Jeep Wrangler Unlimited for daily driver?

alaskanassasin

Texasdirectauto has a awesome website and plenty of nice vehicles to look at FYI 

dorfami

My daily driver.  Got it out, drove it home.  Spent part of Sunday afternoon pulling the carpet, drove it to the office Monday morning.  It's an 09, it works.  Noisy as can be.  Gas mileage sucks, but fortunately my "commute" is only 3 miles each way.  But kids will remember the fun we have in it taking it off-road; won't have those memories in a minivan.

ColbyLang

MIL had an 07. Loved it initially. FIL tricked it out made it ride like a cotton wagon. She gave it to him, got a Nissan Murano. He still drives it, loves it. Rides like a cotton wagon and is noisy. 

DoubleEgger

bubbajack said:

TEXASBGE2018 said:

bubbajack said:

4x4 F-150 Lariat with the 5.0......Thank me later.

I’m not much of a truck guy. Thanks for the suggestion though

Bummer....

Rides like a Cadillac....almost.
Quiet as a Lexis.....almost
Runs like a Mustang....almost
Room for 6 adults.....almost
Bunch of room for cargo....
You can pull a boat, RV, or a Jeep
Will benefit from the lowest depreciation rates of most cars.
Get 20 MPG on the road.


And you would look cool like me!

You forgot to mention the Death Wobble. 

Mickey

nolaegghead said:

I would get a used, low mileage FJ Cruiser.  Noisy, rough ride, blind spots everywhere, but the Wrangler makes it seem like a Lincoln.  Rail chassis, tons of suspension travel and plenty of cargo room makes it useful on and off the road.  They don't make 'em anymore, and they hold their value so used ain't cheap, but personally, that would be my solution.

My biggest mistake in retirement 2014 was not to buy an FJ to keep. Agree with all you said but the best resale of any. The biggest reason was hard for my poodle to get in the rear seat. 

fishlessman

could also wait a few months and see if they actually release the new broncos this spring, ford has really been dragging their feet with this one

billt01

depending on the trim and how "off road" you go.

I test drove the Kia Telluride, 10 yr/100,000K drive train warranty.

I also am in the market, this one made the quarter finals

Griffin

You know what JEEP stands for? Just Empty Every Pocket.

LOL

I had a '04 Jeep Rubicon with a 3.5" suspension lift, a .5" body lift, motor mount lift, armored all over. Drove the snot out of that thing. Rode like sh!t, but what do you expect driving a brick with a tent on top down the rode. Still miss that thing. Was a member of the North Texas Jeep Club. Good times.

Someday I'll get another one, but it won't be my daily driver and I'll probably go and find me another TJ. Who wants a JEEP with a minivan engine in it? Give me a good ole straight six with a standard behind it.

fishlessman

then theres the 2 finger jeep wave

thetrim

dorfami said:

My daily driver.  Got it out, drove it home.  Spent part of Sunday afternoon pulling the carpet, drove it to the office Monday morning.  It's an 09, it works.  Noisy as can be.  Gas mileage sucks, but fortunately my "commute" is only 3 miles each way.  But kids will remember the fun we have in it taking it off-road; won't have those memories in a minivan.

I disagree!  If you went thru that mess with a minivan, you would certainly have memories for your family.

SonVolt

Cornholio said:

SonVolt said:

Drove a Wrangler in college. Was fun at first but learned to hate it over time. Noisy AF and a terrible ride. This was 20 years ago though... they may be way different now. I would never take a vehicle off-road unless you are comfortable breaking everything down yourself. 

Huh? I read this as saying you should never leave asphalt unless you can tear apart a car and rebuild it. Please elaborate. 

For general trail riding probably not.  I was having flashbacks from college with all my buddies taking their jeeps out for some serious boulder climbing and muddin'... repairs and maintenance were expensive to say the least, especially if you weren't doing them yourself.

Retired RailRoader

I bought a new 2019 Sahara Unlimited in Nov. of 2018. So far I’ve put on a little over 10k miles. It’s my daily driver, I’ve taken it on a few long trips (5 hr. drives), and many times to the beach. I have the dual roof option so hard top for 6 months and soft top for 6 months. Yes it’s a little noisy and yes it has a stiff ride but the most important thing is ITS A BLAST TO DRIVE!

Botch

Mickey said:
My biggest mistake in retirement 2014 was not to buy an FJ to keep. Agree with all you said but the best resale of any. 

I bought my used '08 Tacoma with 1,700 miles on in in '08.  Two years ago after sched maintenance, the dealership (the dealership!) sent me a letter offering to buy it back for $6,000 less than I paid for it!  It just turned over 60K a couple months ago.  I intend it to be my last truck, hopefully ten more years then trade in for a wheelchair.  

JonWesson

g-class mercedes will check all boxes   my ex loves the one stolen from me

billt01

billt01 said:

depending on the trim and how "off road" you go.

I test drove the Kia Telluride, 10 yr/100,000K drive train warranty.

I also am in the market, this one made the quarter finals

would love to hear about the "disagree".

fishlessman

theres always waiting it out for a week at the dealership for a range rover L322

DuckDogDr

Man I've been /am in your shoes. I commute 65 miles one way to work. Started out with a 32-35 mpg gas sipper, then upgraded to a ford escape with EcoBoost for hauling my scuba gear on dive trips...
Then decided I missed my truck. Bought a Tacoma..I love the truck, actually gets better MPG than my old EcoBoost....

However if I was to do it again..I would get an older CJ or wrangler to use as my fun toy only and get a reasonably priced used reliable commuter car and sip the gas ...it does add up at the end of the day....
I was spending 300/month on gas with the small car...now I spend about $550.

That 250/month is the payment for a Hyundai Elantra or a beater Nissan 

alaskanassasin

 I just have to add, if you long commute like 100 miles a day and you buy a new car you are basically piling money up on the kitchen table and lighting it on fire.

WeberWho

alaskanassasin said:

 I just have to add, if you long commute like 100 miles a day and you buy a new car you are basically piling money up on the kitchen table and lighting it on fire.

Buy a few year old Honda/Toyota that gets good MPG for work and see if you can find a slightly used Jeep for evenings/weekends/trails. That way you get your jeep and not worry about putting all that miles on something new. 

TEXASBGE2018

I drive about 70miles round trip. My problem is I cycle my car payments in 5 year cycles. So either myself or the wife are getting a new car every 10 years. 5 to pay it off, 5 to keep it. I refuse to shift from that cycle. I like only 1 car payment at a time. My cars have to last me 10 years without being money pits.

Eoin

With that round trip, one electric car and keep one ICE for longer trips. Charge at home and never have to stop for fuel on your commute again.

HeavyG

Get a Prius for your daily driver and keep the 4Runner and trick it out as a proper offroad vehicle so you can take it out and play with your trail buddies.

TEXASBGE2018

Mines 2wheel drive. Otherwise I’d love to do exactly that.

Eggin_in_PA

I was in a similar situation few years ago.  Was into getting a 18 JKUR until I looked a few.  Hardtop has to be on just right so it does not leak. Rust on weld seams.  The biggest turn off was the legroom for the rear seats.  I ended up getting a Tundra Crewmax.  I have safari mode as the back window goes down 😀.  Look at the forums for issues ones are having.  Toyota may be using an old drivetrain, but it is tried and true.  I had a Cj5 and currently still have my 04 Rubicon.  The 3.6 is better than the minivan engine the early JKs had, but the rest is going away from what the Wrangler was.

Zippylip

Griffin said:

I had a '04 Jeep Rubicon with a 3.5" suspension lift, a .5" body lift, motor mount lift, armored all over. Drove the snot out of that thing.

Someday I'll get another one, but it won't be my daily driver and I'll probably go and find me another TJ. 

agreed, best toy I've ever owned but you couldn't pay me to daily this thing, also an 04 TJ non-ruby but I put all the bs on/under it:

Cornholio

Griffin said:

You know what JEEP stands for? Just Empty Every Pocket.

LOL

I had a '04 Jeep Rubicon with a 3.5" suspension lift, a .5" body lift, motor mount lift, armored all over. Drove the snot out of that thing. Rode like sh!t, but what do you expect driving a brick with a tent on top down the rode. Still miss that thing. Was a member of the North Texas Jeep Club. Good times.

Someday I'll get another one, but it won't be my daily driver and I'll probably go and find me another TJ. Who wants a JEEP with a minivan engine in it? Give me a good ole straight six with a standard behind it.

My first car in high school was a ‘97 TJ Sport and I had a lot of fun with it. The manual inline 6 was quick off the start. No power windows or locks, just the basics in what was the “nicer” model back then. I had a cool Hummer like top on it occasionally that looked really sharp, just no rear passengers when it was on.

It was ok for going surfing solo, minus not being able to leave my board in it unattended for long, not so great for hauling myself and friends to the local mountains for snowboarding. Traded it for a ‘98 Chevy Silverado Z71 extra cab after a year for mountain trips and I became a pool cleaner. 

rlew

Yep, the JL is night and day ahead of the previous gen JK. Not perfect but we like it. Ride is better and quite. But, it's a Jeep not a luxury SUV. Purpose built if your into off roading and it delivers. Been driving a Jeep on an off since 1982.

U_tarded

DoubleEgger said:

My SIL has done it for years. Blows me away. The ride sucks and they are noisy. 

This I did it for about 2 years before deciding enough was enough.  It was fun but damn that cabin is noisy.  This was brand new with a hard top soft tops are way worse. 

gamason

They are fun. But if you buy one, plan on keeping it for  awhile. The resale is awful on a Jeep

alaskanassasin

@gamason really? On a wrangler?