Do I really want a Jeep Wrangler?

Friend brought his to show it off now :) 

I didnt say on road was bad. I said FJ trail team was much better on road, comparatively speaking. Thus I bought that instead of Wrangler 

I have had a 2007 unlimited Sahara with the 6 speed for the past 2 years. 

It rides fine for what it is on road.  My biggest complaint is the gear ratio with the oversized tires and the 6 speed.  It is easily corrected though because Wrangler = huge aftermarket.

Nothing else modern has a removable roof and doors which is awesome in the summer.

In reply to Cotton :

I dailied my TJ for 9-ish years.  Granted a hard top would alleviate most of my bigger gripes.  I've had 3 soft tops since I've owned it, for what I've paid for in replacement tops over the years, I could have bought a nice used hard top.  Soft upper doors are probably worse yet than the soft top, zippers are not an adequate substitute for even manual windows.  Un zipping the rear window to get better access to the back is also annoying.  Wind noise and road noise is deafening, the factory top leaked, the $$$ Bestop leaked, and the more affordable Quadratec top I have on it now, also leaks.

That said, I can have the top folded down in about 5 minutes.

Ride quality was rough from factory, but I've made it worse with aftermarket lift.

There's really only room for 2 people, the back seat room is laughable, I haven't had a back seat in my Jeep for ~8 years.

Deathwobble, been there done that, got the tee shirt.

Fuel economy sucks, 13 MPG average, and I've got the 2.5l

There's a whole list of quirky TJ specific things I could go on about.

I love my Jeep, but I'm fortunate enough to have other cars, so I no longer need to daily drive it, and am better for it.

I think a lot of people are saying what should be readily apparent about these - they ride a lot worse on road than other vehicles designed to be driven on road.

If you can recognize that, and appreciate it for what it is, I think you can be fine with DDing it. You just need to know what you're getting into from the beginning.

For example, I actually miss the ride of my third gen 4Runner at times, while driving my cushy GX 460. How does that make any sense? Something about the roughness, slowness, cheap radio with the windows down was just relaxing to me.

Would a parallel conversation be why drive a Miata with a shorter wheelbase when there are other coupes with a longer wheelbase that are much more comfortable? Maybe, I dunno, but some people just love Miata's because reasons...

I'm curious to get your impressions as the high resale and addition of the Gladiator could make a new Wrangler a great opportunity to scoop up a manual, convertible 4-door SUV. 

I don't know a JL from a JK Simmons.  My boss has a 2015 Unlimited Rubicon and his neighbors talked him into adding big mudders and short fenders and a lift and a light bar and a winch and all the other crap you apparently need to live more than 2 miles outside the nearest city.

It's comprehensively awful on-road.  I don't doubt it's good on the trail.  But the farthest this thing has ever been off the road is so they can buy a beach permit and pretend to fish rather than carrying all their beach gear from the parking lot.

I don't know how he tolerates driving it every day.

I’ve DD a variety of Wranglers and even a CJ since 2009. Minus a short stint 9 months, in a Subaru Outback, Mustang GT, and 2 months in a Mazda 3.

I currently DD a 2013 JK 2 door, 6spd, soft top for summer, hard top for winter. Mine has 114k miles, I’ve had stock, oversize, mud, and AT tires trying to figure out which I liked best. It’s been on long trips, DD, and some trails.  I have a few mods, but I don’t have a lift, light bar, bumpers, winch, or any “bro-dozer” stuff.  It’s more like an old mans Jeep.

My old man tires are 285/75/16 ko2

rest is bone stock 

i am sure bro dozers laugh at my stockness

octavious said:

I’ve DD a variety of Wranglers and even a CJ since 2009. Minus a short stint 9 months, in a Subaru Outback, Mustang GT, and 2 months in a Mazda 3.

 

I currently DD a 2013 JK 2 door, 6spd, soft top for summer, hard top for winter. Mine has 114k miles, I’ve had stock, oversize, mud, and AT tires trying to figure out which I liked best. It’s been on long trips, DD, and some trails.  I have a few mods, but I don’t have a lift, light bar, bumpers, winch, or any “bro-dozer” stuff.  It’s more like an old mans Jeep.

And if you and a “bro-dozer” were both to set out tomorrow on a trip to Tierra del Fuego, my money is on you.

I like how all the snooty car snobs go on and on about how poor JK’s, JL’s, and TJ’s are as DD’s and how people are so foolish to shell out the price for a Rubicon because they will obviously never need that extra capability.  And then along comes a D90 and these same people are kneeling on the ground worshiping it in its tire tracks.

Bought a '16 JK new.  Black Bear edition.  Love it.  

90% of the goodies added to my Wrangler were found on Craiglist for about half price.  I'm amazed how people buy these and then put over $10 grand into them.

You either love or hate them.  I think they are awesome and if I want to save some money on gas I'll drive my NA Miata.  

Life is short so if you want to give something a try for a few years, I say go for it.  You might stumble into another community of great people that you never knew existed.

A 401 CJ said:

I like how all the snooty car snobs go on and on about how poor JK’s, JL’s, and TJ’s are as DD’s and how people are so foolish to shell out the price for a Rubicon because they will obviously never need that extra capability.  And then along comes a D90 and these same people are kneeling on the ground worshiping it in its tire tracks.

I'd love to have a D90 for the rarity value.  But I would never ever contemplate using it as a daily (even if it ran every day).

Duke said:

I don't doubt it's good on the trail. 

Sad part is, his Jeep was probably very capable on the trail in the first place, especially the trails that the vast majority of off-roaders go on. 

I always get chuckles when I looks at some of my friends' FB photos, who own Jeeps or other modded 4x4s and are showing pics of the "hardcore" stuff they're out doing. But I always look around at the other rigs with them, and it never fails that there's a bone-stock Subaru Forester or a RAV4 or something in the group, doing the same trails.

Then again, the whole "mall crawler" thing with Jeeps is pretty much the same as the multitude of poeple driving M3's and other extremely high-performance cars on their daily commute, here in the city/suburbs, with no indication that they've ever gone to a track. Is what it is. People will buy what they like, what they think is cool or trendy, etc....or what they imagine SOMEDAY they will use for hardcore off-road adventure trip (or trackday weekends)...whether they do or not. 

In reply to octavious :

Not to hijack, but this seems like a perfect opportunity for this...

I’m looking at renting a 2013 2 door wrangler when I go to Florida with the family this year. 

I have a couple questions:

Will 2 suitcases fit behind the back seat? They will only be there for the drive from Tampa International to Bradenton and then the return.

Does the backseat have enough room to fit a 15yo (5’2” tall), and a 10yo comfortably enough to explore Florida?

Last time we went we had a Jetta and were fine, but I’m thinking it would be nice to rent something more fun, and convertible. If the Jeep wont work, I’m thinking Mustang convertible, but that probably has even less cargo space. 

@No Time. Normal suitcases? No. Two small gym bags yes. Trunk space on a 2 door and needing to use the back seat is basically two backpacks worth of space. 

Yes, a 5’2” person will fit back there. Might not be comfy but they will fit. My 6’4” dad and 5’6” sister both fit in the back...but...my dad sat behind my 5’3” wife who had to scoot her seat up. 

In reply to octavious :

Thanks for the info, but it’s disappointing to hear. 

I was hoping the 2 door would work. I can rent a 2 door wrangler through Turo for less than an Elantra through the regular rental companies. 

I'd say give one a shot. If you don't like it, you can sell it most likely and not suffer much of a loss. I give them kudos for still offering roll up windows and manual transmissions. That said, I'd go for a 4 Runner or an Xterra.

I really liked my 4 dr JK.  It is a go anywhere in any weather capable vehicle that seats 4 comfortably.  The hardtop is a must IMO.  I had a Rubicon, but realized I don’t need that much offroad capability.  

The only annoyance is the wind noise.  A cube at 70 makes more than a truck or car.  It has zero aero but infinite character.  

The rear door beats trunks and hatches by a lot in my opinion too.  

I did not like the lack of towing capacity and a truck bed is always good. I have a Z71 Colorado.  I have to plan where I’m going now.  With a Jeep it was literally hey let’s go there through or over that....  no problem.  I’mnot a rock crawler type so a Jeep with locking or limited slip diffs will go anywhere I want.

I’m considering a small offroad camping trailer for my birthday next year too.  The trans America thread really has me dreaming.  

I've been DD-ing my 2016 JKU for a little over 3 years since I bought it new. My wife hated the rough ride at the beginning but kinda tolerate it by now. I like that I can't really drive it too fast and kinda force me to slow down. Hard top is a must but I just bought a sunrider since taking off and putting the freedom panels is a chore. I took it to a trail for some wheeling last spring and was the only bone stock JKU Sahara with stock AT tires and still made it home safely (well, I got some rock scratches on my rims but I consider them badge of honor lol). Also took it to the 4X4 beach at OBX, that was fun. Now I am thinking about getting JL wheels and tires take off that should be plug and play with the JK. I have my C5 Z06 for autocross and track day and if I feel like driving fast.  

I've come to the opinion that every citizen of the US, at some point, will own a Jeep Wrangler. The fact that they sell like deep fried hot cakes and have stellar resale value, despite their horrid build quality is testament to this. 
Jeep is the crown jewel of any (ultimately doomed) auto mfgr that owns the nameplate. Despite this curse, the privilege to manufacture Jeeps is a hotly contested property. 
I don't have any need or desire to off-road. And yet, I want a Jeep. I even bought a JK grille to hang on  my sons wall. He thinks it's the best thing ever. 
I'm shopping for a C5 vette to race. What's the first thing that comes to mind? 'What if I put a Jeep body on it?' This is now the sole reason for acquiring the vehicle. 

Why do we want Jeeps?  It can't be explained. We just do. 

I really know very little about Jeeps other then riding around in one for an afternoon and it being fun. We have a motorhome and I have noticed Jeeps seem to be the most popular vehicle as a towed vehicle with maybe as much as 50%.  I started to look for one but just  couldn’t get past the really high used pricing for late model Jeeps even with high mileage. This vehicle would have had to also be one of our two daily drivers and I thought might not fit that role well. There certainly are a lot of them on the road.

Jeeps and other 4wd vehicles with a real transfer case that can be put in Neutral are common for flat towing behind a motorhome for technical reasons.  Most modern automatics can't be flat towed (trans will eat itself if it's just spinning in neutral without the engine running to pump fluid).  So it's either trailer, dolly, drop the driveshaft if RWD.  Or use a manual trans vehicle.  Or something 4wd where it's safe to flat tow in t-case neutral.  

In reply to rslifkin :

I’m sure that is the reason that makes Jeeps such popular towed vehicles. I ended up with a Ford Fiesta ST on a dolly that even though has a six speed manual cannot be towed four down because of the transmission. If Jeeps weren’t so pricey still would like to have one.

benjmc said:

You would love to have a Jeep Wrangler. There are a lot of perks on having one. I bought mine 5 years ago and my husband and I always make sure to take it everywhere. Every summer , we take our Jeep to our local shop and make them remove and store the jeep's hardtop so we can feel the heat and during winter we make sure that the hardtop is reinstalled. You should also do it as well is you're going to own one so you can also make the most out of your Jeep! I hope this helps :) 

After 4 years, I presume the decision was made....

fasted58 said:

Not that I need one but I've been drawn in. Currently own a mid-size 4X4 PU and AWD Regal so got the NE winters mostly covered. May be toy time? DD and weekend trail warrior. 

Late model '14 and up (maybe lower mileage/ clean '12 up since 3.6L), 2-door, hard top, a few options. Sport, Sport S are kinda plain for me. Sahara trim, dunno. How does the brake activated limited slip rear perform on these models for off road? Rumored leaks? Road manners?

Rubicon pushes all the right buttons w/ Dana 44s, lockers, sway bar disconnect, more options etc. Brain says Rubicon is the way to go but dang they expensive. 

Anything FCA reliability to be aware of?

Done quite a bit of online research but what does GRM think?

TIA

 

 

I DD a '13 Rubi 4 door.  6 speed stick.  If it's power you want look elsewhere.  Maybe look to a JL with the 8 speed auto, 392 perhaps, or an LS or Hemi swapped JK.  But if you just want to take the doors off, top off, and literally feel your blood pressure drop on a nice day, there is no other car that can come close.

Also I think the aftermarket makes more stuff for them than the next 3 closest vehicles combined