The Jeep Wave

If you have ever driven a Jeep Wrangler or have ever been in the passenger seat of a Jeep Wrangler, you probably have experienced the Jeep Wave. That’s right, it’s not just Harley’s and Corvette’s, there’s a Jeep Wave.

It was an odd experience when I first bought my Jeep. I would drive around town and other drivers of different Jeeps would casually raise their hand to wave at me as we passed. At first I thought it was just people being nice because we drove the same car. However, later I found that it was EVERY person driving a Jeep Wrangler. It didn’t matter the age or gender or race of the person, they all waved. And that’s when I realized that there was much more to owning a Jeep. Unlike a Cruze, an Impala, or a Century, Jeep owners recognize and respect each other simply for their taste in cars. When you purchase a Jeep you join a family that has similar interests and is so loyal that they indulge themselves in their cars and group up for events and could talk about it to strangers for hours. (I’ve been there, in both ends) The motto “It’s a Jeep thing, you wouldn’t understand” has never been truer.

Immediately I joined in with my fellow drivers and gave a casual wave to other Jeeps and as I waved to people, I quickly found that there were certain rules to this social occurrence and that they were some of the strongest unspoken rules. Several of my friends started to realize what was going on and each individually asked me why I was doing that.  In return I explained the rules of the Jeep wave.

The Jeep wave itself is a very simple wave. It is always a casual lift of the hand from a visible area. You never wave obnoxiously or energetically.  Where depends on if your top is on or off. If you’re driving with your top on the wave comes from your hand resting on the top of your steering wheel. If your top is off then you can do either the steering wheel or do it from your door window when it’s rolled down.  Also the wave can only be given to and from Jeep Wranglers, no Liberties or Cherokees or anything else. Any model all of the way back to a Willey’s model can be waved to. You only wave when you are passing on a two lane road or if there is no more than a left turn lane between the two.  They need to be passing each other going opposite ways on the road and not at a crossroad. Even if they are both at a stoplight you wait until you are just about to pass before you wave. If it is dark out, no one waves or flashes their lights. The only exception to this rule is that if two Jeep owners see each other get out of their cars and spend a extended period of time in the same area they will often acknowledge each other regardless of location.

All in all, this simple notification of belonging to a family is what brings us together and create this non-monetary or residual value that cannot be touched.