MOS
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2018
- Threads
- 8
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 46
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Vehicle(s)
- ‘21 JLUW 2.0T (Hella Yella), ‘23 JLW 2.0T (Sarge)
- Thread starter
- #1
My first Jeep was an early first-year ‘18 JLR 6MT. It spent literally months in the shop before FCA bought it back from me.
Despite that I rolled the dice again and got into a ‘19 JLUS 6MT. Good Jeep. Totaled it last year. The Trooper told me I rolled it 3 or 4 times. Walked away without a scratch. Go roll-bar!
The wife and I are on a bunch of rural land now (moved back to the country during quarantine), so I replaced the wrecked one with a truck.
Missed having a Jeep a LOT, and am about two weeks from taking delivery of my next one. Back to a 2-door Rubi for me... not knocking either the 4-door platform or the Sierra, but between the wheelbase and gear-ratios the driving experience is really different between a JLR and JLUS in a manual, and I FAR prefer the former. The new ride is Sarge Green with tan leather, a hard top and tow/cold weather/steel bumper/LED packages. Can’t wait. Already have a Pakmule Sway-Back in the garage to compensate (somewhat) for the loss of a truck bed around the spread.
I did flirt hard with a new Bronco instead. Even had a fairly early deposit placed on a 2-door Badlands. In the end two things killed that for me. Mostly it was my bad experience with FCA first-model-year QA and not wanting to rely on “but Ford will do it better”, but honestly it was also the modern contours of the Bronco (yes, aggressive, but a bit SUV-blah) vs. the Jeep traditional squared-off ruggedness.
As I’ve been agonizing through the 6MT recall delay and musing aloud about it for the last couple of months, my wife let it slip that she had some serious Jeep envy when I had my last one. She could never drive it (doesn’t drive stick) and I thought she had been irritated just for that reason. Turns out, no... Jeep envy!
Long story short, we explored this and decided she wanted to try her own Jeep. She’s been in a hand-me-down BMW X1 that she genuinely hates for a couple of years now, so the time was right. Test drove a few and worked out the right features for her.
Landed on a 4-door 2.0T with Selec-Trac as the core options. Went that way due to the sweet pairing of the 2.0T and 850RE (I’m a die-hard stick driver and even I like driving it... best slush box / power-plant Jeep combo I’ve met yet), and because the black ice in NC is a serious thing and Selec-Trac for DD just makes sense.
Apparently, a SUPER hard to find combo. We could’ve custom ordered, but we already had one delayed in the pipeline and I didn’t want to lose momentum with her conversion to the path of Jeeply righteousness!
We finally found one after an extended search and brought it home yesterday.
Its a Willys. If I had ordered it I probably would have gone Sport S with upgrades, but after delving a little deeper into the Willys package/specs... and after getting into it and driving it... I AM STOKED!
Really smart combination of minor tweaks to the Sport which IMHO elevate it significantly and at a decent price.
The thing I was most unsure about was perhaps a little silly, but was the gloss grill. Just couldn't get used to how it looked in pictures... even in the one I attached below I think it looks a little off. In person??? Totally badass... really blends with the rest of the blacked out features (flares, hard top, wheels, etc.) and looks awesome!!!
She loves it. Loves, loves, loves it.
My job here is done.
Now... must hold on... out-gate to rail ETA of 3 days and counting for mine... breathe.... breathe...
I'll post pics of the Rubi here when I get it.
MOS
Despite that I rolled the dice again and got into a ‘19 JLUS 6MT. Good Jeep. Totaled it last year. The Trooper told me I rolled it 3 or 4 times. Walked away without a scratch. Go roll-bar!
The wife and I are on a bunch of rural land now (moved back to the country during quarantine), so I replaced the wrecked one with a truck.
Missed having a Jeep a LOT, and am about two weeks from taking delivery of my next one. Back to a 2-door Rubi for me... not knocking either the 4-door platform or the Sierra, but between the wheelbase and gear-ratios the driving experience is really different between a JLR and JLUS in a manual, and I FAR prefer the former. The new ride is Sarge Green with tan leather, a hard top and tow/cold weather/steel bumper/LED packages. Can’t wait. Already have a Pakmule Sway-Back in the garage to compensate (somewhat) for the loss of a truck bed around the spread.
I did flirt hard with a new Bronco instead. Even had a fairly early deposit placed on a 2-door Badlands. In the end two things killed that for me. Mostly it was my bad experience with FCA first-model-year QA and not wanting to rely on “but Ford will do it better”, but honestly it was also the modern contours of the Bronco (yes, aggressive, but a bit SUV-blah) vs. the Jeep traditional squared-off ruggedness.
As I’ve been agonizing through the 6MT recall delay and musing aloud about it for the last couple of months, my wife let it slip that she had some serious Jeep envy when I had my last one. She could never drive it (doesn’t drive stick) and I thought she had been irritated just for that reason. Turns out, no... Jeep envy!
Long story short, we explored this and decided she wanted to try her own Jeep. She’s been in a hand-me-down BMW X1 that she genuinely hates for a couple of years now, so the time was right. Test drove a few and worked out the right features for her.
Landed on a 4-door 2.0T with Selec-Trac as the core options. Went that way due to the sweet pairing of the 2.0T and 850RE (I’m a die-hard stick driver and even I like driving it... best slush box / power-plant Jeep combo I’ve met yet), and because the black ice in NC is a serious thing and Selec-Trac for DD just makes sense.
Apparently, a SUPER hard to find combo. We could’ve custom ordered, but we already had one delayed in the pipeline and I didn’t want to lose momentum with her conversion to the path of Jeeply righteousness!
We finally found one after an extended search and brought it home yesterday.
Its a Willys. If I had ordered it I probably would have gone Sport S with upgrades, but after delving a little deeper into the Willys package/specs... and after getting into it and driving it... I AM STOKED!
Really smart combination of minor tweaks to the Sport which IMHO elevate it significantly and at a decent price.
The thing I was most unsure about was perhaps a little silly, but was the gloss grill. Just couldn't get used to how it looked in pictures... even in the one I attached below I think it looks a little off. In person??? Totally badass... really blends with the rest of the blacked out features (flares, hard top, wheels, etc.) and looks awesome!!!
She loves it. Loves, loves, loves it.
My job here is done.
Now... must hold on... out-gate to rail ETA of 3 days and counting for mine... breathe.... breathe...
I'll post pics of the Rubi here when I get it.
MOS
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