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Made my decision... and it's a JK

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Ruby Jack

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That being said there's still some all-new stuff.

New M/T and clutch.
New frame.
New axles.

Electronics are my biggest concern, but I have indeed been reading about a small amount of axle and frame problems early on. Hopefully just isolated incidents.
In my case, I'm mostly worried about the new manual tranny. I've heard some car reviewers say they've stalled a lot, but then again, that is normal when you are learning a new clutch.
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AZCrawl

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an extended warranty doesn't do much when you have problems during the standard warranty. Problems on your cookie-cutter commute aren't that bad--call a tow truck, waste your time, they eventually fix it. I'm planning on heavy offroad driving and don't want trail problems.

You're free to think the price hike is a good deal. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the outgoing model; 10 year generations is just kinda the wrangler way. There's a class of buyers that like seeing affordable wranglers and I'm one of them.

I also refuse to pretend pricing is trivial with the "think in monthly payments" mental gymnastics. That's how you end up saying "it's only another hundred bucks a month" or "I'll just get an 84 month term" instead of outright saying "should I budget $50,000 for a car?. My vehicle budget has ballooned to $31,000 and it's staying there at this stage in my life lol.
Dude, you are getting so much for the price increase, things you don't have to pay for to upgrade on a JK.

Way better transmission
Better driveshafts
Much stronger axles
Much nicer interior
Much nicer infotainment system
Big brakes
Improved mileage
Version 2 of the Penestar engine
Lighter doors
Lighter freedom panels
Much easier to take the windshield down
Full sport cage now
Better visibility
A and B pillar grab handles
More ground clearance
Underbelly redesign, no need for exhaust spacers when doing a lift, stronger skids, shock placement, shock mounts, better handling on road
Rear camera
JLU gets rear storage again with a sub or without

All of the above items are standard.

The value is there for sure, but if it is out of your price range, get the best you can get.
 

MikeM1968

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I’ve lurked here for a while but I’m also pulling the trigger on a 2018 JK Willy’s W with more extras than a comparably priced JL Sport S even has available. Maybe in a few years the JL’s will offer a better mid range gearing option with better pricing and after all the early bugs are worked out, but I’m still getting a new wrangler, just not a JL

I also really feel like the overall “at-a glance “ differences in appearance and design are so minimal between the outgoing JK and the JL, it’s very hard to notice. The improvements in the upcoming model aren’t enough for me to justify paying more for stuff I don’t care about and getting less of what I actually want.
 

pianomankd

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I also really feel like the overall “at-a glance “ differences in appearance and design are so minimal between the outgoing JK and the JL, it’s very hard to notice.
Not for me. Every time I see a Wrangler on the road I always quickly look at the front grille to see if it's a JL or JK. And I actually get bummed when it's a JK because I love seeing the JLs on the road! There are a few people in town that have them so I see them on the road occasionally and always gets me excited!
 

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MikeM1968

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Not for me. Every time I see a Wrangler on the road I always quickly look at the front grille to see if it's a JL or JK. And I actually get bummed when it's a JK because I love seeing the JLs on the road! There are a few people in town that have them so I see them on the road occasionally and always gets me excited!
I’ve looked for them- you know how many I’ve actually seen? ZERO

unless you see one parked or coming from the other lane/ opposite direction- it’s going to be very hard to notice
 

ThirtyOne

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I’ve lurked here for a while but I’m also pulling the trigger on a 2018 JK Willy’s W with more extras than a comparably priced JL Sport S even has available. Maybe in a few years the JL’s will offer a better mid range gearing option with better pricing and after all the early bugs are worked out, but I’m still getting a new wrangler, just not a JL

I also really feel like the overall “at-a glance “ differences in appearance and design are so minimal between the outgoing JK and the JL, it’s very hard to notice. The improvements in the upcoming model aren’t enough for me to justify paying more for stuff I don’t care about and getting less of what I actually want.
I considered doing this. I do think The Willys is a great value and depending on your priorities may be a better option than a JL. I had a couple of priorities that made the JL make more sense for me. Enjoy your new Jeep!
 

jlroman2

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My dealership where I purchased my JL said they were willing to do 15-20% of MSRP for new JKs. Not sure if it applied to 18s but he mentioned 16s and 17s for sure.
 
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MrJeepNut

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I’ve lurked here for a while but I’m also pulling the trigger on a 2018 JK Willy’s W with more extras than a comparably priced JL Sport S even has available. Maybe in a few years the JL’s will offer a better mid range gearing option with better pricing and after all the early bugs are worked out, but I’m still getting a new wrangler, just not a JL
I've been pondering why so many people do see the JL as such a good value, and I think I found my answer in Jay's "what did you order" poll:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...your-configuration-here.1472/poll/all-results

Almost 3/4 of the respondents have ordered Rubicons, and over 60% have gone for the JLU. In other words, this forum loves the top end. When you start shopping up in that territory, the JL starts to make more sense, mainly because the dealers aren't discounting the high-end JKU Rubis much-- $2K off MSRP on a Recon is about the best I can find in my area. I never seriously considered a JKU Recon or a JLU Rubicon for my recent purchase, because I wasn't looking for a hardcore off-roader. Up until last fall, i had been looking for that, and for a while I was pretty seriously locked in on a JL 2-door Rubicon. But then something changed: my oldest son announced that he'll be returning my '97 TJ to me (the one on the right in my avatar photo) after he graduates from college. He was originally going to keep it, but it's becoming more obvious over time that doing so is not practical. That TJ is now of legal drinking age, and as you might expect, things are starting to wear out pretty regularly. Before he took over the car as his daily driver, I was able to do any needed repairs myself, at my leisure, but now when something breaks, it has to go to the shop (e.g. clutch replacement last fall, $1K). Not a good situation for him. So the TJ will come back to me, and will become my "extra" Jeep, and my hard-core off-roader. This seems a much better way for me to go anyway, because I won't have to worry about breakage as much when going off-road, and I also won't have to make as many compromises to keep the on-road handling acceptable. I can have the best of both worlds: a nice daily driver with plenty of space camping and ski equipment, and good road manners, plus a lightweight, short wheelbase, stick-shift Wrangler for serious wheelin', and to satisfy my DIY mechanic urges. The cost for both is roughly the same as a single, loaded up JLU Rubi.

Someone asked earlier in this thread why I needed a new JKU when my old one was perfectly good. As I mentioned, it was mainly to swap the manual transmission for an auto. I prefer a stick for off-roading, but an auto is much easier to deal with for commuting through heavy traffic to work each day, and also much better when other people need to drive my car-- many can't handle a stick. Also, over the past year or so, the NSG-370 in my old JKU started showing some of the weaknesses that many others have reported about it: looseness and popping out of gear on rough roads, vibrations at certain speeds, etc. I could only see that getting worse over the years if I kept it, and those Mercedes-built contraptions are wicked-expensive to rebuild. In addition to that, I also got some nice upgrades on the 2018 that would have been fairly expensive to add to my 2014: 3.73 gearing (so I can do taller tires eventually), limited-slip rear end (so I can still do some moderately difficult trails if I want to), tow package, rock rails, steel bumpers, nicer wheels, and last but not least, a bumper-to-bumper warranty that I extended to 7 years at a more reasonable cost than adding one to my 2014.
 
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MrJeepNut

MrJeepNut

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Hmmm... wish I had known that a 2015 JKUR Hard Rock was going to be for sale soon. Is it white by any chance? ;)
No one answer this guy...look at his avatar, don't enable his jeep hoarding problem, lol!

:bandit:
You got me there! ;) Seriously, though, I did look closely at the certified used market, and if I could've gotten a low-mileage, CPO JKU Hard Rock in the $35K range in the local area, instead of, not in addition to, the new JKU I bought, I would have gone for it, because, hey, you can never have too much Jeep! Hard Rocks seem hard to come by, though, which is too bad because they're one of my favorite special editions.
 
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Matthew/E36

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You got me there! ;) Seriously, though, I did look closely at the certified used market, and if I could've gotten a low-mileage, CPO JKU Hard Rock in the $35K range in the local area, instead of, not in addition to, the new JKU I bought, I would have gone for it, because, hey, you can never have too much Jeep! Hard Rocks seem hard to come by, though, which is too bad because they're one of my favorite special editions.
I just started looking at jeeps in the fall and really liked the Recon. Read about the new JL and realized the Recons near me where not featured the way I'd prefer...so bought a new vehicle like I said I never would, lol.
 
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MrJeepNut

MrJeepNut

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I just started looking at jeeps in the fall and really liked the Recon. Read about the new JL and realized the Recons near me where not featured the way I'd prefer...so bought a new vehicle like I said I never would, lol.
As documented elsewhere in this forum, I seriously considered buying a new '17 JK Recon last fall while I was still in 2-door stick-shift mode. I like the Recon package almost as much as the Hard Rock package, except for the hood graphics, which I find a little busy, and the bright-red interior accents, which are a bit loud for me. Glad I didn't pull the trigger on that one, however, because my new JKU Freedom will make a better stablemate for the '97 TJ than the Recon would have. If I were still going the 2-door Rubi route, however, I would definitely go JL, because the price difference between off-the-lot '18 Recons and a custom-ordered, just-the-way-I-like it JL Rubi would be slight, and possibly even in favor of the JL.
 

Rockmaninoff

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Here is the result of my afternoon's work:

IMG_4348.JPG
It's a great looking JK and I didn't know about that bumper with the euro style filler bits. The only thing that looks better in a JL to me is the grille because of the sharper edges and bigger openings. The JK looks better as a Jeep because it doesn't have the lame windshield rake or the tokyo drift gaping glory holes on the sides. Plus when you put the top down the JK rollcage looks damn good compared to the exposed fettuccine frame the JL has. Let's not forget the awesome 5 speed that can handle a ton more torque than the 8 speed and it's quicker off the line too as shown in videos. And I love the JK soft top... no matter what FCA says, the JK soft top is quicker and more versatile than the JL one cos you need almost a whole Jeep's width to slide off the rear panel in the JL even if you just want to keep it hanging inward. The JL soft top might be easier for people around 5' 6" or less. Finally, there are lots of early issues in the JL and if you just want to drive and not to the dealer, JK is the tried and true choice.

Enjoy
 

raqball

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I just purchased mine and went in wanting to buy the JK but left with the JL.... I could have gotten a JK for almost 4K less but after driving them both and spending 4 hours at the dealer going over both, the JL for me was a no brainier.

Why? This post pretty much sum up my reasons. I bold'd which were most important to me in the decission
Way better transmission
Better driveshafts
Much stronger axle
s
Much nicer interior
Much nicer infotainment system
Big brakes
Improved mileage
Version 2 of the Penestar engine
Lighter doors
Lighter freedom panels
Much easier to take the windshield down
Full sport cage now
Better visibility
A and B pillar grab handles
More ground clearance
Underbelly redesign, no need for exhaust spacers when doing a lift, stronger skids, shock placement, shock mounts, better handling on road
Rear camera
JLU gets rear storage again with a sub or without
The JL felt night and day better during my test drive..
 

wanderer

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to each their own it is a jeep and i loved my jkur but I love my JLUR even more,
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