Jeeps

[goofyone]

A buddy of mine moved to Europe for a couple of months and I let him leave his 1994 Jeep Wrangler 2.5L parked on my property while he is away. I have been using it every week or two to run errands so it stays in good running shape. It looks pretty cool with a 4" lift, bigger rubber, upgraded all-weather seating and the entire interior has the spray-on bed-liner material. I enjoy riding in it as a passenger however my attitude towards owning one has changed now that I have had some time in the drivers seat. The 2.5L engine my buddy has is horribly under-powered and needs an upgrade however even without that the steering wobble and accuracy are terrible even with a steering damper installed. The steering issue only exacerbates the issue of trying to control a naturally unstable lifted short wheelbase vehicle which makes driving the vehicle much more of a chore than I imagined it would be.

 

[Chaz]

That is why you do not put a lift on a regular jeep. They drive fine without a lift and the large tires realy suck on the road. Just keep it stock and the are fun. I put or 100k miles on my old jeep and had no real trouble, replaced the clutch a few times and brakes nothing more. Mine did not have power steering and I had no trouble my sister could not drive it, I tried to teach her how to drive the stick. Her problem was turning the wheel she just could not do.

 

[RKing]

Goofyone , lots of people that think they want to drive a Jeep every day soon fin that it is , um demanding
And lifts fall into that "looks cool but pointless and counter productive" catagory, kinda like purple hair

 

[RUCRAYZE]

My only connection for jeeps (the kind modeled after the WW2, not the current cars) and respecting the love shared here, they are the only three car fatality "accidents" in 8 yrs as a Volunteer Fireman.(Rural upstate NY) None were oversized/raised, but bent around immovable objects (trees) very easily. All three events single occupant all three found "near" the vehicle. Don't know the engineering of them. they appear to be driven at a high rate of speed relative to their CofG and shortness of wheelbase. Personally had a "winter" 4wd Landcover (like Marlin Perkins used to drive on safari- with the spare on the hood)
Very cool in more ways than one heater sucked!, but never would consider going over 40 miles per hour.
Yes EVERY machine has risk just need to realize what it is. 50+ yrs of biking 3 road rash events 2 accidents has given me a good prospective.
let me close in saying, I wouldn't want to be part of the decision making for a kid living at home, wanting one.

 

[Coss]

There is one other point I wanted to bring up on the Jeep; ask your insurance company what coverage is going to cost.
Here in the PNW, if you're under 25 the cost of insurance on a Jeep or similar vehicles is out of this world (can be around $220 a month or more)
This is because they expect the Jeep to be used as intended; off road <and probably driven hard and put away wet>.
In the hands of an 18yr old who knows what would happen (yes, I know there are exceptions) but when a bunch of buddies are riding with anything can happen; I was 18 a long time ago and I'm surprised I'm still alive with some of the things I did, and I was a really responsible young man
Towing a Jeep out of a ravine out in the woods isn't cheap and I've seen more than one in that position.

 

[ncarter124]

It depends on if it's new or not. The old ones as everyone has stated are awful on mpg, ride , etc. I have a 2014 and they have come a long ways.
Leather seats? Check. Heated seats? Check. Navigation with Sirius and Travel Link? Check. Factory remote start? Check. Mine rides fairly well but MPG is still bad, like 19 hwy at best. If you buy a Jeep you don't care about any of that. Nothing like taking the top off on a summer day, removing all of the doors and just enjoying it. I never cared for the offroading aspect.

So if going for an older one, you really want a 4.0 TJ, that's the best in regards of lower price and still being tolerable day-to-day. Be warned, Wranglers are way overpriced. Cherokee is a better choice if on a budget IMO.

 

[Coss]

It depends on if it's new or not. The old ones as everyone has stated are awful on mpg, ride , etc. I have a 2014 and they have come a long ways.
Leather seats? Check. Heated seats? Check. Navigation with Sirius and Travel Link? Check. Factory remote start? Check. Mine rides fairly well but MPG is still bad, like 19 hwy at best.

That's the same as the one I mentioned my daughter has; and she has said the mileage is terrible.
Do you have a lift kit and monster tires on yours?

 

[Chaz]

Newer Jeeps have been turned into cars, to me they lost their roots. I like the older ones, the ride is like an old pick up. My old jeep had it top off from Easter to the first snow when I lived in New England. When I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area it was off until we got 3 days in a row of rain. The inside was Rhino coated and I put scuppers in the floor to let water out.

 

[Coss]

Newer Jeeps have been turned into cars, to me they lost their roots. I like the older ones, the ride is like an old pick up. My old jeep had it top off from Easter to the first snow when I lived in New England. When I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area it was off until we got 3 days in a row of rain. The inside was Rhino coated and I put scuppers in the floor to let water out.

That's how people are now; they don't want a "truck feel" and longer. Even the pickups are cars now. I saw one of those big Ford F-350's just loaded to the max; leather interior, crew cab (of course) monster sunroof, huge info center, fantastic stereo and a $70K price tag.
I got to ride in it and drive it and it basically has NO feel any longer; or it's close to what a 72 Buick La Sabre 4 dr. used to ride like.
But $70,000.00 for a PICKUP? You can still buy a house in some parts of the country for that much. It's gotten just out of hand,

 

[JEBar]

That's how people are now; they don't want a "truck feel" and longer. Even the pickups are cars now. I saw one of those big Ford F-350's just loaded to the max; leather interior, crew cab (of course) monster sunroof, huge info center, fantastic stereo and a $70K price tag.
I got to ride in it and drive it and it basically has NO feel any longer; or it's close to what a 72 Buick La Sabre 4 dr. used to ride like.
But $70,000.00 for a PICKUP? You can still buy a house in some parts of the country for that much. It's gotten just out of hand,

while the price is way up there, GM, Ford, and Chrysler sell a great many of them .... today half ton trucks are commonly stickered in the upper $40's