First car?

mcook1558 said:
I'm thinking of getting my daughter a wrangler tj as her first car but I’m worried about safety and reliability. Would it be a good first car?
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There are many options that would be a better choice for a first vehicle, Jeeps drive like Jeeps do because of several different reasons and young drivers are probably not up to the challenge in my opinion.Both of my kids started out in Ford Explorers then graduated to 4 Runners Although my first vehicle was a CJ 5 with a spring over axle lift on a set of 33"CO-OP grip spurs , it rode and handled like shit but probably made a better driver out of me.
 
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JMT said:
I think the OP has left the building! But the regulars here are on it!

I bought my twin sons TJ’s. It enabled me to have one platform to learn rather than multiple. It was fun building them together. The #1 thing they complain about is gas mileage. One of them wants a truck. Good luck getting much better gas mileage. It may improve slightly, but it won’t be much. They are super fun rigs, but I think younger people see them as dad cars. They do require tinkering, especially now that they are an older car.
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You know you are pretty well right on the money-

I don’t think my sons are willing to put the energy in it to keep one of these things in the condition I like to keep it in

It doesn’t have enough room for all their buddies

Basically they’re not as attractive to young people as much as I thought they would be- When I was 20 years old we thought the dude in a jeep was on top of the world.

I’m OK being the dude in the jeep.
 
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MutantNinjaTJ said:
What ever you decide, just understand Jeeps or any 4 wheeler for that matter, will make liars of even the best kids when they try to tell you "The front axel just blew up by itself", or it twisted the drive shaft off, "I wasn't trying to launch it!" Just sayin they are defiantly going to "test it out" ! ;)
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That’s the gospel truth

A little bit of water means they drove it in up to the hood.

It got a little muddy means you can’t tell what color it is.

I let my son take mine one evening and he immediately went to the deepest creek crossing in the county and went through it- He has not been allowed in it since.
 
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AndyG said:
Basically they’re not as attractive to young people as much as I thought they would be- When I was 20 years old we thought the dude in a jeep was on top of the world.
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Cool back in the day because every Tom, Dick, and Harry didn't have one.
Now Jeeps are the new mini-van.
 
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IMO, calling a Jeep Wrangler a car, is an total insult. A car is a Prius. The good thing about a Jeep Wrangler TJ/YJ as a first vehicle, is that you normally aren't trying to drive super fast. It is mostly a cruising vehicle or a rock crawler. No one in their right mind tries to drive super fast in a Jeep Wrangler. Take the top off the box, and enjoy the cruise. It makes you drive safely and cautiously. So yes, for these reasons, it is a good first vehicle for a sane driver.
 
What's the plan when they wake up late for school and they forgot to put the top on and it's cold and/or rainy.
Do they get to park it in your garage? Do they get to drive your car instead of theirs?
Kids are the worst. :rolleyes:
 
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I got my son a TJ. My thinking is that without purposely trying, it can’t be driven fast like a race car and it takes awhile to get up to speed. Based on safety, the driver is only safe if they drive safe. Sure it can be caused by the other driver but as long as they take measures to mitigate it. As far as maintenance goes, I almost feel like I have to force him outside to teach him about it and work on the Jeep. He turns 16 in August so hasn’t really had any alone time in it to make it his own. I plan to let him drive it for a year and if it’s just not something he’s into, he’ll get a lame car.
@AndyG you’re right about them not being as attractive to young people but it still doesn’t make any sense to me. Jeep with the top off vs a basic sedan….we all know what we’d choose.
 
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Jamesval035 said:
I got my son a TJ. My thinking is that without purposely trying, it can’t be driven fast like a race car and it takes awhile to get up to speed. Based on safety, the driver is only safe if they drive safe. Sure it can be caused by the other driver but as long as they take measures to mitigate it. As far as maintenance goes, I almost feel like I have to force him outside to teach him about it and work on the Jeep. He turns 16 in August so hasn’t really had any alone time in it to make it his own. I plan to let him drive it for a year and if it’s just not something he’s into, he’ll get a lame car.
@AndyG you’re right about them not being as attractive to young people but it still doesn’t make any sense to me. Jeep with the top off vs a basic sedan….we all know what we’d choose.
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When we go ride dirt bikes....The parking area will be a bunch of 60 year old gray-haired guys.

You might occasionally see a young buck.

I guess things change over time- Or maybe I try to assign my likes and so forth to other people...

When I was 19 I had a really nice CJ seven- I’m pretty sure I probably slept in it a night or too..... I was absolutely crazy about that jeep.

Now I’m going to go out on a limb a little bit and I’m not pointing fingers or stereotyping or anything-

But I do see less masculinity with our younger generation overall.

I see more extended adolescence.

And screen sucking is a way of life.

Kids need to get out and get dirty and get the wind in their hair- live. Turn it up.

They’re going to look back one day and have three children and a mortgage and this time it’s going to be a thing of the past.
 
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Here we are two days later and I see no comments about the chance of the daughter and her friends driving around topless in the Jeep.

FWIW, we're not sure of her age. Maybe she's 18, been driving for a couple years, graduated High School and now NEEDS a car Jeep to go topless in.
 
JEEPCJTJ said:
Here we are two days later and I see no comments about the chance of the daughter and her friends driving around topless in the Jeep.

FWIW, we're not sure of her age. Maybe she's 18, been driving for a couple years, graduated High School and now NEEDS a car Jeep to go topless in.
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You’re suggesting that my TEENAGE DAUGHTER be driving around with her friends topless.. not cool man..
 
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mcook1558 said:
You’re suggesting that my TEENAGE DAUGHTER be driving around with her friends topless.. not cool man..
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I'm NOT suggesting any of them take THEIR tops off. Claiming that I did really isn't cool.

FWIW, Topless Jeeps are the way to go regardless of who the driver and passengers are.

Apparition said:
Here they have graduated licenses so you can't haul other kids around for the first couple years.
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Now that you said it, I think it's that way in Ohio too, Topless or not, no kids causing distractions a good thing.
 
Vtx531 said:
If you do have a hardtop, why bother having a Jeep?
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Uh, for it's off-road capabilities? I'm definitely in the minority here, but I much prefer a hardtop over a softtop. I don't like convertibles, either. When I was younger, I road a motorcycle if I wanted to be in the elements, and I rode A LOT. I bought my '05 LJ in '21 from the original owner who bought it with the dual-top option and never removed the hardtop. I have an OEM khaki LJ soft top NIB that I don't know if I'll ever use (no, it's not for sale). We all have different preferences...
 
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No, Jeep (TJ) not a good idea for a first vehicle.

Stick with a car, Subaru, Honda, Toyota etc. Lexus 350 sedan with 80-100K are $15K here. Much better way to go.
 
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