Only One Editor Used Our Jeep Cherokee's CD Player
Our long-term fleet cars get around. Almost everyone on our editorial staff gets behind the wheel at some point, and a lot of those excursions are of the road-trip variety. Most are regular commutes of course, but with a long-term car the stereo is probably used more often than cars in for shorter examinations.
Related: More on Our Long-Term Fleet
Our 2014 Jeep Cherokee came with an optional — yes optional at $195 — CD player, which is located in the center console cubby, not in the dash. Most of our test drivers plugged in their smart devices via USB or tethered wirelessly via Bluetooth during trips adding up to 15,000-plus miles. There were also options for terrestrial and satellite radio. Those seemed to be enough choices for hours upon hours of listening for our staff … all except for one.
Executive Editor Joe Wiesenfelder admitted to using the device but pointed to two very specific reasons. “I’m not someone who feels a need to carry with me every song I’ve ever owned — or even to rip every CD. Yet sometimes I want something off the rack at a whim,” he explained.
He also had loftier motives that get to the core of how we test vehicles … or should test them it seems. “The CD player is the only reliable way to test or get the best sound quality of any audio system. It’s a lossless format and it should eliminate any degradation from Bluetooth or from compressed digital formats through a USB.”
There was a short debate on file sizes negating this second concern but for most purposes CDs do sound better. Car shoppers are looking at more and more music alternatives, however, demanding Pandora streaming, Bluetooth and seamless audio player compatibility in even the most affordable of cars. Automakers like Chevrolet and Honda have been trying to meet these demands in inexpensive cars like the Spark and Civic.
Our Jeep Cherokee does the job too, and if you really, really want a CD player you can still get one … for now.
Cars.com photos by David Thomas
