Dear readers, we have a confession to make. Your favorite Autopian writers are deeply, hopelessly in love with the vehicles produced by Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler during its real low points in the 2000s. The DumberChrysler era, as some of you call it, produced some real polarizing cars and you readers aren’t falling for our love of them.
We’ve been praising a lot of cars from this era lately. I’ve said some positive things about the Chrysler PT Cruiser while my colleagues have spilled ink praising the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro. Heck, it wasn’t even that long ago when I said I wanted a Jeep Liberty CRD. As it turns out, I actually love a lot of cars from this era of Chrysler. Apparently, I’ve been a closeted Mopar fan all of this time, but that’s a story for a different day.
For now, we have you jokesters taking shots at us for loving the Jeep Liberty. V10omous:
“Why the Titanic Design Didn’t Deserve the Hate”
-By A Retired White Star Line Engineer
Hotdoughnutsnow:
I just couldn’t get past the name. It felt like they were cashing in on patriotism in post-9/11 America, and that didn’t feel right. … and then came the (checks notes)… Jeep Patriot.
Speaking of which, I missed some great ones in David’s piece about a manual Dodge Nitro. D0nut:
A shit car with a stick is just a less shitty shit car
05LGT:
A turd with a stick in it doesn’t become a popsicle.
Amusingly, you had great jokes twice today as you returned for another round in that aggravating story about a lady who was arrested for scraping a tree. Sid Bridge:
I hate to be the one to go for the low hanging fruit here, but I’ll also go out on a limb and say this is ridiculous. She should have contacted another branch of the authorities for sure. Maybe checked in her trunk to see if she had another camera to record things with. Boy, did Florida’s PD come out looking like a bunch of saps here, just barking around at nothing. When you get down the the roots of what happened, it’s all just best if you leaf it alone. At least I wood.
V10omous (again):
Was the tree community demanding this unrepentant tree-scraper be taken off the streets?
I imagine they just didn’t want anyone in town to be arboring a dangerous fugitive.
Ash78:
Based on the dendrochronology of events, I’m applauding the live oak for promoting her to branch manager.
3WiperB:
The cop just wooden let her go. Knot on his watch.
Have a great evening, everyone!
I think it depends on the design date. I like Chrysler products developed before the merger of equals aside from the full size pickups. The first Gen neon, LH cars, the Grand Cherokee before the hemi were all enjoyable cars. Even the pt cruiser had neon underpinnings to a point and was a practical car. Mercedes and Chrysler were a bad mix though, aside from the Rams which I think Chrysler was allowed to just do their thing on, the next generation of cars felt like a step back. At best, the LX cars were decent but never a replacement for the LH. I think some of it is that the mid 00s really aged poorly as a whole. Ford 500, Hummer H2&3, avalanche, 2006 ram redesign and even the F150s all stick out to me as ugly. That’s not even counting the caliber, avenger, impala redesign, it was kinda a meh time for design
I thought the Jeep Liberty was a pretty decent SUV.
The thing I liked least is the rounded external lines of the cabin. If the cabin shell was just a little more boxy, it would look much better. They rounded it off a little too much, and it reminds me of the jellybean era F150.
You are essentially turning into Ford Tempo Fanatic and Xtronic CVT… and I love it. Stay weird.
The 05 Stratus 4-banger my daughter drove in college & a couple post-graduate degrees served competently. I was vigilant about maintenance the one week each year I had it, and the only unexpected items were a wheel bearing & a couple window regulators.
Even survived a decent flood up in WV where the water came within a couple inches of the ecu. I didn’t like it much, but it carried on doing car things for an unreasonable amount of time after she handed it down, so I can’t hate on it
I’m gonna be That Guy and point out that there was nothing wrong with the Titanic’s design by the standards of the day. It was probably the best-built ship in the world at the time, but it encountered a circumstance that no ship was intended to handle.
we had a hand me down 2000 Chrysler LHS once. It was big, and could swallow most of the basement in the trunk. the 3.5 was decent to get it down the road and to be honest if not for the random Cam sensor engine code that did not stop after replacing the cam sensor, I would likely still have that thing around.
I would say Chrysler was really trying in the early 2000’s and in reality might have been more innovative and generally interesting that Ford at the time.
We all want to save a lost puppy, but someday it will grow up to be Cujo and kill you.
There is bad coupled with interesting, weird, innovative, flashy, cool.
Then there is just bad. Pretty sure the Chrysler stuff from this era falls into the latter.
Fixed it for you
Perfect, thank you.
Bad cars can be loved, but their badness needs to be connected to something greater, and the Chryslers of the 2000s weren’t.
They weren’t bad because they were especially inexpensive.
They weren’t bad because because of some interesting new production methods.
They weren’t bad because they introduced an interesting new technology.
They weren’t bad because of a bold new design direction.
They weren’t bad because they had an interesting backstory.
They weren’t bad due to any attempt to do anything interesting.
They were bad because they were poorly made and intensely cynical attempts to grift gullible consumers using jingoism and nostalgia—two of the most destructive forces in human culture.
There are plenty of bad cars that were bad because of a redeeming effort. Dustbuster vans, yes for the attempt at materials and design. Same with the Aztek. 90s Izuzu Impulse, sure for its unique design. Even the GM X-bodies were an interesting attempt for GM to make a modern FWD drive configuration at a size that Americans would buy.
There isn’t any reason to reach so far in an attempt to like something different that you start to like things that are so cynical and void of personality.
> Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler during its real low points in the 2000s
As opposed to their sterling reputation for design and quality in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2010s, and 2020s?
Yeah, my old 2015 Jeep Wrangler, 2 door and manual is a part of this.
It was a blast to drive, until every dash light would come on because the wiring harness from the tub to the rear of the car decided to saw itself in half. It was the third time I had to repair it, I got rid of it because it was my only ride. I replaced it with a 4runner that gets terrible gas mileage, but has 0 electric and mechanical issues.
My 4.0L TJ is reliable because there just isn’t anything complicated to break. It is relegated to winter beater status but keeps chugging along.
The ’90s actually had a ton of great design ideas. I mean they still couldn’t make an automatic transmission to save their life but the cars looked great, made excellent use of space, and were generally pretty good to drive until everything rusted out.
Chrysler sort of oscillates between decent cars that start falling apart within 5 years and depressing junk that lasts longer than your will to live.
Hey, hate all you want on the KJ. My wife bought a new one on ’02 and that sucker is still running, in spite of terminal oxidation.
Granted, it never gets great mileage or has a lot of power aside from good low end torque. Handling is decent for what it is. However, it will go through almost anything – deep snow, off-road trails, insanely cold Wisconsin winters, giant pot holes, etc. If you take a look at the suspension and look at things like control arms, springs, etc., the KJ was built like a tank.
As for how it drives, it has its charms: Great outward visibility, good driving position, simple gauge lay out, and plenty of head room. They’re basically shaped like eggs which is a very efficient shape.
If there was a zombie apocalypse or some other nasty societal upheaval, I’d probably take the KJ as not much is going to go wrong and you can drive over stuff that would stop most anything else on the road that isn’t a Wrangler.
Reliability wise, well, aside from an odd penchant for failed blower motors, this damn thing has been bullet proof.
Would I buy another one? Probably.
And yes, I owned an XJ prior to the KJ. Was the XJ better? In some aspects yes, in most aspects, no.
Dodge Nitro: Named after a cardiac medication to treat angina and/or heart attack. Other names for future products: Dodge Metoprolol, Chrysler Levophed, Ram 1590 Epinephrine.
How about Preparation C?
Dodge digitalis
My mom had a Plymouth Lipitor when I was little.
Hey, I admire dustbuster vans. We all have a weakness for objectively bad cars.
How dare someone compare the Jeep Liberty and Patriot.
TAKE IT BACK!
(source: best friend owned a Patriot for a long time; got similar fuel economy to my van)
When you set the bar as low as the Caliber/Patriot/Compass, even the worst of that era’s Jeep/Dodge vehicles seem clearly better. It is hard to believe that Patriot/Compass lasted as long as it did. These are the crystallization of the term Penalty Box.
Jeep 2005 wk haver.
Lifter tick be damned the 3.7 is still chugging along albeit with terrible mileage.
The nag1 transmission has some issues with the connector orings and the speed sensor but they are relatively cheap to fix
Can’t help but wonder how many Daimler Chrysler products met an untimely fate over what ultimately is like. 90 dollar part. Both of those issues the leaky oring and the speed sensor will make you think your transmission is donezo
I have the same powertrain in my WK and had those exact issues with my NAG1/W5A580. The actual hardest part of that fix is getting the right fill on the transmission fluid.
Torque app and a bluetooth dongle for the fluid temp and the dipstick with the graduated marks worked for me.
To be clear, I’m not anti-Chrysler (how could I be), I just have some questions about the objectivity of the source.