Dilemma of which to KEEP.... Wrangler or Grand Cherokee

[lysol]

The wife and I have been tossing around ideas on how to change our lifestyles. Ultimately, we are tired of sitting behind desks... It's all just talk and planning right now, but we are certain that we can give up the money. We currently have a '13 Grand Cherokee V8 Overland with all the bells and whistles and a '14 4-door Rubicon Unlimited. I bought the Rubicon with the intention of turning it into an expedition/overland style vehicle and use the Grand Cherokee for those long road-trips that go through mountains and such. I've had both vehicles offroad and they both do great (obviously the Rubicon is better).

She threw me a bone asking what if we sell one allowing us to pay off the other one faster. We crunched the numbers and this would allow us to pay one or the other off in under 2 years. I'm scratching my head on which because the Grand Cherokee is so DAMN comfortable... lol. The Rubicon is nice too... lol. We are about to take an 8 hour drive next week in the Rubicon so time will tell how comfortable it is.

The rubicon seems as if it would be easier to maintain as there are less electronics to fail.
They both get roughly the same gas mileage but the Grand Cherokee has that nice 5.7L V8...
The Rubicon has no lumbar support in the seats. This is actually the first vehicle that doesn't have this, but I haven't had any back pains yet.
The Grand Cherokee has the Quadra-Lift adaptive suspension system which is nice to be able to control the vehicle height.
There are more aftermarket options for the Wrangler.
Gobi just finally released their roof rack for the WK2 Grand Cherokee so I could get one for either vehicle now...
The Grand Cherokee cannot be lifted so I'm stuck with what it has which has been more than enough for me the past year. With that said, having more ground clearance in the Wrangler is nice.
The Grand Cherokee drives like a Cadillac on the street whereas the Wrangler is like an oven-toaster on wheels... lol.
Maintenance on the Grand Cherokee requires spark plugs to be changed every 36,000 miles.
Wrangler utilizes a frame whereas the Grand Cherokee utilizes a unibody.
Wrangler has axles whereas the Grand Cherokee has Independent Front/Rear Suspension.


Both vehicles have almost the same payoff amount so that's out of the equation. I'm naturally leaning toward the Rubicon as it's such a great offroad platform. I just want to see if there is/are other things I'm forgetting.

 

[Judoka]

Easy decision...Keep the Rubicon and upgrade the seats and suspension! Grab a GPS unit, or mount a tablet and you are good.:sombrero: I sell Jeeps for a living, and I love both models by the way. I mean, really, how can you go wrong with either of them? The Wrangler is just much easier to "build" the way you want with the huge aftermarket support! My 2 cents worth.

 

[mrchips]

JKUR

 

[vonguido]

Keep the JK and as mentioned above upgrade the seats and get a nice suspension upgrade and you're set.

 

[swift7777]

Rubi - I've been on quite a few long road trips in my JK with no problems or fatigue.

 

[weaselox]

sell, the GC, payoff the JKU and then get a newer GC in 2 years!

that's a plan

 

[SSF556]

JKU

 

[Septu]

Rubi - I've been on quite a few long road trips in my JK with no problems or fatigue.

This. I've put 20,000 km on three different road trips in the last 1.5 years... and never really had any issues comfort wise. Could the seats be better? Absolutely. But they're comfy enough for now. And if it's really an issue... I'm sure they could be changed...

 

[stuggin]

This is the way I look at it. If you could rate both platforms by offroad ability, the JKUR would probably be like a 9/10 and the GC would probably be an 8/10 (I realize my rating system is probably flawed, but you get the idea). The thing for you to do should be to take a good look at what your typical driving looks like, and whether or not it's of value to you to have that extra 10% capability. If you use your vehicle on-road or off road in milder situations, then the GC would probably be a good fit for you. If you're planning on tackling the Rubicon or similar, then take the JK.

There's other things to consider as well. The GC has a little more payload capacity than the JK (important for overland), but the JK has removable top and doors, as well as killer aftermarket support. JK probably has better resale value. All depends on where your priorities are, I guess.

Also, I don't know if you have it on yours, but the GC has those air-conditioned seats available that are just flat-out amazing (not to mention the lumbar support, as you said previously).

My dad has a '14 GC (just replaced his '12 GC), and I have a '13 JK. I drove both before I bought mine, but I obviously decided that the extra capability was more important to me than the comfort and other advantages of the GC.

Just be honest with yourself about your driving habits and plans for the platform. You can do a surprising amount of stuff with a trail-rated rig from Jeep. See the recent post on ExPo about the Patriot project.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Maybe sell both and get two cheaper vehicles. Only problem is the bath you will take on selling a car that's not very old.

 

[Judoka]

JKUR has an amazingly high resale value out here in AZ.

 

[madmax718]

All depends on what you plan to do I guess. 90 percent of my travels is on road. The GC is just way better at on road handling than the wrangler. It also has a higher towing capacity, and towing stability. Does your GC have full time 4wd as well? Thats a huge difference in snow and rain.

 

[SSF556]

All depends on what you plan to do I guess. 90 percent of my travels is on road. The GC is just way better at on road handling than the wrangler. It also has a higher towing capacity, and towing stability. Does your GC have full time 4wd as well? Thats a huge difference in snow and rain.

He mentioned that the GC does have the QuadraDrive Lift Suspensions....which in this case may provide him what he is looking for....I did think JKU, but maybe the GC will work.

 

[madmax718]

my bad. I think the GC is more ideal.

 

[jpat30]

Grand Cherokee; for some of the reasons listed already: More cargo room, larger tow capacity, nicer interior, probably better mpg, but also I maybe just a little biased, lol.