Sold my Jeep, now what?

[Idaho45guy]

Sold my `89 Jeep Wrangler less than a year after I bought it. I sold it for $50 more than what I paid for it, and I added about $600 in parts and put maybe 300 miles on it.

Just Empty Every Pocket is accurate...

I bought it because I thought it would be a fun second vehicle that I could use to explore the Idaho back country.

What I discovered is that the Idaho back country is gated off, so any vehicle over 50" wide is useless, and I could get everywhere that wasn't gated in a mildly lifted SUV.

I also discovered that without the hard top and just the bikini top and half doors, it was a blast when it was above 70 degrees. But if I drove it back home after dark, even in the middle of summer, I would freeze my backside off.

And I just didn't trust it to get me out of the woods every time.

So now I have no idea what I'll replace it with. Think I may just stick to hiking and my little pontoon boat for the rest of the summer.

Heading out tomorrow to go tent camp on the Couer D'alene river for a couple of days and fish for cutthroat trout with my brother and some friends.

I'm going to miss my little Jeep, oddly enough...

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[Bogart]

Im on my sixth jeep, my first was a 79 CJ5, all wranlers after that , I'm sitting in my ,06 now.
I love them. Yes they have the issues you listed but it is very easy to over come them. Driving "topless"��on an awesome spring day makes all the little annoyances be forgotten.

[Isaac]

You may want to take a look at a newer TJ version '97-06. I began with a 97. Bought it used in '07 with 119k. Didn't have an issue. Traded it for a new 2010 4dr unlimited. The '97 had 154k on it when traded. Two years later I bought a '00 TJ with 80k. Traded the 2010 on a '16 Ram 1500. Still have the '00. It now has 121k. I've had no mechanical issues other than wear items with either of them. The 2010 was so much like a typical modern SUV that, other than looks, reminded me very little of the TJ's. With both TJ's I had a hard and soft top. Love the soft top, but like the security of the hard top.

Isaac

[marlin39a]

Get that ATV you were thinking of. You have the utility trailer to haul it to trail heads. That's what I do.

[robg]

A Suzuki Jimniy will go where bigger 4x4 can't.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

We hear the same story from shooters all over our country. The states that have large areas of open space may not allow access to it. I have driven from border to border in many western states and I don't remember seeing a single field that didn't have a fence around it. As for as I am concerned a jeep is a waste of money. They are horrible to ride in on the open road, they offer no carrying capacity, they offer no security for what they do carry and they get lousy gas millage. Jeeps are expensive to buy new but difficult to sell for anything like what you paid for it. I have seen them set for months with a for sale sign in the window. I will admit that an older jeep with a much lower price sells quickly, even in California. A half ton 4x4 pickup is a much better choice.

[Outer Rondacker]

I love my TJ's. Sadly I will never own one again. They sell for just to much vs what they are in my area. I paid less for my F250sd then a wrangler of the same year. Good luck fishing.

[MT Gianni]

An extended cab short box will turn around almost anywhere in the Northern Rockies logging roads. If needed you can sleep in the seats and it has much less of a tendency to show you what was behind you on slick roads.

[osteodoc08]

Id look at one of the modern UTV tailored to your needs. Heck, you can even get them with A/C and heat!

[Omega]

I needed to cut down some trees in my little hunting patch, due to the slope of the hills I could not get the logs out easily. I wanted to own a jeep for some time and when one presented itself, with an Warn 8K winch I jumped on it, deciding it was the perfect tool for my project. It was narrow enough to get down where I needed it and by anchoring the rear bumper onto a tree it managed to haul some rather large logs up the hill and then with a slight upward lift, it skidded them to a flat spot for later use (in reverse). But it did use up some fuel, even if it was only a 4 cylinder, it was like driving a brick. I finally sold it to a kid that was wanting to tear it apart and rebuild it, since it's like a big leggo kit for adults.

Lego Version

My Old Jeep

[dverna]

Recently sold a Polaris Ranger and a Polaris RZR and purchased a 2010 Wrangler. Best decision I have made in a long time. I no longer need to worry which roads/trails are legal (stupid laws in MI). I have wipers, heat and air...or I can take the top off.

[shtur]

My 1997 Wrangler is the most fun vehicle I've ever had in the mountains. I took out the back seat a long time ago. I rarely use 4X4, it is my only vehicle that seems to have the right amount of weight for it's size. My wife enjoys our outings in the jeep, it's our grouse and snowshoe hare hunting rig, and our mushroom and huckleberry harvesting rig. Even though it's only a 4 banger, two limits of snowshoes and grouse has never put a strain on the motor.

[Bmp4510]

My 1997 Wrangler is the most fun vehicle I've ever had in the mountains. I took out the back seat a long time ago. I rarely use 4X4, it is my only vehicle that seems to have the right amount of weight for it's size. My wife enjoys our outings in the jeep, it's our grouse and snowshoe hare hunting rig, and our mushroom and huckleberry harvesting rig. Even though it's only a 4 banger, two limits of snowshoes and grouse has never put a strain on the motor.

I have a 1980 CJ7, with the original 151ci GM 4 cylinder engine and the factory hard top. The only options listed on the spec sheet were the hard top, the passenger and rear seats. Over the years I added the Warn full floating rear end with locking/unlocking hubs, a Detroit Locker in back, and a TrueTrack locker in front. The 3.53 gears were swapped out for 4.11’s. 25 years ago I added a Rubicon Express 2.5” lift, and bed lined the inside of the tub. I swapped out the horrible Asian transmission that had lost reverse in it, to a T-98 tranny. I also added a 9000lb Warn Winch, hitch and tire carrier.

7 years ago my teenage son laid her on its side. It destroyed the hard top, windshield, and right front fender. Some good Samaritans stopped, threw a strap on it, rolled her back upright, and my son drop it home. All the while thinking of a better story to tell dad other than he was texting and ran off the road into a drainage ditch.

After the hollering was over, my son and I found a used windshield with frame, I bought Poison Spyder rear wrap around steel cut outs, and steel flat front fenders. We straightened the body out, installed the new fenders, and rattle-canned a bright red paint job on her.

2-3 years ago, after 115k miles, I pulled the motor and had a machine shop go through it. Being in Ca, I didn’t want to change engines do to the headache of the Smog control issues. I figured it would run me close to $1500, and of course it was a lot closer to $2,500 before it was done. In hindsight a swap to a late model V6 would been a better proposition.

But I will say I can pull 20mpg out of it. Yes it is a pain to drive on the road. Pulling a 8% grade she will only do a comfortable 45mpg. But she will go any place a 4 seater RZR will go, albeit not as fast! But it is nice to hit the pavement and continue on without hesitation.

The insurance is $365 a year, and the Ca license fees went to $106 this year. Compared to my 2017 Honda motor cycle, the license is $201 per year and the insurance cost is about the same. My F-150 tags are $400 a year!

While I have dreamed of a RZR or a General, $25k+ costs drive me away. Especially when the side by side will be sitting in a garage for 75% of the year. The old Jeep is cheaper to register and insure, hauls and tows more, and is street legal. While my 1/2 ton pickup will haul more, I certainly wouldn’t take it on the Rubicon Trail, or into some of the local trails like Red Lake or Coyote lake. I seen guys try to do it, mostly kids, and they come out with with enough damage to total the truck. Even in the wacky state of Ca there are many places to 4-wheel, from Pismo, the Mojave, Glamis to the Rubicon.

Sometimes as I’m driving I cuss the fact that every Hyundai and Prius is roaring past me. But then I smile, as the only plastic on the whole Jeep is the control knobs for the lights and heater. Even the dash is steel.

Of course everyone has their own preferences, and if I had the money, I have 2-3 side by sides parked next to my helicopter. (Yup, that was a great dream). But I will happily keep the old Jeep. It is a “JeepThing”!


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[jonp]

Get a Toyota FJ Cruiser

[Lloyd Smale]

polaris, can am and artic cat make 50 inch side by sides. Myself and this area I had a razor sided by side and found that I could take my jeep 99 precent of the places my side by side would go. Added benefits were ac a radio, windshield washers and wipers, heat, a top that really sealed out dust and cold and most of all a licience plate so I could drive to where I used to tow a trailer with the rzr on it. that and it serves as a second vehicle for day to day driving for us.

[Thin Man]

I have owned 3 Jeep CJ5's. The first was a 1961 with 4 cylinder. It got the name "gutless wonder". No power or road speed but off road you just could not stop it from going wherever you wanted to go. Next was a 1970 CJ5 that had the V-6 and heavy suspension. It was a prototype for the Renegade issue and was much faster with more engine power. I put oversize tires (taller, not wider) on it and it would climb anything that could be climbed. The last was a 1969 CJ5 that I kept street legal but really intended for off road for hunting. With all of these the climate inside was the same as outside - hot, cold, wet or dry. No need to open the doors, just check the insides of the Jeep and that was what was outside. A lot of owners of these Jeep year models claimed "you are either a mechanic when you buy a Jeep, or you soon will be." Quite true. Carry tools and a few parts you have known to fail in the past (clutch stranded cable comes to mind), and know where to take it if a breakage over your skill level comes your way. That's the down side. The up side is that these are absolutely the most fun vehicles I have ever owned. Don't have one now but if another one happened to become available I would buy it. It's a Jeep thing.

[Idaho45guy]

Spent the last couple of days floating down a river that occasionally flows next to the main 2-lane blacktop road in the area that all the recreational users in the area use to get from their campsites to the river.

So I've seen every configuration of off-road vehicle you can think of roar by at 50mph. Lots and lots of side by sides, a couple of Jeep 2-doors, a few of the 4-door Unlimiteds, a couple of new 4Runners and a couple of old ones, only two ATVs.

Still don't know what I'll get, but the water was perfect and the fishing was good...

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[AZ Pete]

buy a Toyota Tacoma, put an ATV in the back, and your pontoon on a roof rack.....good to go.


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