First time Jeep owner

[Pappy11]

Congrats and Welcome......

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[cdahl383]

Nice.

I too am a first time Jeeper (at least a Wrangler). My pick was a 2019 JL Sport S 3.6L auto 2dr, also bright white. However, this Jeep picked me. Something like Harry Potter "the wand picks it's wizard."

My old 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan (with almost 300K miles) was totaled when I was T-boned in traffic by a distracted 16 year old. Long story short, I'd have likely driven that minivan until the axles had fallen off. No one was hurt, and it did give me chance to look for something new.

On a whim, the car rental lot in town had a 2019 JL with 14K miles almost exactly like the one I eventually bought. Luckily, the reservation for this Jeep had just happen to become available because the previous renter opted for an Expedition upgrade instead.

I fell in love with this Jeep straight away, even though I did experience one of those notorious 'death wobbles'. That's when I joined this forum and read everything I could on the subject. Once I truly understood the nature of the incident, it didn't distract from the pure joy and fun I was having with it.

Unfortunately, my insurance company only gave me 72 hours to find a replacement car after they determined the minivan was totaled. I had no trouble in getting prefinancing for what I thought would be 25K worth of Jeep. Whoa boy was I wrong...

Recall, my minivan was just shy of 300K so I was surprised to get any settlement at all. I had even thought that I'd owe the insurace company on top of my deductible for their time and hassle. The cheapest option for anything close to this rental jeep was THE rental jeep itself. The rental company offered this exact vehicle for sale at 30K. So I agreed. Had to sell some of my meager stock savings to make up the difference.

However, just before they could make the vehicle ready for sale, I noticed an almost identical rig on a dealership web-site 75 miles away for only $1K more. It too was used but with only 1024 miles on it.

It was purchased and titled but the lady who bought it returned it because the low-end digital cluster went dark. The dealership said it would take 3 months to get a replacement cluster (huh).

Anyway, they talked her into something else. In the meantime, it looked like this jeep was used as as a shop utility vehicle. They dropped a garage door on the hood, and the latches on both the driver and passenger seats were completely broken. So this jeep became somewhat of a nemisis that they just wanted to get rid of.

It had one more way cool thing that the rental didn't have, heated seats and steering wheel with the low-temperature package. So the sticker was almost $39K and they dropped $8K from that.

I bought it on the spot, after they agreed to fix the seats, and the hood. They already replaced the cluster. The only downside is the cluster shows a 'Headlight auto high-beam needs service' message that they just can't puzzle out. There is zero circuitry in this vehicle to even support such a feature.

Anyway, this Jeep found me. It has it's personality and I'm loving it!

And by the way, in a previuos life I used to be a Chrysler Powertrain Software Engineer and used to work in the very same building you parked your Jeep along the side. It used to be called Lee Iococca's Glass Palace when I worked there. The call of Colorado was the only reason I left. The minivan had the Engine Control Module that had quite a bit of my software in it. So I knew it like the back of my hand. It was really sentimental in watching it get towed away.

But here's Snoopy, my new Jeep buddy:

Heck of a story! Glad it all worked out in the end! Nice looking Jeep there too!

 

[cdahl383]

Got my first Jeep wave today haha!

 

[jeepoch]

Got my first Jeep wave today haha!

The waves are kinda cool. I seem to get about 2/3 that wave back. Next time I'm driving along I75 going through Auburn Hills I'll look out for you. I never seem to miss the bright white Jeeps no matter style or year. But just don't hold your breath, I haven't been back that way in over a decade or so. I'd say I miss the place (lived in Grand Blanc), but Colorado is just way cooler. Maybe if you're ever driving around north of Denver or the foothills and mountains in and around Boulder county you can wave back.
Jay

 

[Spearmin]

Had the Jeep a couple days now, already put over 300 miles on it. Can’t believe the fuel mileage! Averaging almost 24mpg so far. Way better than I was expecting out of a heavy brick shaped vehicle haha! I remember my brother in laws 2012 getting mid/high teens. Didn’t buy it to get great mileage, but I’ll take it!

Strange I have never seen mine go over 17mpg.. Ever

 

[aldo98229]

Had the Jeep a couple days now, already put over 300 miles on it. Can’t believe the fuel mileage! Averaging almost 24mpg so far. Way better than I was expecting out of a heavy brick shaped vehicle haha! I remember my brother in laws 2012 getting mid/high teens. Didn’t buy it to get great mileage, but I’ll take it!

My Average MPG display only came with “1s” in front.

 

[jeepoch]

I should have taken a picture at the time, but I have recently hit 25.1 mpg the other day. I've never reset the overall milege graph since driving it off the lot. I'm currently at 23.8 but almost all city driving in the last few weeks. Current odometer is at 5800 and I do use 91 octane with 10% Ethanol.

Yes I know the manual says to use 87, but with the winter blend fuel they sell here in CO the higher octane helps eliminate any potential knock at altitude. Recall, I used to develop the code that went into Chrysler Large Car, Small Car and some Jeep Truck Engine Controllers. It's the little things that matter.

However working on developing ICE (internal combustion engines) was a long time ago and I'm certain the technology and software has changed since. But kudo's to the current Powertrain Engineers and Calibrators, I'm impressed.

And YES, I do use the ESS feature. It obviously does help. I almost wish Snoopy had the manual 6 just be able to play with the Start / Stop more.

Jay

 

[emptyminded42]

...Yes I know the manual says to use 87, but with the winter blend fuel they sell here in CO the higher octane helps eliminate any potential knock at altitude. Recall, I used to develop the code that went into Chrysler Large Car, Small Car and some Jeep Truck Engine Controllers. It's the little things that matter.

I'd like to learn why using higher octane would be of benefit at higher altitudes - with less O2 up there, wouldn't the system tend to run rich? Unless you have reason to believe the fuel schedule overcompensates for the loss of O2 and may lean out excessively?

Did you work on the 3.6L Penta?

I'm genuinely curious. I have the 3.6L (but the 6MT) but suspect I'll never/rarely drive my JLU to altitude (I live in NEOhio, a few hundred feet above sea level).

 

[cdahl383]

I'm up over 24mpg today. I've been using 89-91 octane w/ 10% ethanol. I'm also using the auto stop/start feature as well. It doesn't seem to be too noticeable most of the time. I drive more freeway than city and our house is out in the country with a lot of 45-55mph two lane roads with minimal stop signs and signals, so that's probably helping quite a bit too. Still, it's well over the 22mpg hwy rating on the sticker. Really amazed by that.

Hoping we get a good snow storm soon. I want to try out the 4x4. Never had a vehicle with a transfer case before. I've heard the first few times you shift into 4Hi it can be pretty tough to move. I'll have to give it a shot one day on a dirt road, see how it works.

 

[cdahl383]

Strange I have never seen mine go over 17mpg.. Ever

Do you have the 3.6L or 2.0L?

 

[cdahl383]

The waves are kinda cool. I seem to get about 2/3 that wave back. Next time I'm driving along I75 going through Auburn Hills I'll look out for you. I never seem to miss the bright white Jeeps no matter style or year. But just don't hold your breath, I haven't been back that way in over a decade or so. I'd say I miss the place (lived in Grand Blanc), but Colorado is just way cooler. Maybe if you're ever driving around north of Denver or the foothills and mountains in and around Boulder county you can wave back.
Jay

I'm sure Colorado is really nice! I'd like to visit there one day. Doubt it will be anytime soon though.

 

[jeepoch]

I'd like to learn why using higher octane would be of benefit at higher altitudes - with less O2 up there, wouldn't the system tend to run rich? Unless you have reason to believe the fuel schedule overcompensates for the loss of O2 and may lean out excessively?

Did you work on the 3.6L Penta?

I'm genuinely curious. I have the 3.6L (but the 6MT) but suspect I'll never/rarely drive my JLU to altitude (I live in NEOhio, a few hundred feet above sea level).

I'd like to learn why using higher octane would be of benefit at higher altitudes - with less O2 up there, wouldn't the system tend to run rich? Unless you have reason to believe the fuel schedule overcompensates for the loss of O2 and may lean out excessively?

Did you work on the 3.6L Penta?

I'm genuinely curious. I have the 3.6L (but the 6MT) but suspect I'll never/rarely drive my JLU to altitude (I live in NEOhio, a few hundred feet above sea level).

Mark,

No, I have never worked on the 3.6L Pentastar. My effort was on the 2002-2006MY 3.3 and 3.8L offerings at that time.

Octane ratings are not indicators of the energy content of fuels. They are typically just a measure of the fuel's tendency to burn in more of a controlled rather than uncontrolled manner when combusting. The higher the octane value, the closer to a consistent temperature (compression) point the fuel will combust. Lower octane fuels will thus have a wider degree of temperature range and will therefore combust at differing degrees of cylinder position, generally specified by degrees before top dead center (TDC). Higher octane will therefore tend to combust more reliably at the same cylinder position each and every stroke thus naturally reducing knock.

Higher octane fuels would therefore help everywhere, not just necessarilly at altitude.

My statement was based more on the other fuel additives that are used during the winter months where ambient temperature is the primary consideration. The winter blends help increase fuel evaporation at lower temps but this comes at a cost. Winter blended fuels tend to have between 1 to 2 percent less energy per volume than the summer blended fuels. So in order to compensate for the fuel which tends to make things even worse at altitude, from even lower ampient temps due to lower atmospheric pressure, (please refer to the ideal gas law pV=nRT for details), I thetefore use the higher octane fuel to help offset all this mess.

End result is higher gas mileage and less wear and tear on the engine by not having the eninge controller constinently readjusting the spark timing. Recall, the computer algorithms implemented within the controller are not truly predictive. They require input from a knock sensor and other performance metrics in order to determine fuel quality. That translates into some amount of 'reaction' time to compensate. Better to try and eliminate the trouble at the source instead of constantly reacting and changing the firing position.

Sorry for the long winded response. I didn't want this thread morphing from its original intent.

Jay

 

[scottjf8]

Congrats! I'm a new Jeeper too, got mine in November.

 

[cdahl383]

My daughter really loves the Jeep too!

 

[emptyminded42]

Mark,

No, I have never worked on the 3.6L Pentastar. My effort was on the 2002-2006MY 3.3 and 3.8L offerings at that time.

<snip>

Sorry for the long winded response. I didn't want this thread morphing from its original intent.

Jay

No, thanks for the info! This is fascinating and I like learning as much as I can - I'm a systems engineer so I tend to ask a lot of questions.

Congrats on the new Jeep! My daughter loves ours, too! Ours is her "wewwow zeep" - she's not yet two so we cut her some slack, haha

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