impulse car buying??

[evolution]

So a friend of mine wanted to go and look at the jk wrangler 2dr today. She asked me to go with her to give her "moral" support. Lol
Anyways after looking around for a bit at the local jeep place, my legs walked me unconsciously over to the 4 door jks. I have always liked the modularity of the wranglers, soft top, hard top, doors off/on plethrora of aftermarket parts and great off road ability.
I got chatting to the salesman and have been offered a pretty good price on a 2013 gecko green jk wrangler rubicon 4 dr with lots of mopar goodies, winch bar, warn xd9000 satnav, snorkel, folding roof cage, uhf, mopar wheels with mt mud terrains and IPF hids on the front.
I was offered a pretty good price on trade in for the gu (or sell privately) and i can afford the finance so thats the easy part.

The hardest part it working out whether its practical for my requirements. The boot is considerably smaller, the towing limit is only 2000kg and service parts can be quite expensive.
I do love the patrol but on the test track my patrol felt like a tank whereas the jk felt like a mountain goat. Very light and nimble.
I dunno a little confusing, as i dont know how it will go towing..... the salesman has offered to hitch the camper out and take it for a spin.
Opinions guys?
Has anyone got one and used it for a tug? How does it go in reality??

Cheers
Evo

[POD]

The greatest regret I had was trading my 2005 GU in on a JK. I still live with that disappointment. I now have a Navara and I'm recovering.

Don't do it Evo. The boot is tiny, the fuel economy is crap and absolutely shocking when towing, only about 200kms out of a tank.

Think about it long and hard mate. They look great and they're a great machine off road. On road or towing, give it a wide berth.

[Bird]

Stick with the grenade.

[GeeTee]

You are not on here tonight saying "I bought a Jeep!" so it's not quite impulse !

[heath74]

Sounds like an almost impulse buy to me. What other cars could you get for the same money?and how do you like them?

[D4D]

Could be worse, you could have looked at a Land Rover

[evolution]

Well its impulse because im not exactly in the market for a new car.
But i get where your coming from lol
Pretty blunt replies so far, crikey even lost is against it. And here i was thinking you would prefer a vw bug to a 3.0 patrol lost?   

I have no idea what other cars are in the same price range, probably not far off a bog stock cruiser maybe?
Im not exactly after a new car but i think the little kid in me just saw shiny paint and a very cool looking FUN car.
Is it both the petrol and diesel that suck with towing and fuel economy? The last thing I want is to go into a car thata worse than the patrol on both counts.

Oh and D4D, I looked at the rovers before the patrol but couldnt bring myself to do it. I drove them almost every day in the army and every time I had to get in one I was thinking how much I would have preferred a patrol for off roading. 

Cheers
Evo

[TasJK]

What kind of JK? CRD or Penstar V6?
I went from a GQ to a JK 4 Door CRD then back to a GU.
I miss the power and torque of the CRD, it was a fantastic car. Towed great and pulled like a train!
They definitely have positives and negatives.
Positives:
CRD is a great engine
Penstar is better than the 3.8L van engine it replaced
Parts and mods are cheap, particularly from the States.
Your right, it's nimble and light compared to the Patrol.
Flex is amazing from stock, add some from front disconnects and it's huge!
They have real personality, set it up right and it turns heads
Top off driving is awesome

Negatives
Cargo area is small, put a 40 L Waeco in the back and there's not that much room left.
CRD isn't sold in the states, so no engine parts for cheap (you can get them from the UK)
Build quality isn't even up to Nissan standard
Use it, and be prepared to fix it. It's amazing how many things and how quickly it wears out.
Jeep Dealers are EXPENSIVE as are Parts.
No place for 2nd battery etc etc

If you want any information, please give me a yell! Even though it cost me a packet over 5 years, I did love my Jeep JK!

[TasJK]

Ok, my Unlimited JK CRD Manual with 4" lift and 33' MTZ's got around 8.5l/100kms on a 'combined cycle'. Add an ancient Jayco Dove van and it would be 10-11's. which I reckon was pretty good!

[evolution]

Ok, my Unlimited JK CRD Manual with 4" lift and 33' MTZ's got around 8.5l/100kms on a 'combined cycle'. Add an ancient Jayco Dove van and it would be 10-11's. which I reckon was pretty good!

Thats pretty good actually. The price that I was offered was for the petrol. The dealer wasn't too sure on availability at the moment of the diesel..... hence could only tell me that the price was a bit more lol

Cheers
Evo

[dazzler]

Stick with the grenade.

Thanks for my morning chuckle!

[Pipeliner]

I wouldn't recommend a JK for towing - possibly the CRD but not the petrol.  Jeeps are fun vehicles and great to drive, but the JK is, in my opinion, the best off-road Jeep and the worst on-road.

And I say that as a Jeep enthusiast - I'm currently on my second KJ Cherokee and have no intention of swapping it for something else.  But a JK would be no use to me for towing the Odyssey and I don't like the look of the doors and other panels.

[GeeTee]

Did someone mention VW Bugs?! Woohoo!

[cm4x4nut]

Thats pretty good actually. The price that I was offered was for the petrol. The dealer wasn't too sure on availability at the moment of the diesel..... hence could only tell me that the price was a bit more lol

Cheers
Evo

I do not think you can get a Rubicon diesel.....or has that changed?

Stick with the trol mate

[doc evil]

Don't do it Evo..........

Jeep, stands for Just Empty Every Pocket.........

[MDSimpson]

IMO, your answer lies in the fact you asked the question....

[jeb1900]

It doesnt sound as though the Jeep would suit your needs.

I often see patrols and landcruiser towing Jeeps to get them to 4wd parks.  Kind of indicates just how uncomfortable they are in overlading type use.

Also - What is the awning type thing on the back of that ute!?

[Redcherokee]

So buy the Jeep for fun and keep the grenade for sensible.  Or upgrade the grenade as well.

It is really a good idea to have a second vehicle when you have a Jeep.  You'll upgrade it beyond it's intended geometry and take it on hard trails until you "slightly" damage it. You need something else to get around in while it is in the shop.

Or is that just my Jeep mates?

[Pipeliner]

I often see patrols and landcruiser towing Jeeps to get them to 4wd parks.  Kind of indicates just how uncomfortable they are in overlading type use.

Usually that has nothing to do with onroad comfort and everything to do with the Jeep being so highly modified that it is no longer road legal!  Big tyres, excessive lift, etc. etc.

[JCOJ]

I had a Rubicon - and I now drive a Pajero.  I am also a member of our local Jeep Club and have been for 9 years so feel qualified to answer.

Positives:
- The JK Wrangler, and especially the Rubicon, is an awesome weapon off road.  With the sway bar disconnected, and twin lockers, there are not too many places that will see you having to have a second go at it, or even worse, get pulled out.  However, it is so capable off road, that it can be a bit boring as you don't have to think about your line as it just crawls over everything.
- The do look good - and when modified with lifts, bigger aggressive wheels, bars etc, you certainly get the looks from kids in other cars pointing at you wishing they were riding in your rig!
- They are unique - every JK is different in the way that the owner sets them up, and you can personalise it to whatever you want.

Negatives:
- The most unreliable piece of s**t on the planet!  Every time we left for a trip we wondered if we would be coming back home in the JK or in a hire car.  Ours let us down on many occasions and ended up on the back of a flat bed, once on Easter Thursday as we were on our way for an Easter trip, and another on New Years Eve.  (Please note that there have been some JK owners that have had an absolutely trouble free run - but they are not in the majority).
- Towing wise - they are an absolute dog.  Now this may have improved with the new Pentastar engine, but if it doesn't have that - expect to be going 60km/h as your top speed going up hills in a 100km zone.
- The towball down weight is pathetic!  The towing capacity may be 2000kg but the downball weight of ours was only 170kg. 
- Comfort: Offroad you don't really care, but getting to that offroad destination is nothing like the Pajero we replaced it with
- Dealership network: In outback areas people don't want to now you if you have a problem if you have a Jeep.  Say you have a Toyota, Nissan, or Mits and it is a different story.  Jeeps are like the anti-christ out there.
- The mechanics: Unless the mechanic can plug in their computer to find out what the problem is, then they have no idea and will take ages to actually diagnose and fix the problem.

Do I like them - I do - but now only from a distance!