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Should I wait for 2018 Wrangler?

Billy

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With all due respect, Zip, you're not a Jeep customer. And as old school as the Wranger is, FCA can't handle demand, so they've invested hundreds of millions of dollars into ramping up production of their best selling vehicle. They've moved the little Cherokee out of Toledo and are outfitting 2 assembly lines to ramp up the Wrangler (mostly to handle international demand). Have a look at any press release/conference from Jeep CEO Mike Manley or FCA boss Sergio Marchionne and you'll see they understand the Jeep Wrangler brand, and how important it is to protect it. As is. Old School.

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Sorry for trolling you Zip, but those of us with a long Jeep history tend to be very protective of the "Jeep thing".
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Zip

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With all due respect, Zip, you're not a Jeep customer. And as old school as the Wranger is, FCA can't handle demand, so they've invested hundreds of millions of dollars into ramping up production of their best selling vehicle. They've moved the little Cherokee out of Toledo and are outfitting 2 assembly lines to ramp up the Wrangler (mostly to handle international demand). Have a look at any press release/conference from Jeep CEO Mike Manley or FCA boss Sergio Marchionne and you'll see they understand the Jeep Wrangler brand, and how important it is to protect it. As is. Old School.

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Sorry for trolling you Zip, but those of us with a long Jeep history tend to be very protective of the "Jeep thing".
I get the Jeep thing and why you want to keep it a great off and on rode vehicle. I'm with you on that. Technology isn't just electonic gadgets. In fact most of the short comings of this vehicle are being addressed. Fuel economy and power are behind the times. Lighting is being addresswd. Hopefully highway ride perfirmance and noise can be improved while keeping the off road performane and fun. You would think they can make the vehicle lighter with high strenght metals and other materials. I would love to see Jeep make the strides in performance that Ford made with the latest f150.
 

Campbell

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Last week's real deal JLU and renders should have helped lots of people decide to wait or not. Personally I've decided to wait. Think I'll create a poll about this :)
 

Spank

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Jeep Wrangler people DO NOT want;
Autonomous driving, self parking, blind spot/lane departure warning, Start/Stop, weak suspension, refined (soft), crossover cutting edge crap.
Eh, you're talking about the Jeep enthusiast. And while you're correct in that these are things enthusiasts do not want, most Wrangler owners are not enthusiasts. They absolutely want those things and especially now because they've been in every other vehicle for years. Even the OP stated he wants a Wrangler for virtually highway driving only. That's the majority of Jeep owners.

Being able to take the doors and top off and hit a trail is certainly one of the unique benefits of a Wrangler, but at the end of the day, soccer mom's and pavement pounding dad's who very much desire power windows, leather seats, keyless entry systems, and all the other hokey technology features of modern vehicles while never carrying a payload beyond bags of groceries are ultimately what drive sales. If the Wrangler only came in one or two flavors with barebone minimums to solely accommodate the enthusiast, Jeep would die.

Last week's real deal JLU and renders should have helped lots of people decide to wait or not. Personally I've decided to wait. Think I'll create a poll about this :)
I'm waiting for a '19 or '20 simply because FCA has never launched a new vehicle without a litany of quality control problems. I'm confident the JL is going to be a kick ass Wrangler, but I'm also confident it's going to be rife with bugs for the first year or two.
 
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Ernie

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I'm definitely waiting. I like what I see so far and think there are even better surprises coming soon about the roof options. It'll probably drop here first so Im pretty much reloading this all day lol.
 

guarnibl

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I have never owned a Jeep. Looking seriously at getting a Unlimited. HOWEVER, this vehicle is currently seriously behind the times when it comes to drive train, technolgy, lighting, etc, etc. Chrysler management should keep this flagship vehicle cutting edge like Ford does with it's f 150, but instead they keep on dropping the ball. Needless to say I'm waiting for the long overdure refresh.
You're going to be waiting a long time :( Don't think the JL will be that huge of an improvement that you're looking for. Hope I'm wrong tho!
 
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JoKer

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Eh, you're talking about the Jeep enthusiast. And while you're correct in that these are things enthusiasts do not want, most Wrangler owners are not enthusiasts. They absolutely want those things and especially now because they've been in every other vehicle for years. Even the OP stated he wants a Wrangler for virtually highway driving only. That's the majority of Jeep owners.

Being able to take the doors and top off and hit a trail is certainly one of the unique benefits of a Wrangler, but at the end of the day, soccer mom's and pavement pounding dad's who very much desire power windows, leather seats, keyless entry systems, and all the other hokey technology features of modern vehicles while never carrying a payload beyond bags of groceries are ultimately what drive sales. If the Wrangler only came in one or two flavors with barebone minimums to solely accommodate the enthusiast, Jeep would die.
True all those fancy bells and whistles help drive sales and without them sales wouldn't be what they are today. But if you were to take away or reduce the actual off-road capability of the Wrangler, I bet that would hurt sales too. Wrangler sales are successful because of "reserve capability" IMO. Let's say owners on average use the full capability and off-road 1% of the time. So why buy a Jeep? Because if they bought another vehicle they wouldn't have the reserve capability of the Wrangler at all. And even if they never off-road, like it or not, the off-road capable image of the Wrangler helps sell it to owners that never intend to off road.

My point is Wrangler sales has been so successful because Jeep designed the Wrangler for the 1% of owners who go off road (while adding bells and whistles along the way).
 

Wolfslash16

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I was on the fence, for I didn't have enough info on the JL yet to decide. I liked the idea of a fresh, modern designed Jeep, the idea of a 8 speed, LED headlights with halo rings, better axles, and updated creature comforts, etc, but they leaked pictures killed it for me. I don't like the turn signals in the front of the fender, I don't like how the headlights are indented into the grille, I don't like the increased windshield rack, the added length between the fenders and the front door, and the body crease on the side looks off to me. I'm an extremely visual person, and IMHO, the JKU looks better than the JLU. I'm sure it'll sell well, and it will be great. I hope it sells well and is popular; success of the Jeep brand is a good thing for us Jeep nuts.

That being said, I'm going to pick up either a late 2017 JKU, or a 2018 JKU later this year. The JKU is now 10 years old, so by now any issues have been solved, and tweaks and improvements have been made. Also, all the trouble issues and points and been either found, and the aftermarket has created improvements and fixes for them. Speaking of aftermarket, the JK/JKU is the most customize able SUV/Car ever to be created; the after market is freaking huge, with endless mods and accessories. The 2018 JKU for example, is going to be the best JKU to ever be created. Out of all of the model years for the JK, the 2018 is going to be the most sought after and value model year most likely. (Time will tell) To me, the JKU is better for what I like and want.
 

Shumx2

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Sorry but the JL > JK, it is almost factual. Better engines, transmissions, fuel economy, safety, offroad capability (they have said many times), better roof options (not known yet but a pretty good bet), more standard upgraded features (lighting, wheels/tires, tech). Design? Well that's subjective but come on this is a Jeep who keeps anything stock? It's also 95% the same look.

P.S. there are really no sought after model years. This is a mass produced Jeep not a collector's car. Everything 2012+ is basically the same with some new colors and editions.. Even discounting some initial issues with the 3.6, let's say for 2 model years, 2014-2018 are identical. You are correct only in that the 2018 JK's will likely have the lowest mileage and wear but calling the 2018 JKU the best JKU ever created is misleading because they will not be changing it one bit. They are building the same Wrangler on the same line with the same parts and everything as they have been doing for years. No additional engineering, upgrades, enhancements to reliability or performance. They'll have some package that will just re-bundle the same content they've been repackaging and selling as a new edition, just as they have been doing for years.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble since the JK is great and I'm sure you will love it, but I think you're a bit too caught up on this "last model year" thing when they are already in JK phaseout mode. Behind the scenes FCA is trying to maximize their profits by not investing too much additional money into the JK and moved on to pouring all of its resources and focus on making the JL the best Wrangler ever produced. That's the reality.
 

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The Great Grape Ape

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I'm an extremely visual person, and IMHO, the JKU looks better than the JLU....

...To me, the JKU is better for what I like and want.
Well those are the reasons to get the JK, principally looks, the other statements aren't really supported, but if you're using them to justify your choice based on looks, then that's understandable.

The collectibility is a fairly dubious pint as already mentioned. The year alone will carry little weight, but more importantly it is an issue with the category, in order for the last gen JK/JKU to hold value, it would need not be used much, and it would also need to be a top example (Recon)... which makes it a heafty investmemt for likely still very little return. One only need to look at existing markets (Auctions, collector mags, online) for TJs, YJs, CJs, Jeepsters, FCs, or even old Power Wagon etc to see this play out.

Your mention of the aftermarket would actually go against the collectibility should you change anything, and should you change it to actually use it off-road double hit.

And unfortunate for your plans, the 2018 will not be the pinnacle of production, that occured in 2016, to whcih I'll touch on momentarily.

Sorry but the JL > JK, it is almost factual.
That is mostly true, but the early risk of the JL might diminish the benefit, but that's a fairly well known tradeoff. There are also areas initially where modability will favour the JK, I'm unsure of Wolf's intended use, but that would be an initial tie breaker, though it does go against the collectibility aspect. Also there is one version of the JK that may remain above the stock JLs for some time to come if it's stock vs stock.

P.S. there are really no sought after model years. This is a mass produced Jeep not a collector's car. Everything 2012+ is basically the same with some new colors and editions.
That's not completely true though it would be models within the years, however the benefit of those collectible model are dubious compared to holding on to the additional funds and investing them vs the premium for those truly worthy models.

The previous sought after years are the Long Wheelbase JK (The LJ) , the 10A Rubicon , and likely the pinnacle of the JK/JKUs the very limited run and intended invite-only 2016 Red Rock edition.

The biggest issue though is that while collectible, the cost of acquisition is higher and the rate of return would be difficult to justify compared to investing those premium funds, the market simply doesn't accelerate fast enough, and to see significant benefit would be a long time in coming.

However the essential statment that outside of the surface aspect one might wish to focus on, like cosmetics, the late initial year JL should be superior to the JK for both daily tarmac driving as well a off-roading once the support market catches up.
 

Jeepsterfreak

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Too many unknown variables for me to decide. Ideally I'm hoping Jeep can match the mpg of the Durango 18/25. Waiting to see specs such as gearing options, towing capacity, mpg. I've held off buying a JKU for the past year. I can wait a little longer. I'm really only considering a Base Model Sport JKU with Freedom Top, 3.73 and Auto options. Waiting to see what comes standard with a similar JLU Sport vs JKU Sport Base Models and at what cost. If the JLU comes standard with a larger tire/wheel combo vs the 16" 225 tires on the JKU, it might be worth the wait alone for me. Again, depends on what cost.
 

Aggie

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Too many unknown variables for me to decide. Ideally I'm hoping Jeep can match the mpg of the Durango 18/25. Waiting to see specs such as gearing options, towing capacity, mpg. I've held off buying a JKU for the past year. I can wait a little longer. I'm really only considering a Base Model Sport JKU with Freedom Top, 3.73 and Auto options. Waiting to see what comes standard with a similar JLU Sport vs JKU Sport Base Models and at what cost. If the JLU comes standard with a larger tire/wheel combo vs the 16" 225 tires on the JKU, it might be worth the wait alone for me. Again, depends on what cost.
According to the other thread on tire size, the base JLU Sport will come standard with 245/75R17 tires.
 

The Great Grape Ape

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According to the other thread on tire size, the base JLU Sport will come standard with 245/75R17 tires.
That thread was in February, before the 16s were recently spotted a few days ago.

http://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/two-new-spottings-today.758/

Like 17s on the Sport S and the 16s on what used to be the Sport B now just the 'sport'.

Now they might not offer the base P225/75R16 BSW On/Off-Road Tires, but they would at least be the other 16" option offered on the current black rim 16s: P245/75R16 OWL All Season Tires
 

Spank

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The previous sought after years are the Long Wheelbase JK (The LJ) , the 10A Rubicon , and likely the pinnacle of the JK/JKUs the very limited run and intended invite-only 2016 Red Rock edition.

The biggest issue though is that while collectible, the cost of acquisition is higher and the rate of return would be difficult to justify compared to investing those premium funds, the market simply doesn't accelerate fast enough, and to see significant benefit would be a long time in coming.
The LJ may be the only Wrangler in recent years that could be even remotely considered collectible. Of the over 2 million JK's and TJ's out there, Jeep only produced roughly 47,000 LJ's during their two year run.

The 10A could have been considered collectible, but that went out the window the minute Jeep decided to take what made that JK unique and create nearly a half dozen appearance packages off of it, including the Rubicon X, Hard Rock, and 75th Anniversary. The Red Rock is in that same group as well, they just added some overpriced Mopar mods to it. This year we have the Chief and the Recon.

As unique as a Red Rock badge is or the nifty red seats are in the 10A, tossing most of those parts in five other packages killed any hope of the 10A being truly special, which is a shame because it was an awesome JK when it was new.

The closest thing I'd consider to a unique, collectible JK would be the Dragon Edition in so much as how awful it was. Dealerships had such a hard time getting them off the lot, they had to strip as much of the goofy dragon garbage off of them as they could, discount the price, and try to sell them as plain Saharas. In fact, I'd argue that was probably the only "failure" in the history of JK sales. Think for a moment when you last saw an untouched Dragon Edition, if ever?

Seriously, though. In the grand scheme of the JK, there isn't a single model that stands out as unique, special, or rare. The LJ, on the other hand, is all three of those things.
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