Find and build and xj or go 2007

Ok. My kid is soon to be 16 years old. I have been using this as an excuse to maybe pick up an xj, with possible plans to turn it into a mild trail rig.

I have been looking and I am a bit concerned. I don't mind using repairs as an excuse to upgrade, but my mechanical abilities are limited to garage bolt ons. I don't want to be stuck with vehicle that has to keep going into the shop.

I have been hitting up the OEM tech board with some model year/value questions.

My wife is driving a '05 scion. Today a 2007 4 door wrangler passes us by and she gets all interested. So this thought crosses my mind, put the kid in the scion (he will have to just get over the gay factor) and put the wife in an '07 4 door rubicon. Theroy is two problems solved. Though I am still not sold on the look of the 2007

Question(s): Is it fair to say that an '07 rubicon is a better daily driver/mild-moderate trail rig than just about any XJ, considering my build abilities and mild-moderate trail desires.

What is the consensus of the '07's out on the road/trail. I kind of hate the whole hummer-esqe thing.

bl87xj said:

Question(s): Is it fair to say that an '07 rubicon is a better daily driver/mild-moderate trail rig than just about any XJ, considering my build abilities and mild-moderate trail desires.

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My thought is yes. The JK Rubicon is a great out of the box wheeler. The XJ is as well, but comparatively is left behind I think. It would take some considerable work to get the XJ's drivetrain to where the JK is at from the factory. For your uses and build capabilities, I'd get the JK and never look back.

naXJa. I think you should go with the xj. just my humble .02

think about this though...if you wheel it, theres chances it will get damaged

now think about the repair cost of the 2

and now think about how much more of a fun time you will have wheeling the xj and not worring too much about the cost of damage

and consider that you can get a great running xj for $1000+/-

i would go XJ and never look back:laugh3:

:cheers:

Buy one pre-built.

Here is a great deal.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=914558

Rev

Rev Den said:

Buy one pre-built.

Here is a great deal.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=914558

Rev

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Plus you get a nice road trip out of the deal.:roll: JIM.

^That is not quite a mild trail rig. Although he could DD that thing it would not be my first choice for a DD. No woman is gonna pass up the convertible aspect of a wrangler, it is just something about the wind in their hair or something. I think you could save a lot of money getting into a mildly built XJ, however you may save some peace of mind with the JK knowing your wife is happier...good luck.

He said a mild trail rig, which I imagine will be mostly a street queen. Not to mention his wife will be driving it. No reason not to get the JK in favor of a XJ.

Must be one spoiled kid if he gets a '07 rubicon. Sure there great out of the box, But you learn ALOT if you build your rig. I could keep going on, but im not. Just my opion.

-96JeepSpeed- said:

Must be one spoiled kid if he gets a '07 rubicon. Sure there great out of the box, But you learn ALOT if you build your rig. I could keep going on, but im not. Just my opinion.

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X 2!!!!!!

Well, the kid wasn't getting the new rig, the wife was, but nevermind...

THIS is the key:

steelmen said:

and consider that you can get a great running xj for $1000+/-

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Get a cheapass xj, the put your $500-600 a month rubicon payment into a repair/upgrade fund.

You'll come out WAY ahead, and he'll learn by building, rather than build by buying...

Robert

One other thing i forgot to mention. SAFTEY FIRST. Im sure new rubicon is alot safer then alot of XJs. If i had 16 year old, id make sure he/she was well protected. But whatever im only 17.

-96JeepSpeed- said:

I'm sure new rubicon is alot safer then alot of XJs.

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Personally, I'd rather be in a hardtop XJ than a opened softtop Wrangler in a rollover, but that's just me.

I am saying tell him to get a job. Make the wife keep the scion and get yourself a trail rig.

I've been down this road. When my son was 16 he wanted a Jeep and I found him a 95 YJ pretty cheap. It was the best thing I ever did. He is now 21 and still has the YJ, but it looks nothing like it once did. It sits on Dana 44s with 35s now. He has made a lot of 4wd friends. I liked it so much, I bought me an XJ.

When I first bought it I told him that seatbelts were a must and if I caught him driving without wearing his seatbelt, I would sell the Jeep. He rolled it all the way over about a year ago and walked away without a scratch. The soft top and windshield didn't fair so well.

What I have learned is XJs are cheap to buy, easy to work on and parts are everywhere. I have a spare transmission, transfer case and lots of misc parts. Buy him a newer model with airbags and he will be safer than speeding around in a little car.

Tom

Give him the scion and you'll be listening to rap and sub woofers in no time , thats about the only thing you can do with them besides carry a bunch of friends around cruising but thats just my take on it.
XJ is practical, I have a 98 but I also have two TJ's. I was actually out at the jeep dealer yesterday before my sons college graduation, was looking at what they had, $22K for a 4 door JK is not bad. I think though I would wait a year and let them work the kinks and stuff that downright does not work, I also don't like the V6 yet, we'll wait and see how many blow out this summer when all the BMJA owners take theirs to paragon and rausch creek. When the TJ first came out in 97 model year it had some 'issues', they were fixed but the dead giveaway of the first TJ run was the straight slider heater/ac/def controls. Thats the first obvious thing, they also redesigned the grill, hood and headlight buckets and it's a real PIA getting headlight retaining rings for my early 97. A 97 with round controls is the updated one, easier to get the correct parts for.
My problem with the dealer last nite was EVERY SINGLE wrangler he had on the lot, at least 40 of them, had between $4K and $9K worth of add on bling bling parts, I'm not paying and extra $4K for rear tail light protectors, plastic bumpers with fogs in them and running boards. I think the order date for the 07's is also over or will be in the next few days for retooling to the 08's when the factory shuts down.
Dump the scion on the new wrangler, get your son a 02 or 03 TJ w/2.5L 5 speed, that way you only have to worry about low speed accidents and rollovers if he starts playing off road, you also very rarely loose money on a wrangler as long as you don't bend it up too much.
Get an XJ for yourself, just make sure the A/C works, when they go bad it's usually the evaporator in the heater box, 8 hours of labor to fix so it's expensive, 97, 98 and 99 were prone to this as well as ZJ's, 99 an up XJ had some head issues and cracking so it's a crap shoot either way.

the wrangler unlimited is outperformed by my 7000 dollar comanche, flat out no doubt about it.

buy an xj and fix it up with bolt on upgrades...the unlimited will cost you big bucks just for the truck and then when you're not happy with it, it will cost you more for the upgrades

So if you get an XJ for a trail rig, is that gonna be yours sons DD too? Also what do you drive? That doesn't seem to be in the mix either.


Depending on what trails you are gonna do and hoe much body damage you are gonna due, I would get the JK, sell the scion. Get a cheap XJ for your son. Not sure why that hasn't come up as an option. If you give the scion to your son, it will be trashed real quick and not worth selling. So get what you can now. Not saying that your son is a bad kid or anything, just I remember being 16, and I will be the first to admit I was real hard on my first car. But I had a 1000 XJ that I beet the piss out of and it took it and asked for more. have him drive a year or two in a cheap XJ to get him experience and then turn it into a monster trail rig and get him something different. Mean while have the JK for some mild trail fun and later use it to pull the XJ to the trails.

THe kid is not spoiled, he either gets an early xj or the long ago paid for scion. The scion, although kind of gay, is a no brainer, easy to drive, cheap to run car. Has just about everything going for to be a kids car.

Out of the three drivers, it is me that wants some trail-ability. I drive an excursion, although I would love to throw it into the mix (pretty much hate that car) it must stay as we need it for towing.

An XJ seems to only give me some slight concerns if it going to be a kids car. Fuel costs are not the greatest, but probably could only be better with a small ricer. And the concern of it becoming a money pit, mechanically. Then again if I risk a $1,500-$2,000 purchase on an XJ and have to dump it in a few years...I guess it isn't that big of a loss.

The '07 rbuicon gives me my trail-ability while putting the wife in a new car, which is a bonus. However, if I did not want to hit the trails I am sure a wrangler would be very far down the list of choices. Purchase of an '07 is a pretty big long term commitment just to scratch my trail rig itch.

So with the input from the replies it seems most logical to keep my eye out for an XJ for the kid. Plan on a lift and some mild upgrades to give it some back-road ability. Keep the wife in the scion (cheapest solution). After summer we could dump the scion for a JK or may even determine we don't need the excursion.

Now my frustrating search for a decent, low cost XJ continues....

A teen are boy needs that space in the back of an Xj you get when you put down that back seat.:laugh2: