|
It's the only american branded car we will own anymore. The wife and I have had jeeps since we were both in our 20's, hell it's how we met. She had a TJ (2dr wrangler) and I had an XJ (cherokee, before sergio fukd it up)
The are rock solid and IMO the lego of the car world. Old jeeps pre-2006 were bomb proof with the 4.0l inline six, they had minimal computer or engine issues. You could beat the shit out of them all weekend and drive them to work all week. Enter the 3.8 as mentioned above, it was a failure from the start and finally died off in '11 It was designed as a power plant for minivans and should have never been in the wrangler.
This current gen of jeeps are pretty much back to being bomb proof. Sure the 3.6 doesn't have the punch the 4.0 had but motor swaps are extremely common all the way up to the 6.4 and superchargers have dramatically come down in price and offer great gains. The cost break down for some s/c equal a better cost to power gain over a 5.7 hemi swap. Again as mentioned the options run the gamut from base model sports with a single cd radio and cloth to rubicon's with heated leather, alpine speakers etc. You can even get heated cloth, it just depends on what you want really. If you will never take it offroad there is no way I would recommend someone spending the money for a rubicon. A sahara model will get you a few creature comforts and you add things like a dual top group that comes with the hard and soft top, a 430n nav system which does everything from xm traffic alerts/music to a built in 30 gig hard drive to tow packages etc.
Between the wife and I we have had 15 jeeps of different flavors ranging from bespoke custom jeeps to an willy's MB from the 40's. If I had to break it down like this to a potential buyer I would list the pro's and con's as this -
Pro's - dual tops totally worth it, best of both worlds. Hard top is great in winter, soft top fun for the summer.
- more aftermarket support than any vehicle on the earth and most modifications can be done in your driveway. it's real life lego
- if something fails after the warranty expires a for example the motor, a new engine can be had for 3k or less and be swapped in a weekend with minimal tools and a cooler of beer.
- almost indestructible driveline
- with good maintenance it's the US version of the toyota hilux. you can't really kill one
- comes with it's own subculture. event's of every type is available for jeepers from cruise in's, rock crawling, beach driving, overlanding, etc.
Con's - mpg, lol yeah right
- not great for a lot of gear
- ride quality... it's a jeep not a benz
- mpg or gas stations per mile
- headlights are abysmal. driving at night is a game of wtf is the road? it's an easy mod and the first you should make
- brakes are ok up to about 32"" tires which comes std on the rubicons. past that I would invest in better pads or honestly a larger brake system.
- soft tops can be targets for quick break in's so never leave anything of value in there. the next gen of jeeps won't even come with a soft top because their research says most buyers never use it
- you might have a leak here or there, easily fixable by both the dealer and the owner
You are going nowhere fast in a jeep but the fun you have getting from point A to point B for the smiles per gallon factor is worth it to us. So much so we have three at the moment. From bone stock to heavily modified. If you have any questions I would be glad to answer to the best that I can. I've done just about everything you can do or to a jeep as well as worked for DC/FCA etc for events all over the US.
|