Saw a new JL Rubicon today

My son who has never been into cars or trucks just bought a 2018 JLU Rubi. He is giddy over how much he loves the new ride. My grandson who is four asked him if they could buy another monster truck. I get to take it for a spin tomorrow.
Fonz

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My son who has never been into cars or trucks just bought a 2018 JLU Rubi. He is giddy over how much he loves the new ride. My grandson who is four asked him if they could buy another monster truck. I get to take it for a spin tomorrow.
Fonz
He most likely paid more than it cost me to build my house...:eek: Nice ride, though.
 
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Almost two weeks in to having our JL and the wife absolutely loves it. I've spent a little bit of time with it and have to say I'm pretty fond of it as well. Sure it doesn't have the ruggedness and simplicity appeal of the TJ/LJ years but its a blast to drive and and has great road manners. She talked me out of the 35" Ridge Grapplers I originally intended to run on the LJ and we put on a 2.5" spacer lift until I can spend some time evaluating suspension systems. Other than the added stiffness from the large Load E tires it drives very close to stock with the changes. We're headed to Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs this weekend and plan to spend Monday at the ORV Park there if all works out. I don't plan to do anything too crazy with it but we should be able to have an enjoyable time with the kids while driving it off pavement. If anything it has me itching to get my LJ completed and back on the road. (She did say she still got more waves in the LJ which is saying alot!)

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Almost two weeks in to having our JL and the wife absolutely loves it. I've spent a little bit of time with it and have to say I'm pretty fond of it as well. Sure it doesn't have the ruggedness and simplicity appeal of the TJ/LJ years but its a blast to drive and and has great road manners. She talked me out of the 35" Ridge Grapplers I originally intended to run on the LJ and we put on a 2.5" spacer lift until I can spend some time evaluating suspension systems. Other than the added stiffness from the large Load E tires it drives very close to stock with the changes. We're headed to Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs this weekend and plan to spend Monday at the ORV Park there if all works out. I don't plan to do anything too crazy with it but we should be able to have an enjoyable time with the kids while driving it off pavement. If anything it has me itching to get my LJ completed and back on the road. (She did say she still got more waves in the LJ which is saying alot!)

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That looks sick. Good taste. Well done
 
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That looks sick. Good taste. Well done

Thank you sir. We originally ordered a Billet Silver but when we cancelled the turbo order and found one on the lot with all the options we wanted the wife confessed that she actually liked the Granite Metallic the best, so thats what we got. It'll run 37s as it sits but I already had the 35s and I'm not a fan of a tire that looks stuffed in there. With it being her daily driver I was a little hesitant of even moving to the 35s.

techster82, I love that color. My LJ is red and would look great repainted JL gray.

I really liked the red on the JL but my LJR is Flame Red and she didn't want to match. Granite (or Graphite etc) is a color that I've never gotten tired of on vehicles plus it goes well with all the black accents.
 
A blue JL parked next to me at my Iowa apartment this weekend and I had a chance to look at it and inspect everything for a long time with my neighbor.

It is a Euro style rig. In addition to ugly front bumper, the plastic front side fender looks like the contour is lack of " ..." weird bec. I don't know what's missing on the design towards the half bottom fender area where the rock slider meets. The inside dash and seats is too much of a FIAT look.

Now, it's just me, too fancy and I do not like it.
 
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A blue JL parked next to me at my Iowa apartment this weekend and I had a chance to look at it and inspect everything for a long time with my neighbor.

It is a Euro style rig. In addition to ugly front bumper, the plastic front side fender looks like the contour is lack of " ..." weird bec. I don't know what's missing on the design towards the half bottom fender area where the rock slider meets. The inside dash and seats is too much of a FIAT look.

Now, it's just me, too fancy and I do not like it.
You own a renegade correct?
 
You own a renegade correct?
Yes. My wife chose it for my teenage daughter who end up not liking it.
She took one of my TJ and left the renegade in my garage.
Trade in value is so bad, I am stuck to it now.
I use it for weekend groceries.
 
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Yes. My wife chose it for my teenage daughter who end up not liking it.
She took one of my TJ and left the renegade in my garage.
Trade in value is so bad, I am stuck to it now.
I use it for weekend groceries.

Got a picture?
 
Yes. My wife chose it for my teenage daughter who end up not liking it.
She took one of my TJ and left the renegade in my garage.
Trade in value is so bad, I am stuck to it now.
I use it for weekend groceries.
I was gonna say your description of the jl sounded a lot like a renegade haha
 
I like the Renegade for a smaller vehicle at least in looks, I am probably getting an 05 Liberty for my daughters first car, plastic fenders and bumpers should work for that application.
cliffish, I have three daughters I bought first vehicles for. In hindsight, I should have got them a CJ 7 with old tires wrapping the entire thing!
 
Does anyone happen to know what kind of a price drop the JK line saw when the JL line finally hit the market?
I was checking around the local dealerships lately, and new 2018 2-door JK Sports are selling starting around $28k. Seems lower to me than before...
 
I was checking around the local dealerships lately, and new 2018 2-door JK Sports are selling starting around $28k. Seems lower to me than before...
You can get them in southern IN for 26-27 also. The sport models have seemed to have taken a dive somewhat in price. The Willy’s editons and rubicons seem like 500 bucks off but not too much.
 
We spent the day at the Hot Springs ORV Park this past Monday, basically had the place to ourselves. It was great to leisurely ride some trails with the kids and give the wife a chance to pilot her JL over some different terrain and obstacles. We started on just 1 and 2 Diamond trails. Part way through the day we came across a group in a JK Unlimited, nice local folks who asked if we wanted to ride together for a bit. After a bit I may have wandered on to some 4 Diamond trails that gave us a little pucker factor in a few spots but I took my time, got good lines and let the crawl ratio take over. I loved it. She loved it. The kids loved it.

It will never be a TJ/LJ and I will never look at it with the affection I do for my old girl, but so far I have no regrets about having this JL Rubicon in the driveway. Sure its extremely modern compared to the Jeeps we discuss here but for what it is (and what it is supposed to be), its a home run in my book.

Now if I can only steal more time away to work on the LJ so these can get on the trails together.

(Shot from the top of the Pipeline at the ORV Park where we stopped off with the kids for a little picnic and break)
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