My husband bought a used 98 Jeep Wrangler (4 cylinder, soft top) five years ago. It’s definitely a fun car, but for the last couple of years, it seems it’s been in need of constant repairs. In the past year and a half, it’s seen a new (used) engine, new tires, new exhaust system, new thermostat, and a few odds and ends, probably costing a total of around $5k. It also needs a new top. My husband is an engineer and likes to do his own repairs, but we live in New York City and park on the street, so he can’t do everything. Since we take public transport to get around, the Jeep is purely a weekend toy for us, but lately I’ve found myself sitting on the side of the highway during our jaunts while my hubby stares under the hood. We’re both attached to the thing, but I am starting to think it might be best to sell it while it still runs and can pass inspection, especially since the resale value for Jeeps is so high and we don’t actually need it to get around. Is there any scenario in which it would make sense to keep the Jeep?
Apparently not. A pair of bicycles might be a better choice for you.
Want cheap, reliable weekend fun? Get yourself a used Miata. When spring rolls around, it’ll take you and your husband a week to wipe the silly smiles off your faces.
It’ll be cheaper to fix and easier to park. Though you should try to find something to cover the top with so vandals won’t slash the top up so much(god forbid you have something nice anywhere).
Yeah, I think you can get a hard top for livin’ in the 'hood.
You can get a hare top. I had a house-mate who would use the hard in the winter and the soft in the summer.
Me, I’d sell and look into renting a fun car when the urge hits if I lived in NYC.
No way to answer this question logically, since it’s about a hobby. What’s your husband think?
Engineer husband needs something to tinker with…
A “hare top”??
http://www.thosefunnypictures.com/resize.php?file=pictures/6556/Funny_Pictures_6556.jpg
Tell him your hi-beams aren’t working correctly.
-blink-
Wow.
Just. . Wow.
There is a scenerio in which it would make sense to keep the jeep. Yours is not it. The scenerio would include having a place to do major repairs.
Definition of an engineer: a person who spends an entire three day weekend and $490 fixing something that could have been replaced for $19.95.
An optimist says the glass is half full.
A pessimist says the glass is half empty.
An engineer says the glass is the wrong size.
Must’ve been the 70’s when shag carpeting was in…at least it wasn’t avocado.
“Must’ve been the 70’s…”
Definitely not. The people in the background are of today, not the 70s, although they probably were alive then. Hey… I had an avocado colored Blender in the 70s. I think it’s still in the cupboard.
No doubt driven by “The Spy who Shagged me”, of the James Bond Spoof starring Mike Myers of Wayne’s World fame.
You need a new car. How much are you willing to spend, and what will you do with it? You have a convertible SUV. You can duplicate that with a Jeep Wrangler - or you can have one or the other - or something completely different. Give us some input and well help you find a new car (or truck).
Yeah, of course the engineer is a bit unwilling to consider selling a machine he loves. I am a little more willing because I don’t like waiting for a tow truck. Keeping it on the street is no problem because it only has to be moved once a week, but trying to do repairs in the street is something of a problem. I think it will have to go, but possibly not till my husband tries to get one more summer out of it.
Oey, this is amazing car, i like it, i am going to save this,
thanks for sharing.
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There’s the rub. We don’t want to spend a lot of money, but we have trouble resigning ourselves to having something strictly utilitarian. 4wd has come in handy a couple of times in the past year, but it’s not a necessity. What we need is a car that runs without a ton of maintenance, and is fairly compact but has a backseat. What we’d like is something that is fun to drive and can potentially accommodate a 7 ft surfboard for trips to the beach. We also visit our families pretty frequently, and that’s about a 500 mile round trip, so we’re looking for something that can handle a lot of highway travel. Wranglers definitely fit the bill in the fun department, but would buying a slightly newer used one make sense in our situation?
Any compact coupe or sedan can accomodate your board on a roof rack. Also, HLDI says that if you get a car, as opposed t a pick-up or SUV, the overall theft loss is about the same no matter how old it is. You might chck with your insurer to see if any models stand out as a low insurance risk.