Jeep Peeps, spend my money

For us kids of the 70's and 80's, jeep rollover was one of the top 3 hazards of life.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Oh I agree. I've driven a few newer ones (JL) as rentals and they were fine (although obviously stock). I just meant that "Jeeps are plain fun to drive" isn't universal, lol. Here's a rental I had one time back in 2017, which I was driving to a location in DFW at which there were 3 or 4 employees with highly-modded Jeep Wranglers. I rented the JL on purpose
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That's a JK. 2019 was first year for JL.
 
The JL was reportedly redesigned for better road manners.

My particular use case is mostly back roads and an occasional soggy trail for giggles in Florida. The only reason I care about road manners is in case I decide to relocate it to Colorado in the future.

I've moved around a lot, and have always believed in watching the natives and doing what they do. Jeeps are very popular in both FL and CO.
 
Ed Haywood said:
The JL was reportedly redesigned for better road manners.

My particular use case is mostly back roads and an occasional soggy trail for giggles in Florida. The only reason I care about road manners is in case I decide to relocate it to Colorado in the future.

I've moved around a lot, and have always believed in watching the natives and doing what they do. Jeeps are very popular in both FL and CO.
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As I mentioned (despite mis-labeling the generation), the JK was just fine on the road and had notably better manners/noise than the YJ. I'm sure the newer 392 would be a riot. I have a cousin with one which has had all of the typical off-roading stuff done to a 392 Wrangler, but I haven't had the pleasure of riding in it.
 
If you buy new, or CPO (certified pre-owned) I highly, repeat highly, recommend looking into the Chrysler 8 yr/125K mile Added Care Plus plan. Or, if you can swing it - the MaxCare plan. It paid off in my case. In 2014 I went to the dealer to order a new JK Sport. No frills except A/C. The salesman (whom we've used in the past) pointed out one he thought I'd like. It was a used 2011 JK/Sahara. But, it was green. I dislike green. I want white vehicles. Since it had the six-speed manual in it, it just sat there. Even the lot boys couldn't drive it. I asked for the extended service plan (at no extra charge, paid asking price for Jeep), and it paid off for me. The 3.8L engine and transmission have been flawless. Gutless, but no issues. There is something to be said about "old school" pushrods riding on hydraulic lifters. What was replaced under the terms of the extended service plan:
AC compressor - twice
Radiator
Rear Drive Shaft (cardan joint failed)
Fuel Tank
Fortunately all kinks have been worked out now for the last six or seven years. I have had to replace on wheel speed sensor, but it was an inexpensive and easy fix.
Don't expect stellar mileage. Mine is a daily driver. In the rolling hills of Central Texas I get around 17 mpg. That's keeping it at 65 mph too. With the stock tires, 3.73 axle ratio I see 2,000 rpm at 65. Even with the slightly taller Sahara package it rides and handles better than any other Jeep we've owned (I do miss my YJ though).

Now for a comparison, when we purchased my wife's 2010 Chrysler 300, I ponied up the extra $1,700 for a Lifetime Added Care Plus service plan. That car has lots of electronic geegaws to fail on it. We never needed to use that plan until it hit 156K miles. Both fuel pumps failed on it. Other than that, I replaced the thermostat. It has been a wonderfully reliable and comfortable car for us. In fact, when it was recently replaced with a Dodge Durango, our son begged us to sell it to him. He's enjoying it now. Sadly, the Lifetime service contract doesn't transfer.
 
My 1994 Wrangler experience:
Hot in the summer, Cold in the winter.
Noisy (wind, tire, engine) enough to make conversation very difficult.
At 54K miles it needed a clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing, front torsion bar, battery, brakes (all around), exhaust system.
I bought door mechanisms, and window handles in bulk. They broke almost monthly.
BTW: it was NEVER off road. I used it in bad weather to go back and forth to the Lab or run errands.

On the plus side, it never, ever got stuck in the snow.
It had a really weird heavy chromed steel 1/2 inch plate, not tube, brush guard in the front. I've never seen one like it before, during or since.
My son was driving it to get to college in a snow storm. A BMW hit it head on. Except for paint transfer there was no damage to the Jeep
The BMW was totaled.
 
get a 4 door, grand cherokee, bronco, the two doors are squrirrely
 
Ed Haywood said:
3) just how brutal would a trip from FL to CO be in a 2 door Jeep?
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In my experience, if you are 20 it will be a blast.
If you are 40 it will be a PIA.
If you are 60 you will be miserable before you leave Florida.
If you are my age, well, uh, just don't do it.
 
X3 Skier said:
What is that thing in front, water filled crushable bumper?
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Dunno, I'm a brand new Jeep person. Gonna research bumpers at some point. If I get into off-roading in the future, a winch install will be high on my wish list.
 
X3 Skier said:
And a .50 Cal Mount plus a Jerry can or two.

What is that thing in front, water filled crushable bumper?
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Standard JL front bumper. Ugly, but so is the rest of the car *shrug*

And I can say that because:

IMG_8610.jpeg
 

This is my Gecko a 21 JTRD I had to have mine custom ordered so I could get the big discount from Gupton. I wanted the Paint and the diesel. Its been to Moab, Rubicon and Tenn. Did them all in the first week of ownership. It was a blast to drive coast to coast in it. Pretty comfy, only downside is the trans hump is weird so it angles your foot but if you use cruise control its not too bad. 27mpg with 37s.
 
Dry Creek said:
I dislike green. I want white vehicles.
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Does not compute.

I always thought that the near complete lack of anything resembling personality on the roads was the result of the Monochrome Mafia not allowing cars to be sold in anything other than Rental White, Credit-Check Black, or the various Suburban Shades of Grey "Silver", as the buyers were forced to chant "think about the resale value."

It never occurred to me that there might be people out there who *prefer* monochrome. :D
 
I prefer green vehicles, especially for Jeeps. When I drive into the woods on a forest road and park it to go hiking, it blends in so it's not so conspicuous.
 
AvNavCom said:
Does not compute.

I always thought that the near complete lack of anything resembling personality on the roads was the result of the Monochrome Mafia not allowing cars to be sold in anything other than Rental White, Credit-Check Black, or the various Suburban Shades of Grey "Silver", as the buyers were forced to chant "think about the resale value."

It never occurred to me that there might be people out there who *prefer* monochrome. :D
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When I was shopping for the Jeep, there were at least 2 white, 2 black, and 2 silver for every vehicle of another color.

Jeep culture in Florida is really into bright, garish colors. Coral, turquoise, gecko green, emergency yellow, etc. Gotta look good on the beach. Or the mall.

I gravitated towards the pseudo military colors, which are also popular. I like the sand and desert tan colored ones, but those are hard to find used. Mine is "Sarge Green", which is cracks me up, but I do love the homage to the WWII heritage.
 
Ed Haywood said:
When I was shopping for the Jeep, there were at least 2 white, 2 black, and 2 silver for every vehicle of another color.

Jeep culture in Florida is really into bright, garish colors. Coral, turquoise, gecko green, emergency yellow, etc. Gotta look good on the beach. Or the mall.

I gravitated towards the pseudo military colors, which are also popular. I like the sand and desert tan colored ones, but those are hard to find used. Mine is "Sarge Green", which is cracks me up, but I do love the homage to the WWII heritage.
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My comment was good-natured and mostly in jest, although I do wish the monochome thing would let up a bit. I understand the economics behind it, but even motorcycles have starting heading into the "any color you want, as long as it's black" territory. In my family, we own two Mini Coopers and a motorcycle. My car is a six-speed manual in British Racing Green with silver center racing stripes. My wife has a really pretty blue Countryman with white stripes. My bike is a Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 that is white and blue with red accents.

Love that you went with green on your Jeep, and definitely with you on paying respect to that heritage!
 
Speaking of jeeps:

Jeep Beach started in Daytona Beach today. This is an event sort of bike week but instead of female cole slaw wrestling and wet t-shirt contests they have things like First Responder celebrations and they raise funds for charities. There are a whole bunch of stock and tricked out Jeeps of all sorts.

Here is a link to their schedule:
www.jeepbeach.com

Schedule 2025 - Jeep Beach

www.jeepbeach.com www.jeepbeach.com

I like this event better than Bike Week, Spring Break and even the Mustang meet-up. And I don't even have a jeep. The people are just a higher class than those others.
 
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Ed Haywood said:
I'm getting the itch to buy a 2 door Jeep Wrangler.
I work from home, so I don't drive much on a daily basis. Just 15 miles to the airfield every 2 or 3 days to fly, and occasional errands. I've been driving a beater F150 for about 5 years, but getting bored of that.
I live in Florida, but just bought a second home in the Colorado mountains. Initially we will spend winters there, but I can see summer trips creeping into the mix. That got me thinking it might be cool to have a jeep to go wheeling in the mountains in a few years.
So three questions:
1) buy a 4 year old JL with low mileage, or get a 10 year old JK beater? Cost isn't really a factor, or shouldn't be ... but I'm cheap and like working on cars.
2) get a Rubicon now, even though I probably won't wheel it for several years, or get a sport model and upgrade or mod if I relocate it to Colorado?
3) just how brutal would a trip from FL to CO be in a 2 door Jeep?
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LOL no u didn't start this thread! :eek: I got mine in 2018 (I had it built but got the base JL Sport) and it's been my daily driver back and forth to flight school (80mi roundtrip). He's (Lil' HUlk) done quite well. I recently noticed another Jeeper at the hangars near my school and saw that he had a Houston Astros hitch. I had some CXO stickers made and designed them in all the Houston teams' colors. I stopped by and gave him one for his Jeep. He had it on his window the next time I saw it parked! I attached a few pics of the babies that bring me joy.
 

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Bill said:
I bought ours new, and had to special order to get what I wanted. Dealers only stock high dollar unlimiteds (4-door) with automatic transmission, heated leather seats, automatic climate controls and other luxury nonsense. It’s a Jeep for crying out loud!

I ordered four options

- air conditioning
- trailer tow package
- limited slip rear end
- tinted rear windows, because they look good
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Same... I went with the JL Sport (the base model, at the time it came with A/C)...manual windows, using a key to unlock the jeep. The only thing extra that I ordered was the hard top and automatic trans. Everything else was base/bare minimum. After I paid it off is when I began to slowly customize it to my tastes and needs. I've been happy with mine.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Ball-park, what does something like that cost to drive off the lot, including tax? I didn’t realize you could custom order anything these days, they are all “packages”. Is that just a Jeep thing?
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For me in 2018, I paid $36,400.00 = base JL 4-door Sport (base model) + hard top + auto transmission. A few months ago, I tried to do the same build on their website and I wanna say it was $43k with the same options I had...
 
Well, I'm headed in the other direction. About to sell my 84 CJ7.
 
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