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THINKING about trading Passat for Jeep Wrangler

6K views 65 replies 42 participants last post by  crafferty 
#1 · (Edited)
So with the news of the Dieselgate settlement its looking like it may be financially smarter for me to take the buyback option.

And for the first time in my life, I am considering a completely different brand of vehicle.

Well, here at my work, we have a '15 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon which looks like it would be a fun play toy. It's got the V6 and automatic, a slight lift, slightly bigger tires, and heavy duty bumpers. So a few mods that I would already consider myself. It's only got 6,365 miles (kinda makes me wonder why someone took a bath to trade it in, or maybe we got it from auction, I dont know).

We are apparently advertising it at $40-,995 and I can get it for just under that price. It's been sitting here a while so it wont be discounted much further.

But I am COMPLETELY new to anything more than 6" off the ground. LOL.

Are there any known issues with this particular model of Jeep?

Edit: Pics





 
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#2 ·
Why? Not being sarcastic. The Wrangler is complete opposite spectrum from your Passat. Is there a reason why you'd like to switch it up so drastically or does it just look cool? If you're actually going to use the Wrangler for its capabilities, I think it's a fine choice, but if you're just going to be using it for the day to day slog I think you may get frustrated and tired of it.
 
#4 ·
I hate agreeing with you, I really do, but you're probably right.


However, my good buddy dailies his rubicon and loves it, so it's going to come down to whether you can handle it or not.
 
#7 ·
I am considering it for a few reasons....

Other than the 98 Suburban I had for towing duties, all my driving life has been close to the ground. Honestly.... I'm getting kinda bored of it.

I live in the desert now (where as I used to live in So Cal). Offroading is a lot more prevalent out here and I have friends that are always going.

Plus, I am frequently going shooting and that requires going out into the desert. Lowered Passats dont do too well off of the pavement.

Why do I want such a change? I want to try something new and the environment is conducive to what I want to try out.
 
#10 ·
My old man has a '15 4 door Rubi, spent a good amount of time behind the wheel. It is far more refined than a Jeep has ever been. And, the Rubicon is more capable offroad than they've ever been. Still, they're loud (soft top and those tires will be very noisy), lifted ones usually ride horribly, don't expect better than 17-18mpg, and compared to most modern vehicles the interior is pretty dang plastic looking. Its durable as hell, but doesn't look upscale in the slightest. My dad's is a hardtop with stock tires, and you still have to turn the radio up quite loud to hear anything.

That said, they've got their own charm. Kinda fun to drive, even on the pavement. They are incredibly capable offroad in stock Rubicon trim, a lift and larger tires make it even more so - so if you're into doing that, bonus.

Its a vehicle that is heavily focused on performing supremely well off the pavement. They do a good job at that, better than nearly anything else on the market, really. But they pay for it in road manners. If you are serious about it, see if you can get it for a weekend or something. Or at least a test drive longer than 20 minutes.
 
#13 ·
Is this the same dealer Schnel had a horrible experiences with on his wife's Renegade?

I might not risk it. Jeeps always have things go wrong with them from time to time and if your dealer is useless it's going to make life your life more miserable than it has to be. At least until the warranty is up and you can take it wherever for repairs.
 
#17 ·
YOU DIRTY TRAITOR!


By the way, I have nothing else of value to add, just wanted to say hi. So... :wave:
 
#18 ·
First of all, I say do it. As I have said multiple times, the Wrangler is so much more than the sum of it's parts.

The Pentastar v6 is very reliable, and while most people here hate on Wranglers because they don't understand them, there are honestly very few problems with them. The "death wobble" that was mentioned can be solved with either replacing 5 bolts ($50) or just checking every 6 months that 1 bolt stays torqued to spec. Other than that, they are very reliable, just make sure you wash it often if you live in a salty area. Also, make sure you are property removing/reinstalling the top to prevent leaks. Most problems you hear about Wranglers are due to user error.

Turbowraith is spot on. While it's not going to ride like a car, the ride is more than tolerable. People that complain about the ride in TCL are seriously ignorant or expect everything to ride like a LS400. The Wrangler has lower limits on pavement than cars, but obviously it's limits off pavement are insurmountably higher than a car. But, since you can drive close to its limits so often, I find it fun to drive even on the road. I have much more fun driving my JK than I ever did driving my GLI. Especially with the top and doors off, something no other vehicle can offer.


As to buying one.... I would STRONGLY suggest that you buy new rather than used. The Wrangler holds its value so well it's one of the few cars worth buying new. If you spend 10 minutes looking on wranglerforum.com, you'll see it's very easy to get them new at 1-2% under invoice price. Then you can order it exactly how you want, and mod how you want.

I would stray away from a lifted Jeep unless you know who did the lifting. While it is SUPER easy to do (did it myself to mine) it's not worth trusting someone else's craftsmanship.
 
#21 ·
FYI you can order than EXACT build new from the factory and it would set you back $40,730 including destination. After roughly 5% off that to get you to invoice, you're at $39k. That's for a brand new Jeep.

Decide if those mods are worth it to you. I personally would buy new and mod myself, there is probably only 3-4k of mods on that Jeep including $1500ish in tires.
 
#36 ·
FYI you can order than EXACT build new from the factory and it would set you back $40,730 including destination. After roughly 5% off that to get you to invoice, you're at $39k. That's for a brand new Jeep.

Decide if those mods are worth it to you. I personally would buy new and mod myself, there is probably only 3-4k of mods on that Jeep including $1500ish in tires.
Not sure why everyone read right past this. OP, if it's the same price, buy a car no one else has had the chance to mess up.

My numbers came out slightly lower. Pick your favorite paint color, add wheels/tires, bumpers and suspension if you want, and it would only be a bit more than your overall cost right now.

 
#22 ·
I have been dailying a 2 door JK ("worse" ride than the 4 door) for three years now, and I would not at all consider it "painful." It's not as comfortable as a car, but it's more than tolerable. I have NEVER once thought "man this thing rides rough" or felt that it was insufferable.
 
#23 ·
I guess I'll clarify and say it's painful for me - I got used to the cushy ride of sedans and do not like being jostled around etc. while driving anymore. It's different for everyone, a friend of mine drives a lowered 04 WRX with a fartcan and I would be miserable driving that around every day. He thinks it's great. I would just guess that coming from a Passat the OP may have forgotten what some other rides feel like :p
 
#24 ·
Add me to the list of someone that would say it's not a crazy idea - as long as you don't get the one pictured. I think that will be an annoyance as a daily driver (as evidenced by it only having 6k miles on the used car lot).

However, after only driving JKs for no more than 5-10 miles at a time prior to last month, I took one up I-95 for a 550 mile drive. Keep in mind it's a stock example, but it's nowhere near as uncomfortable as some TCL 'experts' will lead you to believe. I found it quite enjoyable, actually. Yeah, it's rough and loud, but that's part of the fun of it if you're even remotely interested in one.

I'd say look at a stock Rubicon if you really are serious and would want to take it 'offroad'.
 
#26 ·
It's only got 6,365 miles (kinda makes me wonder why someone took a bath to trade it in, or maybe we got it from auction, I dont know).
Know how we know you don't know much about 4dr Wrangler Rubicon resale values? ;)

I'm not talking about offroading as in crawling up mountain sides scraping the chassis or doing a Top Gear rainforsest excursion.
You say that now. Just wait.

But Yes, I would be OK with taking a $40k Jeep offroad.
Atta boy. :beer:


The Pentastar Wranglers are the nicest, easiest-to-live-with traditional Jeeps that have ever been built. Don't listen to the detractors--they don't know what they're talking about. Dive in and have fun.
 
#31 ·
If you want it, do it. I traded in a modded up B8 S4 on one over 3 years ago and I haven't looked back. Aside from a battery needing to be replaced its been completely trouble free, extremely cheap to own and I daily drive it 55 miles a day. Just make sure you understand what you are getting into before you pull the trigger. It's not for everyone, but it's some of the most fun I've ever had in a vehicle. There is nothing better than driving around on a beautiful day with no top, no doors, and no worries.
 
#33 ·
I'd love to have a jeep but it just won't work for me right now. However if you want one I'd highly entertain getting one with a hard top. Some come with both tops too. At least go take a hard top for a test drive before you buy. And I would be in the 'buy new' crowd for a wrangler.
 
#44 ·
The soft tops have grown leaps and bounds from the TJ days. Plus, the tinted windows mean that it's the premium soft top. The premium has better sound proofing and the soft tops in general aren't as prone to leaking as the freedom top. I have a 2014 with the regular soft top and there's no issues with noise in there when driving, no matter how bad the road is or how fast I'm going.


OP, gas mileage isn't that great, but you can't put a price on the fun you'll have driving it. See if they will let you take it overnight. It's a much different beast than your passat, and while both have their bonuses, you won't understand the Jeep thing until you drive one.
 
#35 ·
Everyone should own a Jeep at one point in their life, I've had 7. Besides the obvious downsides of fuel economy and increased road noise, I'd get a metal lockable centre console and/or a trunk so items don't disappear when parked. Otherwise enjoy the experience. Wranglers are one of, if not the top vehicles to hold their resale value so you won't be losing much if you decide to sell in a year or two.
 
#37 ·
I would recommend seeing if you could take the Jeep for the weekend to see if you could really live with it.

People either love them or hate them. I've driven new 4 doors with the Pentastar for a week or two and I could definitely see myself daily driving one if I didn't spend so much time on the road.

On a side note, that Jeep might not be there when they officially start the buy back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#40 ·
We loved our Wrangler. It was a 2013 Sport Unlimited with the 6 speed manual and 3.21 gears in the rear. Yea, it was the other end of the spectrum compared to the one you were looking at, but it was a great truck. We saw 25mpg hwy, and averaged about 21mpg over the 3 years we owned it.

We bought it new for $29K, traded it 3.5 years later with 30K miles on it for $27K. The dealer we traded it to, had it on the lot for $30K. I don't understand who is buying these used Jeeps?
 
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