My Wrangler Loaner (funny)

Tigerman

Tigerman

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Hi folks,
I wanted to share this short story with you, because I found it a bit amusing :)

This morning I took my RAM 1500 to the Chrysler dealership for a recall service. Even though my appointment was early, at 7'o clock in the morning, there were a few people ahead of me, impatiently waiting to get to work. The service guys checked everything out, took the keys and sent me on my way to the cashier to get a loaner vehicle. I think I was fourth in line for one. By the time I got to the front of the line all available vehicles were gone and there was only one left. The nice lady looked at her choices and me and then said;
- I am sorry sir! It looks like all the vehicles are out and I only have one left, but it is a wrangler. I can call the Enterprise down the street and they will get you into a nice CAR.
Someone should have been recording the expression on my face at that moment. I do not know what it was but probably a dangerous mixture of amusement, surprise and disappointment at the same time. If I was one of those older computers that had a "turbo" mode, it would be flashing on my forehead saying "ON, having a hard time computing your request, please stand by". After a second or two I finally unfroze and replied.

- What you mean you are sorry! Give me that Wrangler, I will wrangle it all over the road and maybe even off it. Let me know if I need to return it at all.
- I am sorry? She replied, clearing not understanding what the heck I was saying to her. I think at that moment she thought I could be from Proxima Centauri, 1.3 parsecs away and modulating a TCP protocol based signal at her in binary notation.
- Never mind, I replied.
- Let's make things simple. It sucks that it is a wrangler, but I am late to work and I will take it!

Soooo, no respect for the wrangler among the Earthers eah? LOL and I am stuck with a wrangler for a day or two. Anyone wants to trade this 2018 JK with 28 miles on it and give me their Nissan Altima or something "better"?

Cheers,
I hope I made you smile a little bit.
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I was fortunate enough to go to Puerto Rico for a couple weeks in 2016 for work. The only thing available to rent were wranglers. It was interesting to drive and compare it to mine.
 
Honestly it felt the same. Handled the same, power was comparable to mine (which Im sure gearing helps). A couple things I noticed was the road noise was significantly lower (obvious due to full doors and hardtop), and the seats were much more comfortable than mine. It did average 18 mpgs. I was glad to get back into mine though, familiar territory I guess.
 
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On the topic of comparisons...

I just returned the JK and here is what I think. I will compare it to my 1998 TJ and my 2011 FJ, which died a hero's death. Please don't take this as a serious comparison. It is mostly subjective and based on how I feel about it.

Believe it or not I went ahead and did an entire spreadsheet with comparisons for those three vehicles, but at the end I decided to just say it in words. It will be easier. Not taking into account the Rubicon.

The TJ is a really fun little truck that if properly worked on, can really do everything off-road. A little bit of tinkering here and there and it will even become sort of a decent everyday ride (sort of). To me, it looks the best of the three.

The FJ is the best everyday ride of the three. It has that bulletproof, rugged feel to it, like nothing will ever go wrong. It is also the most quite and has the best ride quality.

The JK attempts to be a nice everyday ride but doesn't really succeed. It doesn't give you that "wow, I am driving a tank" feeling. It has a few squeaks and noises even when new and the plastic feels cheap.

All in all, I have to stay with the TJ. If you don't expect it to be what it isn't, it is awesome! When the new FJ (rumored in 2020 with shorter wheel base and closer to being a true solid axle off-roader) comes out, I will probably buy it but still hang on to the TJ.

Cheers
 
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My problem with the FJ is how ugly it looks. Granted that's my personal opinion of course, but man those things are just hideous beyond words. That being said, it is a Toyota, and it does have that rock solid reliability. I've driven one, and they definitely make a much better daily driver given how quiet they are and how nice they ride (probably in part due to the IFS as oppose to solid axle front).

I've driven plenty of JKs and while they are nice, they feel cheap to me with all the plastic, and I also don't think they're all they're cracked up to be. I'm not a fan of all the gizmos or electronics, as I like my TJ in that it's simple, easy to work on, and more "basic", which is what I want from an off-road vehicle.

But this goes back to the days of me riding motorcycles, where people would always ask questions on the forums about which bike was the best for on-road and off-road. The correct answer was always that you can't have one motorcycle that is going to be the best at everything. A dirt bike excels at off-road, just like a touring bike excels at long rides and daily driving. You can get an enduro which is both on-road and off-road, but it will never be as good off-road as a much lighter dirt bike, and it will never be great for long highway trips due to the riding position, smaller engine, etc.

In other words, there's a different tool for each job, and to try to use one tool for everything is a bit silly. This is why I don't try to fool myself into thinking the TJ is some sort of fantastic daily driver / highway cruiser. It sucks at that sort of thing, but I don't care, because I'm using it as a fun, recreational vehicle.

Now one of the things the JK has going for it in terms of being a bit better on-road as far as manners goes, is the fact that it's much more insulated, sound proofed, and it has the longer wheelbase (even on the 2-door models), which definitely makes it easier to drive around town.

All of that being said, I'd rather have a JK as a loaner vehicle as oppose to some boring / bland car like a Chevy or Nissan. At least you get to drive a Jeep!

Too bad they couldn't loan you a Tesla! :D
 
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tworley said:
I was fortunate enough to go to Puerto Rico for a couple weeks in 2016 for work. The only thing available to rent were wranglers. It was interesting to drive and compare it to mine.
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Did the rental have the front driveshaft? A lot of island Jeeps have them removed, as all you can do is tool around on a flat island.
 
It did. When I say it was the only thing to rent, I mean it was the only thing with 4wd. I travel to some remote parts in my line of work and 4wd is a must. The nice part about that trip, aside from driving another wrangler--was my hotel was right on the water. The beach was maybe 50 feet away. I worked it out to where I had a couple more days to spend there just exploring.
 
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Chris said:
My problem with the FJ is how ugly it looks. Granted that's my personal opinion of course, but man those things are just hideous beyond words. That being said, it is a Toyota, and it does have that rock solid reliability. I've driven one, and they definitely make a much better daily driver given how quiet they are and how nice they ride (probably in part due to the IFS as oppose to solid axle front).

I've driven plenty of JKs and while they are nice, they feel cheap to me with all the plastic, and I also don't think they're all they're cracked up to be. I'm not a fan of all the gizmos or electronics, as I like my TJ in that it's simple, easy to work on, and more "basic", which is what I want from an off-road vehicle.

But this goes back to the days of me riding motorcycles, where people would always ask questions on the forums about which bike was the best for on-road and off-road. The correct answer was always that you can't have one motorcycle that is going to be the best at everything. A dirt bike excels at off-road, just like a touring bike excels at long rides and daily driving. You can get an enduro which is both on-road and off-road, but it will never be as good off-road as a much lighter dirt bike, and it will never be great for long highway trips due to the riding position, smaller engine, etc.

In other words, there's a different tool for each job, and to try to use one tool for everything is a bit silly. This is why I don't try to fool myself into thinking the TJ is some sort of fantastic daily driver / highway cruiser. It sucks at that sort of thing, but I don't care, because I'm using it as a fun, recreational vehicle.

Now one of the things the JK has going for it in terms of being a bit better on-road as far as manners goes, is the fact that it's much more insulated, sound proofed, and it has the longer wheelbase (even on the 2-door models), which definitely makes it easier to drive around town.

All of that being said, I'd rather have a JK as a loaner vehicle as oppose to some boring / bland car like a Chevy or Nissan. At least you get to drive a Jeep!

Too bad they couldn't loan you a Tesla! :D
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I don’t know where you keep going about JKs and plastic. I bought three TJs and they had just as much plastic interior, but it was way cheaper flimsy crap . The bumper cover and the fenders on the JK are plastic. And thank God, because my stupid rust issues were so muchon the TJs painted fenders, replacing and painting one cost $1400 !!! give me plastic ones any day!

But now driving/ owning a JK. I compare it to roller coasters to TJ was more like the old wooden ones bouncing you around jerking .. fun.. and s JK it’s more like a modern steel coaster feel with the smoother feel, but still like a “ride” just smoother, faster, with a little finesse. I love them both. But a JK really is spoiling me . It’s doing everything the TJs had and more. On the road, it moves quick. Not that sluggish feel I got with the TJs. The Rubi with the lower gears was better but still, not the quick feel and handling the JK has. They are just different. I’m sure modding is way easier on a TJ but I don’t need that extreme. So..

One thing I don’t like is the JKs steel panels are not as thick as TJs, that feels cheap to me. ...but then again the TJs panels rusted like crazy ...on me after only 7 years from new. They are rust buckets..,I don’t know.
 
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Love them both, but I’m having a blast in JK and it’s so comfortable and get a ton of compliments. JKs just look sexy it seems.
 
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Jeff Allan said:
I don’t know where you keep going about JKs and plastic. I bought three TJs and they had just as much plastic interior, but it was way cheaper flimsy crap . The bumper cover and the fenders on the JK are plastic. And thank God, because my stupid rust issues were so muchon the TJs painted fenders, replacing and painting one cost $1400 !!! give me plastic ones any day!

But now driving/ owning a JK. I compare it to roller coasters to TJ was more like the old wooden ones bouncing you around jerking .. fun.. and s JK it’s more like a modern steel coaster feel with the smoother feel, but still like a “ride” just smoother, faster, with a little finesse. I love them both. But a JK really is spoiling me . It’s doing everything the TJs had and more. On the road, it moves quick. Not that sluggish feel I got with the TJs. The Rubi with the lower gears was better but still, not the quick feel and handling the JK has. They are just different. I’m sure modding is way easier on a TJ but I don’t need that extreme. So..

One thing I don’t like is the JKs steel panels are not as thick as TJs, that feels cheap to me. ...but then again the TJs panels rusted like crazy ...on me after only 7 years from new. They are rust buckets..,I don’t know.
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Cool! Glad you like your JK so much. That makes one of us.
 
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I'd drive a JK anyday. I'd rent one if they're cheap enough when i'm traveling. And I would enjoy it. But I would never buy one.
 
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