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Manual vs Automatic- What will you be ordering?

Which transmission will you be optioning for?


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DarthMall

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Now that we have confirmed information that the new Jeep Wrangler JL will be offered in both Automatic and Manual transmissions which one will you decide to put in your Jeep?
automatic-vs-manual.jpg
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The Great Grape Ape

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You need a 'both' option.

(edit to clarify, I have both: Auto Daily Driver because of traffic, Manual Cottage Jeep for fun. Likely eventually both swapped for JLs in same config)
 
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LordEgg

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I e had both and there is a lot of
Convenience when climbing rocks and then back to trails then more rocks to an automatic. That said. Probably manual
 

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Indio

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I stopped at a local Jeep dealership recently (western suburbs of Chicago) and all the Wranglers on the lot were automatic. Sales guy told me they hardly ever had manual models on the lot and mostly needed to be ordered. Maybe he just said that because autos were all they had on the lot that day, but if legit then I wonder if there are regional differences. For example maybe in Chicagoland automatics are a lot more popular, compared to where I previously lived in Colorado where I would guess manuals might have more of a following. Personally I have owned both auto and manual transmissions in my CJs, and found benefits to both.
 

JBlackoutK

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I e had both and there is a lot of
Convenience when climbing rocks and then back to trails then more rocks to an automatic. That said. Probably manual
Same here, I like to have a more relaxed experience when off roading so I can fully enjoy it. Especially in terrain where you need a lot of precision and slow crawling, it is more difficult and can get very tiring. It's a good challenge but I eventually switched to an auto. It's also a daily for me so made more sense.
 

MrJeepNut

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I e had both and there is a lot of
Convenience when climbing rocks and then back to trails then more rocks to an automatic. That said. Probably manual
I would agree that there are good reasons to prefer an automatic, both off-road and on-road. I prefer a stick myself, for a number of reasons: 1) It really bugs me when an automatic shifts gears when I don't want it to. It makes me feel like I'm not completely in control of the car. 2) I've seen too many automatics overheat when worked to hard off-road, and had to sit in my stick-shift Jeep and wait for them to cool down (OK, this has only happened to me twice, but that's still too many times!). 3) I tend to buy my Jeeps for the long haul, and I think manual transmissions are generally more reliable and longer-lasting than automatics, and cheaper to rebuild when the finally do go kaput.
 

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MrJeepNut

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I stopped at a local Jeep dealership recently (western suburbs of Chicago) and all the Wranglers on the lot were automatic. Sales guy told me they hardly ever had manual models on the lot and mostly needed to be ordered. Maybe he just said that because autos were all they had on the lot that day, but if legit then I wonder if there are regional differences. For example maybe in Chicagoland automatics are a lot more popular, compared to where I previously lived in Colorado where I would guess manuals might have more of a following. Personally I have owned both auto and manual transmissions in my CJs, and found benefits to both.
I think the dealer was probably telling the truth, and I also think you're correct that the preference varies by region. Overall, however, the automatics are far more popular in the later-model Wranglers than manuals. I just performed an experiment on AutoTrader where I searched for all Wrangler JKs nationwide, first with no transmission preference, and then with a manual transmission preference. The automatics won by a factor of about four to one.
 
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DarthMall

DarthMall

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Manual for me. It's a shame the dealerships never have any manual in stock though because I'll kind of be going in blind for what to expect from it. I
I think the dealer was probably telling the truth, and I also think you're correct that the preference varies by region. Overall, however, the automatics are far more popular in the later-model Wranglers than manuals. I just performed an experiment on AutoTrader where I searched for all Wrangler JKs nationwide, first with no transmission preference, and then with a manual transmission preference. The automatics won by a factor of about four to one.
It's true. I've been trying to test drive a 17' JK manual to get an idea of what the JL transmission will be like and none of my local dealerships ever have manual in stock. They say you have to special order them and that they very rarely if ever get them on the lot.
 
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I stopped at a local Jeep dealership recently (western suburbs of Chicago) and all the Wranglers on the lot were automatic. Sales guy told me they hardly ever had manual models on the lot and mostly needed to be ordered. Maybe he just said that because autos were all they had on the lot that day, but if legit then I wonder if there are regional differences. For example maybe in Chicagoland automatics are a lot more popular, compared to where I previously lived in Colorado where I would guess manuals might have more of a following. Personally I have owned both auto and manual transmissions in my CJs, and found benefits to both.
Same here. I was talking to one of the local dealers here up in the PNW and just peeked at the JKs they had in stock, and noticed I only saw automatics on the lot. Sales rep said that manuals are hard to come by as most buyers prefer automatic, but they can order them. He also mentioned resale would be higher on an automatic, but I'm going to order a manual JL.
 

Bill P

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I'm leaning towards manual but since I'll be commuting, the new auto may be somewhat convincing if it gets a lot better MPG than the manual.
 

MrJeepNut

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Same here. I was talking to one of the local dealers here up in the PNW and just peeked at the JKs they had in stock, and noticed I only saw automatics on the lot. Sales rep said that manuals are hard to come by as most buyers prefer automatic, but they can order them. He also mentioned resale would be higher on an automatic, but I'm going to order a manual JL.
Using the "Search New Inventory" tool on Jeep.com, and I was able to find 82 JKs and 172 JKUs with manual transmissions within a 200-mile radius of Denver. The dealer closest to me has seven of them on the lot. But as @Indio mentioned above, that may be a Colorado thing.
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