When, and Why, I used to wave…

[WambliSka]

It used to be, as recent as 15 years ago, that you could drive an hour in your CJ/YJ/TJ/whatever and not see another Jeep at all.

With the advent of the 4 door JK, which was an unarguably good move by Chrysler, everybody that needs to haul the kids but doesn't want to surrender to the crossover has one. In addition to the drastically higher sales, they're almost all daily driven. You don't have people buying and parking their Jeeps as weekend adventure rigs nearly as often.

As a result it just totally lost it's charm for me. Nothing stands out to me about passing another Jeep on my drive, since there are so many of them. I'll wave back if you wave and I see you... but I'm not looking out.

This. 3 Jeeps and 20+ years ago it was rare for me to see another one in my daily drive. Recently I counted 16 Jeeps coming my way in a 17 mile drive around my place. I wave when I see others wave because of camaraderie but I can't say I drive paying attention to see if another Jeep is coming at me anymore.

Sponsored

 

[JUICEBOX]

Bikes 2 fingers down, corvettes thumbs up, Jeeps I’ve noticed are 3 fingers off the wheel, and Rams are devil horns. Been hard to keep up with.

 

[Camaroboi13]

My wife has bright pink hand decals waving on her mirrors, so I feel like more people wave at her Jeep than mine. That being said I try and wave at as many people as I see. I was jealous that everyone was waving at my wife and not me lol. I had a grand cherokee with more mods done to it than most wranglers I see out there and still couldn't get acknowledged. So once I got my Gladiator it was a good feeling the first time someone waved at me.

 

[Dougstdig]

I use mine like a truck and a Jeep and it works great for both. Jeeps have always needed maintenance and repair to keep them alive and that’s the fun part.
That’s why Jeepers started to wave at each other because they knew that other driver was a like-minded self-reliant and capable person that got their hands dirty to keep doing the things they love and go where only they could go.
Used to wave or acknowledge a driver of another lifted or tough rig no matter the brand.
I stopped waving at every Jeep because it became a brand thing.

Okay

 

[AmosMoses]

Jeep has become like Harley Davidson I believe in terms of popularity and cult following. The advent of the JK, pentastar, good drive train and better ergos have made the wrangler more common.

 

[Dougstdig]

Jeep has become like Harley Davidson I believe in terms of popularity and cult following. The advent of the JK, pentastar, good drive train and better ergos have made the wrangler more common.

Not discounting your comment above, but the Jeep wave has been around looong before the JK and Pentastar. I can remember the comments being made back when the YJ was introduced when folks debated on if it was a real Jeep because Jeep designed in the rectangular headlamps. When I was a little kid, I remember riding in my neighbors CJ in Colorado in the mid 70’s. Jeeps and Scouts waved. As I remember, it was an acknowledgement of a mentality…”I get it”. Point and shoot…not being confined…though it may not have many amenities other vehicles have, you can’t follow.

 

[Ottoparts]

I use mine like a truck and a Jeep and it works great for both. Jeeps have always needed maintenance and repair to keep them alive and that’s the fun part.
That’s why Jeepers started to wave at each other because they knew that other driver was a like-minded self-reliant and capable person that got their hands dirty to keep doing the things they love and go where only they could go.
Used to wave or acknowledge a driver of another lifted or tough rig no matter the brand.
I stopped waving at every Jeep because it became a brand thing.

I waved to other Jeeps (and their drivers) when I had my Classic Cherokee and now that I'm back in one I wave to all other Gladiators. There are too damn many Jeeps out there now to wave to them all, Gladiators are still rare enough it's fun again.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

Bikes 2 fingers down, corvettes thumbs up, Jeeps I’ve noticed are 3 fingers off the wheel, and Rams are devil horns. Been hard to keep up with.

Seems I just get the one finger wave when I drive my Ram

 

[Jefe1018]

I use mine like a truck and a Jeep and it works great for both. Jeeps have always needed maintenance and repair to keep them alive and that’s the fun part.
That’s why Jeepers started to wave at each other because they knew that other driver was a like-minded self-reliant and capable person that got their hands dirty to keep doing the things they love and go where only they could go.
Used to wave or acknowledge a driver of another lifted or tough rig no matter the brand.
I stopped waving at every Jeep because it became a brand thing.

I used to wave when it was the manly thing to do. It's mainstream now so I stopped because I'm unique and rugged.

 

[Lunentucker]

Rivian is still developing their wave

 

[BearFootSam]

On the Atlantic coast I'd see jeeps by the baker's dozen a day. Interestingly here in the PNW we have arguably far more 'need' for such vehicles but I see far fewer jeeps in my area. It seems to be mostly a Tacoma town. Anyways, it seems more appropriate out here where you are more likely to run into folks stuck on a trail.

Yeah it's a saccharine, kitschy thing but if small gestures of good will can counteract some of the vitriol in society it can only be a good thing. Wave to your neighbors, jeepers and your mail person.

 

[BearFootSam]

Rivian is still developing their wave

Lol! I have seen a few of them in the wild recently and I was really surprised how small they are. The gladiator might be bigger.

 

[JeepOfTheseus]

I think it's a misconception that only jeeps wave to other jeeps, and that it's because of how harsh and rugged they used to be. But when I had a Subaru STi, all the WRX and STI owners waved at each other. BRZs too. When I had a VW GLi, Gti and GLI owners waved. When I drive my old bug, I get waves from other vws, and especially other bugs. It's just a comraderie thing for me.

Same with 911's. Between that and the JT, I wave a lot around here...

 

[jbretthorton]

This. 3 Jeeps and 20+ years ago it was rare for me to see another one in my daily drive. Recently I counted 16 Jeeps coming my way in a 17 mile drive around my place. I wave when I see others wave because of camaraderie but I can't say I drive paying attention to see if another Jeep is coming at me anymore.

16 jeeps in 17 miles? Hell in the Tampa area, you can be at a stop light with 6 to 8 in view lol

 

[49Gramps]

I'll wave if I can see the driver and they haven't messed up the nice 7-slot grill!

Sponsored