, I have said that pretty much every Nissan with a Jatco is junk for quite some time. That is nothing new though. it has been a thing for quite a while.
Nissan jatco sure but you aren’t going to say all Japanese cars are junk because that would just be wrong and stupid. And I bet you would say pre 2005 Nissians are fine. But you really only have one global Korean car company Hyundai Kia the other ones don’t really have a global presence. People point to build quality the engine issues the iccu issues on the BEV side. There are a lot of people that still think of Hyundai and Kia as poor quality they have drastically improved but they can make an informed point that they do have issues that are basically unresolved.
I think Japan vehicles have there good and bad, in this instance you are spot on though, Nissan was once a respected japanese car company. the Jatco kills it in my opinion more than anything. though the leaf and it’s air cooled batteries follow closely behind.
The real question is where do they stand now?
1)Toyota
2) Honda
3) ?Isuzu?
4) ?Mitsubishi?
5) ?Suzuki?
6) ?Nissan?
up until the Jatco I would have thought Honda and Nissan kind of duked it out for 2nd pretty regularly. these days? I am thinking Isuzu(GM Lite) and Mitsubishi are the 3 place fighters, though a few Nissan Exceptions might still propel Nissan to a solid 3rd. Suzuki makes some interesting stuff, just not for us anymore and the Daewoo badge engineered Suzuki’s as well as Gm versions still make for a compelling reason to think the Korean quality is still a concern, but not so much with Hyundai/Kia/Genesis any more. Even Toyota and Honda have some inexcusable issues that get little press for some reason. just watched a stealership try to charge a friend 8K to replace a sludged up motor in a 2019 Honda CR-V, known issue, all record kept and technically this has been an issue with these for decades, it just gets worse with the Turbo engines and extended oil change schedules.
The US dealerships are extremely problematic. In Japan the dealer becomes almost like family in a way they are very curious. Toyota also has an issue of multiple distributors left over from the 60s and they make so much money Toyota hasn’t ever been able to buy them out. Subaru of America says you never have to change the CVT fluid Japan and Australia say about every 30k mi. Mitsubishi seems to be able to tune a CVT to be ok but their us dealerships are horrible. The direct injection plus turbo and the insane oil change recommendations has really created some big issues. I don’t go over 5k no mater what they say.
Koreans, they are a real challenger to Japan, at least the side without a dictator running things.
Born late ’70s – the “Jap Crap” of my early childhood very soon gave way to Lexus and Acura. With many years of quality cars in between, honestly the biggest thing the imports lacked in the early ’80s was rustproofing (not that the domestics were really any better).
Some were fairly thin metal too I think that added to it. But lightweight means fuel efficient. GM cars of the 80s I think took that montra but missed the quality. I looks like the Chinese have come into their lexas era to me.
$33K for front and rear lockers than is $20-30K+ cheaper than any thing I can think of for sale here in the US with 4 doors and front and rear lockers.
mechanical lockers, and no real indication as to what kind of abuse the actual axles can handle. But yeah, not really anything us Side like that. I do wonder how much of our cost bloat is for unnecessary on road driving ADAS systems that this vehicle would not have and can be sold in Australia without them?
Except BYD can make a $20k car with those included.
If the US ever gets Chinese cars here, it’ll be a bloodbath for the Detroit 2.5. The same features for $10-15k less will be hard to say no to. It doesn’t help that Detroit abandoned the cheap new car market.
I kind of wish that happened,because I enjoy seeing bad people fail. The established automakers here have basically been giving the middle finger to all American consumers by treating them all like bottomless ATMs, it has to stop, prices have to get back to sanity, and if they have to be destroyed to do it, that’s just what has to happen, they’ve gotten too greedy and lazy for their own good, yet again.
American automakers are not without faults, but openly rooting for the CCP (while calling locals the bad guys) is really something.
Discontinuing all entry level products, building only high trim levels, and constantly jacking up prices does make you the bad guys, I’m not rooting for the CCP, I’m rooting for a company based in a country ruled by the CCP, there is at least a slight distinction,the Baoding municipal government is a small minority shareholder at this point, the vast majority of shares are trading publicly in Hong Kong
I disagree with basically everything youve said here, but at least in this country we can express those opinions.
Some of what I said isn’t open to interpretation, the established automakers have done all that, demonstrably, they’re selling literal farm trucks for $45,000+ now, and that is the current ownership structure of GWM
Did you also refuse to buy Soviet-made Makarov handguns in the 1970s, or Yugoslavian produced Adidas sneakers in the 1980s? If anybody has a problem with the Chinese government, it should be the Chinese people themselves, and there’s no ruling clique in history that could ever withstand the force of 1.6 billion people rising up against them, but that isn’t happening, so its not our problem to worry about. They’ll deal with it themselves someday if they get bothered by it enough, or not, either way
GM will sell you a Trax for $21,000 and I’m supposed to believe there’s somehow a shortage of entry level models unique to the domestic 3?
I’m also supposed to believe anyone pays sticker price for a new truck?
Or that any Chinese company has meaningful freedom to act against the directives of the CCP, regardless of what shell company game they’ve set up?
Why would I have the slightest trouble proudly stating I wouldn’t buy a Soviet or Yugoslav consumer product during the Cold War? I’d be much more concerned by anyone who would.
Separating ourselves from a government that builds products with slave labor and wishes us ill is not exactly a radical goal, and while it may be difficult given how much we’ve given over to China already, it’s still worth fighting for. At least for me.
agree to disagree, but the 21st century clearly belongs to China, we can either go along with it, or throw a temper tantrum and get dragged along anyway
I’m not ready to admit that yet.
Very possible I’ll look back and regret this comment, but plenty of countries that were supposed to pass us never did.
Cripes, I guess you’ll be the first to line up to bow to your new overlords. I’m with V10 and will stand for America until the day I can’t. There’s so much more to this geo-political situation than who’s going to own the 21st century.
Expressing opinions might get you deported, though. Even if you’re a citizen.
Nobody’s rooting for the CCP, any more than buying US brands (sometimes not actually made in the US) is rooting for the Trump regime.
I’m sorry to say that Australia is very strict about all the ADAS crap, and this car does have it. However, with the voice alerts turned down to minimum it’s not too invasive.
I dig it.
The US market really needs something like this, all the actual off roaders with low range have gotten too expensive, and the comparatively priced soft roaders are pretenders.
In profile, I am reminded of the XJ Cherokee. We’ll never see one of these in the States.
Well, not until President Navarro’s term is over, anyway
That is what excites me about the Slate. My old XJ was about perfect.
This is giving me 2nd gen KK Liberty mixed with Current Bronco vibes… not a compliment.
Thanks for the entertaining review Lewin of an interesting vehicle that I’d never need myself, but I’ll almost certainly never be able to buy it anyway, living in the States as I do. It looks good (mostly, IMO… like a nicer interpretation of a Dodge Nitro, which itself parrots older/better boxy notables like the LC and LR) and the price is right. There’s a bit too much ‘butch’ detailing on the exterior (and interior too) but that alone wouldn’t put me off buying it assuming I was in the market for such a thing. That big badge on the front is excessive, but it’s a small niggle given the possible value-for-money ratio. Yes, longevity/durability is a (not insignificant) unknown and yes, anything from China makes me a bit wary, but still: a genuine diesel off-road-capable truck that’s available in actual colors for $30K?
Hard to say no to that. 😉
I’m pretty sure the Dodge Nitro (and its platform twin the KK Cherokee) were trying to capitalize on the styling of the XJ Cherokee, not Toyota or Land Rover.
You could be right, but I was sort of referring generically (waves hand in air) to older boxy SUVs in general. I’m a fan of the XJ Cherokee too (in how it looks) though not a Jeep guy.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Can it tow at least 6000lbs? If so, I’m sold.
$30,000 Americabucks? I don’t even really like SUVs or off readers, but even I’d actually be interested in this, at this price
Or, would be, anyway, if that wasn’t like $8 grand below what I need to spend on a new car to continue receiving reimbursement for business miles
Those are fairly inexcusable omissions though. They’re right up there with physical fan and temperature controls in terms of things that should always be buttons and knobs.
Guy who has location services turned on for every app he’s ever used, doesn’t use a VPN, and lives in a country where a group of private citizens have access to everyone’s SS information and health records: “BUT WHAT IF IT’S SPYING ON YOU??”
The way I see it, it’s game over the minute you start carrying a smartphone
Very nice! I want to be clear that the Wrangler is pretty pricey up here, as well — although Jeep advertises Sport models “starting at $34k” or so, since very few Wranglers are custom ordered, you’re stuck with dealer inventory. Most of those are $50-$65k in Yank Dollarbucks.
This is like the “half price Wrangler I always said I would buy” if only it wouldn’t secretly hack my TP-LINK router and reports my TV watching habits to Beijing. Who know what they could do with that?!
Good advice. MSRP is seldom the truth.