Houston Auto Show

[BAT]

Went to the Houston Auto Show and got a chance to mess around with the JT for a bit and get up close on them. They had a Gator Rubicon Loaded out (Man that Green could use something cause it was just kinda blah), Punkin Overland (It Texas so of course has to be some sort of UT Orange) and Black Sport S (Black looked really nice all shiney but no way in this heat). They did have a Gobi in the Jeep Experience so I got to see that color. Seeing that and the wrangler in Firecracker Red had me going back and forth but I still think I like the Gobi better. Almost everyone who was looking at them was only looking at the Rubicon which left me to hang out with the other two versions mostly by myself. I was surprised none of them had soft top though. The JT were not getting that much attention so was kind of nice. Most people were spending more time with the wrangler Sahara and Rubicon and the Jeep Willy's 2 seater (I gotta admit I liked that Jeep Willy's 2 Seater a lot but not practical for me) but I have a feeling that was because most of the guys had their wives with them and that is what interested them not the JT. I was kind of surprised they didn't have one kind of tricked out as an overland truck like Nissan had one of their trucks with the Lietner racks, etc and the tent on top. That was drawing a lot of attention from the guys. Not having much background with new jeeps I was rather surprised how comfortable I was in the JT although being able to adjust the seat a bit more would have been nice all in all it was very comfortable. Even the back seat wasn't to bad, kinda tight but my daughter sits back there so that would just be payback for all the "Are we there yet" comments. I didn't really care for the red dash in the Rubicon nor did my wife (She's a senior graphic designer so she tends to get picky over color stuff). All in all I really liked the truck except for the bumpers they seem so out of place being the truck seems solidly built and then you have like plastic bumpers. They also had the Jeep Experience where they let you ride along with Jeep Drivers over somewhat of an overland obstacle course to get a feel for the vehicles. Was pretty cool and you could go outside and take one for a drive on basically just a street course. It doesn't drive like my Ram but I didn't expect that. But its got the same engine as my Ram so the I am familiar with the feel of the engine and what it can do.
What I didn't like was the fact that my wife liked it and was saying "Oh I could get used to this with the top off". I was thinking hell no this gonna be my truck.
What I thought was kinda interesting talking to the Jeep rep there and somehow we got into discussing the diesel engine. I told them yea not sure if should wait and look into them at that point or not because its gonna be a daily driver for me and the gas mileage would be nice. He caught me off guard a bit as I was thinking he was gonna push for the diesel but instead he said he didn't think it was gonna be worth it. I asked why and he said well its gonna add $$$ to the vehicle price. It will get better gas mileage and towing but your gonna pay more for diesel and in some states a lot more plus you have to deal with DEF (Have never had diesel engine so had to look up DEF when I got home) and higher maintenance cost. He said they think that a lot of people are holding out and waiting on the diesel engine but he felt the 3.6 was the better choice. We were not discussing any purchase deals, etc since he wasn't a dealership. Anyhow it was nice to get up close to the JT without having an overbearing salesman, etc standing over me the whole time.

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