Spank
Well-Known Member
With all the standard upgrades on JL, and a better looking exterior and interior, it would be stupid to buy a JK at this point. My $0.02.
Don't count the JK out just yet.I can't see any reason to choose a JK over JL based on what we have seen so far. You're spending about the same amount for two Jeeps that have the same offroad capability but one has better engine/transmission, mpgs, safety, etc. It's a no brainer to me.
I agree the JL is going to be a substantial improvement over the JK, but it being a first year model, the consumer gets to play the role of Quality Control. And while that's typical with any auto manufacturer refresh, Chrysler is the worst at it. If you owned one of the earliest JKs when they came out of the gate, you played that role a decade ago and it wasn't fun. It's still amazing to this day how much Jeep quality dropped going from an '06 TJ to an '07 JK. And despite the contempt folks had for Chrysler's acquisition, it took Fiat of all things to improve Jeep.
Granted, Chrysler was churning out absolute garbage during those days. They were pinching pennies like crazy and it showed. Just look at the interior alone of any Chrysler vehicle between '06 and '11 and you can see the lack of pride they had in virtually everything they made. This isn't the case these days, but the idiom "one step forward, two steps back" always applies to automotive progress and it'll certainly apply the JL.
Yes, it'll have a bunch of nifty new gadgets and much needed modernization, but it's going to take time before it's as confident as the JK is now. Likewise, it won't have solid, wide aftermarket support for at least a couple years. Aftermarket products for the JK during its starting run were awful. It took a bunch of folks snapping trackbars off axles and dealing with death wobble after only a couple wheeling trips before companies stepped up to the plate and starting building JK products that were actually good.
So, yes, if you're buying a new JK today, you're paying for a ten year old vehicle that has a long and sorted history. But it's a well-documented one full of mistakes that have, for the most part, been corrected. Any issue you have with a JK will have a thread about it on a dozen forums across the Internet. Aftermarket support for the JK will outlast the production lifespan of the JL and beyond. It's got an old powertrain, a horrible radio and navigation system, and laughable appearance packages, but it works, it works well, and the popularity and presence of the JK isn't dying anytime soon. Ten years from now, the JL will have gone through the exact same thing and be in the exact same position.
The JL is going to be awesome. And, in a few years, it'll be confident and reliable, too.
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