AmericaOverland
Explorer
Hello all!
I found a Wrangler last Tuesday the 9th. It's a 2005 Wrangler LJ Unlimited, 4WD automatic, certified 1-owner with only 22,000 miles on it. It's silver with a black top. I wanted a manual transmission, but I had to consider that this is an LJ with more room than the TJ and a longer wheelbase for more towing. MAYBE I can consider an auto-manual conversion years down the road. This morning, I ran across some postings here and elsewhere pointing out electrical problems with the more recent JK models (2007-2008) and researched it further on the open recalls. I am not comfortable with buying such a recent vintage at this point in time. I have now driven both the JK and the LJ, so I feel like the LJ is a more basic vehicle to me than the JK with proven reliability. 22,000 miles!
That said, learning from the lessons on my previous car purchase, I did several things. I brought someone with me knowledgeable about cars (he's had CJs, Wranglers, and now has a Liberty for several years). He and I checked a lot of things. I smelled the AC REAL good (I was checking the jeep out when it was being cleaned, the carpets completely out and the detailer sitting in the rear seat and cleaning everything), sniffing for signs of dead animals, odd smells, which is unfortunately a common problem with the Honda CR-Vs (there's a dead animal smell in there when you first turn on the AC, and whatever the stuff is, it gets into your hair, so you smell that stuff in your hair in the first 30 minutes after getting out of the car).
I didn't want to tell anybody in my family this, but there is quite a bit of rust underneath the CR-V, which I believe comes from having been used in Vermont, and some body parts have rust on them, like bottom door edges, around the gas cap, etc. I went looking for that on the LJ body. Not a one, not even inside where it's covered up by carpet. I got under the Jeep on a cloth and looked real closely for rust and physical damage. NOTHING, other than the drive shafts looking rusted on the surface... No frame rust or bottom-of-body rust, either. It was barely dirty (I know because I got up on the step and looked at the hard top, and it was not cleaned, so they had not washed the Jeep yet. I was surprised! My friend popped open the hood for me and looked in there. Everything seemed to be in good shape. Carfax confirmed that the car is a Texas car, even local to Houston only, having been registered here every year. Of course, I realize that the previous owner could have driven it out of state several times, even during the winter, but I saw no rust damage as mentioned before, other than the driveshafts. The paint is in gorgeous shape! Like it was brand new!
Doors closed solid, and I drove the Jeep! It felt like a truck, just like it should. If anything, it seemed to have a softer, bouncing around feeling, very unlike the CR-V that jars around and is rough. I crossed a low area right in front of the dealership, and the Jeep went right over it. I didn't feel the individual cracks and holes where the road meets the steep driveway leading into the dealership, nor did I feel that jarring bump when you hit the bottom of a V. Anyhow, the dealer, myself, and my friend went together, and he didn't hear any unusual noises like wind leaks, transmission problems, steering problems, axle problems, that sort of thing. It just appears to be a Jeep that was garaged and maintained well, no leaks under the Jeep. It seems to be a really good find for the price, somewhat under NADA values.
I accepted it and signed the papers that afternoon! They loaned me a Jeep Patriot to drive home for the evening. OMFG... What a long dashboard! The windshield is so far out from you, it feels like you're driving an amphibious car with a long bow in front of you! All that plastic! And it shifts crazy too!
When I picked up the Jeep, it was a great drive home! I've got cruise control which helps while I get used to the vehicle. I have to take care of some minor details during this shakedown period.
The Wrangler is so much better than the CR-V. It's so heavy, that the suspension responds slowly to all the bumps, holes, and cracks in the road. In the CR-V, you feel EVERYTHING. I just love it. I can barely feel the 4-speed tranny shift gears, because I keep it under 2,000 RPMs when I speed up. "I'm driving a truck. Go around me if you're in a hurry!" People will also cut me off because they know they can move faster than I can.
So simple. Manual mirrors, windows, and locks all around, yet it has the engine immobilizer for basic security. I don't have to hit a remote anymore... The dash layout is a lot better than I imagined it to be from the photos I've seen online. It does not have much depth from the firewall towards me. I have the sense that I'm "right there," close to the action where I can see what's happening. The other thing about visibility that I found on the highway is the hard top windows are HUGE! I can actually see out of the thing and not have to imply "sufficiently that something is probably not there before I make my lane change." WOW!
I am just simply happier with the Jeep. Even though I pay an extra $15 a month for the Jeep, it is peace of mind to know I have something more capable and is easier to maintain, use, and fix. Not to mention a HUGE community in the Jeep forums. I even joined up with Houston Jeep People recently, picked up the Jeep, and the next day I went to my first meetup with them! It was great! It would take months to plan an outing with the CR-V group and was just a COMPLETELY different group of people whom I didn't mesh well with.
I found a Wrangler last Tuesday the 9th. It's a 2005 Wrangler LJ Unlimited, 4WD automatic, certified 1-owner with only 22,000 miles on it. It's silver with a black top. I wanted a manual transmission, but I had to consider that this is an LJ with more room than the TJ and a longer wheelbase for more towing. MAYBE I can consider an auto-manual conversion years down the road. This morning, I ran across some postings here and elsewhere pointing out electrical problems with the more recent JK models (2007-2008) and researched it further on the open recalls. I am not comfortable with buying such a recent vintage at this point in time. I have now driven both the JK and the LJ, so I feel like the LJ is a more basic vehicle to me than the JK with proven reliability. 22,000 miles!
That said, learning from the lessons on my previous car purchase, I did several things. I brought someone with me knowledgeable about cars (he's had CJs, Wranglers, and now has a Liberty for several years). He and I checked a lot of things. I smelled the AC REAL good (I was checking the jeep out when it was being cleaned, the carpets completely out and the detailer sitting in the rear seat and cleaning everything), sniffing for signs of dead animals, odd smells, which is unfortunately a common problem with the Honda CR-Vs (there's a dead animal smell in there when you first turn on the AC, and whatever the stuff is, it gets into your hair, so you smell that stuff in your hair in the first 30 minutes after getting out of the car).
I didn't want to tell anybody in my family this, but there is quite a bit of rust underneath the CR-V, which I believe comes from having been used in Vermont, and some body parts have rust on them, like bottom door edges, around the gas cap, etc. I went looking for that on the LJ body. Not a one, not even inside where it's covered up by carpet. I got under the Jeep on a cloth and looked real closely for rust and physical damage. NOTHING, other than the drive shafts looking rusted on the surface... No frame rust or bottom-of-body rust, either. It was barely dirty (I know because I got up on the step and looked at the hard top, and it was not cleaned, so they had not washed the Jeep yet. I was surprised! My friend popped open the hood for me and looked in there. Everything seemed to be in good shape. Carfax confirmed that the car is a Texas car, even local to Houston only, having been registered here every year. Of course, I realize that the previous owner could have driven it out of state several times, even during the winter, but I saw no rust damage as mentioned before, other than the driveshafts. The paint is in gorgeous shape! Like it was brand new!
Doors closed solid, and I drove the Jeep! It felt like a truck, just like it should. If anything, it seemed to have a softer, bouncing around feeling, very unlike the CR-V that jars around and is rough. I crossed a low area right in front of the dealership, and the Jeep went right over it. I didn't feel the individual cracks and holes where the road meets the steep driveway leading into the dealership, nor did I feel that jarring bump when you hit the bottom of a V. Anyhow, the dealer, myself, and my friend went together, and he didn't hear any unusual noises like wind leaks, transmission problems, steering problems, axle problems, that sort of thing. It just appears to be a Jeep that was garaged and maintained well, no leaks under the Jeep. It seems to be a really good find for the price, somewhat under NADA values.
I accepted it and signed the papers that afternoon! They loaned me a Jeep Patriot to drive home for the evening. OMFG... What a long dashboard! The windshield is so far out from you, it feels like you're driving an amphibious car with a long bow in front of you! All that plastic! And it shifts crazy too!
When I picked up the Jeep, it was a great drive home! I've got cruise control which helps while I get used to the vehicle. I have to take care of some minor details during this shakedown period.
The Wrangler is so much better than the CR-V. It's so heavy, that the suspension responds slowly to all the bumps, holes, and cracks in the road. In the CR-V, you feel EVERYTHING. I just love it. I can barely feel the 4-speed tranny shift gears, because I keep it under 2,000 RPMs when I speed up. "I'm driving a truck. Go around me if you're in a hurry!" People will also cut me off because they know they can move faster than I can.
So simple. Manual mirrors, windows, and locks all around, yet it has the engine immobilizer for basic security. I don't have to hit a remote anymore... The dash layout is a lot better than I imagined it to be from the photos I've seen online. It does not have much depth from the firewall towards me. I have the sense that I'm "right there," close to the action where I can see what's happening. The other thing about visibility that I found on the highway is the hard top windows are HUGE! I can actually see out of the thing and not have to imply "sufficiently that something is probably not there before I make my lane change." WOW!
I am just simply happier with the Jeep. Even though I pay an extra $15 a month for the Jeep, it is peace of mind to know I have something more capable and is easier to maintain, use, and fix. Not to mention a HUGE community in the Jeep forums. I even joined up with Houston Jeep People recently, picked up the Jeep, and the next day I went to my first meetup with them! It was great! It would take months to plan an outing with the CR-V group and was just a COMPLETELY different group of people whom I didn't mesh well with.
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