Would you advise your loved ones, your friends and relatives to own a Jeep Wrangler?

[desertdude59]

LOL. Here are some things that one needs to come to grips with which is shit happens: Off camber is not the domain of very many vehicle and it does not feel good or normal. I have had my Jeep over at around 53 degrees in the inclinometer and the only were it not for my seatbelt and my butt cheeks holding on to the seat I would have fell out. But I did not lay it down, instead I drove thru the obstacle. I was the only Jeep that tried it.

Rear main seal. Nothing rare and they have been going out in cars and trucks, tractors for a 100 years. NOT a big deal, replaced by pulling the pan and the rear main, maybe an hour job.

Death Wobble: Cars, motorcycles, trucks and Jeeps all have it. My first time was in 1969, 69 Corvette, going over railroad tracks in the city (Dallas). My Harley had it at 75 mph, now THAT was scary!. ALL motor vehicles can get it, it mostly affect solid front axle vehicles, shit happens. YES it fixable, I have done it many times when I had my off road shop. Most folks complain about and by the time I bring to the shop the entire suspension has be damaged. It it occurs pull over at your very first Auto store and replace the Steering stabilizer! I have done, and put the SS on in the parking lot, took about 30 min and and heading on to tow. If you will ONLY do that it will fix it for a while at least until it makes its ugly entrance again.

Not enough room? My girlfriend was moving and of course I had to help her out. In my TJ I moved her: Washer, dryer, fridge...took off the convertible top and the back seat and me and. my buddy loaded them up one at a time. She was only moving about 1/4 mi or so.

Talk about off camber, this was tricky and I got it to work. There are tricks to do it. One of the reasons why my TJ was successful in the world of rocks was its ability to do off camber...took a lot of work and thought to get my Jeep to the point it do extreme off camber...

My hats off to you. I was just saying that I enjoy my 4 door compared to my 2 door. Just the advantage of caring more stuff and having a longer wheel base. I know there are guys out there that say a true Jeep is a 2 door and that's cool. My tow rating is also more than a 2 door also. I also have two college age kids so a 2 door isn't practical when 4 people want to load up. I love a 2 door.... it just isn't for me. I was on a shelf road one time and had to turn around. My 4 door wouldn't have made that u-turn on that road. It would have been a 1000 ft down in the ravine. There isn't much options for offroading on the east coast as compared to the west coast where I'm originally from so the 4 door does well for me out here. I'm also sure my 4 door could go anywhere your 2 door could go.

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[NewJLU2019]

My vote went Depends on who and their use of Jeep.

I have owned many Ram 1500s with Hemi and a few Ford F-150's over the years. I always was going to own a truck. The 2019 Sahara was wild hair one day because it had the SOT top and opened at ease. Then I wanted the 2021 Rubicon for myself. My 2019 Ram went away. The only problem was not many off-road parks around Texas. Plus just can't bring myself to take a $60.000 Jeep and tear it up and travel many miles to find dirt and rocks.

If a friend lived where lots of Jeepers have backyard off-road parks or countryside not owned by people who will shoot at you like Texas land owners answer would be yes.

But would add as Jeepers know Jeeps are Shoebox with wheels on them. I loved my Rubicon but driving on the highway was painful and in high cross winds even worse.

So my Rubicon has now gone away and just picked up a 2023 Silverado which driving is so much better. Best of both worlds. Wanted my truck back to stop asking buddies to carry things for me and one nice ass truck.

We have kept the wife's Sahara SOT for running around with a Jeep but not for long trips. Sahara and Silverado suit me fine now. The nice Silverado helped eased the pain of sending my Rubicon away. Just my 2 cents worth. Still, fall under a Jeeper but wanted my truck back.

 

[Old Jeeper]

I think the reason you find most complaints come from 4-door owners has to do with the simple fact that 4-door outsells 2-door nine-to-one. Nothing more, nothing less.

LOL, LIGHTEN UP, it was tongue in cheek, a joke, come on...FYI been driving my SWBs for 58 years and I am not going to buy a 4 as my personal vehicle, in fact my first 4 door was a truck in 2010, never owned a sedan, never will. Even my XJ was a 2 door.

Never had kids, single well over half of my life. I don't need no stinkin 4 door LOL

 

[desertdude59]

LOL, LIGHTEN UP, it was tongue in cheek, a joke, come on...FYI been driving my SWBs for 58 years and I am not going to buy a 4 as my personal vehicle, in fact my first 4 door was a truck in 2010, never owned a sedan, never will. Even my XJ was a 2 door.

Never had kids, single well over half of my life. I don't need no stinkin 4 door LOL

Lol. Well I wasn't mad. Keep in rockn your 2 doors. Tread lightly my friend.

 

[aldo98229]

I wasn't mad either. I was simply pointing out the obvious...

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

If I think they would be a Wrangler owner I would recommend a Wrangler, but for any other SUV desire, I usually recommend GMC. They're better quality and have good capability.

 

[aldo98229]

Ten years ago I was recommending Wranglers to my friends and relatives left and right.

No doubt JK was more primitive than JL, but the gap between how JK drove compared to other trucks wasn't that great.

JK's steering geometry hadn't been stretched to its limits, as is the case with JL's, and the hydraulic steering assist provided much more feel.

Today anything drives a lot better than a Wrangler. Add to that JL's ongoing issues (battery problems, vague steering, canbus connectors, etc.) that Jeep is unable --or unwilling-- to resolve, and dealers that don't give a rat's ass, and I am hard pressed to recommend a Wrangler, or a Jeep, to anyone.

 

[Old Jeeper]

My hats off to you. I was just saying that I enjoy my 4 door compared to my 2 door. Just the advantage of caring more stuff and having a longer wheel base. I know there are guys out there that say a true Jeep is a 2 door and that's cool. My tow rating is also more than a 2 door also. I also have two college age kids so a 2 door isn't practical when 4 people want to load up. I love a 2 door.... it just isn't for me. I was on a shelf road one time and had to turn around. My 4 door wouldn't have made that u-turn on that road. It would have been a 1000 ft down in the ravine. There isn't much options for offroading on the east coast as compared to the west coast where I'm originally from so the 4 door does well for me out here. I'm also sure my 4 door could go anywhere your 2 door could go.

LOL believe me I understand. Here is my view: Your wallet, your choice and I will never in serious talk condemn and in fact I will support you choice 100%.

Here is a ? for all:

A Billionaire just picked random on the street. He tells you, he will buy you a car, ANY car made.

ONE CATCH: What ever car you pick you must drive it for the remainder of your life, you never sell it or trade it and it has to be your ONLY car.

You must answer NOW! What car?

Got time to meet me a the Jeep Dealer, Jeep Rubicon SWB all the options.

And you choice?

 

[Riviera]

My wife and I aren't your typical Jeepers, butJeepers through and through, nonetheless. When I'm asked the questions "should I get a Wrangler?", I tell them this:
We have owned 4 Wranglers, all black 4 doors. Currently, we have a JLUR and a JT Willy's. We've never taken the roof or doors off of any of them, we like heat and AC too much. We have also owned (and taken offroad) a 4Runner TRD Pro, Frontier Pro4X, Ranger FX4, and an LR4 (all bougtht new). Having taken these to New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah numerous times, you just can't beat the solidity and capability of solid axles. I tell people that Broncos are for people that don't need a Wrangler. I see 70 year old men and women driving Wranglers. You don't really "drive" a Wrangler, you "operate" it, for that matter. It's an irrational purchase, but one that I'm glad I've made, numerous times. It's the Harley Davidson of vehicles in that your ability to customize and individualize is limited only by your imagination and wallet. You'll probably never have "the coolest" Wrangler. As a Wrangler owner, you're a member of a fraternity, like it or not. When you're having a bad day, someone you don't know will wave. When you're having a good day, someone (probably in a "cooler") Wrangler WON'T wave back. At the end of the day, you're a Wrangler person or you're not, and as long as gas is affordable (say less than $6 a gallon), at least your Wrangler will probably hold it's value.

 

[STW]

keep in mind if the poll results get large enough to provide reliable information...

...that people seem to be answering two separate questions on this poll.

Some are answering based on whether Jeep's quality, support, and dealer experience justify recommending buying a Jeep. There are several discussions about this on the forum here, observing poor ownership experience, people complaining about poor quality, and Jeep Wrangler sales seem to be down, so this is on peoples' minds. This is how I interpreted Aldo's original poll question. It's a question worth asking.

But lots of answers here are about whether driving a Jeep is something to be recommended to people. For example 21 JLURDG posted how he would describe the Jeep-driving experience to someone who was asking: "Wranglers are terrible commuters with poor handling, poor reliability, terrible fuel economy, noisy, rough riding, and increasing tire size magnifies all of this plus increased braking distance. But if all that matters is how "cool" you will look in a new Jeep, none of these matters and you should purchase what you like and can afford. On the other hand, there is nothing comparable if you are willing to sacrifice on-road performance for off-road prowess." I'm guessing this is his way of giving people fair warning--putting people off the idea. Even though I love driving the JLR (and TJ) as a daily driver, I can see this fair warning may be needed for many people. I remember my first TJ test drive from the dealer decades ago--I was a bit shocked at how different if was to drive.

There's no reason not to see results that combine these two reasons we might not recommend a wrangler to our friends, but they are pretty different reasons.

 

[guarnibl]

Most of us love our Jeeps. But let's face it, Jeeps, FCA and Jeep dealers can be a handful.

If your loved ones, a good friend or a relative came to you for advise if they should buy, and most importantly own, a Jeep Wrangler what would you tell them?

ownership varies greatly nowadays because of dealership network — but my belief is they’re still pretty solid vehicles.

that said, it’s upsetting that if all you want is a basic auto jeep with automatic locks and windows, led headlights, Sirius XM, and keyless entry, suddenly you’re massively higher due to Jeep hiding basic things besides large $$$ packages now. I'm at like $45k for a build that my parents paid $37k for last year, unfortunately -- spec'd identically. So that's above a 15% increase in a single year. Granted, I'm getting 'more' things, but I don't want them. I might just look at picking up a left over 2 door '23 if I can find one for near a volume dealer discount, or gently used closer to EOY. Otherwise, Bronco is still about $5k cheaper, and this would be a beach vehicle, no real wheeling, so IFS might not be a bad thing.

 

[2nd 392]

I agree, some good, some bad. I have 3 HD dealers close to me, that I no longer use, due to bad service and overpriced labor rates. So I ride 75 miles to York Pa for all service work, been doing that since 2003, and I'm always looking to get a nice ride in, LOL!!!

I bought my first (73 Shovel) from a long term family dealer. Retired and soon sold out. Washing immediately after the first service with the new owner because it was left a greasy mess, under the black grease on the black tank was a scrape to the primer. Went right back and pointed it out, How do we know You didn’t do it between leaving and coming back ? I have Never Blackened Their Doors Again in 50 more years of Harleys.

 

[aldo98229]

keep in mind if the poll results get large enough to provide reliable information...

...that people seem to be answering two separate questions on this poll.

Some are answering based on whether Jeep's quality, support, and dealer experience justify recommending buying a Jeep. There are several discussions about this on the forum here, observing poor ownership experience, people complaining about poor quality, and Jeep Wrangler sales seem to be down, so this is on peoples' minds. This is how I interpreted Aldo's original poll question. It's a question worth asking.

But lots of answers here are about whether driving a Jeep is something to be recommended to people. For example 21 JLURDG posted how he would describe the Jeep-driving experience to someone who was asking: "Wranglers are terrible commuters with poor handling, poor reliability, terrible fuel economy, noisy, rough riding, and increasing tire size magnifies all of this plus increased braking distance. But if all that matters is how "cool" you will look in a new Jeep, none of these matters and you should purchase what you like and can afford. On the other hand, there is nothing comparable if you are willing to sacrifice on-road performance for off-road prowess." I'm guessing this is his way of giving people fair warning--putting people off the idea. Even though I love driving the JLR (and TJ) as a daily driver, I can see this fair warning may be needed for many people. I remember my first TJ test drive from the dealer decades ago--I was a bit shocked at how different if was to drive.

There's no reason not to see results that combine these two reasons we might not recommend a wrangler to our friends, but they are pretty different reasons.

With 163 votes in, these percentages are now pretty much gelled in place. They are not going to change much even if another 100 members vote.

You raise a valid point: some of us won’t recommend Wrangler due to quality/dealer concerns. Others won’t because Wrangler is too unique to be a good daily driver.

While Jeep should indeed probe deeper to find out how many are in each camp, that won’t change the fact that very few owners recommend a Wrangler. Ultimately that in itself is a problem.

Another question that remains unanswered by this poll is how many of us would recommend any Jeep product.

I don’t have the answer to that, either. But the argument that “Wrangler is too unique to recommend” cuts both ways: it also means Wrangler attracts a group of buyers who won’t drive anything else, including other Jeeps —i.e., Renegade, Compass, Cherokee.

 

[2nd 392]

With 161 votes in, these percentages are now pretty much gelled in place. They are not going to change much even if another 100 members vote.

You raise a valid point: some of us won’t recommend a Wrangler due to quality/dealer concerns. Others won’t because Wrangler is too unique to be a good daily driver.

While Jeep should indeed probe deeper to find out how many are in each camp, that won’t change the fact that very few owners recommend a Wrangler. Ultimately that in itself is a problem.

Another question that remains unanswered by this poll is how many of us would recommend any Jeep product.

I don’t have the answer to that, either. But the argument that “Wrangler is too unique to recommend” cuts both ways: it also means Wrangler attracts a group of buyers who won’t drive anything else, including other Jeeps —i.e., Renegade, Compass, Cherokee.

Model changes also have an effect. I would definitely recommend my 4th Gen GC. Alas, after being produced along with the 5th gen through 22 (GC Classic ?) satisfied owners can’t knowingly recommend the current one.

 

[Whaler27]

Another question that remains unanswered is how many of us would recommend a new Wrangler, as opposed to a used one that can be modified/rebuilt with performance, durability, and simplicity in mind.

Given current wrangler pricing, nanny features, complexities, and reliability concerns, I should have stripped my TJ down and rebuilt it with new motor, new transmission, new axels, and upgraded everything else. I’d be in my jeep much less money and I’d have great capability and better reliability. And, if something stopped working, I might be able to diagnose it and fix it without needing a computer expert or proprietary diagnostic tools. Oh, and I wouldn’t have to have a mandatory seat recliner to fit in the jeep. (I understand that thousands of headroom complaints from guys over 6’3” have persuaded Jeep to come out with a design that has even less headroom. That, and the emphasis on power seats, video screen, nanny features, and electronic toys has convinced my brother that Jeep is marketing primarily to housewives and teenage girls from wealthy families.)

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