Do I need the beeb to talk me out of a Jeep Wrangler?

My wife wants a Jeep Wrangler. It would be basically a 3rd “fun” vehicle. We still need to test drive one, but they are everywhere. Are they worth owning or severely overpriced mid-life-crisis-mobiles? Money pits or do they hold some value?

I think they are kinda cool and was impressed recently by some I saw in some pretty sketchy trails in CO. We would probably never seriously off-road it other than some occasional forest and logging roads in the North woods.

So, 2 door/4 door? 6 cyl/4 cyl turbo? Sport/Sahara/Rubicon/etc? Hard top/soft top? What else?

Looks like the aftermarket is unlimited, even crazier than for my Tacoma.

she’s never really had any “toys”, might be fun for her (and me, and out soon to be 16 year old son), but I don’t have much reference or know anyone else that has one. Anyone here?

 

2 doors, soft top.

Anything else is just an SUV.

 

She wants a jeep? Watch out, she might have a girlfriend on the side.

If she starts wearing flannel shirts this fall and winter, well, I'm sorry dude.

Does she currently drive a Miata?

When is the last time you saw her wearing a dress? That long? Hmm ...

 

Do it.
They do everything pretty dang well. Their set up even makes mall crawling speed bumps and u-turns city friendly driving. Doors and top come off for a silly fun couple weeks in the summer before reality hits and you put them back on and crank the A/C. Get the biggest engine you can afford, don't go overboard on accessories, do NOT let her put 'angry eyes' on, or pick the wheels, and wave at every Early Bronco and Landcruiser you see. A "Nice Jeep, bro" goes a long way

and even though buying something for re-sale value is 'doing-it-wrong' they do hold value.

 

do you enjoy oil use and death wobble?

Head shakes on 4 wheels what more could you ask for right?

soft tops are cool if you never want to have a conversation with any passengers above 20 mph.

I hear they have the same technological advancements as a bagger

 

Turbo 4 is more fun than the old 3.6l V6. Hybrid is even quicker. V8 is stupid fun.

 

They are fun but do have drawbacks. They are loud. New ones are much quieter though. They are not as smooth of a ride as most other vehicles. The whole "death wobble" thing is usually a maintenance issue and can be easily cured by making sure your front end is in good shape and avoiding cheap lifts that mess with the steering geometry. Mine wobbled at speed when I got it but after replacing tie rods, suspension bushings, ball joints and hubs the wobble mysteriously disappeared. And if you install good bumpers, fenders and rocker guards they are super relaxing to drive in the city because you know that if some clown runs in to you there will likely be little damage and you will be able to drive home while the other person waits on a tow truck.

 

People will put ducks on your vehicle. That's reason enough not to buy one

 

my brother got the Rubicon 392 for a "weekend" beater... I laughed as his wife had no clue what it is or cost. The kids love it though.

 

Neighbors say they gave lived the JEEP meaning "Just Empty Every Pocket " due to mega problems on both Wrangler and Cherokee. But then they went and bought another. Guess the Kool-aid is pretty good there.

 

I don’t know what they did to the one that rolled up on me yesterday, but I was cruising at 70 and this ass spelunker came up on me with an easy 20-25mph speed differential.

After he rode my ass as I passed a semi, again, at 70, 10 over the limit and I pulled over to let him pass and he shot past, I kinda hoped for a death wobble for him.

 

I heard about the "Death wobble" term after I saw it happen to a Jeep on an Orlando freeway. It was so violent I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I thought the guy was gonna crash,

 

I had one when I was in my 20's. CJ7, 304 Quadratrac. They're great vehicles in your 20's, but I wouldn't own one now. They ride like crap and beat the shit out of you. Yeah, I had a much older version. I can't imagine they've changed that much...it's still the same basic platform.

 

My part of Maryland is infested with them. They buy them “for the snow”. Which is usually about 3 days that happen between January 15 and Valentines Day every year here.

The women that buy them wish they had a dick.

The men that buy them wish they had a dick, too.

 

It's a Chrysler product. If that's not enough to steer you away....

 

They look cool from the outside and amazingly hold their value. But that plasticky interior, loud, wobbly, bumpy ride, semi shitty Chrysler product, slow, poor gas mileage, ride doesn’t work for me?

 

Well I did ask if I needed to be talked out of it ha ha....

I had an old '84 CJ-7 back in the early 90's. The previous owner shoe-horned a huge V8, lifted, 35's, etc. Rode like shit, got about 5 mpg, serious death wobble, and it was trying to rip itself apart with that motor. I was in my early 20s and it was a blast!

I guess we need to get out and test drive some of the newer Wranglers, see how they feel. While a vehicle is pretty much always a bad investment, it's good to hear they sort of hold some relative value. Price on newer ones is all over the place. Need to understand what the different models are.

 

Our local Budget and Avis rents them. I'd suggest renting one for a weekend before you take the plunge.

 

I had a Jeep 2 door Wrangler back in the mid-late 90’s. It was fun. The ride wasn’t great and over a speed bump or pulling into a parking lot that has a small curb at an angle you needed your seat belt on or you felt like you were launched out of your seat . Most of the issues in my opinion were do to the extremely short wheel base. Off reading i took it places I never dreamed I could reach other than maybe on a quad . Short wheel base had advantages on tight trails .

I had both soft and hard tops. Got rid if it after I took it to a football game and thieves slashed my soft top up even though the doors were unlocked. They stole a cheap after market CD player I had and some random stuff. They destroyed the dash trying to get the radio out.
I said only way I’d own one again was if I lived at a beach.
I took one trip in the Jeep to the beach and it was epic. Nothing like being on the sand and Top down. Nothing.

When I moved to Florida 3 years ago and I’m 20 minutes from the beach I started to want one again.
I still need a truck so I split the difference and bought a Gladiator Mojave. I absolutely love it. I was in a Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins and I miss that power but the 6 in the Mojave does the job and I have the panels that pop off in 15 seconds up front (they call em freedom panels) very cool to ride with the open top. I can take entire hard top off but I need to get an over head system in my garage to store it when it’s off.
I have had it for 9 months zero regrets .
Fwiw-when the Mojave came out I hated em says they were ghey, not a real truck, etc etc lol

Put 35’s on it and tinted the windows . Won’t do anything else .

 

Go drive one. If you like it buy it. They hold there value very well and are a lot of fun. They are a different animal than a Tahoe or the normal SUV. Comparisons to a normal kid hauling SUV or a 40 year old Jeep are apples to oranges.