Jk vs JL is it worth an upgrade

[nostatic]

I don't consider myself an especially rough-and-tumble type (e.g. I take cream and sugar in my coffee), but I find the JL 2-door to be fine for 150 mile runs each way (that is my "commute" now if I have to go into the office). Does it require a bit more attention than the GTI? Sure. But at the end of the day, time spent behind the wheel of a Jeep is still time spent behind the wheel of a Jeep.

Camry...umm....no thanks.

Sponsored

 

[Fsttanks]

WHEN it hits $3.50 a gallon!!! That’s funny its almost always over $3.50 a gallon here in Ca. LoL.

Folks here don’t know how much they are getting bent over by this state in gas taxes and fees compared to the rest of the Western states.

 

[Shots]

I hate to break it to you, but it's not just gas taxes and fees. That state has gone off the deep end, and is Soviet California now.

 

[txj2go]

Fuel economy is only part of the cost- you have mechanical wear, tires, etc. Plus if a person has a long commute they are likely doing 20k miles a year so after just a few years their nice new Jeep becomes a high mileage vehicle. Some people worry about this more than others, I don't mind commuting in a high mileage vehcile but I don't like taking long trips in one. This is a good reason to have a beater to wear out driving to work while keeping your fun vehicle in good shape.

 

[mgroeger]

I'm pretty sure if you own a Jeep and you are concerned about gas mileage you should look into this...

 

[Spartan99]

Thanks for all the info and advice. The wife and I went and test drove the JL and she loves all the new feature they have compared to the JK. I think we will end up getting one if the payments work out to what we are paying now.

Oh they’ll “make the payments work out” you can guarantee that. But that doesn’t mean you’re saving money. In fact, you’ll end up losing a ton of money. You’re just transferring expenses from the cost of gas for lost money on depreciation, taxes, insurance, cash and interest payments. You’re going to lose a TON of money in the end.

 

[rickinAZ]

In late 2017 my wife and I purchased a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK since we both love wranglers and at the time her commute to work was only a 10 mile at most round trip. Fast forward to now and we still love our Jeep but her commute has now gone up to a 50 mile round trip and she is now in the national guard having to make a 200mile round trip one weekend a month. Needless to say the fuel economy on the JK is less then desired and keeping up with highway traffic is a struggle. Her and I recently started looking into the diesel wranglers for there good fuel economy and personally I love Diesel engines but is it worth getting rid of the JK to go to the JL diesel or even a gas JL?

I get the fuel economy issues, but the Pentastar will keep up with traffic just fine, with 0-60 as fast as my wife's Mini Cooper S. Now the pre-2012 JKs (3.8 liter) were SLOW.

 

[rickinAZ]

Thanks for all the info and advice. The wife and I went and test drove the JL and she loves all the new feature they have compared to the JK. I think we will end up getting one if the payments work out to what we are paying now.

If they make the payments equivalent to what you are paying now, I'd be careful about the deal. Other than "what can I do to sell to you today", the keep-the-payments-the-same is the biggest BS line in the showrooms. Run your own numbers. Caveat Emptor.

 

[Spartan99]

If they make the payments equivalent to what you are paying now, I'd be careful about the deal. Other than "what can I do to sell to you today", the keep-the-payments-the-same is the biggest BS line in the showrooms. Run your own numbers. Caveat Emptor.

Yep. There’s just no way at all that you can trade in for something newer and end up saving money in the end. Unless a car is so old that it’s more expensive to maintain it than it is to pay for a newer one, I suppose. Or if you’re going from an expensive car to an economy car. Want to save money On gas? Add the difference in gas costs between the JL and JK to your 401k or Roth IRA. Done. You’ll MAKE money doing this, actually.

 

[sixspeed]

In late 2017 my wife and I purchased a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK since we both love wranglers and at the time her commute to work was only a 10 mile at most round trip. Fast forward to now and we still love our Jeep but her commute has now gone up to a 50 mile round trip and she is now in the national guard having to make a 200mile round trip one weekend a month. Needless to say the fuel economy on the JK is less then desired and keeping up with highway traffic is a struggle. Her and I recently started looking into the diesel wranglers for there good fuel economy and personally I love Diesel engines but is it worth getting rid of the JK to go to the JL diesel or even a gas JL?

In general, the JL is a big improvement over the JK. I’ve had both. The diesel is around $4000–you’ll need a lot of gas savings to break even. Otherwise, the best gas mileage JLs are the 2.0 turbo and the stick shift 3.6. The 2.0 gets good reviews. I gave up the manual 3.6 JL. It is not well suited for the almost 5000 pound Rubicon I now have.

 

[mgroeger]

In general, the JL is a big improvement over the JK. I’ve had both. The diesel is around $4000–you’ll need a lot of gas savings to break even. Otherwise, the best gas mileage JLs are the 2.0 turbo and the stick shift 3.6. The 2.0 gets good reviews. I gave up the manual 3.6 JL. It is not well suited for the almost 5000 pound Rubicon I now have.

I have a manual with the 3.6L and my wife has an auto with the 3.6L and there is no way the manual can compare with the auto in terms of best gas mileage. That auto is amazing, the days of stick vehicles getting better gas mileage is over IMO. When comparing the two the manual is waaaaay more of a dog.

 

[Spartan99]

In general, the JL is a big improvement over the JK. I’ve had both. The diesel is around $4000–you’ll need a lot of gas savings to break even. Otherwise, the best gas mileage JLs are the 2.0 turbo and the stick shift 3.6. The 2.0 gets good reviews. I gave up the manual 3.6 JL. It is not well suited for the almost 5000 pound Rubicon I now have.

“Big improvement” is debatable. Depends on what is being measured. Some reports indicate that the JL’s reliability is even worse than the JK, adding the potential for even more costs down the road.

 

[ViperJon]

The JL series is a bit nicer then the JK series but not night and day nicer.

A bit? How about virtually every conceivable way possible from hood latches to the soft top design. Interior? Exterior? I could list 100 improvements. How about that cool 2008 tech? On that lil cute infotainment Atari quality screen. The JK is a dinosaur.

 

[Kyanche]

I hate to break it to you, but it's not just gas taxes and fees. That state has gone off the deep end, and is Soviet California now.

One of my favorite things about buying new cars in California is that they're really strict about not letting dealers screw you over on documentation fees.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handb...reparation-and-electronic-filing-service-fee/

https://dcba.lacounty.gov/portfolio/california-car-buyers-bill-of-rights/

 

[rickinAZ]

The JK is a dinosaur.

I have a JL on order, but the new Jeep seems to cater to a different customer group. Kind of like the new 911 where you can’t even see the engine. Definitely nicer, but some of the “soul” is missing.

Sponsored