Which Jeep to buy.

The most often asked question is, "which Jeep should I buy?"

Military Vintage Willys, CJ (Civilian Jeep), YJ (square headlight version), TJ (started in 97) and of course up to the modern JK's.

Everyone will have their own idea but here are some thoughts I have after ten years of being in the Jeep world...

The Willy's is cute and fun but notoriously they ride like a buckboard wagon with a very similar suspension system. The MASH jokes of kidney ruptures is really no joke. I worked for a man that restored these Jeeps for a summer right after highschool and had no love for them after a few months. Very underpowered for what we are used to and not very friendly on the rider to steer, brake or try not to flip over.
However they can be tricked up and made to look great. (Click for more details)
________________________________________________________

When I was doing my research on which Jeep to buy I drove a lot of the CJ's they are squirrelly, I think you could flip one in the middle of the street, most overpowered with a V8, so small you can't get boots through the door well, but man I have to admit...I love them and would have bought one but for two advisers that pointed out. ONE; they are fifty years old which means the wiring, drive train, everything should probably be replaced or repaired. TWO; they still have the leaf springs that ride like a bucking horse. THREE; if you want your wife to ride with you...these are just too hard riding, no AC and very uncomfortable. Again though...I want one, and think they are one of the most undervalued Wranglers.

Especially the Laredo's and customs.

Another issue with these older Jeeps is they are carbonator engines which can give you issues on side hills, elevation changes, cold starting. Again, CJ's are not luxury SUV's by any means so if you can deal with all of these issues...they are a choice.
Click here for details.

__________________________________________________

Now comes the square headlight YJ's

Looking through craigslist and the papers I saw these all day long looking like this for $3,800 or less and thought, "why not" it's a Wrangler isn't it.

The friends that bought Wranglers then hated me all bought YJ's. Everything went wrong, rear axle bearings and seals, overheating, carburetor problems mentioned above, one friend put in two engines and three transmissions before he gave up and sold his built up YJ -- it looked nice, but never ran the way he wanted it to.

 

Not to insult YJ owners out there but this era of Wrangler almost sunk the model. It had such a bad reputation that Wrangler's were actually not in production in 96 as they re-invented the Wrangler and created the TJ. So it is a cheap way to get into a Jeep...but be ready to have repairs.
Click for details

_________________________________________

 

TJ era of Jeep

I so remember a true Jeep expert who had a dealership in Boise solely for Jeep builds who made the comment, "his wife really started going with him to MOAB when he started using a TJ.

The reason why is when Wrangler was redesigned in 96 they really took their time to do it right. Larger windshield, AC, wider stance and wider interior with very good seats, and most importantly coil springs for a smoother ride.

 

However this era of Jeep still holds it's value in the $7k range for a decent one so it will cost you nearly double the other options of used Jeeps discussed. The 4 cylinder engine models are a lot cheaper for a reason...that engine is notoriously under powered and not a good power plant. The 6 cylinder is not over powered but will do okay on the highway (still a brick going down the road for arrow dynamics and fuel mileage), I'm very prejudice to this model so I'll not go into the JK's.

 

The TJ Jeep Link

 

There are thousands of other opinions on what is the best Jeep and we'll point at some web sites to view.

 

One of the best Wrangler Forums