I don't always have time to post on here, and I tend to lurk reading what has gone right and what has gone wrong with others, but... I actually put a stop to the idea of buying a Rubicon. We could swing it with both payments on the Jeep and the upgraded parts. I showed her what the cost of the Jeep payments would be and she didn't blink (I kept the price under $45k, but just barely). But, my love for my TJ is growing stronger, even though I haven't wrenched on it except for some basic maintenance. Plus, she went out and bought herself a new car, after saying she didn't want one for the past ten years. Public transportation is really cheap and easy, but she was tiring of it and bought her own car. So, when we go places together, I end up driving her wheels, even though I hate the car.
Everything she complains about my TJ is what I love about it. The noise, the rough ride, the Spartan interior, the military heritage of the body, etc. I'm back to my roots with this Jeep. I grew up learning to drive a VW dune buggy, a Model A Ford, my dad's Willys. And going out on my own, I kept that up for a lot of years with a multitude of vehicles I took off road, whether they were built for it or not. Moving to the city made me sell off a lot of my toys. And taking on our blended family meant putting stuff on the back burner. But there's nothing holding me back from changing my mind down the road and buying a JKU and still keeping the TJ. The short wheel base and maneuverability are why a lot of people in urban areas seem to buy 2 door jeeps.