Back in 2008 I bought a new Wrangler and of course I loved it. I had it for two years, and the gal I was married to at the time encouraged me to trade it in for something she considered more reasonable.
Since that time I divorced that gal after 37 years of marriage, and then I married a new gal who absolutely loves Jeep Wranglers. Well so do I, so that's a good thing!
I could tell that my new wife loves to shift, because she's always playing with the lollipop shifter in her automatic Prius. I would tease her frequently about how I could tell she really likes to shift and probably should get a manual shift vehicle. After all, she has had a lot of experience in a manual shift vehicle. I told her that I imagined seeing her in a Wrangler. She began to like the notion.
So we took a couple of test drives at a couple of dealerships, and we specifically wanted a manual shift vehicle. Not many of the dealerships HAD a manual shift, in fact very few.
You could say that it's because of the demand for manual shift, but I think it's more that there are people that are getting lazy out there. True there is a demand for manual shift Wranglers, but a lot of the folks I know we're trying to find the old CJ's, and not the TJ's.
Anyway we found a 2012 "Sport" in army green that we really liked. A regular two door Wrangler. We took it for a test drive and we loved it; it only had 24,000 miles on it. I checked it over real good inside and out, and it's my opinion that it's in excellent condition. I have course already had experience in owning a Wrangler, so I understood what I was looking at, and so I tried to enlighten her as best I could, just in case she should get discouraged like my former wife did. I wanted her to understand going in, all the pros and cons, so that she could make a decision that was not just emotional but that was based on facts. To my personal delight, she was quite different than my former wife in her love and enthusiasm for all the things that I love about Jeep Wranglers. She's like a little kid at Christmas in anticipation of bringing it home and playing with it!
Turns out the dealership told us that this particular year had Takata (sp?) airbags, and they were waiting for the replacement propellant cylinders so that they could do the Service Recall, and they will not let us take the Jeep home until they have performed the Service Recall. They said it was a dealership decision that they could live with, because They don't want any of their customers having to die or be injured by one of their vehicles, as a result of letting it leave the lot with that Service Recall not done. Yes that's frustrating, but I appreciate the fact that I won't have to worry about facial injury from the Tokata (sp?) airbags. I guess it's not only 2012 but there's another model years involved as well?
So we put a deposit on it and we will wait. I don't think it'll take all THAT long for them to get the parts in and get the changeover done, but apparently there is some sort of a delay because Tokata (sp?) can't make the cylinders fast enough.
I've also contacted "jeepit.com" for the bolt on mirrors that I'm sure you're all familiar with. If you're not you should look it up and get some. He sells a set of two for a little over 30 bucks, and they're wonderful for when you take the doors off! they bolt right to the door brackets.
So it's been a while since I owned my 2008 Jeep, and I don't know much about the changes that occurred from 2013 through 2017.
Perhaps some of you enthusiasts who have been closely following the jeep line through these years could enlighten me as to any major issues discovered with the 2012 other than the airbags, and any of the modifications going forward between 2013 and 2017 that are worth looking into. I understand the 2012 has a major change in the engine, producing more torque and more horsepower; but I believe it dumped the iron block, and that the 2012 motor is all aluminum, right?
For the record I am not a "Freedom Top" or a "Limited" enthusiast. I know there are many of you out there that like both of those things; I don't particularly care for either one. So if any of the modifications or issues that you might know of are related to either of those two items, they are irrelevant to me. Just figured I ought to say that, so you won't waste your time on those categories.
The only thing that really bothered me about the Wrangler that I owned in 2008, is still likely true today, but I'll bite the bullet and live with it, and that is that when the temperatures are colder and you're zipping or unzipping the sections of the soft top, it can be brutal on the fingers. it's a pretty tight fit, and something I just have to live with.
I did some off roading on some moderately difficult trails, so I understand what it's like to use the Wrangler in rough terrain. I like to pull the doors off, and take the soft top off completely. I believe in using the Jeep Wrangler to its fullest potential, and not just in being a poser with it.
Mopar parts are expensive, and so I try to take good care of the vehicle I have, so that I don't end up replacing seriously expensive parts out on the hard trails. Off-roading is a rich mans hobby, and I am not that.
I have driven the East Coast from Caribou, Maine, down to Fort Myers, Florida many many times through my life, and I've taken the Wrangler on a trip that was that long, and I found it just fine for long-distance travel! It was interesting to me that the 2012 that we put the deposit on, had Cruise Control, even though it was a manual shift. That's almost an oxymoron, but I like Cruise Control for when I'm on the highway.
So that's my introductory rant. Hopefully I've put enough fodder in there for many of you to comment on, and I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say.
Since that time I divorced that gal after 37 years of marriage, and then I married a new gal who absolutely loves Jeep Wranglers. Well so do I, so that's a good thing!
I could tell that my new wife loves to shift, because she's always playing with the lollipop shifter in her automatic Prius. I would tease her frequently about how I could tell she really likes to shift and probably should get a manual shift vehicle. After all, she has had a lot of experience in a manual shift vehicle. I told her that I imagined seeing her in a Wrangler. She began to like the notion.
So we took a couple of test drives at a couple of dealerships, and we specifically wanted a manual shift vehicle. Not many of the dealerships HAD a manual shift, in fact very few.
You could say that it's because of the demand for manual shift, but I think it's more that there are people that are getting lazy out there. True there is a demand for manual shift Wranglers, but a lot of the folks I know we're trying to find the old CJ's, and not the TJ's.
Anyway we found a 2012 "Sport" in army green that we really liked. A regular two door Wrangler. We took it for a test drive and we loved it; it only had 24,000 miles on it. I checked it over real good inside and out, and it's my opinion that it's in excellent condition. I have course already had experience in owning a Wrangler, so I understood what I was looking at, and so I tried to enlighten her as best I could, just in case she should get discouraged like my former wife did. I wanted her to understand going in, all the pros and cons, so that she could make a decision that was not just emotional but that was based on facts. To my personal delight, she was quite different than my former wife in her love and enthusiasm for all the things that I love about Jeep Wranglers. She's like a little kid at Christmas in anticipation of bringing it home and playing with it!
Turns out the dealership told us that this particular year had Takata (sp?) airbags, and they were waiting for the replacement propellant cylinders so that they could do the Service Recall, and they will not let us take the Jeep home until they have performed the Service Recall. They said it was a dealership decision that they could live with, because They don't want any of their customers having to die or be injured by one of their vehicles, as a result of letting it leave the lot with that Service Recall not done. Yes that's frustrating, but I appreciate the fact that I won't have to worry about facial injury from the Tokata (sp?) airbags. I guess it's not only 2012 but there's another model years involved as well?
So we put a deposit on it and we will wait. I don't think it'll take all THAT long for them to get the parts in and get the changeover done, but apparently there is some sort of a delay because Tokata (sp?) can't make the cylinders fast enough.
I've also contacted "jeepit.com" for the bolt on mirrors that I'm sure you're all familiar with. If you're not you should look it up and get some. He sells a set of two for a little over 30 bucks, and they're wonderful for when you take the doors off! they bolt right to the door brackets.
So it's been a while since I owned my 2008 Jeep, and I don't know much about the changes that occurred from 2013 through 2017.
Perhaps some of you enthusiasts who have been closely following the jeep line through these years could enlighten me as to any major issues discovered with the 2012 other than the airbags, and any of the modifications going forward between 2013 and 2017 that are worth looking into. I understand the 2012 has a major change in the engine, producing more torque and more horsepower; but I believe it dumped the iron block, and that the 2012 motor is all aluminum, right?
For the record I am not a "Freedom Top" or a "Limited" enthusiast. I know there are many of you out there that like both of those things; I don't particularly care for either one. So if any of the modifications or issues that you might know of are related to either of those two items, they are irrelevant to me. Just figured I ought to say that, so you won't waste your time on those categories.
The only thing that really bothered me about the Wrangler that I owned in 2008, is still likely true today, but I'll bite the bullet and live with it, and that is that when the temperatures are colder and you're zipping or unzipping the sections of the soft top, it can be brutal on the fingers. it's a pretty tight fit, and something I just have to live with.
I did some off roading on some moderately difficult trails, so I understand what it's like to use the Wrangler in rough terrain. I like to pull the doors off, and take the soft top off completely. I believe in using the Jeep Wrangler to its fullest potential, and not just in being a poser with it.
Mopar parts are expensive, and so I try to take good care of the vehicle I have, so that I don't end up replacing seriously expensive parts out on the hard trails. Off-roading is a rich mans hobby, and I am not that.
I have driven the East Coast from Caribou, Maine, down to Fort Myers, Florida many many times through my life, and I've taken the Wrangler on a trip that was that long, and I found it just fine for long-distance travel! It was interesting to me that the 2012 that we put the deposit on, had Cruise Control, even though it was a manual shift. That's almost an oxymoron, but I like Cruise Control for when I'm on the highway.
So that's my introductory rant. Hopefully I've put enough fodder in there for many of you to comment on, and I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say.
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