Thinking of Purchasing Rubicon Unlimited

[Revolution_322]

Hi there

I am a new member and am thinking heavily about ordering a new Rubicon Unlimited. It would be my primary vehicle (commute about 20 miles a day) and my wife would take our Outback. We have one child so far, and are thinking about a 2nd. Our son is 1.5yrs.

Obviously I know it's a little louder, a little rougher, and isn't the most fuel efficient. I would be getting the 6spd and 3.6L. We have the Subaru for longer trips for quiet/mileage/luxury etc.

My question is for those of you with 2 kids, how has your experience been with space inside? Road trips? Camping? The space inside seems adequate, just wanted some feedback from those with a family.

Thank you!
Jon

Sounds like you'll get one then shortly after complain about steering and ask what kind of lift for 35’s. Welcome to the forum.

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[frogger2020]

I purchased a 2018 JLUR back in early 2019. I have a 30 mile commute each way. My wife stays at home and since the kids are now old enough to drive their own cars, she drives the Jeep. We have been able to keep the mileage of it and have only about 9000. My commute car is a Mazda 6 that gets 30 mpg. Good luck in having her not claim the Jeep!

 

[Paluss]

Hi there

I am a new member and am thinking heavily about ordering a new Rubicon Unlimited. It would be my primary vehicle (commute about 20 miles a day) and my wife would take our Outback. We have one child so far, and are thinking about a 2nd. Our son is 1.5yrs.

Obviously I know it's a little louder, a little rougher, and isn't the most fuel efficient. I would be getting the 6spd and 3.6L. We have the Subaru for longer trips for quiet/mileage/luxury etc.

My question is for those of you with 2 kids, how has your experience been with space inside? Road trips? Camping? The space inside seems adequate, just wanted some feedback from those with a family.

Thank you!
Jon

To be honest, I would do some research on the safety of having several young kids in the rear in a side impact accident....

 

[roaniecowpony]

There are many many vehicles better suited and safer for your choice. But none more fun.

I no longer commute and don't have kids, but I went with an automatic. My commute was 25 miles each way on the 405 in socal until January. The new 8 speed auto is a marvel and easy to switch to manual by moving the shifter to the left. You'll like it better on your California commute if you are in the city with stop and go traffic. Drive them back to back.

 

[JJSix]

Not going to lie, I love my 2020 JLUR (3.6 but I have the Auto) and both my kiddos love it. I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and they both really like riding in "DaddyJeep". Yes, there are options out there that somewhat safer but once you parse through the data, there are a lot of variables so I'm not super overly concerned and I'm always a little more careful with the kids in the car in any case.

So the advantages, its just fun! Honestly I love my Rubi and the fact that I like driving in it means the kids like it, it honestly be like that. Also, there is a pretty huge amount of room as well. Compared to a minivan (my wife has the grand caravan) or a suburban, etc. there isn't a ton of room, but compared to jut about anything else, that truck area is pretty massive. Carseats fit very well and since I'm running rocksliders that also function as steps, both my kids can climb in. Its so dang easy to deal with the buckles and all from outside, another big plus. The gas mileage isn't great, but I'm getting about 21 mpg combined with a 27 mile commute. The road noise, meh, not that bad honestly and my kids have never complained. On the highway they actually like the windows down since they don't get much breeze right in their faces. On slower speeds, we have the sky one touch and they think that's just about the coolest thing ever made. We got it for them so we can keep the top up when its brutally hot (living in Tucson) and put it down easier its cooler or when the kids aren't with me. Love that feature even if its a bit awkward looking when the doors and back windows are out. Oh, and when you're done doing the daily driver gig, you can go out and play around on some awesome and beautiful trails, and expose the kids to the outdoor lifestyle.

Disadvantages there are a few, you can definitely do something more economical or quieter. The steering on mine has overall been pretty good after 14k miles but it gets blown around the road at 70 mph when there is a decent cross-wind. Besides those two things, there isn't much else I would say that its not good at.

For long road trips, its been great! Right after I got mine from Criswell, we drove from Maryland up to Michigan and then down to Arizona and it just ate up the thousands of miles. Even the seats are pretty comfy!

I wouldn't have any reservations about purchasing a JLUR as a daily driver as its been an exceptional vehicle for me as such with the added bonus of being an absolute beast off-road, even stock.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Since someone mentioned steering, I'll just say that my late 2018 build JLUR had terribly bad steering and everyone that drove it hated it. My wife would never drive it after that first time she drove it. I drove it very little. I found I had to force myself to drive it. Then, after reading all the frustration people were having with the OEM's attempts to fix this issue, I decided to spend my own money and time to fix it. It worked. Now I really enjoy this Jeep.

 

[blessidsoul12]

2 kids- 6 and 8. They are both still in boosters because of Washington law. I only mention that because it is the boosters that make it not possible for an adult to sit in the middle seat.
The kids have more than enough room and we just keep the center seatback down so they have those cupholders and it works great.
I would say go for it!

 

[wjcook68]

Hello,
FNG here. I would say go for it. We just got our Rubi and so far have zero regrets. IMO the ride quality and room are just fine.

 

[Toycrusher]

To be honest, I would do some research on the safety of having several young kids in the rear in a side impact accident....

I saw that NHTSA video. I'm actually incredibly impressed with the JL. It's a pair of side curtain airbags away from being safer than daily driving an M1 tank...

 

[YerMaun]

I have a JLUS, my daughters (13 and 11) ride in it all the time. No issues with space or comfort, it's fine. Top down round town, top up for longer trips with them in the back. We drive 100+ miles up and down to the mountains regularly (at least we did before covid), not a problem at all. Lots of fun for the family.

 

[Rocket_Matt]

I've had my JLUR for about 8 months and love it. It's my daily driver and I while it's louder than my wife's pilot, I don't think it's much louder (I have the hard top).

We have two boys (9 and 6) and they love riding in it. We've hit a couple of lighter trails, but this summer I have some plans for us to do some really cool stuff!

 

[JMCCUSKEY82]

Thanks for the replies and feedback. JL Rubicon has been ordered! Now we wait, hopefully not too long. I was quoted about 2 months. Robert Trachtman at Coastline CJDR was very helpful and straightforward. 5% below invoice. So this forum has already saved me a few thousand dollars vs walking into my local dealership. Can't complain there. As soon as they give me a more firm delivery estimate the mods will start arriving in the mail. Very excited. Thankfully we live in a small town so most of our driving with the kid isn't buys freeways.

$45,009 sales price

 

[Rdmitch]

Thanks for the replies and feedback. JL Rubicon has been ordered! Now we wait, hopefully not too long. I was quoted about 2 months. Robert Trachtman at Coastline CJDR was very helpful and straightforward. 5% below invoice. So this forum has already saved me a few thousand dollars vs walking into my local dealership. Can't complain there. As soon as they give me a more firm delivery estimate the mods will start arriving in the mail. Very excited. Thankfully we live in a small town so most of our driving with the kid isn't buys freeways.

$45,009 sales price

looks like some great choices and you saved enough for your choice of MODS.
The 8.4 audio group and trailer tow package are amazing !

 

[JMCCUSKEY82]

So far it will just be some rock slider/steps, floor liners, bikini top, car cover, and short antenna. In maybe a year 35's and 2 inch lift. And then likely about 1000 other things lol

 

[Toycrusher]

Perfect setup!

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