When buying a new SUV, do you go with the city-slick Cadillac or the rough-and-rugged Jeep? I put both the Cadillac 2012 SRX Crossover and the 2012 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon to the test.
Looks
You either love or hate Jeep’s iconic vehicle. Originally a military workhorse, the main design of the Wrangler has been unchanged since its inception 70 years ago. The Cadillac is the opposite, forcefully moving into the future with sleek aerodynamic lines, vertical lights and a low profile that somehow blends into city traffic. Overall, I’ll take the futuristic Caddy over the Jeep.
Capability
Here’s where the Wrangler wins, hands down. Anything the Caddy can do, the Jeep can do better. Potholes? No problem. Weaving in and out of traffic? Not an issue. Carrying four people and their stuff luxuriously? Check on both. But the Jeep can literally climb mountains. And with extra tuning and after-market upgrades, you can take the Wrangler through a muddy lake. Here, the winner is definitely the Jeep. Try doing this in a Cadillac.
Price
The cars come surprisingly close in price. The fully loaded SRX Crossover is $53,325.00, while the fully loaded Rubicon is $47,985.00. Only $5340.00 separate the two cars, with the Cadillac unsurprisingly being the more expensive of the two. I feel that once you’ve spent around $50,000 for a vehicle, five grand here or there is not a big deal. This tenet ends in a tie.
Conclusion
It’s a preference of style over substance. Certainly the Cadillac is capable in the city streets, but looks far out of place in the mountains of Utah. And while the rugged Jeep will turn heads wherever it goes, it may cause a few snickers more than “oohs” and “awes” when you pull up to a 5-star restaurant in it, a place where the Cadillac would look right at home. At the end of the day, I’ve got to go with the Jeep. I can see the beauty in its ugliness. Off to the mountains I go.
