carmudgeons.com - View Single Post - The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is pretty cool

FC · 04-01-2008, 10:45 AM

I didn't get to drive it. I had no time and it was raining out, but since the dealership is less than a mile away, I went to take a quick peek.

As the brochure says, it's basically a teh same size as the Cherokee in much a much cooler form. My brother has a Cherokee so I am not making this assessment totally out of my ass.

It obviously is more modern and with a nicer interior, etc. With me sitting comfortably in the driver's seat, I had a "just right" amount of room sitting behind it. I'd say about as roomy and maybe a hair less than the E46 in the back. The cargo area is not as big as I had hoped, but still, it is very usable. Not too deep, but very tall and perfectly square. Though with the hard top on and the soft-top retracted, you loose some space. The hardtop is very cool.

While I didn't drive it, I see a one driving to the same train station whre I drop my wife off. I dunno if the dude was flooring it, but it didn't seem dog-slow. Granted, it had just one person in it.

This car is as cool to me as a any cool sportscar. I was reading the brochure last night and was pretty giddy just thinking about having one.

I hope this mild obsession passes. Driving in front of a row of these twice a day and staring at them during the long red light doesn't help.

I'll add more when I drive it later this year.

Pointless waffling follows...

The thing I find interesting is the trim options. At first glance it makes sense:

X - A base version
Sahara - the compromise setup to make it as much of a DD as possible
Rubicon - All-out off-roading model.

The problem I have is that the X, once optioned with some basic stuff, like good rear differential (LSD or locking), and the hardtop, etc you get very close to the Sahara, which is nice, but rather pansie in that the colors are pretty lame and it tries too hard to be civilized. Oh and it only comes with the option for a rear LSD. IMO, if you are getting a Wrangler and they offer a locking rear diff, why not take it? Again, this all assuming the car isn't your only/primary car. Other than those couple for issues, the Sahara is actually a pretty good value. But it touches $30K. That brings up the Rubicon. Yes, it costs more. Similarly equipped, it's 3-4K more. But it's so bad ass in terms of looks, and hardware it's almost hard to pass up. I'm sure with reasonable tires, it would ride far better.

The issue for me is that I would (if ever) buy one of these used, and dealers, for the purpose of keeping the cost lower than a Sahara, keep the X's pretty stripped - which wouldn't have stuff I would really want, like a hard top, tow-bar, LSD or locking rear diff, etc. If the car is a seldom-driven car, why not just get a Rubicon in the used car market?

04-01-2008, 10:45 AM	#1
FC Solving problems Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: M5 / 718 GTS / Cooper S / GTI / LR4 Location: Metro Boston Posts: 25,263	The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is pretty cool I didn't get to drive it. I had no time and it was raining out, but since the dealership is less than a mile away, I went to take a quick peek. As the brochure says, it's basically a teh same size as the Cherokee in much a much cooler form. My brother has a Cherokee so I am not making this assessment totally out of my ass. It obviously is more modern and with a nicer interior, etc. With me sitting comfortably in the driver's seat, I had a "just right" amount of room sitting behind it. I'd say about as roomy and maybe a hair less than the E46 in the back. The cargo area is not as big as I had hoped, but still, it is very usable. Not too deep, but very tall and perfectly square. Though with the hard top on and the soft-top retracted, you loose some space. The hardtop is very cool. While I didn't drive it, I see a one driving to the same train station whre I drop my wife off. I dunno if the dude was flooring it, but it didn't seem dog-slow. Granted, it had just one person in it. This car is as cool to me as a any cool sportscar. I was reading the brochure last night and was pretty giddy just thinking about having one. I hope this mild obsession passes. Driving in front of a row of these twice a day and staring at them during the long red light doesn't help. I'll add more when I drive it later this year. Pointless waffling follows... The thing I find interesting is the trim options. At first glance it makes sense: X - A base version Sahara - the compromise setup to make it as much of a DD as possible Rubicon - All-out off-roading model. The problem I have is that the X, once optioned with some basic stuff, like good rear differential (LSD or locking), and the hardtop, etc you get very close to the Sahara, which is nice, but rather pansie in that the colors are pretty lame and it tries too hard to be civilized. Oh and it only comes with the option for a rear LSD. IMO, if you are getting a Wrangler and they offer a locking rear diff, why not take it? Again, this all assuming the car isn't your only/primary car. Other than those couple for issues, the Sahara is actually a pretty good value. But it touches $30K. That brings up the Rubicon. Yes, it costs more. Similarly equipped, it's 3-4K more. But it's so bad ass in terms of looks, and hardware it's almost hard to pass up. I'm sure with reasonable tires, it would ride far better. The issue for me is that I would (if ever) buy one of these used, and dealers, for the purpose of keeping the cost lower than a Sahara, keep the X's pretty stripped - which wouldn't have stuff I would really want, like a hard top, tow-bar, LSD or locking rear diff, etc. If the car is a seldom-driven car, why not just get a Rubicon in the used car market?