2007 diesel build or 2016 brand new?

[Notsodirtyhippie]

I'd be ok with it if I knew for certain it's ok. It's not necessarily about money. I have $45k budgeted, I'm just not sure I want to spend that much or save a little and personalize it. Jeep Wrangler has been my dream car for 20 years so I have a long list of things I need to do to it. I mean my husband has to do to it. [emoji23]

 

[Pyro1415]

I'd be ok with it if I knew for certain it's ok. It's not necessarily about money. I have $45k budgeted, I'm just not sure I want to spend that much or save a little and personalize it. Jeep Wrangler has been my dream car for 20 years so I have a long list of things I need to do to it. I mean my husband has to do to it. [emoji23]

New hard top slightly equipped rubicons can be had for mid to upper 30s if your willing to drive. I wouldn't buy a slightly used one because they generally sell for the same as a new one from a high volume dealer. On auto trader a few months ago I found several JKUR with powered Windows and a few features for 35k.

Also if I could get the factory diesel jk I would in a heart beat over gas. I've seen them work in Germany and they're fantastic. But doing an engine swap I would go ls all day.

Best of luck.

 

[james2003w]

Before you buy new and get a lifetime warranty, consider what you will have modified on the vehicle. The reason I say this is because there have been far too many owners getting shafted for performing a mod (lift, or something) and being rejected for warranty work. Granted the magnuson moss act states they have to prove it, and so does the policy that the dealerships are to follow. But just really think long and heavy on getting any warranty, especially if you're getting a Wrangler you're going to mod.

If you buy one, I would suggest a Rubicon or the Hard Rock model and 2012+ (one with the 3.6L). I've driven both the 3.8L and 3.6L, as I believe most people here have. Hands down if I were to re buy my first Jeep I would have bought one with the 3.6L under it. I did run my 3.8L to 160k with very little issues mechanically (water pump, starter, alternator were replaced at 140k).

Wranglers from my understanding have a very high resale value in general, higher than most vehicles.

 

[Blazindevl]

Wranglers from my understanding have a very high resale value in general, higher than most vehicles.

This is so true... Bought a new 2012 Rubicon for $37,000, drove it for two years and put 25k miles on it then sold it for $33,500. Any other car and I would have lost thousands!

 

[james2003w]

This is so true... Bought a new 2012 Rubicon for $37,000, drove it for two years and put 25k miles on it then sold it for $33,500. Any other car and I would have lost thousands!

Bought a 2008 JKU Sahara fully loaded (everything but heated seats) with 15k miles for $22k... put a 3" Fabtech lift on it, traded it into the dealer with 160k miles and got almost $18k for it (I think they really wanted to sell me my '15). -- Mind you when this 2008 was new it was originally sold for around $28-30k (paperwork was left in the owners manual when I bought it)

Just another example for the OP that a "slightly used one" one may run almost the same price as a new one. With the new one you have piece of mind that everything is going to work, and you do have the default 3yr/** mile warranty or whatever it may be for the area. And if you're going to mod it, that lifetime warranty would really need to be thought about.

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

New hard top slightly equipped rubicons can be had for mid to upper 30s if your willing to drive. I wouldn't buy a slightly used one because they generally sell for the same as a new one from a high volume dealer. On auto trader a few months ago I found several JKUR with powered Windows and a few features for 35k.

Also if I could get the factory diesel jk I would in a heart beat over gas. I've seen them work in Germany and they're fantastic. But doing an engine swap I would go ls all day.

Best of luck.

Thanks for you input!

So my "wish list" is
Soft top/ or don't care top. I'm in Vegas, warm winters/low rain. And a garage that doesn't need more stuff hanging around.
Manual trans
No navigation and as low tech as possible. I don't care what my tire psi is sitting at or any of the other bells n whistles. I've made it this long in my life without having my hand virtually held, I can go longer.
Power windows but that's not a must either since I want half doors on the front and it'll keep my kids from messing with the windows. They've never hand cranked a window before! hahahah.

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

Before you buy new and get a lifetime warranty, consider what you will have modified on the vehicle. The reason I say this is because there have been far too many owners getting shafted for performing a mod (lift, or something) and being rejected for warranty work. Granted the magnuson moss act states they have to prove it, and so does the policy that the dealerships are to follow. But just really think long and heavy on getting any warranty, especially if you're getting a Wrangler you're going to mod.

If you buy one, I would suggest a Rubicon or the Hard Rock model and 2012+ (one with the 3.6L). I've driven both the 3.8L and 3.6L, as I believe most people here have. Hands down if I were to re buy my first Jeep I would have bought one with the 3.6L under it. I did run my 3.8L to 160k with very little issues mechanically (water pump, starter, alternator were replaced at 140k).

Wranglers from my understanding have a very high resale value in general, higher than most vehicles.

I talked to my husband about the warranty and he's agreed that while it sounded nice to not have to mess with it, that we don't want it. I hate dealerships. Avoid them thanks to some bad experiences. We will do the work of we need it. Seems like jeep is one of the last easy to work on vehicles.

 

[jeeeep]

Thanks for you input!

So my "wish list" is
Soft top/ or don't care top. I'm in Vegas, warm winters/low rain. And a garage that doesn't need more stuff hanging around.
Manual trans
No navigation and as low tech as possible. I don't care what my tire psi is sitting at or any of the other bells n whistles. I've made it this long in my life without having my hand virtually held, I can go longer.
Power windows but that's not a must either since I want half doors on the front and it'll keep my kids from messing with the windows. They've never hand cranked a window before! hahahah.

Soft top is the stock option, what type of trailer do you plan to tow?

power windows are great, you can lock out the rear windows :thumb:

you should be able to find one without the nav unit, or get it removed. I had them remove the higher priced unit on my 2010 and replace it with a basic am/fm Sirius head unit. just make sure they give you proper credit for it they tried to slide in a $150 credit on mine lol - it ended up closer to $1200 credit

skip the tow option, it used to add 4.10 gears but now those are extra, your husband seems mechanically inclined so adding the tow hitch and transmission cooler should be easy enough. might want to price out buying vs dealer installed price (sometimes it is cheaper)

4.10 gears, if you choose the 4.10 gears they are extra but IMO worth the $695 if you plan to stick with stock form for awhile. if you plan on doing a gear swap for larger tires right away then skip the extra cost.

avoid the automatic temperature control add-on, it's a PITA and not worth the extra cost.

I like the remote start, it's nice on cold mornings but I like to use it on the hell hot Texas days to get the A/C going.

If you can find a base model with the few extras like the above, you'll be in the 40-43k range, dealers love to add their BS scotch guard (I think $6 a can? lol)

good luck :thumb:

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

$1200?! Jeeezzz. I did the build on the jeep website and skipped almost every option you mentioned. The tow assembly was like $500, found a stock one on eBay for $35. They were selling it because they got new bumpers and it was useless to them. I think our plans have changed a little as far as towing with it. We're going to do some modifications to our truck and see if we can pinpoint why we're only getting 8mpg. Then using that to tow. So 2 vehicles for big trips but so worth it.

Automatic temp control? Too complicated. I like on/off and levels.

There are people out there that like ever schnazzy feature but I'm not like that. I just see it as something else to break or annoy me. Although I would like seat warmers. That's a handy feature.

 

[Goldeneagle1LC]

If your 250 is newer it's the diesel exhaust nonsense that's killing your mileage.

 

[Pursesnatcher]

It may be in your best interest to find a 2013+ JK Sport S with low mileage for $26.5-$30k. Judging by your responses about just wanting a super basic setup, not needing anything too fancy... it may be a great option. Then you can focus the difference ($8k-$12k) of what you would have spent on a brand new Rubicon in suspension, wheels, tires, performance parts (exhaust, re-gearing) and some exterior mods for the Sport S. I bet you'd be a whole lot happier and you'd still be able to 'build' your jk like you wanted to when you considered doing the diesel swap.

Honestly, you may be able to drop $3k on a nice budget boost/35in setup and be really happy with the performance. That could save ya from spending $8k + to do a 37in setup (the correct way).

Just my thoughts, based on your responses in the past few pages on this thread. Good luck!

 

[Kickrocks]

The other option if you want new but cheap and your husband is mechanically inclined, look at the for sale section. There is a guy that is selling a 2012 rubicon for cheap.
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?33587-2012-Jeep-Wrangler-Rubicon-Theft-Recovery

You will have best of both worlds. Save vs buying new and have money to customize how you want.

Just an opinion.

 

[windowlicker]

Not to doubt your decision, but... have you thought about importing a diesel from Europe? I love my diesel 6 speed JKU - 500 mile range and more torque than a Hemi. But I'm guessing it would fall foul of emissions regs in the States. Unless there's some sort of exemption for personal imports?

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

If your 250 is newer it's the diesel exhaust nonsense that's killing your mileage.

I think our problem could be injectors. It's a 6.0 and we've done the whole motor bulletproofing, some deletes and hallowed out the cat to stay visually legal. Still pass the sniff test fine.
We should have done the injectors then but they seemed fine. Then we had to get the tranny rebuilt. (I almost killed my husband installing it. I'm no longer allowed around jacks- oops) hopefully the weather stays chilled out so we can do that soon. I've tried getting him to sell that truck but he's bonded to it. It'll die in our possession.

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

It may be in your best interest to find a 2013+ JK Sport S with low mileage for $26.5-$30k. Judging by your responses about just wanting a super basic setup, not needing anything too fancy... it may be a great option. Then you can focus the difference ($8k-$12k) of what you would have spent on a brand new Rubicon in suspension, wheels, tires, performance parts (exhaust, re-gearing) and some exterior mods for the Sport S. I bet you'd be a whole lot happier and you'd still be able to 'build' your jk like you wanted to when you considered doing the diesel swap.

Honestly, you may be able to drop $3k on a nice budget boost/35in setup and be really happy with the performance. That could save ya from spending $8k + to do a 37in setup (the correct way).

Just my thoughts, based on your responses in the past few pages on this thread. Good luck!

I've been exploring those options as well. A month ago I knew I wanted a rubicon with a conservative lift and bigger tires. Now I have no idea! There's so many options. Are the Dana 44 worth the extra cost of the rubi or no? I don't see us putting in anything bigger like the 60+. And also gear ratio... Would I need to have my gears reworked to have 35s? We drive in the mountains, freeway and grocery getting city. Thanks!

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

Not to doubt your decision, but... have you thought about importing a diesel from Europe? I love my diesel 6 speed JKU - 500 mile range and more torque than a Hemi. But I'm guessing it would fall foul of emissions regs in the States. Unless there's some sort of exemption for personal imports?

Honestly, I didn't even know that was an option. I'm not sure how that would work with our local epa. They're pretty ticky about diesel swaps but factory they should be ok. We have a diesel truck that's modded to bypass the emissions stuff and it passes emissions better than our gas suv does.
Also aren't those built in Ohio as well? So it would ship overseas then have to come back? Hahaha. Ahhh gotta love American laws made by money. Pretty sure this is the only country that frowns upon diesels. Personally I love diesels. I drove a diesel Mercedes when I was a teen and that thing would go forever on $5 of diesel. Prices were also only $1 a gal then.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll be looking into that.

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

The other option if you want new but cheap and your husband is mechanically inclined, look at the for sale section. There is a guy that is selling a 2012 rubicon for cheap.
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?33587-2012-Jeep-Wrangler-Rubicon-Theft-Recovery

You will have best of both worlds. Save vs buying new and have money to customize how you want.

Just an opinion.

That's a great idea! I could care less what the title says. [emoji6]

 

[Mizippi]

I had a similar debt. Best advise I got was pic one, and get wheeling.

(I bought an 07 JKU 2wd w/ 185k miles for $7000. Installing - Hemi, 60s, atlas, Armour, etc.)

Work in progress:

 

[Notsodirtyhippie]

I had a similar debt. Best advise I got was pic one, and get wheeling.

(I bought an 07 JKU 2wd w/ 185k miles for $7000. Installing - Hemi, 60s, atlas, Armour, etc.)

Work in progress:

View attachment 206903

That's an awesome deal! We ended up getting a 2015 sport that we'll build up and keep til it dies. After our road trip in it this weekend we're both wanting a hemi.

 

[Dalton gang]

So I'm not yet a proud jeep owner yet. It's only taken 7 years of marriage to talk my husband into it. Sooo my options are:
1. Buy a 2007-2008 jk rubicon 4dr for $16-$17k then dump a 4bt cummins in it. 37in tires. Not super concerned about the Nevada DMV bs. I can change my address to my moms and claim seasonal residency.
The kit for misc parts is around $7000, engine and trans $5000 range. Husband will do the install. He's a diesel fan big time and has torn our f250 apart and rebuilt the heads. And replaced the transmission. Currently he's in the garage and has the motor of our xterra completely apart. Pretty good mechanic for an electrician.

Or option 2. Just buy a new jk rubicon with lifetime warranty and call it a day.

Honestly I like the last of electronics in the few 2007s better. Simple is better to me, less to go wrong.

I don't want a huge rock crawler, just enough to get us off the beaten path and enjoy the outdoors while my kids are little.

The price point is about the same both ways. The 2007 might be a little less $ but a ton more work.

Thanks in advance

Personally I'd go custom just because I could. If the hubby is a diesel guy , he'll yeah put a 5.9 in that thing and roll coal might even be cheaper if you rebuild it . If you go that route start a thread .I'd subscribe .