JK Question: 3.6 or 3.8?

[Chris]

And barely a down payment in others. (cough, cough) JK/U's are popular. The Rubicon in all it's JK flavors even more so. Anything with wheels on it is just flat out expensive these days. Especially anything worth driving. You are going to pay a premium to drive a cool rig like a JK/UR.

Sure, a Hemi would be nice in the JK, but remember that the original MB only had something like 36 HP. It got around just fine. The 3.6 pushes the JKs down the road great for all intents and purposes. Heck, we blew across South Dakota at 10 over the speed limit with me and two women and all their luggage in our JKU without any drama what-so-ever. Over hill and dale, never impeding traffic in the slightest. Got pretty decent mileage in the process. You could melt 35's to the asphalt with a Hemi, but I'm a little past that appealing to me.

Bottom line is you got to pay to play. If nobody wanted a Wrangler, TJ's would be going for $4,000 and down and JK's would be going for $18,000 and down. But a lot of people do want a Wrangler and are willing to pay for them.

And hey... If you're willing to pay for it, more power to you! I just won't buy any vehicle that is 40k... Not unless I get rich or something. The monthly payments on that (without a good sized down payment) are way more than I would feel comfortable with.

I like the feeling of owning my car, not my car owning me. But, this is coming from a guy who isn't rich and supports a family of 4 (including myself).

I even snagged our 2015 Subaru Outback for a smoking deal... 15k! Basically a 32k car for less than half of what it costs brand new.

JKs are nice, but way too spendy for my taste.

 

[StG58]

Didn't have much of a choice actually. Said "No" three times. Still ended up with a red JKU with half doors. Sometimes you just surrender to the inevitable and move on.

It's all just a desperate attempt to salve my conscience anyway. Damn JK's.

My TJ build money is going for JK payments.

 

[Blank]

my wife wants a jk and if we do it I will get her a 3.6 so that's blows my budget and we will get her a different vehicle. I hate how expensive vehicles have gotten and how much I love the ones out of my range. I would love a JKU R but bills and priorities, house and food the kids need learn to fend for themselves so daddy can have a new shiny Jeep.

 

[jaymannycee87]

Can't add much to what's already been said, except a 2011 JKU owned by a friend of my daughters, and driven like a baby, never offroaded, is in the shop getting a new transmission. I think it's a common enough problem because the 3.8 is not well-matched to the transmission. I'll tell you something, if I was having to replace a 6 year old transmission, I would not be a happy camper!

Maybe your daughter's friend is an idiot. I have a 2010 jeep wrangler sport with 130,000 miles and took it through level 3 snow storms in northern Ohio, high incline hills, and mud with deep sinks since the day I bought it and it still drives like brand new. Your daughters friend is either an idiot that doesn't know how to drive a jeep or you are just making stuff up

 

[JMT]

Maybe your daughter's friend is an idiot. I have a 2010 jeep wrangler sport with 130,000 miles and took it through level 3 snow storms in northern Ohio, high incline hills, and mud with deep sinks since the day I bought it and it still drives like brand new. Your daughters friend is either an idiot that doesn't know how to drive a jeep or you are just making stuff up

Necro from hell! 2017

Nice entrance to the forum. If you don’t like anecdotal evidence then just move on. Why don’t you go play on the JK forum?! This is a TJ forum.

 

[RINC]

Maybe your daughter's friend is an idiot. I have a 2010 jeep wrangler sport with 130,000 miles and took it through level 3 snow storms in northern Ohio, high incline hills, and mud with deep sinks since the day I bought it and it still drives like brand new. Your daughters friend is either an idiot that doesn't know how to drive a jeep or you are just making stuff up

Welcome! You certainly know how to make an impression with your 1st post.

 

[P man]

Maybe your daughter's friend is an idiot. I have a 2010 jeep wrangler sport with 130,000 miles and took it through level 3 snow storms in northern Ohio, high incline hills, and mud with deep sinks since the day I bought it and it still drives like brand new. Your daughters friend is either an idiot that doesn't know how to drive a jeep or you are just making stuff up

Dang where did you come from lol

 

[PNW_LJ]

Dang where did you come from lol

The deep sinks of northern Ohio, obviously..

 

[Chris]

Maybe your daughter's friend is an idiot. I have a 2010 jeep wrangler sport with 130,000 miles and took it through level 3 snow storms in northern Ohio, high incline hills, and mud with deep sinks since the day I bought it and it still drives like brand new. Your daughters friend is either an idiot that doesn't know how to drive a jeep or you are just making stuff up

None of this changes the fact that the 3.8 is still an underpowered turd.

There is no world in which the 4.0 isn't superior to the 3.8, which is saying A LOT.

3.6 > 4.0 > 3.8

By the way, if your first post on this forum was made just to dig up an old thread and name call, you aren't going to last long around here.

I'm sorry you had your feelings hurt by this post, but you're going to need to seek the mental help you need elsewhere.

 

[4Lo4Sho]

Only 07-current Jeep i'd consider is the later model JK's with the 3.6, but honestly, i TOTALLY had the choice to buy one when we were buying our TJR a couple months ago. Just TOO many reported issues with too many of that platforms components for our taste (and at relatively low miles reported).

Personally, if i wanted a 4door hardcore offroad wagon, i'd buy an FJ62, FJ80 or FJ100. I'd rather deal with a Toyota with 250-300k miles than a JK/JL's issues.

My pick of the 3 would be a later model FZJ80 (1995ish-1998ish, i think?) You get:

• An underpowered but uber-reliable motor (better than the early model motor - a holdover from the FJ62, i think)
• seating for 5, or possibly 7 with the 3rd row option
• available F/R lockers
• Solid axles
• HD build quality and load capacity
• Fair aftermarket (nothing compared to jeeps, but not too shabby)
• Known issue fixes like the PHH (if you know, you know)
• Solid community of wheelers/explorers/enthusiasts.

EDIT: haha! -didn't realize this was a necro-thread.

 

[NDSpeed]

honestly the electrical gremlins are the worse in the JK

haven’t had a working horn in 8 years in the Jk. two different clock springs.

i’ll stick to the TJ.