Help me choose 2024 4xe thoughts!!!

[wanderer]

I test-drove a Willys 4xe today first time in an electric vehicle. I am waiting for the prices to be released on the 24s. Until today I wasn't thinking electric but was pleasantly surprised. MY ideal vehicle is a 24 rubicon with the recon package SO ( rubicon X?) in 4 xe of course it depends on What Jeep does with the prices. That would give me the full floaters 456 gears and 35s in e - Vehicle. I am a bit concerned that the prices are going to be too high, So if I don't want to spend that much Should I go V6 ( I like that motor just fine) . I kinda want the SOT top too. but I CAN SEE THIS THING GOING CLOSE TO 80 G !!!!

So what else should I consider.?

I really want leather and other than the high tide (Sahara) I can't get leather. but I can't get lockers in that or leather in the Willys? I can live without a front locker.

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[GATORB8]

I’d do a 2.0 over the 3.6.

 

[mjg4xe]

You’re probably right on the loaded ‘24 4xe Rubicon with the 35” tire package being very close to $80k (if offered). Think you have to choose between if you want the 4xe or the 35” tire package. I have the 4xe but with the lack of any tax incentives, I would go for the 35” tire package on a regular Rubicon loaded.

 

[Bill_BCNtoNY]

I bought a loaded ‘23 Rubi 4xe (for $79k, so close to your dreaded $80k!) that got lemon-lawed and now I drive a ‘19 Sahara 3.6… a few thoughts:

1. 4xe is awesome to drive around town
2. 4xe highway mileage is awful (read about it here on the forum, but think 17-18mpg at best)
3. In my limited experience, FCA is not a good company to deal with and you are more likely to deal with them with a 4xe vs a 3.6 (4xe’s have more issues)
4. The 3.6 is (supposedly) very reliable which gives more peace of mind
5. The 3.6 chugs gas around town (15mpgs or less for me, in high-traffic suburb environment)
6. Having a nice exhaust note with the 3.6 is surprisingly refreshing for me. Didn’t like the 2.0 in the 4xe when it came on
7. If you want to wrench on it, 3.6 will be easier vs the 4xe
8. Accessories are more readily available for 3.6 vs 4xe (think everyhting from floormats to skid

I’m clearly biased towards my current ride, but had plenty of joy with the 4xe too. You can’t go wrong if you go into either option with your eyes open I think!

Pics of both my rides (my Sahara is bone-stock still… won’t last!):

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

You’re probably right on the loaded ‘24 4xe Rubicon with the 35” tire package being very close to $80k (if offered). Think you have to choose between if you want the 4xe or the 35” tire package. I have the 4xe but with the lack of any tax incentives, I would go for the 35” tire package on a regular Rubicon loaded.

Regular loaded Rubicon X.. Unless there is 3k or more difference to a Willys + 35 tire package

 

[Deleted User 38384]

So I would never buy a vehicle that doesn't have at least five or six years of time working the bugs out. I bought a 3rd Gen EcoDiesel 2 years after they released it in the Wrangler. Mind you the 2nd Gen EcoDiesel engine has been around since 2014. The 3rd Gen is an improved version of the 2nd Gen (obviously) with some tweaks to make it more efficient and effective. And even then I still allowed 2 years for them to work out the bugs of having it in the Wrangler. Just as proof that my way of thinking is sound, I'm not involved in any recalls currently on the EcoDiesel or Wrangler, 23,000 mi right now, one and a half years of ownership, and zero issues.

If you wait, you will be rewarded!

I would not buy a 4xe anytime in the next 10 years!

4xe's are cool, but like anything new, they need to work out the bugs. It's a heavily electronic technology advanced system. It's going to have more bugs than a mechanical engine will. Everything is going to be tied together, it's going to be harder to defeat one system without affecting another system. Between FCA figuring out how to ensure the customers are taken care of, and 4xe owners figuring out how to beat the systems installed on the 4xe, buying one right now makes you a guinea pig. Potentially a broke guinea pig. If you haven't modified your 4xe at all, and you're still within your 3 year 36,000 mi warranty, or extended warranty, you'll probably be covered for most things. But the second your outside of that warranty you're sitting on a $70,000 ticking time bomb. It's only going to last so long. It's not like a mechanical engine where you can rebuild it when it dies. The technology needs to advance significantly before I would ever recommend someone to buy a 4xe Wrangler!!!

That being said, the 3.6L has been around for 20 plus years, tried and true, easy to wrench on yourself, and if the engine dies, you can have it rebuilt for about $12,000. You can take your 3.6L to any automotive shop on the planet, it's just a gas powered engine, everybody knows how to work on it. If you get a 4xe, and you're out of warranty, you going to have to find a shop that has experience working with EV engines, and if you do it might be less expensive than going to the dealership, but it's definitely going to be more expensive to work on a 4xe than a 3.6L.

At this moment if you take care of your 3.6L, basic maintenance, preventative maintenance, don't do stupid things with her, she'll last you 250,000 miles easy. (Lemons Excluded)

If you buy a 4xe, EV vehicles and hybrids are only known to last 150,000 mi on average.

I plan on buying a 5.9L Cummins diesel engine to swap into my Wrangler at some point in the next 20 years, at current market value that engine will cost me about $14,000, with install probably $26,000. I don't know what a 4xe battery costs, but my wife's old Honda Accord hybrid battery was $36,000, not including install.

If you have money to throw away, and are willing to chance it, I'd say go for it. But I don't like playing risky games if I can help it. Even my current risky project is reversible, mind you $400 reversible, but still reversible. Can't say that about a $70,000 vehicle that if it dies outside of warranty, you're out $70,000.

I wouldn't chance it guy, I'd stick with the tried and true 3.6L.

 

[Xcoaste]

So I would never buy a vehicle that doesn't have at least five or six years of time working the bugs out. I bought a 3rd Gen EcoDiesel 2 years after they released it in the Wrangler. Mind you the 2nd Gen EcoDiesel engine has been around since 2014. The 3rd Gen is an improved version of the 2nd Gen (obviously) with some tweaks to make it more efficient and effective. And even then I still allowed 2 years for them to work out the bugs of having it in the Wrangler. Just as proof that my way of thinking is sound, I'm not involved in any recalls currently on the EcoDiesel or Wrangler, 23,000 mi right now, one and a half years of ownership, and zero issues.

If you wait, you will be rewarded!

I would not buy a 4xe anytime in the next 10 years!

4xe's are cool, but like anything new, they need to work out the bugs. It's a heavily electronic technology advanced system. It's going to have more bugs than a mechanical engine will. Everything is going to be tied together, it's going to be harder to defeat one system without affecting another system. Between FCA figuring out how to ensure the customers are taken care of, and 4xe owners figuring out how to beat the systems installed on the 4xe, buying one right now makes you a guinea pig. Potentially a broke guinea pig. If you haven't modified your 4xe at all, and you're still within your 3 year 36,000 mi warranty, or extended warranty, you'll probably be covered for most things. But the second your outside of that warranty you're sitting on a $70,000 ticking time bomb. It's only going to last so long. It's not like a mechanical engine where you can rebuild it when it dies. The technology needs to advance significantly before I would ever recommend someone to buy a 4xe Wrangler!!!

That being said, the 3.6L has been around for 20 plus years, tried and true, easy to wrench on yourself, and if the engine dies, you can have it rebuilt for about $12,000. You can take your 3.6L to any automotive shop on the planet, it's just a gas powered engine, everybody knows how to work on it. If you get a 4xe, and you're out of warranty, you going to have to find a shop that has experience working with EV engines, and if you do it might be less expensive than going to the dealership, but it's definitely going to be more expensive to work on a 4xe than a 3.6L.

At this moment if you take care of your 3.6L, basic maintenance, preventative maintenance, don't do stupid things with her, she'll last you 250,000 miles easy. (Lemons Excluded)

If you buy a 4xe, EV vehicles and hybrids are only known to last 150,000 mi on average.

I plan on buying a 5.9L Cummins diesel engine to swap into my Wrangler at some point in the next 20 years, at current market value that engine will cost me about $14,000, with install probably $26,000. I don't know what a 4xe battery costs, but my wife's old Honda Accord hybrid battery was $36,000, not including install.

If you have money to throw away, and are willing to chance it, I'd say go for it. But I don't like playing risky games if I can help it. Even my current risky project is reversible, mind you $400 reversible, but still reversible. Can't say that about a $70,000 vehicle that if it dies outside of warranty, you're out $70,000.

I wouldn't chance it guy, I'd stick with the tried and true 3.6L.

Is that a typo, $36k for a battery for your accord? I wouldn’t even imagine the car is worth that much?

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Is that a typo, $36k for a battery for your accord? I wouldn’t even imagine the car is worth that much?

So, when my wife and I first started dating, I'm talking like weeks in, she purchased a 2015 Honda Accord hybrid touring sedan, it had like 32,000 mi on it, she paid way too much for it. Fast forward a couple years, the air conditioning started going around 90,000 mi. It was a bit of a bitch getting to it, but I ended up replacing the thermostat, the blower motor relay, and the blower motor itself. It ran great for about 3 months, and then the blower motor starts acting wonky again. At this point I'm doing a bit of research into it, turns out the battery on those Honda Accord hybrids are tied into the same system as the air compressor. So when the battery starts going, the air conditioner stops working. A bit more research, hybrid batteries typically only lasts 100,000 mi. It was an amazing vehicle until that point, and when I started looking at cost to replace the hybrid battery (mind you it's not like some earlier EVs where you can replace it yourself, basically have to be a master technician with some pretty serious training) I was very quickly convinced that we needed to get rid of that vehicle IMMEDIATELY!!!

I took it to the dealership where she bought it from, asked a service representative how much it would cost to get the battery replaced. The lady told me it would be cheaper to buy a new car, and that if I wanted to trade it in, they would give us a good value so that we wouldn't be upside down. I asked her costs to have the battery replaced, she explained to me that it's not just the battery which needs to be replaced, there's whole bunch of harnesses and a bunch of other things including that compressor which runs the air conditioner that need to be replaced. She told me the battery would be about $18,000, the other parts combined would be another $10,000, and because they don't have those parts on hand, its actually cheaper for them to send it back to the factory to have the work done. All told parts, labor, and "freight charges" brought it to just under $36,000. Then she offered to get me a salesman if I was interested in trading it in instead.

I promptly left, did a lot of research to figure out what vehicle we wanted next, and then I spent another $80 bucks and replaced thermostat and the blower motor relay again so that they wouldn't know anything was wrong, took that Honda Accord hybrid to the Subaru dealership where we bought her Forester, and traded it in! We ended up being upside down, but in the end I would much rather have a 2.5L flat-4 which will last me 400,000 mi with regular maintenance, over a hybrid vehicle which cost more and only lasts about 150,000 mi if you're lucky!

 

[BigMaCro]

I took it to the dealership where she bought it from, asked a service representative how much it would cost to get the battery replaced.

I bought a 2007 Camry Hybrid - the first year Toyota offered the Hybrid Synergy Drive in the Camry. Yep, after 10 years and 200,000 miles the fuel economy had dropped and all sorts of things didn't work well.

I went to NAPA and bought a refurbished Dorman HV battery, replaced it myself, and all the problems were solved and it drove like it was new. I think it was $3000 for the battery but got $1000 back from returning the "core".


FWIW, one year and 22,000 miles in, my 4xe is doing great, and I'm not afraid to work on it!

 

[Jeepney2]

Quick comment on gas mileage(and other things)…I have a 2021 Sahara 4xe with A little over 17000 miles on it. My interstate mpg averages around 22mpg going the speed limit(70mph). On state roads (55-60 mph) it’s around 23-24 mpg. We usually stick to state roads when going to the beach(100-150 miles).
I have had 2 repairs done -ECU replacement(took about 3 days) and about a month later a cooling pump(took about 5 days). Otherwise, no issues. The dealership offered me a car, but I declined since we didn’t need it.
on a side note, whether the 4xe is worth it to you or not depends ALOT on where you live…including how much electricity costs in your area vs gas. Here in the Raleigh area using the battery is about half the cost of using gas. I would never consider using public chargers though because they charge .30/kwh or more…at that rate gas is cheaper. Around town, I rarely put gas in it…maybe 3-4 times a year -not including the long trips. With the 220v charger I can use it, recharge and use it again multiple times day without using the engine at all. I guess that wasn’t as quick as I thought it would be, but just my .02.

 

[wanderer]

After lots of thought I am going to stick with 3.6 When I drove the rubicon recon with 456 I loved it. I also drove a bronco with the 2.7. Twin but omg that is a complicated looking motor. Plus I have always been a little wary or turbos Especially now as I am a stone throw from 70 and will be on a fixed income in 5 years. So I-want something that’s gonna last. On the bronco side of things. Seems like the front ifs is pretty weak I watched a lot of off road. Videos saw a lot of breakage and. Wheel spin. So ee though the over msrp seems to be going away. Not in my garage.

 

[ag4ever]

I bought a 2007 Camry Hybrid - the first year Toyota offered the Hybrid Synergy Drive in the Camry. Yep, after 10 years and 200,000 miles the fuel economy had dropped and all sorts of things didn't work well.

I went to NAPA and bought a refurbished Dorman HV battery, replaced it myself, and all the problems were solved and it drove like it was new. I think it was $3000 for the battery but got $1000 back from returning the "core".


FWIW, one year and 22,000 miles in, my 4xe is doing great, and I'm not afraid to work on it!

I also had a 2007 Camry Hybrid. I had almost 250,000 miles on it when I threw a rod bearing due to low oil level. I had an anti lock brake module go out and other than the tendency for the Atkinson Cycle Toyota engines to burn oil, I had zero other issues. Most of my miles were highway at 65 - 75, and after replacing the engine with a used one from LKQ, it was still getting 40 mpg in the city and same on the highway. It was a great car, other than the slow acceleration. I sold it to carmax shortly after replacing the engine and got way more than it was worth. I think it was around 35% of the original purchase price. (Btw, I swapped the engine in the garage of our rental house at the time, was no more difficult than a non-hybrid car.)

Regarding battery price, most Toyota Hybrids use NiMH and not LiPo, that probably explains why it was less expensive to replace than a LiPo. Also, with the quantity of hybrid vehicles Toyota has made, there is a strong 3rd party support in place. I suspect something similar will happen with the 4xe given how many are being sold. If Elon did not have such a tight grip on his car fleet (I you buy one, you have to know YOU are only borrowing it) there would be much more 3rd party support in place. Hopefully stellantis will not try to follow Elon down that road.

 

[ag4ever]

I test-drove a Willys 4xe today first time in an electric vehicle. I am waiting for the prices to be released on the 24s. Until today I wasn't thinking electric but was pleasantly surprised. MY ideal vehicle is a 24 rubicon with the recon package SO ( rubicon X?) in 4 xe of course it depends on What Jeep does with the prices. That would give me the full floaters 456 gears and 35s in e - Vehicle. I am a bit concerned that the prices are going to be too high, So if I don't want to spend that much Should I go V6 ( I like that motor just fine) . I kinda want the SOT top too. but I CAN SEE THIS THING GOING CLOSE TO 80 G !!!!

So what else should I consider.?

I really want leather and other than the high tide (Sahara) I can't get leather. but I can't get lockers in that or leather in the Willys? I can live without a front locker.

Before buying a 4xe you need to ask why do you want one.

For me, the reasons were

1.) Drive to work is 22 miles. I have a charger at home and at work. I drive less than 50 miles a week using the ICE on average.

2.) I like the power, second most powerful wrangler sold. I was cross shopping the 392.

3.) Silent hunting vehicle. I can pull the doors, fold the windshield and silently drive my hunting lease when predator hunting.

4.) Love the limited edition Regin paint, and had great experience with my last hybrid, so I wanted to see how the Jeep hybrid would stack up. If it was not for the color, I would not have bought it.

I did not buy it because I am trying to save the world from global warming. If that was the case, I would stop driving, move close to work or find a job close to home and ride a bicycle everywhere. That is not gonna happen.

The 4xe was right for me, and only you can really decide if it is right for you. We can only give you reasons why it was right for us and might be right for you.

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