4xe vs Ecodiesel... Help me decide!

[michail]

If you do many short trips and/or enjoy driving around in nature with the top down, in silence the 4xe is great. Long haul 4xe efficiency isn't great. I've seen about 24 MPG so far for hybrid only mode but my day to day is mostly all electric.

If I did long drivers and towing I think the diesel would be my choice.

Every vehicle I've owned seems to be full of catastrophic failure events on the Internet. Usually they seem to happen early on in ownership when they do happen.

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[Heimkehr]

Side note, that 2.0 is impressive, a friend has one and loves it. We live in a cold climate though and that startup loud compressor noise would probably drive me insane on cold days (also relevant to my 4xe decision as it seems to do the same thing).

Compressor noise?

My 2.0T doesn't make any outlying sounds during cold starts, or warm ones, come to that. PA has cold winters, too, for sure.

What is your friend hearing that is considered undesirable?

 

[4xemtb]

Compressor noise?

My 2.0T doesn't make any outlying sounds during cold starts, or warm ones, come to that. PA has cold winters, too, for sure.

What is your friend hearing that is considered undesirable?

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-4xe-owners-is-this-normal.70142/post-1472237

I'll clarify my friend's with the 2.0 isn't what I was referencing specifically as he has mentioned it's loud to warm up but nothing like this.

 

[LJ_3M121318]

First post... please be gentle lol!

I have a 4xe on order but given the issues we are already seeing, and given that my local Jeep dealer is the worst, I'm pretty concerned. I'd be more willing to guinea pig it if that dealer hadn't have done such poor jobs on multiple occasions in the past or there were any other dealers within 100 miles. So here's the question: 4xe or should I change my Rubicon order over to the diesel? Because of rebates, markup and discounts, expected cost to run, oil change costs, DEF, KwH... the price between the two is effectively identical.

I plan to do a Dynatrac Endurosport 2" lift (or similar) along with 315/70r17's running some nice light KO2's so nothing wild but a consideration. For use, I do a few miles of daily around town plus another 10-15 miles of highway. Daily trips up and down forest roads on the washboard. 4xe makes a lot of sense for that use however, 3-4 times a year I do 1,500+ mile road trips that usually involve a few days of "overlanding" type off road that my Grand Cherokee's of the past struggled with which is what got me looking at JL's. Diesel wins there.

We've owned 3 different full electric cars so know all about the advantages and disadvantages of electric. We have also had 3 small diesels so know the pros and cons there. I despise EGR's but I don't want to get off topic there with discussions and political debate of the pros/cons of delete. What I will say is the previous ecodiesel really had some serious issues and I know some are passionately against them because of those issues but it seems like this latest generation is doing better. Granted, 1 year isn't a whole lot of use-case but there's not a whole lot of issues I can find that are unique to the diesel platform.

Anyone else out there in this same debate? Am I over-analyzing the issues on the 4xe? Are the new diesel's more reliable? Would love to hear other's thought process who are considering the same.

Thanks in advance!

I had the same thoughts as well. I had to do a full analysis of pros and cons and the 4xe just squeezed by as the winner.

Some of these are personal preferences, but since its for me, it mattered.

4xe pros:
-Blue interior and exterior trim, love it. Absolutely disgusted by the red Rubicon trims. If I went with Diesel, I would chose the Tan interior to get rid of the red, but then have to pay extra to get black leather seats (my preference). Plus would have to change all the red on the outside.
-MPGe, while only 21 electric (which compares to diesel), you still get 49MPGe in hybrid
-Instant torque (in hybrid) vs Diesel which needs more RPMs before you feel the power
-Carpool sticker, not major but still nice to have

Diesel pros:
-Engine noise, love the sound of a diesel (this singlehandedly almost made me go with diesel)
-Not a 1st year model, so most of the issues are resolved; many unknowns with 4xe
-Minor: full cargo space; you lose space in the 4xe because of the electric battery
-Minor: diesel available everywhere, whereas charging stations are not as frequent

Cancel outs:
-Price. Diesels come with significant discounts, but that's offset with the 4xe Rebates so my net price came the same for both with exact same builds
-Secondary fuel hassle. Diesel needs DEF every so often, and 4xe needs to be plugged in everyday.

I did a scoring matrix and weighted all my options and the 4xe won 60 to 56 points. It was close, but at the end of the day the red trim negated the diesel sound, so the 4xe with the blue trim and no noise won out. Mainly because I can go aftermarket and get an exhaust system if the "sound" was really needed

 

[Heimkehr]

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-4xe-owners-is-this-normal.70142/post-1472237

I'll clarify my friend's with the 2.0 isn't what I was referencing specifically as he has mentioned it's loud to warm up but nothing like this.

That's a mechanical issue requiring repair, and likely nothing that should be assigned to the mere presence of a 2.0T engine.

 

[supermike]

Depends on your driving style. Modern emission controlled diesel vehicle do not like stop and go city driving, or very short commute. It will easily clog up the DPF and causing more problem. It will be happy on highway doing long trips.

 

[Cwu21]

I do not have any experience with the 4xe. I however love my diesel. There were a couple before me raving about long road trips. I have 23k on my Diesel now and love every second driving it. I have made 5 trips from San Diego to Boise ID in the last year with wheeling events in Sand Hollow and Moab. Off Road use is just as awesome. I jumped in with zero thoughts about potential issues and If i was in the market for the 4xe i would take that same approach. Make sure you have a good dealer that will take care of you if there are any issues. Only issue I have had were very minor and the dealer was awesome to work with, but i did pass over a couple dealers because their service was trash.

 

[Arterius2]

Looking at how many issues the ecodiesel are already having on this forum. I’m be cautious about buying one.

 

[4xemtb]

I had the same thoughts as well. I had to do a full analysis of pros and cons and the 4xe just squeezed by as the winner.

Some of these are personal preferences, but since its for me, it mattered.

4xe pros:
-Blue interior and exterior trim, love it. Absolutely disgusted by the red Rubicon trims. If I went with Diesel, I would chose the Tan interior to get rid of the red, but then have to pay extra to get black leather seats (my preference). Plus would have to change all the red on the outside.
-MPGe, while only 21 electric (which compares to diesel), you still get 49MPGe in hybrid
-Instant torque (in hybrid) vs Diesel which needs more RPMs before you feel the power
-Carpool sticker, not major but still nice to have

Diesel pros:
-Engine noise, love the sound of a diesel (this singlehandedly almost made me go with diesel)
-Not a 1st year model, so most of the issues are resolved; many unknowns with 4xe
-Minor: full cargo space; you lose space in the 4xe because of the electric battery
-Minor: diesel available everywhere, whereas charging stations are not as frequent

Cancel outs:
-Price. Diesels come with significant discounts, but that's offset with the 4xe Rebates so my net price came the same for both with exact same builds
-Secondary fuel hassle. Diesel needs DEF every so often, and 4xe needs to be plugged in everyday.

I did a scoring matrix and weighted all my options and the 4xe won 60 to 56 points. It was close, but at the end of the day the red trim negated the diesel sound, so the 4xe with the blue trim and no noise won out. Mainly because I can go aftermarket and get an exhaust system if the "sound" was really needed

Haha, this is my kind of analysis!
I hear you on the red trim, red isn't my favorite color either. 4xe technically wins the cost by about $1750 here as we get some additional state rebates but that gets eaten up by interest costs for the time it takes to get it back along with additional fuel costs because the majority of my driving is highways so I'd not be making the most of the electric portion.
It's pretty darn close but the loss of cargo space as well as loss of rear seat footwell space is a bit of a problem. IDK, I'm still on the fence but leaning diesel...and currently looking up cost of brown leather!

 

[LJ_3M121318]

Haha, this is my kind of analysis!
I hear you on the red trim, red isn't my favorite color either. 4xe technically wins the cost by about $1750 here as we get some additional state rebates but that gets eaten up by interest costs for the time it takes to get it back along with additional fuel costs because the majority of my driving is highways so I'd not be making the most of the electric portion.
It's pretty darn close but the loss of cargo space as well as loss of rear seat footwell space is a bit of a problem. IDK, I'm still on the fence but leaning diesel...and currently looking up cost of brown leather!

Yeah I factored in the CA $1500 rebate as well.

But it came super close.

Actually the 392 is looking like the clear winner because instead of red it's a bronze color, so another subtle trim, plus the v8 monster power. However at $77k that pushes it way out since with the 4xe I can apply the Fed rebate to the cap cost so my $67k msrp I'm getting for $53k. So while my favorite is the 392, I can't justify the extra $24k for it. Not to mention that's $77k msrp and hearing most dealers selling well above msrp especially with the chip shortage so supply really down.

 

[Penguinking]

Haha, this is my kind of analysis!
I hear you on the red trim, red isn't my favorite color either. 4xe technically wins the cost by about $1750 here as we get some additional state rebates but that gets eaten up by interest costs for the time it takes to get it back along with additional fuel costs because the majority of my driving is highways so I'd not be making the most of the electric portion.
It's pretty darn close but the loss of cargo space as well as loss of rear seat footwell space is a bit of a problem. IDK, I'm still on the fence but leaning diesel...and currently looking up cost of brown leather!

I'm in the same boat as you, debating on the 4xe or diesel. The only reason I've leaned more toward the diesel (lately) has been the better range and (slightly) less weight. The range of the 4xe compared to diesel (est 370mi vs 550mi) has been the killer for me if I planned on doing any long trips or overlanding (which is what my rig would be built for anyways ). The red trim was almost a killer for me as well, but I've seen so many people on the forum pull it out and paint it... so that it would be a project I'd do as well if I went the diesel route. I'll definitely be monitoring this thread though since I feel like my mind changes daily as well on which one I want.

 

[LJ_3M121318]

I'm in the same boat as you, debating on the 4xe or diesel. The only reason I've leaned more toward the diesel (lately) has been the better range and (slightly) less weight. The range of the 4xe compared to diesel (est 370mi vs 550mi) has been the killer for me if I planned on doing any long trips or overlanding (which is what my rig would be built for anyways ). The red trim was almost a killer for me as well, but I've seen so many people on the forum pull it out and paint it... so that it would be a project I'd do as well if I went the diesel route. I'll definitely be monitoring this thread though since I feel like my mind changes daily as well on which one I want.

That's doable for most things but not the stitching. Can't undo all that red unless you go with the tan seats.

It's ironic, for all the customization the wrangler is known for, FCA comes out and locks you in red for rubicon, blue for 4xe, and bronze for 392. Imagine if color options like that was customizable from factory

 

[Penguinking]

That's doable for most things but not the stitching. Can't undo all that red unless you go with the tan seats.

It's ironic, for all the customization the wrangler is known for, FCA comes out and locks you in red for rubicon, blue for 4xe, and bronze for 392. Imagine if color options like that was customizable from factory

Personally, I can deal with the seat stitching. I never planned on leather so I'm throwing neoprene covers on the cloth seats like I did with my JK. The red dash just feels so out of place to me that it would need to be an early mod I knock out. I have the benefit of not coming back until later this year for the 2022 models and seeing how the 4xe goes for everyone... hoping they come back with Mojito or Punkn for 2022 or at least keep Hydro. These color rotations are just so unpredictable.

 

[alksion]

I will be placing an order for a 2022 model as soon as they become available. I am going back and forth between this same question. Also, I am curious to see if all engine options are staying the same or if we might see a 5.7L HEMI like the GC has, but I doubt it.

With that said, if everything stays the same, in my heart I want the diesel. I like the way it sounds and it will be used for overlanding for it's off roading purposes. My only issue is that I live 1.8 miles from my office and I already have a charging station at my new apartment garage. I could probably never use fuel for weeks. My wife has the 3.6 with E-Torque and we could use that if more range was needed locally.

Has anyone made up their mind yet?

 

[alksion]

Personally, I can deal with the seat stitching. I never planned on leather so I'm throwing neoprene covers on the cloth seats like I did with my JK. The red dash just feels so out of place to me that it would need to be an early mod I knock out. I have the benefit of not coming back until later this year for the 2022 models and seeing how the 4xe goes for everyone... hoping they come back with Mojito or Punkn for 2022 or at least keep Hydro. These color rotations are just so unpredictable.

Also, I can't remember why 4Hi Auto is not available in the diesel? Maybe for 2022 or is this a limitation of the gears?

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