Which Wrangler is right for me?

[Ang1Sgt]

Another thing to think about is possibly going USED in the model you are looking for. I am just getting back into a Jeep after having to sell my JK Sport 2 door back in 2015 for family reasons.

My wife and I found a 2 Door Willys with the V6, 6 Speed, Anti–Spin Differential Rear Axle, . HD Brakes and a few nice upgrades the last owner made that fit my needs also. With only 4300 miles it’s still braking in I feel. For me, this JL is my Corvette! As a Retired Couple, we could never have a car like that but we did find the Jeep we both agreed with and fits our style.

On the shifting, Oh my there was a lot of difference from my JK to the new JL. On the test drive I missed a shift because I thought the gates were much wider than they were. The JK was a TRUCK, the JL more of a Small Truck like a Tacoma. I do plan on installing the B&M Shifter for this vehicle, partly to make it more me, and I like the shifter BALL much better.

Leather vs Cloth…….Gosh that is a tough one. I’m sticking to the cloth and if I need to I’ll add a seat of new covers from KATSKINZ if the cloth doesn’t hold up. I also have to see how my 80 lbs German Shepard will do in it.

Limited Slip rear…..My first Jeep ever with it. My CJ’s and my JK did not have them. Living in the Snowbelt it may be a help, but this is a third vehicle for me so it may not see snow ever. I have a 2020 Subaru Outback as a daily driver and it loves the snow.

The other thing for me personally, is this I know will be my last one. As a disabled Veteran of 24 years of service, I am pretty wore out at this point in my life. Good Lord know I wanted one more V8 in my life, but they are pretty much going away. The V6 will hold its own for my type of driving.

Funny thing is we found this Jeep while on Vacation. We saw it in the town we are staying right after we got off the highway. From a distance it attracted to both of us. It took about 3 hours for the wife to talk me into going for a test drive. I called first to see if it was there and when they said yes and told me what it had for options, I was nearly all in.

We already have a good feeling about this Jeep, and for her and I that is what it’s all about. She might have wanted Power Windows and Doors Locks, I wanted BASIC or nearly Basic transportation that looked good while doing it. And that is what we found.

I hope your search and your purchase goes as well!

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[MayThe4x4BWU]

I agree with the "go drive one" advice. Actually, go drive several!

If you're coming from a rather cushy, well mannered vehicle with luxuries, you'll find the Wrangler to be mostly devoid of those creature comforts.

Some will say that's what gives the Wrangler it's charm.

My main focus was on how the thigh support was on the JL seats compared to my SRT. Believe it or not, they were about the same.

I test drove one with leather and one with cloth and ended up hating the leather...way too firm and very little give on the seat (even though the tester had over 40k miles on it)

I was on the fence on whether or not to get the cold weather package even with the cloth seats. Even living in a 4 season area, I barely used autostart or heated seats (much less the A/C seats on my SRT) so I ended up skipping that option.

Beyond that, I was prepared for all of the small and big differences between driving a sport tuned on-road SUV and a block of metal tuned more for off-road.

So circling back to my main point...drive a few of them that are packaged in different combos...6 vs 4 engine, leather vs cloth, hard top vs soft. This way you can figure out what works best for your tastes and whether or not you grab a JL from a dealer lot or end up ordering one to suit your needs.

Good luck and have fun searching!

 

[KELove]

I live in NC and have a stock Sahara. Drive 3.5 hours roughly once a month to drive at Fort Fisher below Wilmington. Have done medium mountain trails, prefer the beach. Daily driver, has been great on the highways with leather seats and loaded.

 

[TorturedMargot]

2 door Sport S w/ the LSD rear differential is a perfect Jeep

 

[variableknife]

Hello:
I am looking to get my first 4x4. I come from the sport cars side, so I don't have any experience owning a 4x4. I am changing lifestyle a bit. I want a 4x4 to be able to visit remote beaches for camping and fishing. Some of the beaches are so remote and accessible only by ferries, so reliability is the most important. Also, I have to drive 4-6 hours on the highway to get there, so comfort is also important.

Which trim is right for me? do I need front and rear locker to drive on soft and perhaps deep sand and dunes?

The truck will, also, be my daily driver. I like stiff steering with feedback, and I know this is not what Jeep has to offer. Is it possible to replace the steering mechanism with something that is stiffer?

Also, I was looking at the new Bronco, but they seem to be unreliable - from what I read on the internet. How reliable is the Wrangler out of the factory?

Which engine, leather/cloth seats?

Any help is appreciated,

Others on here have covered this, but if you like a manual transmission, the 3.6 engine is your only choice. If you opt 2 door, then seating 4-5 people isn't really that important to you; if it is, you'll want the JLU. You don't need to go Rubicon or drop 80k on a top end model, as a sport will do just fine. I personally have the sport S and am very happy with it. I just posted a trip that I took, so feel free to look at that, in terms of giving you an idea of various terrains and such. I would go cloth and not leather though for several reasons:

1. In your southern location you might as well swap the leather seats for heating elements and fry yourself. You won't stick to cloth seats.

2. If your concern is frequent rains damaging cloth seats, there are a whole slew of aftermarket seat covers for pets or waterproof for rain, and most of them are not expensive. This is a way cheaper option of attaining the same waterproofing leather offers, without having to plunk down $2500 for leather seats.

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