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Daily Driver: 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X Edition

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X Edition, reviewed by Adam Morath. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT Hi, I'm Adam Morath for Autoblog. Now, undoubtedly, one of the coolest things about this job is that you're in and out of so many different vehicles, but, I'll be honest, there are times where, if you're in very similar vehicles, they can start to run together a little bit. That's why I love getting into a car like this that just snaps you right out of it because it's so unique and so different from anything else on the market. Of course I'm talking about the Jeep Wrangler. I'm in a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. This is the X Edition, which stands for X Games. Jeep is a big title sponsor of the 2015 Aspen X Games and you can see that all over this vehicle. You have white, glossy accent plastic in the interior; mountain graphics throughout the interior and exterior of the vehicle – a nod, obviously, to the winter sports and skiing that you would do out in Aspen. And then in keeping with that mountainous theme, you have an Alpine nine-stereo speaker system. I'll be honest, though, that some of it feels a little overdone to me. For instance, there's a power-bulge in the hood. Credit to Jeep: the vents are actually functional, but this is not the trim I would go for, just personally. It's one of those vehicles that people are always wondering, "I really like the look of it [and] I like the capability, but could I live with a Wrangler?" It's the same sort of question you'll get from people who are looking at a sports car, "could I actually live with this is my daily driver?" And I have to say, Jeep has come a long way – Wrangler, in particular, has come a long way – in terms of driving comfort. Of course, don't expect "Lexus quiet." You can probably hear it's a big noisy in the cabin. It's a bit of a bumpy ride. There are things about this vehicle that I could see being annoying in your day-to-day life. For instance, the door: it's essentially an external hinge on the door, but it doesn't stay open for you. So, if you're on any sort of a tilt, the door will come back in and you have to just prop it open with your leg. Little things like that.

FCA to appeal reduced judgment in Georgia Jeep case

FCA is appealing the $40 million verdict against it in a case in Georgia where a four-year-old boy died in a fire in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, according to The Detroit News. The jury originally awarded the child's family $150 million, but the judge decided to significantly to reduce the amount based on other precedents. The automaker has been considering further legal options since the decision was announced in July. The boy's death happened in 2012 when he was riding in a Grand Cherokee. The vehicle was rear-ended, and the fuel tank burst, causing a fire. This is the same issue that led to a recall of millions of the SUVs and a recent agreement with the US government from FCA to pay to get them fixed. In the original ruling, the jury said that the automaker was 99 percent responsible for the fatality and didn't adequately warn owners. It asked the company to pay $120 million for wrongful death and $30 million for his pain and suffering. FCA countered that the Jeeps met the safety standards of the time they were made. FCA requested that the jury's award be reduced in May calling the amount "grossly excessive." If the family didn't agree to a lower amount, the company also threatened to seek a new trial. Among the arguments was that $30 million was too much for the child's one minute of suffering. The parents did accept the judge's adjusted figure, though.

Federal investigations about safety of rear-mounted gas tanks is nothing new

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Chrysler are currently making waves in our daily news feeds due to a disagreement over the safety of a few million Jeep Liberty and Grand Cherokee models. Specifically, NHTSA has asked Chrysler to recall the SUVs because of the location of their fuel tanks, but you may be interested to know that requests such as this are nothing new.
Besides the two Jeep models, NHTSA has launched investigations over the years in such models as the Ford Crown Victoria (and its police-car counterpart), GM pickups built between 1972 and 1987, and rather famously the Ford Pinto.
Understanding how automakers and NHTSA have dealt with fuel-tank-safety concerns in the past may offer a better understanding of how Chrysler and the government agency will settle their current dispute. Check out the complete article from The Detroit News here.