I found this video to be a little frustrating - there is a very real reluctance for veteran Jeep owners to just flat out admit that the Renegade is a real Jeep and a very competent wheeler. They will say that but then add a qualifying statement like this guy did - "for a 16 year old kid..." He should have just left it by saying: this is the entry level off-road capable Jeep. It will satiate your desires from novice to intermediate if you make a few mods. And If you find yourself becoming an avid off-road enthusiast then at some point the Renegade will limit what you can do. But maybe 5-10% of the people purchasing Jeeps ever become full fledged hobbyists and even fewer challenge themselves and to a point where the equipment is the limiting factor.
I tried to make that point on a thread earlier. Most people buy wranglers for the wrong reasons and never use them passed a 3 rated trail.
Exactly! Lots of people just don't want to admit that the Renegade is surpassing expectations on and off the road. It's like pride is keeping them from saying that the Renegade is a real Jeep. After putzing around sandy desert trails I finally took my TH to a "real" OHV trail area. The Renegade did everything I asked of it, some of which were probably out of my league. Point is, I am new to 4x4 and the Jeep got me to where I wanted to go. I wanted to go farther but felt limited by MY off-road driving skills and 4x4 experience not the Jeep's ability to get me there. Hopefully, I'll get better at reading trails and finding lines and really let the Renegade take me to some cool isolated spots. The guy in that video said a great first car for a 16 year old.... I am like WHAT?!?!? Shoot when I was 16 the only thing I could get my hands on were old borrowed cars, my first car was a hand me down Saturn SL1 at age 18. None of my friends or I had a car at 16. Nor could we imagine having one that starts at $20,000. Wow, to even suggest a 16year old driving a $20,000 car, different world than the one I grew up in.
My first car at 16, cost $700 and was in a field in oklahoma. It drove....barely and I had to clean it up and rebuild it. an inch of dirt in the floorboards and trunk... kids today are just plain spoiled.
My first car was called the 'Silver Bullet.' It was a 70' something Volvo sedan with a bungee cord - one end tied to the inside door handle of the driver side door and the other end tied to the handle of the passenger side door. This was done to keep them closed when turning. We eventually jumped it...like Dukes of Hazard. ...Nuf said.