while working on a pipeline. Of course this one doesn't have a darkroom mounted on it.
Posted on 12/06/2016 5:18:25 PM PST by Chickensoup
Jeep Fans?
Freeper Husbands!
I am Thinking of Buying a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara. I like the vehicle, it is big for me, I am moving from my Golf Diesel. Although I have had Xterras and Mazda MPV (Before they ruined its design) previously.
I looked at many new cars and SUV crosses and they all are poorly designed, have lousy visibility and have metal that is so thin it needs to be serviced every few months. I also discovered I need a more butch looking vehicle. All the Suv crossovers look like they were made for Oprah. Teardrop shapes and curves.
I liked the used Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara. It looks durable, I have found a couple of them. Seems as though I am having a difficult time getting the price down below 30K
I cannot quite figure out the Jeep Wrangler choices. Is there a Jeep Wrangler as high and tall as the unlimited but only with 2 doors? All the Wranglers I see with 2 doors are short and look like they belong in a suburb.
Any advice from Freeper Jeep owners appreciated.
Am I making another dumb move here?
That aside, too many people want a Jeep Wrangler for the "cool" effect. But the truth is, the ride is harsh and the handling is clumsy on the road. It has a very tight fit, making it uncomfortable for anything other than short drives. There is only one real reason to own a Wrangler. And that is for its offroad capability. That is the only reason I bought mine. I belong to an offroad club and we go out on trails that would break pretty much any other vehicle. Otherwise, I would never own one.
Here is the rundown on the three Wrangler models. First is the Sport. It is entry level. Bought by those who can't afford anything else and those who want to do some serious modifications. Second is the Sahara. Best known as a pavement princess, this one has a plushed out suspension, 18 inch tires and was designed for those who never go offroad, or just venture onto Forest Service roads. Third is the Rubicon. This is for the serious offroader who wants to hit the trail without too many modifications. It has electrically activated lockers front and rear, as well as an electric swaybar disconnect. The Rubicon also comes with a Dana 44 front axle, as opposed to the Dana 30 on the other two. Additionally, the Rubicon has a lower geared transfer case.
The Sport and Sahara can be had with a rear limited slip differential, which you would want in snow conditions. The Rubicon lockers can only be activated in 4LO, so all your winter driving will be with open differentials.
All new Wranglers have a Pentastar 3.6L V-6 and come with a part time four wheel drive system that has a high and low range. A 6 speed manual transmission is available, but most have the 5 speed automatic. The four door version is known as the Unlimited.
Bottom line...the Wrangler is a poor choice for a daily driver. I only drive mine when I hit the trail. The rest of the time, it's my wife's to drive. Because I'd much rather drive my Chevy Silverado, which has a much nicer ride and has the full time 4WD capability my Jeep doesn't have.
I am a mechanic and I suggest you google 3.7 Chrysler.
I owned a 98 Grand Cherokee 4.0 6 Tuned up twice and a water pump replacement. That was all.
I wish I still owned it. Sold at it with 200,000 miles.
I Own an 04 Dodge 1500 Ram 5.7 Hemi 175,000mi Changed radiator once, thats it.
I OWNED an 09 Liberty 3.7 V6 Valve spring breaking, valve seat sucking, timing chain guide chewing, code throwing POS. I dumped it at 58,000 miles.
I hope they have improved it.
I was a big Chrysler fan even though I have been a Ford tech.
Now I’m looking for another 98 Grand Cherokee to restore.
while working on a pipeline. Of course this one doesn't have a darkroom mounted on it.
Well maybe and my husband agrees with you. But at work at 6 am I was one of the few people whose vehicle kicked over right away at -42.
Don’t let the naysayers talk you out of getting a Fiat Wrangler. Fiat has now had enough time to get rid of those German influences and institute Italian quality standards.
I have a 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara that I bought new.
Pluses
We live in New Mexico and this vehicle goes everywhere.
Tough
Nice stereo
Reasonably reliable
Minuses
Crap for gas mileage - 15 MPG around town, 21 MPG highway
Zero to 60 measured in hours
Fabric seats don’t hold up
Rough ride
If I lived anywhere else I don’t know if I would own one. Around here I can’t see not owning one.
Okay, I am a guy who just retired. I have owned a lot of different vehicles. Porsche, Audi, Camero, Cutlass, Fiat, Toyota, Aerostar Van, Pickups, GMC Jimmy Envoy, Cadillac, Tahoe, and Xterra to name a few.
I now live in the Phoenix valley where many people are Wrangler nuts.
Jeep has a classic tough 4 wheel drive vehicle — The Wrangler.
There is the Wrangler in various models. Sport at the bottom, Rubicon at the top. There are also various appearance packages, one of which is the Sahara. All Wranglers are two door and small back end and wheel base.
There is also the Wrangler Unlimited in various models. Sport at the bottom, Rubicon at the top. There are also various appearance packages, one of which is the Sahara. All Wrangler Unlimiteds are four door with the longer wheelbase.
All 2016-7 Wranglers and Wrangler Unlimiteds are 6 cylinder. A better engine than the prior engines before 2010. All Wranglers come base with rag tops which are insecure, hard to deal with and glorious for the outdoors.
The hard tops can be substituted or purchased as an option which are a bitch to store and a bitch to mount (two strong men and a donkey). They can also be had on a new vehicle instead of the rag top.
Jeeps leak oil or have bad seal or gasket problems. Some people say hardly ever, some people say weekly. If it is tough to be in the dealer for repairs, this might not be your vehicle.
If you want to Rock Crawl up mountain or canyon roads or drive though a low-water crossing with 8” of water over it for around 30k, this IS your vehicle. It is also good in deep snow but so is a lot of other things. You want to run gravel back roads twice every week a used Toyota CJ or a truck might be better.
If you drive the interstate a lot or like a quiet ride this is not the vehicle for you.
I like the interstates but I like the back roads and a rigid frame vehicle. I cross medians and drive over curbs. I drive up fire roads and across fields. I bought a two wheel drive Xterra which they no longer make. Got the cheap model and put Killer tires on it — 10 ply Alpine Mountain rated KO2s.
It goes through snow like 4 wheel drive and still rides on the interstate at 80mph. It does not go through soft sand washes and certain things that are 4 wheel drive mandatory but I do climb up mountains on fire roads.
You need to explain what you want this vehicle to do.
Go through a blizzard?
Rock Climb?
Tow?
Rescue
Be a Ice breaker with guys?
Highway driver?
As the only vehicle?
These are special purpose vehicles that are like no other. I had guys that worked for me that would not own anything else in Arizona. I had others that keep one as a weekend toy and drive a nice small truck other days. These are not trucks, SUVs, travel vehicles, vehicles with locked trunks — these are for crossing terrible terrain like no other vehicle.
I’m huge jeep wrangler fan, I’ve owned my 2000 model for 16 years.
Very hard vehicle to recommend to others as they are love hate. A lot of people want them end up hating them because there is no luxury with them, but that’s the reason I love mine. love the road noise, leaving the top off in a light rain.
I only do lite trail rides, never had major issue with the jeep other then bending sway bars / suspension hitting a stump, Also electrical with heat/air/blinker etc, but I chalk that up to me leaving the top off for 6 months out of the year and a lot of rain gets in it.
It a one of a kind ride, great for city and country roads, no so fun on highway or long trips.
We go to auto shows and have always liked the BMW X5 but never really considered it a serious off-road vehicle. I do recall that it's built in Greenville, SC. So it's got that going for it too.
In 1974, Consumer Reports rate the Fiat 124 the best car. That was the last time I trusted Consumer Reports. The Fix It Again Tony was made by Italian communists.
Best known as a pavement princess, this one has a plushed out suspension, 18 inch tires and was designed for those who never go offroad, or just venture onto Forest Service roads.
______________
This sort of describes me. I do drive in snow, sometimes lots of it, sometimes unplowed. My objective is to have something fun and different for a couple of years then trade it in for something more sedate.
I think 98 was a good year for cars.
You have given me a lot to think about. I think I just want something different. for a little while. Not sure that is enough of a reason to buy one.
There is, as far as I can tell, only one vehicle that fits that profile whatsoever. The 1999-2004 Chevy Tracker, and the previous Geo Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick. I know nothing about them. I do know what I'm looking for is hard to find and more expensive than it should be, because of others buying them for the very same reason I'm looking for one.
Another thing that bugs me is the styling. I'm leaning 2nd gen due to it being a little more civilized as far as creature comforts, and it has more modern safety equipment. But, it's the epitome of a "cute ute." Bleh. I did manage to find photos of a mildly customized one that I wouldn't feel emasculated driving, and feel pretty confident that the look can be achieved without breaking the bank. Well, maybe that top would be a little on the ka-ching side, the fit of it is much better than factory, so it's custom and it looks like Haartz cloth. I could do without the pink ZR2 sticker, too, lol.
See if you can drive one off-road. I like my 17 inch wheels on my 2DR Wrangler (Sport model) for clearance, but it drives like a truck and is squirrelly sometimes (high center of gravity). It’s a kick off-road and can go darn near anywhere (2 foot melting snow on a dirt backroad? No worries) but it does drive like a truck and will beat you to death rough roads (i.e. you won’t want to drive fast on washboard). Try it out on a place you can throw the 4WD on and get the manual. If you like it - go get it. Good luck! Wish I still lived in CO - more places to scare yourself with it. :-)
Yeah, but my fellow Dodge Caravan (by "Chrysler") fellow owners wave at each other, too. We don't even have to roll the windows down. We just stick our arms through the holes in the rusted out body.
It's the only vehicle I've ever owned that has had a rusted out hood. That's to go along with the rusted fenders, doors, headlight brackets, and rocker panels (the last parts of them should fall off onto my rusty driveway soon. The darn paint is really trying to hold them on, though.)
It runs great and the only major problem was a dead fuel pump.
The last Caravan we had had no visible rust at age 13 in an area where they use a lot of rock salt in the winter. It was going strong when it was totaled by a tow truck towing a Volvo.
Buy a 4Runner.
Bought one of these suzukis for a family member in the mid '90s, a little newer and sportier with an automatic. Never towed it flat or otherwise.
I think you can contact Suzuki and find out from the manual what is proper for flat towing. You can flat tow a Wrangler automatic or manual -- but it is tricky to learn and if you do it wrong, transmission sushi - chop, chop. Jeep actually prefers flat towing but just be damn sure to talk to your dealer and have a precise check-list or you will have a $3k problem. The transfer case has to be in neutral but the transmission CAN NOT be in neutral.
4Runners are great if you can sit in the seats. It is like sitting on the floor pan and kills my back — I’m a fairly big guy. Tacos the same way.
Lube, Oil, (Oil) Filter.
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