TJ vs JK

Just my opinion as a newb on this forum; been following for the past year though. I wouldn't dismiss the first generation JK's based only on what you read on a forum. I read the same propagation of trash talk on several different posts. "unreliable minivan engine". What does that even mean? How does that make it inferior? I wonder if those on a minivan forum somewhere say hey, we have a wrangler engine in our vans, let's go rock crawling. I've had the opportunity to drive a few of the earlier JK's. The most recent, I had a 2007 JK unlimited for 3 months while I fixed up a few things to give it to a relative. I picked it up from my nephew who had it in college for several years and very much neglected maintenance. It had 115,000 miles on it and he was complaining of it overheating and that a mechanic quoted over $1000 to fix. I fixed the problem with a $75 new fan. It ran very smooth. If I hadn't read the odometer, I would have guessed it was near new. It handled and shifted (auto) great. Suspension was tight. I still like my TJ better, never have liked the look of the JK's. It really grew on me though, handled and rode better than my TJ. The engine revs high and has poor acceleration. However, I had no problem maintaining 75 mph on the highway. This one had 4.10 gears and small stock tires which may have helped. I have driven a couple with higher gearing and had no issues on the highway against a strong wind. Regarding reliability, based on my occasional perusing of JK forums, I seem to see more complaints about reliability issues with the stronger 3.6.

I really do not intend to insult any previous posters, I just wanted to give my opinion based on my experiences. My point is, don't dismiss based on forum posts. I suggest that if you see one you may like, go drive it with an open mind and make your own opinions. It may be fine for your needs. Once I drove that one daily for a little while, it changed my opinion on them. My biggest complaint is that (with all JK's actually) it really feels like I'm driving a car that looks like a jeep. My TJ is more fun.

I happen to agree.
We spend a lot of time offroad with our Jeeps and 1 particular guy in our group is very extreme, very hard on his Jeep and has the 3.8.
Has over 100k and he hasn't experienced an issue which is surprising to me.

I've personally have owned many vehicles " I'm old " and can say with confidence.......nothing impressive about the 4.0 from a performance perspective but it's extremely easy to work on and is very durable.

I see what my very close friends 3.8 JK does offroad and can't dismiss it.
 
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That is like saying Pink scooters are a biker chicks dream, it may work for a few but the majority of us learn from others mistakes...there have been enough problems with those models that the majority of us on here are willing to shy away from them. THey do make good candidates for a LS or Hemi swap, just like a TJ SE, (stirring the pot)
 
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As the owner of both the TJ and two JK. Both have problems. The TJ vibrates when lifted. The heater and wipers quit working. The JK have less power but that's do to the 3.21 gears. Both of mine one auto and one manual have 4.56 gears and 35" tires. The auto a 2007 has 138000 miles. The manual has 151000 miles. I've done nothing but regular maintenance on both. No problems to date. By the way the 2001 TJ has 144000. rebuild the trans and the transfer case replaced both axel.
So what I'm saying is there is good and bad in every Jeep made. And believe me I know I own 7 Jeep's total
 
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As the owner of both the TJ and two JK. Both have problems. The TJ vibrates when lifted. The heater and wipers quit working. The JK have less power but that's do to the 3.21 gears. Both of mine one auto and one manual have 4.56 gears and 35" tires. The auto a 2007 has 138000 miles. The manual has 151000 miles. I've done nothing but regular maintenance on both. No problems to date. By the way the 2001 TJ has 144000. rebuild the trans and the transfer case replaced both axel.
So what I'm saying is there is good and bad in every Jeep made. And believe me I know I own 7 Jeep's total
That’s an adult conversation, that’s reality. They are machines , made by human minds and all machines wear out, fail or have weaknesses. But man are they fun.
 
I am boycotting the JK's probably the JL's too. I bought a brand new JK in 2011, and it was a mess. It had 11 miles on it, and it was way over priced for what it was. It drove really weird from the get go. Like the when you shifted from 3rd to forth it lugged. Mostly because the engine couldn't handle the factory 3:73. I took it back to the dealer more than once to see if they could change the fuel map, and they wouldn't. I even got the regional representative to come drive it and he also agreed that it was no fun to drive, and basically told me there was nothing wrong with it, and there was nothing he could do. Toyota wouldn't have left me unsatisfied like that!

I took it in the ass, and lost all confidence in Jeep. I ended up trading it for a 2011 Ram R/T Hemi before one year. So you can imagine how much money you lose in buying a brand new car and getting rid of it in the same year. It was that awful, and left a bad taste in my mouth.

I now have a TJ that I bought as a blank canvas with a factory 4L, and it is even before I started, at least twice the rig the JK was. I paid a fourth of the price, and it drove better with close to 170K miles on it. I probably won't ever buy a new Jeep again. I will just keep this TJ for as long as I can, then pay too much for an older rebuilt CJ when I get too old to work on my own stuff anymore.

Screw JK's. Shame on Fiat for doing that to unsuspecting customers. Honestly who puts a minivan engine in a Jeep?
 
I am boycotting the JK's probably the JL's too. I bought a brand new JK in 2011, and it was a mess. It had 11 miles on it, and it was way over priced for what it was. It drove really weird from the get go. Like the when you shifted from 3rd to forth it lugged. Mostly because the engine couldn't handle the factory 3:73. I took it back to the dealer more than once to see if they could change the fuel map, and they wouldn't. I even got the regional representative to come drive it and he also agreed that it was no fun to drive, and basically told me there was nothing wrong with it, and there was nothing he could do. Toyota wouldn't have left me unsatisfied like that!

I took it in the ass, and lost all confidence in Jeep. I ended up trading it for a 2011 Ram R/T Hemi before one year. So you can imagine how much money you lose in buying a brand new car and getting rid of it in the same year. It was that awful, and left a bad taste in my mouth.

I now have a TJ that I bought as a blank canvas with a factory 4L, and it is even before I started, at least twice the rig the JK was. I paid a fourth of the price, and it drove better with close to 170K miles on it. I probably won't ever buy a new Jeep again. I will just keep this TJ for as long as I can, then pay too much for an older rebuilt CJ when I get too old to work on my own stuff anymore.

Screw JK's. Shame on Fiat for doing that to unsuspecting customers. Honestly who puts a minivan engine in a Jeep?
Actually, Fiat did not own Jeep until 2014. You have Chrysler to thank for that one.
 
It's till relevant.
Personally, I love all Jeeps, but the TJ's and before have a certain style and finesse about them the newer ones lost.
Fix up a TJ or older Jeep, park it at car show around all the new ones fixed up and notice the one that gets all the attention.
 
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Since this topic is still going lol... I started with a 2012 JKU as a DD. That was fine until I started breaking shit and having to get a rental car to make it to work. I had to make the choice to scale down the harder stuff or switch to a non DD. Eventually traded my JKU for an LJ and bought a different vehicle for DD duties.
 
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