New Jeep!

[KSwanson]

Hey hey fellow Jeep people!

So I recently traded in my truck this past week for a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK four-door.
Being someone who has always driven full size trucks, this is definitely a change! I think I love it… but more than enough people are telling me Jeeps are garbage .
While it IS certified pre-owned through the Jeep dealer I purchased it at, AND has a bumper to bumper warranty until 100,000… (it’s at 35,000) I’m starting to worry that I made a bad choice lol. I have never had a Jeep and know nothing about them… so I figured I would reach out to people who are knowledgeable!
Any honest input is much appreciated!

 

[JeepJeezy]

Welcome!

Good looking JK. I see there are some mods already done too. I don't think you made a bad choice unless you needed that pickup truck bed to haul stuff around town lol. All seriousness though, there is a TON of knowledge on here! The 1st thing I would check is that your speedometer is correct with the bigger tires. Speedometer helps control your shifting.

 

[Danarch]

First, welcome to the Jeep family. Jeeps can certainly have their issues. From the picture looks like you have the JK as opposed to the newer JL model (nothing against JL’s). I think being a 2018 I think you are fairly safe with the “kinks” being worked out. I know the 2012-2014ish when they switched to the 3.6L there were some issues I believe with the heads and cams. I think every model has its issues, especially in the first few years of a model production.

While in my opinion the Jeep is an amazing vehicle and capable of a lot of things. I think the Jeep has an imagine of the go anywhere do anything you want by some, but then at the same time people don‘t maintain them or push them beyond their limits, they modify them at whim with lift kits, spacers, lights, tires etc. not knowing the full effects of their “upgrades”. For instance putting 35”, 37” tires on a dana 30 axle and then pushing the jeep to its limit off road is asking for trouble. Installing a 3“ or 4” lift then not taking the time to install adjustable control arms, change out the driveshafts etc. is asking for trouble.

We have four JK’s in the family, one mine and one my wife’s which we have the capability of monitoring some of the systems live. The temp on the JK in my opinion runs hot. Each of them get up to 226 on regular basis and then the fan kicks on and it come back down. To me i’d be more comfortable around 212 but seems to be common. Second it seems common for the oil filter housing to leak (fail), from my understanding this is from over tightening the filter cover and causing the plastic housing to crack.

When you replace any electrical components / sensors make sure to use OEM as somehow the “jeep” knows they are not OEM and the new part only seems to temporarily fix the issue or not fix it at all. I am not sure how the jeep knows, but it does.

At 35,000 miles you should be fairly safe, but I usually change all the fluids when I buy a used Jeep. I bought a 2015 HR JKU with only 15K miles and have had all the fluids changed except for the coolant and brake at this point. There is always a risk with a used car and one reason we have did purchase extended warranties with each of them.

I assume you crawled underneath and to see if it looked like it had been abused or not. 10-15 minutes underneath a Jeep can tell a lot about it.

Enjoy and have fun exploring.

 

[mrjp]

Welcome and with an bumper to bumper warranty for another 65,000 miles you are good!!

 

[SocalRugger]

Well, I can’t help you out with whether your decision was right or not, but I just bought a 14 JKUR Anvil with about 19k miles and absolutely love the ride. I’ve upgraded lift, wheels, fenders, tires and have a little more left on the list. Don’t look back as what’s done is done. Great looking ride and enjoy! I came from a heavily modded 12’ 4Runner and while there are things I miss about it, I do appreciate this ride a lot more. Little teaser pic….

 

[BigAL07]

Welcome from W.VA! Nice ride. U have found the right place to be for all the info u will need. Great people on this forum

 

[Threepointsix]

Nothing to worry about. You have a warranty. Simple as that. Though, dealers are IMO shady but thats a rant.

Enjoy the Jeep. It certainly is nice and looks well treated. Best wishes and welcome.

 

[KSwanson]

First, welcome to the Jeep family. Jeeps can certainly have their issues. From the picture looks like you have the JK as opposed to the newer JL model (nothing against JL’s). I think being a 2018 I think you are fairly safe with the “kinks” being worked out. I know the 2012-2014ish when they switched to the 3.6L there were some issues I believe with the heads and cams. I think every model has its issues, especially in the first few years of a model production.

While in my opinion the Jeep is an amazing vehicle and capable of a lot of things. I think the Jeep has an imagine of the go anywhere do anything you want by some, but then at the same time people don‘t maintain them or push them beyond their limits, they modify them at whim with lift kits, spacers, lights, tires etc. not knowing the full effects of their “upgrades”. For instance putting 35”, 37” tires on a dana 30 axle and then pushing the jeep to its limit off road is asking for trouble. Installing a 3“ or 4” lift then not taking the time to install adjustable control arms, change out the driveshafts etc. is asking for trouble.

We have four JK’s in the family, one mine and one my wife’s which we have the capability of monitoring some of the systems live. The temp on the JK in my opinion runs hot. Each of them get up to 226 on regular basis and then the fan kicks on and it come back down. To me i’d be more comfortable around 212 but seems to be common. Second it seems common for the oil filter housing to leak (fail), from my understanding this is from over tightening the filter cover and causing the plastic housing to crack.

When you replace any electrical components / sensors make sure to use OEM as somehow the “jeep” knows they are not OEM and the new part only seems to temporarily fix the issue or not fix it at all. I am not sure how the jeep knows, but it does.

At 35,000 miles you should be fairly safe, but I usually change all the fluids when I buy a used Jeep. I bought a 2015 HR JKU with only 15K miles and have had all the fluids changed except for the coolant and brake at this point. There is always a risk with a used car and one reason we have did purchase extended warranties with each of them.

I assume you crawled underneath and to see if it looked like it had been abused or not. 10-15 minutes underneath a Jeep can tell a lot about it.

Enjoy and have fun exploring.

Thank you so much for all of that great information! I appreciate it .
I haven’t needed to haul or pull anything in over a year and don’t anticipate it any time soon so I think I’m good in that department. I’ll get another pick up later on down the road!
I did crawl underneath it, and to me the lift appears to be fairly new and the underneath doesn’t look abused or like it was taken rock climbing.
And I don’t see any leaks as of this moment!
This vehicle was bought solely for the purpose of saving the money I was spending in gas in my full size, which it is doing. It may be driven down a smooth dirt road from time to time but it wasn’t bought to be off roaded. That’s what the RZR is for . Just wanted a good looking vehicle that will save me some money when I’m commuting!
Now with the lift/tires that are on it, it drives extremely smooth and is comfortable feeling. Much more so than my lifted truck! Do you think it will still cause any issues if it’s not off roaded with that stuff on it?

 

[KSwanson]

Well, I can’t help you out with whether your decision was right or not, but I just bought a 14 JKUR Anvil with about 19k miles and absolutely love the ride. I’ve upgraded lift, wheels, fenders, tires and have a little more left on the list. Don’t look back as what’s done is done. Great looking ride and enjoy! I came from a heavily modded 12’ 4Runner and while there are things I miss about it, I do appreciate this ride a lot more. Little teaser pic….View attachment 121846

Thank you so much for the reassurance. Definitely having some buyer’s remorse .
The lift looks great!

 

[Danarch]

Thank you so much for all of that great information! I appreciate it .
I haven’t needed to haul or pull anything in over a year and don’t anticipate it any time soon so I think I’m good in that department. I’ll get another pick up later on down the road!
I did crawl underneath it, and to me the lift appears to be fairly new and the underneath doesn’t look abused or like it was taken rock climbing.
And I don’t see any leaks as of this moment!
This vehicle was bought solely for the purpose of saving the money I was spending in gas in my full size, which it is doing. It may be driven down a smooth dirt road from time to time but it wasn’t bought to be off roaded. That’s what the RZR is for . Just wanted a good looking vehicle that will save me some money when I’m commuting!
Now with the lift/tires that are on it, it drives extremely smooth and is comfortable feeling. Much more so than my lifted truck! Do you think it will still cause any issues if it’s not off roaded with that stuff on it?

A quality lift done correctly will not cause issues, and can help a jeep ride smoother. We have a 2.5” lift and our Jeeps ride much smoother then stock, on and off road. From the pictures the tires don’t overly sized and doubt you will have issues with what you describe. In “general” I feel most Jeeps can handle a 35” tire (along with other mods needed to allow clearance) without over stressing the stock axles / steering. Depending on gears it may feel like a ”dog” if it has 3.21 gears and 35” on it, but that is a separate issue.

You can enter the VIN number in the following link and it will give you the build sheet if you are interested In knowing.

https://fcacommunity.force.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing

 

[KSwanson]

Thank you so much!

 

[KSwanson]

Thank you so much for the reassurance. Definitely having some buyer’s remorse .
The lift looks great!

Not to mention the fear of of it falling apart when everyone said getting rid of a Chevy for Jeep was the worst decision ever .

 

[Danarch]

I will say we are big Chevy people too. We had a 2005 Crew Cab with a little over 100K on it. The only thing we ever did to it was replace the water pump, after it reached a 100K. We had sold it to our son, who after he paid it off ended up selling for a 2007 JK after dad got and mom got a Jeep. I’ll say I love Jeeps, I had a YJ for about 10 years and really enjoyed it, had about 90K on it. Ended up selling it and bought a 1957 Willy’s pick up and restored it mostly to stock. Kids, life etc. comes along and ended up selling it. Been wanting a Jeep again for about 3-4 years and was finally able to get one about 15 months ago and think I found a good deal. Then wife kept stealing so got her one.

Chevy’s are good cars, at least the bigger ones. We have a 2013 Suburban with a little over 90K on it (bought used). Only problem we had was an oil leak which managed to happen 1 week before the extended warranty expired, they covered it it no questions asked.

 

[SteveF]

My only concern would be that the bumper to bumper warranty would be null and void because of any mods done. Jeep could come back and say that the warranty is for stock vehicles. I understand you purchased it that way but corporations are not in the business of doing repairs for free.
Just my humble opinion.

 

[KSwanson]

A quality lift done correctly will not cause issues, and can help a jeep ride smoother. We have a 2.5” lift and our Jeeps ride much smoother then stock, on and off road. From the pictures the tires don’t overly sized and doubt you will have issues with what you describe. In “general” I feel most Jeeps can handle a 35” tire (along with other mods needed to allow clearance) without over stressing the stock axles / steering. Depending on gears it may feel like a ”dog” if it has 3.21 gears and 35” on it, but that is a separate issue.

You can enter the VIN number in the following link and it will give you the build sheet if you are interested In knowing.

https://fcacommunity.force.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing

 

[KSwanson]

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Not the best quality photos but I snapped some of the underneath. It’s dirty but doesn’t appear to be wrecked… but maybe it is? I’m not sure.

 

[Danarch]

Looks like it is good shape to me. Cleanser then mine on the Underside. I noticed that the lift adjusted the rear track bar which is a good sign.

 

[KSwanson]

Looks like it is good shape to me. Cleanser then mine on the Underside

Looks like it is good shape to me. Cleanser then mine on the Underside. I noticed that the lift adjusted the rear track bar which is a good sign.

Oh good! Another question for you… when it comes to gas mileage, will this be better than a lifted 2500 hd Chevy truck? (Gas engine)

 

[Danarch]

I have no idea. We average around 15MPG for ours. A lot depends on how one drIves, gearing, equipment added to the Jeep etc. As @JeepJeezy said make to have the computer programmed to match the tire size. One one way to do that is with Jscan and and BT OBDII adapter. If the computer is not programmed to match the tire size the transmission shifting will be off, assuming you have an automatic.

 

[YJ103]

Thats a nice looking ride. I have a 95 and a 2015 JKU, and you'll probably never have more fun driving a "problematic" vehicle.