Buying a new Jeep....some questions

[Heath]

The wife and I are kicking around the idea of buying her a new Jeep Unlimited Wrangler. She drove a Z71 Tahoe with Ranch Hand forever and when we got married we went to get her a new car. She wanted a Jeep, but for whatever reason decided on the Toyota 4 Runner after looking at all the options. Well 2 years down the road, she wants a Jeep. Knowing my wife, she does not see herself in the 4 Runner for a long time but can see her in the Jeep a long time or it can be turned into my hunting rig.

Right now we are looking at the Sport S 24S Package that gets her all the features she wants. I will need to upgrade to big tires / rims for her. She wants Blue Tooth, Hard Top, All Power, AC, Automatic and probably an upgrade to the Alpine 9 Speaker all weather radio system. Seems like the 24S Package will take care of me.

So Jeep guys....

I believe the biggest tire we can put on there is 285/70/17 without doing a lift. Are those big enough to look good? Will putting a lift on the Jeep to go 35's affect the ride to much? She will using this to drive back and forth school every day (15 miles one way). Anything I should know tires and wheels when looking?

Anything we are missing adding on for her?
Is the Sport with everything she wants okay? No reason to upgrade to Sahara or Rubicon?
Has anybody bought a new Jeep lately? What % are they dong off MSRP?

[Turtlewax]

My wife has the 24S Unlimited. I paid just under 33k for it before ttl. I've heard somewhere in Houston you can beat my number by another 1k. I never found them, lol.

The Sahara will get you color matched fenders, a leather upgrade and the Alpine. The Rubicon and Willy will get you better suspension and drive line components to start with.

The 24s is all we need. We are upgrading for function and useabiity. We plan to use it offroad as son as this weather cools down.Get ready to spend a ton of money after you buy it.

I've bought the Terraflex 2.5 leveling kit. It will allow up to 34 inch tires. I don't want to jack it up yet as she's never driven one like it before and she needs to get familiar with it. She comes from a sport sedan so she's driving like a turtle now lol. The leveling kit does not affect the stock driving feel from what I hear. I'll know after I install it for myself whether it does or not.

We played the 4runner game too. It came down to will we use it offroad, and the answer was an easy yes. The 4runner will get you offroad as well but they are too nice looking to be out there imo.

Go buy a jeep.

Ask for the invoice, not the msrp. Offer below the invoice. No dealer fees either. They are crooks and hide it everywhere. Look at every number. Good luck!

[Heath]

Thanks for the reply. I consider myself pretty good at the car dealership game.

[Burnadell]

Can't help with your question, but I have a lot of wife experience.

Keep mama happy; everybody happy!!!

Get that Jeep!

[Heath]

Thought I had it knocked out today. Had everything laid out for dealership and dropped off my offer sheet. They emailed back and said, "done deal." Took the wife in to sign papers and they wanted to start playing games (made me an offer $5K higher) so we walked out. They called all night trying to get this deal done since it's the end of month.

Holt Jeep in Arlington is a joke. I should have known that when I saw how trashy / dirty the dealership was.

On to the next.....

[Pedernal]

Looking at buying a jeep also. I am looking used rubicons and for me the scariest part is all the add-ons I am going to want. Good luck finding a good deal.

[cwd500]

Buying a new Jeep....some questions

Bought my wife a 2012 unlimited 24s. It has everything but the alpine system. I put a 2.5" spacer lift and 315/70/17 on it. The only difference in the ride is the balance of the tires. I put the bigger tires on the stock wheels and the wheels are just too skinny for the width of the tires. Someday in the near future I plan on getting some wider wheels. I drove it for just a few miles with the lift and stock tires and didn't notice a difference. Also we paid right around $31 for it but that was back in 2012.
Stock

Lifted 2.5 with 34.5" tires

[CentexRancher]

Im looking for a 16 cummins so have been shopping alot, it seems alot of guys on the cumminsforum have gotten some killer deals at Peters Chrysler in longview. I might give them a try if i cant find something closer as im about 6hrs south of them. They were trucks but i would think they would be just as good selling jeeps. Give them a shout and post back how it goes, it may just be worth my drive.

Did a search and one of the guys said ask for Clarence as hes no bs or even his boss Mr. Peters. I have absolutely no affiliation with these people just trying to help as your are alot closer to longview than me

[cwd500]

Also consider the rubicon model. You get Dana 44 front and rear axles instead of Dana 30 front and Dana 44 rear. The 44 is a stronger axle. You also get front and rear lockers, electric sway bar disconnects, 4.10 gear ratio and a lower geared transfer case. I kick myself in the butt for not getting the rubicon.

[cwd500]

Mid country dcj in port author has been making some good deals around here. Might be worth it to just give them a call.

[USMC_bowhunter]

I'll give you what little jeep advice I have. I'm on my 5th jeep so I may have a little.

Last year I bought a 2014 Wrangler JKU Oscar Mike edition. Had all of the options with the Alpine system, bluetooth, etc. It didn't have a touch screen radio or nav. It was a great package for less money than the Rubicon.

I put a 2.5" rubicon express coil lift with Bilstein 5100 shocks. You can run 35" tires with a little trimming, or opt to go flat fenders like I did. But if you're not doing much offroading then you can run 35's just fine. the only time I hit my fenders was when i had the tires full stuff, with the front swaybar disconnected. You can run 33's just fine with the 2.5" lift and no fender trimming.

I've since upgraded to lockers front and rear, gear swap, and now looking at buying a ProRock 44 front axle. With that said, if you're planning on doing much offroading, my advice would be to spend the extra money up front and get the Rubicon. Sure, I'm saving money on my montly payment, but what I've spent or spending on axle upgrades I could have bought the Rubicon lol

If you don't want to spend the money for the factory touch screen/navigation, an awesome aftermarket unit is the Raxiom touch screen/navigation. It looks and works just like the factory unit, with better navigation in my opinion and the option to add rear entertainment. I've got little ones, so I did that too!

If you've got any more questions shoot me a PM. I'll be glad to help!

[Heath]

Buying a new Jeep....some questions

Thanks for the info guys. I understand why everyone is saying to buy the Rubicon but this is just for my wife's daily driver. We aren't into trails, rock climbing, or mudding. One day it may be turned into may "drive to the deer lease Jeep, then hop into the Ranger."

I have not ruled out the Rubicon, but the Sport 24S has all the features she wants. We are not planning on adding a lift but going to upgrade her tires (285 / 70 / 17) with aftermarket wheels.

[USMC_bowhunter]

If it's just going to be a daily driver and light offroading (deer lease and backroads lol), then that sport will be fine. the new jeeps have the limited slip rear diff and you'd be suprised at how well that works in 4 wheel Low. It's almost like having lockers.

When you go with the lift, be cautious about what you buy. I'd steer clear of the budget boost lifts. From personal experience, those hinder the quality of the ride. It's not that much more to get a coil lift.

When you go with aftermarket wheels, get a 4.5" backspacing and a -12 offset wheel. that's what you need on the new JK jeeps to prevent any future problems.

[nchunter]

Thanks for the info guys. I understand why everyone is saying to buy the Rubicon but this is just for my wife's daily driver. We aren't into trails, rock climbing, or mudding. One day it may be turned into may "drive to the deer lease Jeep, then hop into the Ranger."

I have not ruled out the Rubicon, but the Sport 24S has all the features she wants. We are not planning on adding a lift but going to upgrade her tires (285 / 70 / 17) with aftermarket wheels.

I totally understand. I just purchased a 2015 sport unlimited on July 3rd. What I have learned in my short time is the following.
The sport S really adds some everyday stuff like power windows, locks and Side curtain airbags. Since I havent had the top on since the day I picked it up, the power stuff was not important to me. As a daily driver I would want those features.
I would however try to buy one with the 3.73 gears and not the 3.21. I searched and found one with the tow package which adds the gears. I am running 295/70/17 and the shorter gears are much better.
I also got a premium top. From what I can tell, the thickness and quality are much better for the extra 500.
I also have an automatic transmission. Regardless of purists, driving a stick in traffic sucks.
I paid 28,500 for a 2015 model wrangler unlimited sport. White.
The 2015 model has a 5 year 100k powertrain warranty.The 2016 is a 5 year 60 powertrain. The purchase price is the cheapest thing. By the 3 rd day of owenership I had already spent 2000 on wheels and tires and another 1500 on a mopar 2" fox suspension. If its going to be a daily driver, remember most if not all the suspension stuff, side running boards, skid plates etc. from the factory are junk. However, the gearing is a bargain and so is the soft top. I wanted mine basic as a 3rd fun car/hunt rig and it is exactly that. I dont rock crawl take it on the rubicon etc, so the Rubicon model for an extra 10k did nothing for me, since I would still add wheels and tires and a lift. No doubt the transfer case and beefed up front axle and gearing are a plus, but for what I use it for, I couldnt be happier.

[USMC_bowhunter]

I totally understand. I just purchased a 2015 sport unlimited on July 3rd. What I have learned in my short time is the following.
The sport S really adds some everyday stuff like power windows, locks and Side curtain airbags. Since I havent had the top on since the day I picked it up, the power stuff was not important to me. As a daily driver I would want those features.
I would however try to buy one with the 3.73 gears and not the 3.21. I searched and found one with the tow package which adds the gears. I am running 295/70/17 and the shorter gears are much better.
I also got a premium top. From what I can tell, the thickness and quality are much better for the extra 500.
I also have an automatic transmission. Regardless of purists, driving a stick in traffic sucks.
I paid 28,500 for a 2015 model wrangler unlimited sport. White.
The 2015 model has a 5 year 100k powertrain warranty.The 2016 is a 5 year 60 powertrain. The purchase price is the cheapest thing. By the 3 rd day of owenership I had already spent 2000 on wheels and tires and another 1500 on a mopar 2" fox suspension. If its going to be a daily driver, remember most if not all the suspension stuff, side running boards, skid plates etc. from the factory are junk. However, the gearing is a bargain and so is the soft top. I wanted mine basic as a 3rd fun car/hunt rig and it is exactly that. I dont rock crawl take it on the rubicon etc, so the Rubicon model for an extra 10k did nothing for me, since I would still add wheels and tires and a lift. No doubt the transfer case and beefed up front axle and gearing are a plus, but for what I use it for, I couldnt be happier.

I agree with that. shy clear of the 3.21 gears. If you EVER haul a small trailer (four wheeler to the deer lease, etc), you will hate those gears. The 3.73 with the towing package is perfect for what you need. That's what mine had in it orginally and it pulled my little trailer great with the fourwheeler and hunting gear on it.

Also, get the dual top option if possible. I orginally got just the hard top, and they spent another $1500 on the factory premium soft top. Having both tops is great. Summer months, the premium top is great. It does have the thicker material which is quieter, and holds the inside temp better when it's up. And it just looks better. And of course the hard top is great for the winter months.