Hello all,
My wife has an awesome Commander, Hemi, Quadra drive 2, OME lift, control arms, 255/75R17 tires on nice rims. It is a ************** Commander. At 180K it is still fairly reliable.
But, it has 180K and it's 13 years old. Little stuff pops up all the time now, like the power windows failing 150 miles from home, or the seat ECU not remembering where the seat was 5 minutes ago.
My JKUR had 145K miles. It's built. Teraflex pre-runner long arms with Fox 2.0 shocks on 35's, bumper, winch, headers, intake, and tons more that would take several paragraphs to describe. But, it's been used for what I built it for. I would venture to say that of the 145K on it, at least 60K was on dirt.
It needs an engine, the manual trans isn't up to a Hemi, so if I went that route I would need a Getrag 238, the front axle housing has a bend to it, the transfer case make noise, the drive shaft have seen better days, it need a better power steering pump, the front seat are shot and hurt my ass after an hour, it has dents and dings all over it. But, I am attached to it and it isn't the easiest thing to part with.
So I am considering selling the Commander, the JK, my Mini Cooper S, my show new looking 1989 Cherokee that I just inherited from the original owner, and my comanchee. When I look up the values and other similar vehicles, it ads up to about the price of a brand new Jeep JT Rubicon. I think I could get over parting with my JK if I could buy one of those.
We would still need to replace the Commander. My wife says if we sell everything, we could also put cash into it and get a more recent Grand Cherokee along with the new JT.
My whole reason for buying my JKUR back in 2008 (bought new) was because I had a built Land Rover Disco 1, a stock Disco 1, a RR Classic mildly built, and a Freelander. Yep, we were Land Rover all the way fore a while and it served us well. But we drove the crap out of the built Disco 1. I bought it with 75K and sold it with 225K because I couldn't keep up with maintenance and repairs. I'm in the same boat now. I want to spend the time traveling, not working on it. My JKUR is great around the small town I live in, it has explored everything interesting with in a few hours of home. But I is too built up as an off roader to fell comfortable traveling 2 or 3 states away via pavement, and then driving home on dirt. That's what we like to do, and I think a nearly stock JT Rubicon would do that just fine.
How do other overland oriented Jeep people feel? I know there is all levels of financial ability her on Expo, some here have to make do with high mileage rig if they want to get out there. I get that, I've been there. My wife and I are lucky that we have had fairly good careers, no debt, no kids and can afford to upgrade. There were many years where $500 dollar beaters were what we could afford and we made them work and took some incredible trips. I am a pro mechanic with 25 years of experience, I can fix anything, and could probably keep either of the Jeeps running for 300K. But why?
How do others think about this? How long do you drive a rig for before it becomes too worn out to really trust. Just because I can fix anything, doesn't mean I find much joy in doing it anymore, 25 years using wrenches does that to you.
David.
My wife has an awesome Commander, Hemi, Quadra drive 2, OME lift, control arms, 255/75R17 tires on nice rims. It is a ************** Commander. At 180K it is still fairly reliable.
But, it has 180K and it's 13 years old. Little stuff pops up all the time now, like the power windows failing 150 miles from home, or the seat ECU not remembering where the seat was 5 minutes ago.
My JKUR had 145K miles. It's built. Teraflex pre-runner long arms with Fox 2.0 shocks on 35's, bumper, winch, headers, intake, and tons more that would take several paragraphs to describe. But, it's been used for what I built it for. I would venture to say that of the 145K on it, at least 60K was on dirt.
It needs an engine, the manual trans isn't up to a Hemi, so if I went that route I would need a Getrag 238, the front axle housing has a bend to it, the transfer case make noise, the drive shaft have seen better days, it need a better power steering pump, the front seat are shot and hurt my ass after an hour, it has dents and dings all over it. But, I am attached to it and it isn't the easiest thing to part with.
So I am considering selling the Commander, the JK, my Mini Cooper S, my show new looking 1989 Cherokee that I just inherited from the original owner, and my comanchee. When I look up the values and other similar vehicles, it ads up to about the price of a brand new Jeep JT Rubicon. I think I could get over parting with my JK if I could buy one of those.
We would still need to replace the Commander. My wife says if we sell everything, we could also put cash into it and get a more recent Grand Cherokee along with the new JT.
My whole reason for buying my JKUR back in 2008 (bought new) was because I had a built Land Rover Disco 1, a stock Disco 1, a RR Classic mildly built, and a Freelander. Yep, we were Land Rover all the way fore a while and it served us well. But we drove the crap out of the built Disco 1. I bought it with 75K and sold it with 225K because I couldn't keep up with maintenance and repairs. I'm in the same boat now. I want to spend the time traveling, not working on it. My JKUR is great around the small town I live in, it has explored everything interesting with in a few hours of home. But I is too built up as an off roader to fell comfortable traveling 2 or 3 states away via pavement, and then driving home on dirt. That's what we like to do, and I think a nearly stock JT Rubicon would do that just fine.
How do other overland oriented Jeep people feel? I know there is all levels of financial ability her on Expo, some here have to make do with high mileage rig if they want to get out there. I get that, I've been there. My wife and I are lucky that we have had fairly good careers, no debt, no kids and can afford to upgrade. There were many years where $500 dollar beaters were what we could afford and we made them work and took some incredible trips. I am a pro mechanic with 25 years of experience, I can fix anything, and could probably keep either of the Jeeps running for 300K. But why?
How do others think about this? How long do you drive a rig for before it becomes too worn out to really trust. Just because I can fix anything, doesn't mean I find much joy in doing it anymore, 25 years using wrenches does that to you.
David.
