Earlier this week my husband and I went to the mall by ourselves and left complimenting each other on the fact that we didn't buy anything for our seven-year-old daughter.
On the way home, we decided to stop at Ikea. Forty-five minutes later, we were loading Emma's new desk, chair, desk lamp, and other accessories into the Jeep Compass' cargo area. So much for self-control...
With the second-row seats folded down, the Compass handled the build-it-yourself furniture boxes with ease, but it was while we were unloading that I realized just how much the Compass and Ikea furniture have in common. They're both shiny on the outside, masking questionable quality on the inside. They're both built on a slightly smaller scale than the average full-size adult needs, making them functional, yet not quite comfortable. And neither the Compass nor an Ikea desk are aspirational items. They're both something you settle for until you find the replacement piece of your dreams.
If the Compass arrived with a plastic bag of hardware that included a funny, little wrench in its glovebox, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
Kelly Toepke, News Editor @ 9625 miles
steel5blue says:
10:03 PM, 09/ 6/07
"Aspirational items"?- Are you for real?- That is the most ridiculously consumerism-brainwashed, elitist drivel I've heard in a while. I assume your work at Edmunds is far from "aspirational", and one day you'll have a real job and make enough money to buy your own cars and real furniture for your daughter.
mohaji says:
06:23 AM, 09/ 7/07
steel5blue,
with due respect, why are you be-littling the editor's job for writing this blog? elitist drivel i've just read is your response.
compass is not an aspirational vehicle for enthusiast, and that's pretty much a fact.
prndlol says:
08:13 AM, 09/ 7/07
"And neither the Compass nor an Ikea desk are aspirational items. They're both something you settle for until you find the replacement piece of your dreams."
BURN!
firstwagon says:
03:53 PM, 09/ 7/07
The compass is an entry level vehicle. Isn't that the purpose of entry level vehicles? If the best cars were the cheapest cars, who would buy the expensive ones?
daxtripper says:
08:08 PM, 09/ 7/07
Would someone please give steel5blue a hug? He's just so angry, desparate for someone to agree 'with him that the Compass rocks. Perhaps Stuart Smalley is needed on the blog. He'd say, "The Compass is good enough, quick enough, and god darnit, people like it...Although even I can see that interior is terrible."
steel5blue says:
08:27 PM, 09/ 7/07
Thank you, Stuart, at least somebody w/ a sense of humor and compassion, if not spelling.