Love my Wrangler. Go for it.

Last November as my wife and daughter were in France, I had four glorious days all to myself at home in Utah between when they left and when i would have to return to the ship. That was the first time since 2013 that I had that much freedom to myself without a wife and kid around. I could do whatever I wanted!

I ended up taking the Jeep up to the high Uintas and hitting a pretty rugged four wheel drive trail. I didn't see another soul for hours. What a great day.

Nice! What rail system is that?

Get a Rubicon while your at it.

I hate to burst your MPG beliefs. But:


That’s about $1600 a year more than what you’re paying now for gas (30mpg vs 16mpg, at $2.2/gal).

The Jeep website build I did for a Wrangler Sport with A/C and hitch package (no differential upgrade, no nothing else) is just over $30,000. That’s without your stylin’ wheel and tire upgrade which doesn’t seem to be a factory option on the Sport. With 10% down (hopefully the few thou from your Mazda) you’re looking at $500/month in payments (Jeep is charging 3.15%), or a bit less if you go credit union or other lower percentage loan.

Your insurance will almost certainly go up; you might want to get a written hard quote before you sign for your Jeep.

So you’re looking at probably $650 a month plus insurance, and it won’t fit that third child any more than your Mazda would. How much is the Mazda payment, insurance, and gas? How much would the Jeep, insurance, and gas cost? Figure out the cost difference per day. Then, first thing every day, walk out to the Mazda, pull that difference out of your pocket in cash, and lock it in the glovebox. Do that for a month. If you want to do that for the next five years, get the Jeep.

I’ve got a Grand Cherokee, bought used after the last vehicle’s trans took a shit. Love driving it, hate fueling it, hate the payments. Coulda woulda shoulda bought a used Outback.

But if you are going to, just get the Rubicon.

Some other points: Get the A/C even with the top and doors on, you can blast the A/C at your knees and feel good. It makes no sense to buy used since the used ones are about as much. Don't pay more for a radio upgrade, the wind makes more noise. But its not unpleasant noise.

Contrary to common belief, the stick is more fun on road, and the auto off road. You can crawl a whole lot better with automatic. Just don't submerge it with either.

There was a woman/girl who I used to kind of respect (nice body). But she complained about the soft top jeep her husband bought for her. She said it was like driving around in a tent. Now I don't like her much. Fool woman.

Those making cost comparisons are biased. But yes, its not cheap to have that much fun. As far as consumer reports is concerned, see if you can ever find a gun comparison. Their biased and commies.

There are companies that make secure cabinets for use in unlocked jeeps. Tuffy is one producer. Its dangerous to do internet searches because they will cost you.

Besides, no one can have that much fun with their clothes on. It must be illegal. If you buy a foreign POS, you can tell yourself every time you see a jeep that you're better off than they are, suffering all the time. Suffering builds character.

I have owned two jeeps a CJ and a JK both unlimited. I had a choice when we went full time RVing. Keep the Corvette or keep the Jeep. I went with the Jeep. Off roading is a blast. You can take the hard top off and doors off in 40 minutes. The Jeep accessories are limitless. I remember getting 28” of snow in Missouri and going out and playing vehicles stuck in my development me hooking a strap up going around the pickup in the ditch and pulling my neighbor home to his driveway. Never got stuck to he point I needed help out. The fun factor brings a smile to my face....yes even above and beyond the Corvette. So just get one.... my 09 has 178,000 on it I have put a transfer shift cable, an intake gasket and a cat converter Y pipe with cats as repairs. Just do it

Get a 4Runner.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.9mm:
Nice! What rail system is that?

Are you referring to the trail? I think I was up in the Norway Flat area in the Uintas. That time of year you can't drive too much farther in as the road is closed for the winter. Otherwise there are a ton of 4-wheel trails to explore.

I think he is asking what you have for Roof Racks

quote:

Originally posted by Ozarkwoods:
I think he is asking what you have for Roof Racks

That's what I thought at first. Then thought about it too much.

They are a Yakima setup but with Thule ski carriers. I keep the carriers folded back when I'm not using them.

With the carriers on, you can't just pop out the T tops. That doesn't take any time at all. Maybe 5 minutes for the pair. They even come with nice bags to store and protect them in. It will become your habit to do that. Even if you worry about rain. It'll only take you the same 5 minutes to put them back in. Not long enough to lose the smile.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:
With the carriers on, you can't just pop out the T tops. That doesn't take any time at all. Maybe 5 minutes for the pair. They even come with nice bags to store and protect them in. It will become your habit to do that. Even if you worry about rain. It'll only take you the same 5 minutes to put them back in. Not long enough to lose the smile.

The roof rack comes off after the winter season. This was in November so I had just put them back on.

For the warmer months I also lose the hardtop and put on my Bestop Trektop NX Soft Top.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
That's what I thought at first. Then thought about it too much.

They are a Yakima setup but with Thule ski carriers. I keep the carriers folded back when I'm not using them.

With you Alan, that's a stick Rubi!

Around here in Austin, we see lots of lifted Rubi's, 99% of them automatic. My 16 yr old daughter would run up to every Rubi she sees in the parking lots, and makes the gagging gesture if it's an auto..

I hear the JL will be pretty interesting.

I haven't talked to my insurance company...that's a good point. I pay something around $800 a year for full/high coverage and good deductibles on my Mazda. A hundred or so more wouldn't be bad. Two hundred or more...ehhhh

My wife and I crunched the payment numbers, the increase would be negligible for what I want. I've been making extra payments on the Mazda, the new payment would actually be less than what I've been paying including those. A bit more overall, if I got a 4-door. But I really don't want a 4-door. Jeeps have 2 doors!

Fuel cost....$130 more a month. I spend about $100-150 currently. That's a significant increase, and I don't see that number getting any better. That's actually why I got the Mazda rather than a Jeep last year. My prior car was a diesel getting 52mpg, but at 13 years/300,000+ miles its dependability was failing. Dropping to 32 was a kick in the gut. I just couldn't drop from 52 down to 16mpg. Increments

My wife had a hybrid Sonata, gets 40mpg or better. Maybe I could just drive hers for my long trips lol

I'd have to re-adjust my monthly budget for the fuel. The insurance and payments would likely fall within monthly surplus, but that fuel cost is painful.

The new JL 2 doors won't hit the lots for a bit. I'll wait and see what our raises look like in July, and pay the Mazda down some more. If I can swing it without changing any of my savings/retirement contributions, I might not be able to convince myself not to!

quote:

I haven't talked to my insurance company...that's a good point. I pay something around $800 a year for full/high coverage and good deductibles on my Mazda. A hundred or so more wouldn't be bad. Two hundred or more...ehhhh

Holy Crap!!!!!!! Who are you with?
I just got new numbers for the 2016 Expedition EL I picked up from State Farm. I have a $100 collision deductible, $0 comprehensive deductible, and all my coverages jacked up well above state minimums.
My yearly premium is $598 down from $610 for the Sienna.
Kentucky Farm Bureau was a couple bucks cheaper a month but they require $500 deductibles.

After reading 5 pages here, it looks like it is going to cost you significantly more per year than other options no matter how you slice it. Therefore it comes down to how much money you have and how you want to spend it. My insurance quote on a $6300 Jeep was as high as on my $30,000 Corvette. My 405 hp Corvette gets 25 MPG. My 4 cylinder Jeep gets about 14 MPG. Corvettes and Jeeps are toys and you pay to play. Only you can judge whether it is reasonable and affordable for your situation.

I texted my wife when she got to work to ask her what she’s getting for mileage right now. This is a 6 YO Wrangler Unlimited with 100k on the odometer. 19.9 We live outside of town, so that’s mixed driving.

Sweet Rubicon Balze.

I need to start upgrading my wife's mall crawler.

Sorry Alan, should have said roof rack. Trying to figure out how to adapt my kayak carrier to the soft top. The trail is cool too