How does the Jeep Wrangler keep it's value so well? I had to rent one last weekend and it may have been the crappiest car I've ever been in. It only had 26k miles on it, and it was the newer hybrid wrangler, but the materials used were crap, the usability was awful, it was so bulky with barely any real space and it was a terrible ride.
On top of that, they're so expensive. Why does anyone buy jeeps?
You’re not the target then and you shouldn’t have been in a wrangler. A wrangler is a body on frame, solid front and rear axel vehicle. It’s going to naturally ride like dog shit, and the materials on the interior are shit because they’re made to get dirty and be washed out (literally with a hose) and have the top off with the California sun beating on them 24/7. The usability is awful for the same reason. Everything is water resistant and built for off road use.
Space… well that’s because it’s body on frame. They’ve always been awful at usable interior space due to that.
Lastly, they’re expensive because literally no one else makes a body on frame SUV with a solid rear axel, let alone a solid front too. Those pieces also cost a ton to keep legally on the road and they have to purchase carbon credits just to certify them.
TLDR: It's the only "cheap" off-roader on the US market that is capable of extreme (rock-climbing, open terrain) off-roading activites even in stock form, that and it has a huge aftermarket behind it for making it an even better off-roader.
People just really love the Jeep Wrangler because 'Merica. Or something, I don't get it either. Even the old ones with their pre-enshitification parts aren't even that reliable and are expensive to maintain. If you like working on your own vehicle as a hobby I guess it's acceptable but otherwise it's like $1000 a month getting the dealer to fix everything.