OFFICIAL: 2019 JL turbo diesel

If money were no object ....

I am at a point in life where I can actually afford that JL Diesel. I wont buy it. Why? Properly built, I figure that I would be in $65k++. And then I would be afraid to actually take it anywhere beyond a fire road. In which case, my 4wd Chevy Colorado Diesel works just fine.

To me, the perfect offroad rig is 8 to 10 years old, used but not abused, low miles, and built right. I want to be in it for less than $20k and not afraid to take it where it might get scratched/ dented etc. In 7 years and a few model years in, maybe that JL diesel starts to look interesting.
 
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My guess with DEF and US emissions tuning, the MPG, power and everything will not be ideal. I don't think it'll add anything to the tow capacity either. I think much of the tow ratings for Jeeps are wheelbase related. In reality towing isn't that hard.

IMO diesel and power or passing isn't going to be where they shine. That said a V6 turbo diesel vs a V6 is fairly noticeable.

Is it actually possible to buy one of these though? For years I've heard "next year" they're going to have a diesel option. My problem with the stuff we get at work is that, we have no choice but to go diesel as we've tried all the gas engines and they simply don't hold up anymore in our 2.5 ton trucks and we'll only get a 1 ton gas if we plan to use it like a typical half ton truck. The diesel options cost so much more initially and that stuff you're paying extra for is the emissions stuff that is constantly going to the dealer.

Sorry for the rants here. I love diesel vehicles and there's many places for them, but there's a lot of issues and the ULSD, only looks like it's going to be staying much higher than gas for a very long time and the new gas engines, though complicated are getting closer to an emissions gutted diesel in sub half ton vehicles. For awhile many of these diesel upgrades were around $6k and then expect around $2k to fix (delete) that stuff when it's out of warranty and if your local government doesn't highly regulate vehicles. Much of that emissions equipment is even designed to lessen your efficiency, power and it'll deteriorate the engine internals. Of course that equipment may have some push to be introduced on gas engines (from what I've heard is a push from electric car manufacturers, but possibly as a scare tactic from the other side).

Without a mention of cost, which I think an excel spreadsheet should exist for every vehicle purchase with true costs, down to taxes and insurance, maintenance, resale etc.

I think everyone does like the idea of a new vehicle. The older I get the more I appreciate character in something. Without character I'm uninterested and bored. Another consideration you culture with character is for example my vehicle is definitely not "safe" by new standards, but when I drive I don't have automatic almost anything. I'm not staring at my dash when I back up and nothing flashes if there's something beside me when I merge. I don't have AC so I look for shade and opt to walk sometimes. I don't have an automatic so I look very far ahead and try to gauge a lot of the traffic from as far back as possible. Also I don't take calls or text. I can't shift and I can't hear while driving. I have to be alert when driving and I seldom am overcome with my eyes burning for sleep. I have to have full attention to drive and hold the vehicle straight to safely make it everywhere (ok I probably need to add a few safety items). When you're aware there's a bit of fun, gamesmanship, a slight sense of accomplishment when I arrive somewhere, and I don't have much animosity to even belligerent drivers I must share the road with because I'm thankful to have finished each leg of my journey safely. Those concepts still apply to all vehicles, but I don't have the safety equipment that allows for someone to be sloppy and get away with it for awhile. Just my $.02 and a little venting from all the safety training and seminars I have to be around lately.
 
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The new diesel engine will need to be deleted (def, def, egr,tuned,exhaust) to come alive.

I like the Jk,s. And the JLUR looks tough too.

In my opinion it is displacement that is holding back the Jk and Jl in terms of being buildable.

The real reason most of us dislike the JK/JL is we are committed....we have sunk so much cash and heart in these TJ’s we can’t even see our way out and to accept the newer Jeeps is to admit we hung on too long or that something could be better.

Chris’s post is correct , the TJ is purpose built, the 4 Door JK /JL is too, and it fills a broader purpose (suv-commuter-family car) and therefore sales soared.

Part of me says “when they pry my cold dead hands off my TJ wheel....” and the other part of me loves the 4 door....I just wish it were more powerful and less complex,
 
The new diesel engine will need to be deleted (def, def, egr,tuned,exhaust) to come alive.

I like the Jk,s. And the JLUR looks tough too.

In my opinion it is displacement that is holding back the Jk and Jl in terms of being buildable.

The real reason most of us dislike the JK/JL is we are committed....we have sunk so much cash and heart in these TJ’s we can’t even see our way out and to accept the newer Jeeps is to admit we hung on too long or that something could be better.

Chris’s post is correct , the TJ is purpose built, the 4 Door JK /JL is too, and it fills a broader purpose (suv-commuter-family car) and therefore sales soared.

Part of me says “when they pry my cold dead hands off my TJ wheel....” and the other part of me loves the 4 door....I just wish it were more powerful and less complex,
Supercharge it.
 
The new diesel engine will need to be deleted (def, def, egr,tuned,exhaust) to come alive.

I like the Jk,s. And the JLUR looks tough too.

In my opinion it is displacement that is holding back the Jk and Jl in terms of being buildable.

The real reason most of us dislike the JK/JL is we are committed....we have sunk so much cash and heart in these TJ’s we can’t even see our way out and to accept the newer Jeeps is to admit we hung on too long or that something could be better.

Chris’s post is correct , the TJ is purpose built, the 4 Door JK /JL is too, and it fills a broader purpose (suv-commuter-family car) and therefore sales soared.

Part of me says “when they pry my cold dead hands off my TJ wheel....” and the other part of me loves the 4 door....I just wish it were more powerful and less complex,
I knew I wouldn’t fetch on my own what I got for it, so I had to sell when I did. I loved it, but it wasn’t gonna work for me much longer in terms of space and everyday life. I needed more space, and that will be taken into account with my next vehicle. Jks prices have come wayyyy down here lately and so have the JKUs...to think the tj is going to go up in price is wishful thinking. You just have to enjoy the tj for what it is and you can’t look at it as a collector car. The money you put in you won’t get back, and that’s just part of it.
 
I knew I wouldn’t fetch on my own what I got for it, so I had to sell when I did. I loved it, but it wasn’t gonna work for me much longer in terms of space and everyday life. I needed more space, and that will be taken into account with my next vehicle. Jks prices have come wayyyy down here lately and so have the JKUs...to think the tj is going to go up in price is wishful thinking. You just have to enjoy the tj for what it is and you can’t look at it as a collector car. The money you put in you won’t get back, and that’s just part of it.
Well said . The JKU works well . To say it is a hit is an understatement.

I test drove a 2016 JKU Rubicon recently.....may buy it yet for longer trips ...Will keep the TJ Rubicon , may wheel it more and ultimately give to my son. It is pure Jeep fun.
 
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Modern restricted diesels is still better than any current option for the Wrangler. Yes better than our 4.0

I've been thinking about the JL Diesel option forever.

This is not a Geo prizm forum looking at Ford F250s. We are wrangler enthusiasts and this is exciting. If I had the cash to get it as a 4th vehicle I would get one.

Sure the TJ and LJ are awesome but come on. We talk a little bit of crap because they are expensive compared to what our platform can do. But who wouldn't like a brand new vehicle with modern amenities that has similar capabilities or higher due to 3rd party support.

It's like saying my 92 Civic gets 38mpg why would I buy a new Civic for $20k. New ones have all these sensors, electronic problems yada yada yada
I just need a descent ride, AC, and reliable with cruise being way over the top! I dont like power window, touch screen radio's, or anything else that can get wet if I take the top off. Most of that stuff just costs money, is expensive to fix and the new PCM's dont like to run too well if you remove these options. That is why I am still dring a YJ and I feel that an LJ is such an upgrade...Diesel is good up until the point it is 30% more for fuel vs gas and the mileage is not 30% or better than gas. My wife's 3.6 JK can cruise down the highway at 75-80 mph while her TJ was a wandering down the road, barely able to keep it between the lines. I also had good shocks and control arms...so the ride improved with JK, I still prefer the smaller platform of the TJ. I have access to an OM617, I used to dream about the 30 mpg, but I just couldnt justify the swap. So I will stick with my LJ, which has more features than I need and way more electronics than what is necessary for my use. But to each their own. Tim
 
I think the JL/JLU will likely be a great vehicle for the average buyer that wants a convertible 4x4. I don't use my vehicle all the time, but when I do, it's very much like a tool and often stressful situations occur. When those occur I like having what I need where I want it and don't need useless stuff getting in the way, so I inherently tend to modify vehicles I use for off-road.

I'm also aware of the fact that Jeep needs to make a profit and needs to sell vehicles to repeat owners. Jeep and their engineers have different needs than I do. They need a product that is nice for the average owner and to be fairly problem free for about 10 years give or take. Typically that does mean a vehicle that's problem free for much longer than that, because they're looking at a bell curve (I think) for when components will fail. I want to keep a vehicle for the rest of my life and would like that to be as easily maintainable as possible, trying to be easy on it, but having to use it like a tool quite often.

In life there's a lot of ways to not have to fight entropy. We can get/design something that should last our lifetime or we can do without. I feel like newer designs certainly haven't accepted the latter, as the typical person that's willing to drop $40k for something to get groceries with is not in that commitment for the life of that vehicle so liberties are taken by engineers to facilitate price and most often manufacturing. In doing that there's often some major design flaws that should have never been considered, but they will easily work for a decade or 2 and TJs are certainly not free from these designs, but there's less stuff in general. I probably removed only 20 lbs of "extra" stuff in my TJ when I had it torn apart. Yes there's still many areas that if I was to start from scratch I would redesign, but like the engine swap, you may get peace of mind or something, but you basically just spend a bunch of money when a workaround is probably more than adequate. However, sometimes we just need to work on something for our own sanity.

For those of us holding onto a 20 year old vehicle, there's numerous reasons why we're holding on. From my perspective it's one of the last designs that's very simple and it happens to be a fairly cheap entry as well and there's some technical areas that are better than the newest offerings. I have a 1996 Grand Cherokee and it seems way more complicated than the TJ, but I'd almost rather have that $1,200 vehicle more than a JKU with the 3.8L. The ZJ is a 5.2L and for everyday driving full time AWD is kinda handy occasionally, but for the price of a used JKU, you could rebuild the thing a couple of times.

When I hit $40k on my TJ, which is unfortunately much closer than I had hoped for, I feel like I'll be able to overbuild the drivetrain and suspension, to actually outperform a new JL ie normal highway/city driving and off-road, but it will be rough around the edges because it's custom, which few potential new buyers would accept. And those that would like it certainly would need financing which is mostly unavailable for anything not mass produced. Also to be fair someone had to buy my TJ new, so it just happens to work out that I can exploit someone that dropped somewhere around $20k without counting inflation, extra taxes, regulations, their insurance, etc. I just keep coming back to excel sheets and when you consider all the costs and typical life and maintenance, these used vehicles (not really a Wrangler so much) seem so cheap in the long run (labor is taken for granted as this is another area I can exploit).

I guess my slant on TJ vs JL vs JK, unlimited or 2 door, is that I feel like post TJ is too heavy for my liking for a sub-half ton and unfortunately I have to admit that my electrical skills are poor when it comes to repairs and I don't buy a vehicle expecting to ever sell it.

But I guess the biggest positive I have for the TJ is that it's like driving a piece of equipment (well old equipment I'm used to, so yeah it's a matter of nostalgia). There's just something about driving something that's a bit rough around the edges. It just feels like adventure, which I feel is constantly lacking. For most that's a minus and that's great cuz people need to buy new vehicles, so I can buy them used one day.