I wanted a truck that could haul a couple of bikes that wasn’t a generic half ton. This fit the bill for me (convertible, etc.), and I’m certainly not put off by the novelty and attention it draws. Since when did looking or feeling cool become a bad thing? I’ve generally been a “I derive my pleasure from motorcycles and cars are strictly utilitarian” kind of guy (prior vehicle was diesel Passat), but why not try to enjoy the times I’m forced to drive on four wheels when carting my kids around?
Only when headed to the airport. It is the one benefit of living in small town ga, tons of land, both public and private I can legally use my Jeep- as it should be used.
It’s not a bad thing at all. It just costs extra.....This truck is a perfect example. It’s ~10k more than a comperable Taco / Ranger / Colorado. Which, all the midsized trucks are the new hotness, well except for the Frontier. But wait till the Mercedes gets here......it costs extra to be one of the “in crowd”, any “in crowd”. Prius / Tesla / Leaf, Odyssey /Sienna / Caravan. MB / BMW / Audi vs Malibu/Camry /Accord. If you find value in it, cool thats on you and your check book. I’m just voicing my view on the insane stupid pricing of some of these “new hotness” trinkets.
Pricing on these new Jeeps is nuts. I recently read a Car and Driver review of a 2door Rubicon with the turbo 4. It was something like $54k, and could go up more with additional options. Not to mention the aftermarket stuff everyone adds. That just doesn’t make one bit of sense to me. Wranglers were always cheap, basic vehicles that could go anywhere. Now they’re approaching starter house money! What do you think the margin is for FCA on these things? Got to be near a 100% markup.
As soon as all the little wannabe trucks have a ragtop option and lockers and so on you can compare them, until that point not so much. They are overpriced a touch purely because of popularity. But they are still amazingly functional and better stock for off road than anything you guys compare them to. Nope, doesn't matter that most owners are posers any more than the lifted and useless coal rolling fool trucks are posers too. Those fools don't define the actual vehicle.
Yeah, no worries. Mine was about $20K more than a loaded Taco (60 v 40), but for my kids riding around with the top off yesterday and giggling the whole time, it's a no brainer to me (I would've paid $80K ). I'm moderately successful and hoping to retire in a few years, so I thought I'd treat myself to something a little nicer than the 2006 WK Grand Cherokee that we traded in yesterday (we got a whopping $1K on that trade-in value ). At the end of the day, we all spend our money on what we value - I decided that for the small amount of time I'm on four wheels and not two, I'd prefer to enjoy myself and I'm blessed enough to be able to do that
Doubtful on the markup, the parts they use really are good ones for the most part, especially on the Rubicons. Jeeps were never cheap - at lest not since 98 with the TJ's but I suspect even back to CJ5's. They were absolutely utilitarian and more capable than anything else in it's class (for those rare times there was something comparable).
Not at the dealer, at the manufacturer. That’s a number they’re VERY protective of, but you know it’s high because they’re able to offer huge rebates on trucks without batting an eye.
I was hoping to make it up to the Overland Expo in Flagstaff this weekend and see if there was any Gladiators on display but had to run down to Phoenix for some family stuff.
Excellent points. I bought mine as a toy, it’s just over 5 years old and just hit 45k, like I said it’s a toy. My family loves it on spring / fall and I’m still not bored of it. Not to mention even of a tool a few things off could still pull mid 20’s without even trying.
Yup, mine's a toy as well. Drive (maybe) 3K miles a year (trip to work is 8 miles) because I'm on 2 wheels more than 4. So, next question - where do I find some mean accessories for it?
Pretty much everywhere All depends on what you want. More I think about it if they changed enough it'll be a bit before stuff hits the market. I heard the new JK's were going to have different mounts and shapes for everything like bumpers and bikinis tops and such.
Keep an eye on Quadratec for ideas and availability of new stuff. Then go google shopping to find the parts at better deals.
First figure out what you want, there’s a lot of stuff out there that’s a good “value” , some is overpriced junk, some is bargain priced junk. If you lift it do it right, anything over 2-2.5” there’s a lot more that “should” be changed than just adding the lift kit. That stuff usually is more than the lift but worth every penny. Mine has upgraded ball joints, control arms, drive shaft ((s) front is pretty necessary, rear is not), custom spring shins (to keep them true when you slightly rotate the axle after lift to get proper driveline angle), one off skid plates out of a mix of 3/8 and 1/4” alum, sway bar quick disconnects, set of frame mounted rock sliders that I had the company make out of chromoly vs steel plus stock rubi rock rails, hydraulic bump stops so when you are chasing your buddy in his raptor you have a bit softer landing. I also have 2 sets of springs. One set are very progressive other set linear. My first purchase would be a set of rock rails, frame mounted. Lots of good ones out there. Poison Spider makes some nice stuff. Two sets of wheels are nice to have as well. I have a set of AT’s and a set of MT’s with bead locks on steel wheels. Mine has 35’s which are planets. I actually have a stock Dana 44 and 30 frt in right now as I’m swapping over some stuff in my other set and adding trusses to them. Sleeved was not quite enough.
Agree on this. They often have those Quadra pack deals if you are patient. Their stuffs pretty expensive unless they find a deal or sale.
And .... and install it all yourself. Everything. I wish I had done my LS swap myself. My axle and coil over upgrade I’ll be doing with the help of my friends. You learn so much and it’s done right. If you get in over your head.... plenty of good knowledge out there on the web.
LS swap, with the right knowledge, tools can be done yourself. Never done one personally but been around them, not rocket science but not simple either. 100% agree with you on this though. Do it yourself and learn your Jeep. Makes it much easier when you break shit on a trail as you know it. Kind of why I machined up plates to go on the pads for rear spring mounts, I saw once I got my driveline angle where I wanted it the springs were at too much of an arc for my liking, would it have been ok, probably but I’d rather have everything the way I want it not how a shop put it on. I’m hoping by this model they changed the bolts for control arms, track bar etc but the previous gen swapping out the bolts for the proper size is probably the very first thing you should do, lofted or not.
