Considering buying my 16 year old a brand new Wrangler High Altitude

[aldo98229]

Do we think this is a good idea? Not the average car for a 16 year old for sure, but this boy is for sure deserving of it. It was either this or a Mercedes but we're worried about that getting keyed (or something (the wife is quite the paranoid freak) ). Ive heard the wrangler is easy to flip which is definitely a concern.


Please feel free to share any opinions or info

Thanks.

If by “easy to flip” you mean they are easy to resell, the answer is yes.

Having said that, I wouldn’t buy a brand-new $50,000 Jeep to a 16 year old. There’s something to be said about teaching a young man the value of money.

But this ain’t a parenting forum, so...Go Jeep!

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[DaltonGang]

Put myself through college, graduated with good grades, got an extremely well paying tech job making more than my parents ever did all on my own. I was going to just buy myself a used Toyota until my parents gifted me the Jeep. Don’t worry about my frontal lobe, I’d worry about yours, hence you are arguing with a 22 year old on a Jeep forum because I got blessed with opportunities you didn’t when you were my age. Calm down and go plan your retirement or something

I'm not arguing with a 22 yr old(You). I'm just pointing out how spoiled, disrespectful, immature, self-centered, and materialistic you sound. Just like a lot of children your age sound. Not arguing.
Yes, I am planning my retirement. A really nice one.

 

[Steph1]

I traded my 10A Rubicon for a JLU Sahara for my daughter to drive to college. 6 months after, she decided she’d prefer a smaller car, so we got her a Ford Focus and I sold the 911 and now driving the Jeep. Fixing it to my liking is a fun project.

 

[wcjeep]

I traded my 10A Rubicon for a JLU Sahara for my daughter to drive to college. 6 months after, she decided she’d prefer a smaller car, so we got her a Ford Focus and I sold the 911 and now driving the Jeep. Fixing it to my liking is a fun project.

Which transmission in the focus? Many years of the Focus use a dry side transmission. No lubrication. High fail rate. Mention it in case it needs to be traded while operational.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Put myself through college, graduated with good grades, got an extremely well paying tech job making more than my parents ever did all on my own. I was going to just buy myself a used Toyota until my parents gifted me the Jeep. Don’t worry about my frontal lobe, I’d worry about yours, hence you are arguing with a 22 year old on a Jeep forum because I got blessed with opportunities you didn’t when you were my age. Calm down and go plan your retirement or something

Hoo boy!! I'm just curious as to why you are even here on a Jeep forum. How about you go to your TicToc and Instagram accounts and hang out with your own kind!! LOL

I'm not arguing with a 22 yr old(You). I'm just pointing out how spoiled, disrespectful, immature, self-centered, and materialistic you sound. Just like a lot of children your age sound. Not arguing.
Yes, I am planning my retirement. A really nice one.

It's an odd world we live in these modern times. When you and I were growing up we had a lot more face to face interaction, learned respect, integrity, and decorum. The new generation are a bunch of punks hiding behind a keyboard with nothing better to do than brag and show the world how much better they are. It's sickening.

 

[Fsttanks]

It’s wonderful you can do this for your child but IMO it is way to much vehicle and power for a 16 year old inexperienced driver to handle.

The JL line is not the underpowered Jeep’s of the past and can out accelerate most new cars today, yet has nowhere near the ability to stop as quickly or handle aggressive evasive driving as easily. You would be better served with the Mercedes. Much safer for your child and the rest of us driving around him.

 

[Richtor]

A Fiesta ST is a great first car! It’s a blast to drive, you can find a great condition one for $10-12k gets 30+ mpg handles like it’s on rails. There’s a reason why those with 991.2 GT3 get one for for an everyday driver!
Put the rest of the money towards college or his first house or that merc when he graduate with a degree!

 

[Steph1]

Which transmission in the focus? Many years of the Focus use a dry side transmission. No lubrication. High fail rate. Mention it in case it needs to be traded while operational.

Not sure the code of it if this is your question, but it is an automatic transmission. My research showed that this problem I think you are referring to (transmission slipping), was adressed in 2015 or 2016.

 

[jmccorm]

I have any number of things for you to consider.
If done right, a Wrangler could be an excellent choice for your son!

Consider having the dealer adjust the setting for tire package inside of the vehicle's computer. Not that there's anything wrong with it's tires or the Wrangler's ECU. If possible, you might want to artificially lower the Wrangler's top speed as much as you reasonably can (which the vehicle itself would enforce based upon tire rating).

You may want to let the dealer know that you'll be registering the vehicle (as part of the delivery process) with your own email address and not your son's. Why? That's so you don't get locked out of using some important parenting tools. Once you've registered the vehicle with your own personal account, you'll have access to the Family Drive alerts in addition to being able to look up the vehicle's current position any time you want through a mobile app. Just make sure their vehicle build includes the Remote Start feature (for their keyfob), which limits any real reason for your son to complain about the loss of online access.

I've only skimmed through this forum topic, but I particularly love the idea of giving your child a budget for modifying the vehicle (that budget can include tools, if needed). Add that single requirement that they themselves must be the one who's doing the work. (If they're wanting to color-match some purchased components, I'd make an exception for a well-executed paint job. Also vehicle alignment, and any sort of thing that requires exacting skill or expensive dedicated equipment when it's important to do the job right.)

Why a budget for mods? Customizing your vehicle to your own personal tastes is very much a part of the Jeep ownership process! A mod budget helps teach numerous skills (both hard and soft) and it should give them a real sense of ownership of the vehicle. That sense of ownership is very important, as they're far less likely to be stupid with a gifted vehicle when they've invested so much of their own time and effort into it. Why their own labor? Aside from learning various soft and hard skills, it's also to prevent them from taking the budget for modifications and having someone add a supercharger, from swapping the engine out for an overpowered V8, or from performing most any other radical alteration without your approval.

Decide for yourself if the insured value on the vehicle's insurance policy will or will not (the default) include the cost of parts and labor for any additions and modifications they make. There are arguments to be made either way, but if you choose not to have it covered, make sure your son knows of this decision ahead of time. ("If you wreck your vehicle, I'm not paying to have all your lights and modifications added back in, so you better keep it safe!")

If appropriate, you might give your child the choice between that High Altitude you mentioned, or a Rubicon (not Rubicon 392). If they're going to get a Wrangler, they might want to take advantage of that one-time opportunity to grab those factory-installed off-road features. (The Rubicon comes with electronic front and rear axle lockers, electronic sway bar disconnect, and more armor.) You can configure a Rubicon with almost all of the High Altitude's trim options. You can't configure a High Altitude any of the Rubicon's offroad options I mentioned. Then again, giving your son a choice (between Rubicon and High Altitude) may embolden them to feel like they can steer you towards even greater choices, like different makes and models of vehicles. You know how it goes, right?

Obviously, some people have concerns that you may end up making bad choices, but then again, that's why you came here and asked questions in the first place. Am I right? So I'll wager that you're the type who makes smart parenting decisions. You can do this in a smart way. (Even if you raised a few hackles in the process.)

Even still, don't get them a Wrangler Rubicon 392. Limiting their acceleration is just as important as limiting their top speed, and limiting acceleration is much more involved than a commonly adjusted setting. You really don't want to hand them a V8 that can reach 60 mph in 4 seconds... unless you're really sure about the reasons why you'd want to allow something like that.

Be aware that it's going to be difficult to find new Wranglers on the lot right now, and your selection of trim and options in dealer inventory are quite limited. (Locally, I'm seeing diesel engines paired with every bit of new lot vehicle inventory.) That may be a deal-breaker. Your engine choice aside, you may not even find any new Wrangler on the lot with High Altitude trim within hundreds of miles.

Generally, Wranglers tend to fall into three very broad categories: stock, rock crawlers, and mall crawlers. Depending on what customizations he has in mind, a High Altitude package might not be the right place to start. It's premium features may be wasted when he goes to replace the leather seats with neon green synthetics, and then removes the premium factory Alpine navigation system with an even higher quality aftermarket selection. Assuming that's what he's into.​

​

Such a vehicle could resell quite quickly and at good value as long as the result is aesthetically (or functionally) pleasing to some subset of current and future Jeep owners. Unpopular choices sell almost as easily and not for too much less money since any good Wrangler owner knows that just about anything can be replaced. (For a person unsure of the quality of their tastes, it might be wise to keep their original components on-hand.) Wranglers are known for retaining their value.. far more than most (if not all) other vehicles! Not an exaggeration. Quite unlike a Mercedes, wouldn't you agree?​

You can (and should) look at getting a Wrangler built by the factory to your own exact specifications. It's worth looking at some of the Mopar ("official Jeep") mods that can be ordered and added straight from the factory, too (and treated as part of the leased vehicle, if that's something you're into). Don't let the idea of a straying from dealer inventory or a options package give you any pause. That's common enough, but right now there may be even more of a semi-random lead-time between ordering a custom build and taking delivery of it, so be sure to get that done ahead of time as much as possible.

Also be sure to put some small amount of money down on your order, just to discourage any dealer from selling it to someone else when it eventually arrives (even when that other person waves at them with thousands more dollars than you'll be paying). Just don't put too much down (without a guaranteed refund in writing in case your vehicle does not arrive as as ordered). The component shortage means that any new vehicle could arrive without a "must-have" feature.

You asked about rolling over your vehicle (assuming you meant the vehicular accident type of roll-over). The two-door version is actually more vulnerable to this, certainly more so than the four-door variety. This is due to SUVs having a higher center-of-gravity, and the two-door versions having a much shorter wheelbase than the four-door variety. Today's modern-day Wranglers are far better situated than those of years gone by (and are not any serious area of concern as they might have been thirty years ago). Aside from the built-in roll-cage designed to protect drivers and passengers (who are hopefully wearing their seatbelts), modern Wranglers have a built-in roll mitigation system which actively works against a roll-over before it happens.

When the computer detects that the driver's speed and aggressive steering have created the potential for a vehicle roll-over, it applies individual wheel brakes (not just all brakes) specifically to rebalance the vehicle so that all four wheels remain firmly planted on the road. That's in addition to stability control and in addition to traction control (and brake assist, brake force distribution, rain brake support, and ready alert braking). Modern-day Wranglers are filled with these and any number of (otherwise invisible) safety and stability systems.

Consider placing a limit on how much lift he's able to add to his vehicle. (I want to say that 2.5" is the greatest amount of lift that still preserves the complete coverage of the original factory warranty.) And it wouldn't hurt to remind your son that while some of today's SUVs have engines that are just as powerful as many sports cars, none of them are going to be anywhere near as capable when it comes to darting around traffic and making those quick turns or high-speed turns. Speaking of which, while you're at it, if the vehicle won't be optimized for rock crawling / mud bogging / sand flying performance, then a high quality set of street tires might be a particularly good added investment.

IN CLOSING: The gift you're giving doesn't have to be the Wrangler itself. Perhaps the processes of selecting and building a new vehicle is the better gift? (That includes: choosing options, placing the order at the dealership, the wait, and the final vehicle delivery.) That's certainly a valid choice. In fact, it might even be better. The wait gives your son all sorts of (much needed) time to window-shop, to get up-to-speed on what components and accessories are available, and to dream about how they'd want their ideal vehicle to look (within your allowed budget). The more time they have to do that, the more likely they'll end up with a well-considered vehicle that they're not going to want to part with. That'd be a great outcome for multiple reasons.

PS: If you have more questions and want to side-step the public spotlight, feel free to continue this with a private message. Ether way, I hope you end up helping your son create a best possible Wrangler that's all his own!

 

[zb39]

Lets hope your kid lives to enjoy it. 4 years ago here, a dad did the same thing you want to. His son died in it 5.5 weeks later. Yes he was driving, yes he was going to fast, yes he rolled it many times.
His friend in the jeep lived, sort of. Good luck. Yes this is tragic, BUT TRUE.

 

[COJLGirl]

Do we think this is a good idea? Not the average car for a 16 year old for sure, but this boy is for sure deserving of it. It was either this or a Mercedes but we're worried about that getting keyed (or something (the wife is quite the paranoid freak) ). Ive heard the wrangler is easy to flip which is definitely a concern.

It’s your dime, but I personally wouldn’t buy a 16-year old a $60K vehicle, Jeep or Mercedes. And no, the new Wranglers are not prone to flipping over.

Please feel free to share any opinions or info

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 59498]

Man this thread went to hell quick. Maybe the OP was just trolling. LOL

 

[DaltonGang]

Man this thread went to hell quick. Maybe the OP was just trolling. LOL

In any case, it shows everyone where many people stand with their good parenting skills. There are plenty of members here who have solid values, on this subject. Some, not so much.

 

[Old Dogger]

Welcome to the Forum, from Cave Creek AZ.

Great Dad, very Lucky Son. I am from the old school, one should be able to do what ever they want with their hard earned Dollar, as long as it is Legal. But, there is also something to be said, about youth learning the value of a Dollar, and how hard it is to earn it......... This is your money and Son, your call..

 

[JHTS]

Good for you that you can afford to spend that kind of money on a new driver but….. since you have that much money your children likely think it’s theirs. Teach him to earn his own way and let him buy whatever he can afford from his job. In the long run he will appreciate what you taught him not what you gave him.

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