The New Jeep Wrangler

“Jeep Wrangler gets a make-over
The new Jeep still keeps true to its military roots but offers more room.
January 10, 2006; Posted: 8:53 a.m. EST (1353 GMT)

DETROIT (CNN/Money) - How do you redesign Mount Rushmore.

OK, the Jeep Wrangler isn't exactly Mount Rushmore, but it's pretty darned close. Even when it was first introduced in 1986, replacing the Jeep CJ, the Wrangler was clearly recognizable as the son of the CJ. A little lower, a little wider, a little squarer but still the civilian descendent of the the little off-roaders that helped whip the Axis more than forty years before

The new Wrangler does offer a few innovations and design changes, though. For one thing, there is two more inches of storage space. That nearly doubles the amount of storage space, the company brags. The extra space comes in the form of a lockable under-floor bin which, the company says, can be used for gloves, rope or first-aid kit.

The 2007 Wrangler's hard-top roof now comes apart in three sections (two over the front seats and one over the rear seats) so you needn't choose between having the top fully on or fully off.

The windshield and body panels are slighyl curved -- it's hard to see even in person -- to improve airflow and give the vehicle a more muscular look.

Still, there are plenty of touches the company added in to endear the car further to serious off-roadies. The fenders, for example, are now made of black rubber so that it's harder to ruin them when bashing them against rocks and trees. If you do smash one of them up, they can be easily take off and replaced.

It's also got more ground clearance than the previous version

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/01/10/detroit_new_jeep_wrangler/index.html”

“The rubber fenders are kinda odd looking; I could just imagine what the sun will do to them. Heck, My trash can breaks in the cold, I would hate for the fenders to snap off.

I do love my '04 Rubicon.”

“Seeing as how I now need a vehicle and futher seeing as how my cash flow suddenly had a major improvement. I am looking at Jeep's. Anybody have any compelling reasons that I should look at something else?”

“If two inches doubles the storage space, it is still a very small space.”

“I loved my jeep but it got really crummy gas mileage”

“Safety, Chili when I was researching SUV's to buy, the report was if you were in a front end crash YOU WILL HAVE LOWER LEG DAMAGE. The Highlander was second in safety overall to the Lexus and since they are on the same frame...

Good luck.”

“I have a 2004 Wrangler Rubicon soft top and love it despite the fact that it's noisy, rough riding, and only gets 16 MPG. I think I like it because it's truly a unique vehicle.



I also have a truck, though. It would be hard to have the Jeep as my only vehicle because of the limited cargo space.

The 2007 Wranglers are quite a bit more sophisticated than the 1997-2006 TJs. If ya' buy one, tell us about it. I might have to get a new one myself!
last edited: 9/05/06 8:33:22 PM”

“Crummy gas mileage might be the reason I don't get one.”

“I love my '01 Wrangler Sport. I can actually get 18+ mpg on the highways, better on the trips back down the mountains when gravity is my friend. I've had both a 4 and 6 cylinder, and the 6 is superior. Owl's right about the new version, it'll have a V-6 and some improvements, but I prefer the old body.”

“95-97 defender 90.....nuff said”

“I'm on the Defender recovery team. 'Nuff said.”

“As my jeep got older, I bolted a couple roof racks to the 'hardtop' roof. Wish I had done it years earlier but didn't want to drill holes in a new roof. That roof rack made me love my jeep even more. I could haul canoes, ladders & lumber on my roof.

I even brought home my snowplow on my roof. THe guy driving the forklift refused to put the snowplow there. I had him lift it up to the rooftop & "I" put it on the roof rack. Drove home 30 miles with it & it rode fine.

That home made roof rack gave me all the cargo space I needed. If I ever wanted a little "air", I just lifted off the full steel doors.

I like the hard top for the jeep due to the roof rack, quieter, more secure & warmer.”

“jeep owners know going it that they're going to get bad gas mileage, rough handling and a noisy vehicle...that's the trade off of owning a jeep...i currently don't have one but have always wanted one and the new unlimited has peaked my interest...if i got one i'd probably get all the rack systems available

i had a grand wagoneer for a while but we had five vehicles between the two of us so something had to go”

“I scrapped my 2 002 Jeep Wrangler coming back from the Dacks in an ice storm.

I used to drive up to see my daughter when she was in university in northern Ontario. It take 7½ hrs in a car, but it took 9½ hrs in the Jeep and I arrived tired. You have to fight with it past 90 km/h and the short wheelbase make rod handling difficult even in hard rain.

I drive about 60 000 km a year and it just wasn't practical for me. It's a great vehicle for puttering round, but it's not made for real driving IMHO.

Doug”

“I have owned my 98 Wrangler and still drive it when I can. THe problem is there is no security for my equipment (not that it has ever been a problem) crappy MPG, noisy and SMALL. It really is a two person car.

NOW I drive a Toyota Tacoma Crew Cab, great vehicle, but I kept the Jeep for the 4x4 capability.”

“Gas milage. Nuf said. I couldn't squeeze 19 mpg from my Cherokee if my life depended on it. You can get a Matrix or some other cross over that gets a lot better milage and can hold nearly as much as the Jeep. I know my Yaris will hold nearly as much as my Jeep did plus I get 35-40 mpg.”

“Ford Escape Hybrid as an option too. My mother has the V-6 version and it has pretty decent room.”

“Well I haven't closed the deal yet...but I went to the dealer at lunch and they had a 2006 that was on the lot with 300 miles on it. Demo. Black, no frills, soft top. I passed up on the Golden Eagle and told the guy I just needed a vehicle to go pick up my daughter and go to the trailhead. Almost all my driving will be in the Company vehicle.

He said wait a minute. Came back and made me an offer that got my interest. I joked and offered $2000 grand less than he offered thinking if they did that even though it wasnt exactly what I wanted, it would be great enough of a deal to do it.

He said he didn't think they could do that. I left. Guy called me just before I got to the office and said, we will go down $500, I said $1500. I am pretty comfortable that we are going to make a deal. I am not sure what dealer cost is, but I sure know what sticker price is and I am down substantially over that. Enough to buy this one.”

“Cool.

You need some fun.

Doug”

“Hey, chili - I was set to buy a softtop, too, but went with the hardtop because of all the hiking & trail riding gear that is usually in the Jeep. The extra cost was worth it to me to not have to take everything out each night.”

“There are many valid reasons not to own a Wrangler, but for those who've always wanted one, there is no substitute.

They're a pretty good too.”

“I have a 92 Wrangler that is highly modified to get me to any TH no matter what. My Cherokee is my daily driver. If I can help it I'll never have a non 4X4 vehicle. I do too much hiking from dirt road TH's. I consider any TH off pavement too crowded and too "citified".

My Wrangler has taked me to the Maze in Canyonlands, the beautiful Rubicon trail in the northern Sierras, down "Heart attack hill" and thru the Squeeze ( 6 feet wide, no fat vehicles) in Anza Borregol. I've rolled it once, had it on it's side twice. I've broken a motor mount and put the fan into the radiator; put stop leak in , after the engine cooled down log chained it and drove it 50 miles home. Broken the rear main leaf and knocked off a shock mount; clamped that and drove it home. And I'm a woman driver --probably why it's had some of it's body damage.
The Wrangler is a tank--but I'll repeat an oft said statement of Jeeps "Great Jeeps aren't bought, they are built".

Oh, and I've used my 9000 lb winch to move rocks off trails and a couple of trees. Then drove to the TH and enjoyed a few days in the wilderness at a TH no one else could get to previously.”

“I only have 3000 miles on my 2006 Wrangler Unlimited. I have a both a soft-top and hard top. The front of the soft top opens up over the front seats for a sun roof. Haven't had it off-road very much, but I love driving it! I kinda get that outdoor, rugged feeling even just driving it to work.”

“We have a 2000 Wrangler and still love it. Gas milage does suck and there is not a lot of room, but it is what it is.

We were thinking of selling it receintly and I looked it up for the value. The funny thing is that it is worth more that my Volvo is.

We decided to keep it until it falls apart.”

“Looks like we have a deal. I have to go up there later. I think I saved enough that buying a hard top isn't going to be a huge issue.”

“I miss my wrangler YJ. I had a sahara package. It was nice but sucked for driving long distance.
My 96 Range Rover County gets me there in style and still gets to the tricky trailheads. It just drinks gas like it's doing keg stands.”

“Aren't they bringing back the Commanche? That should help with the cargo issue. I would love to have an old one...”

“My brother has one and he is freezing in winter, bakeing in summer, and wet when it's raining. LOL
He loves it.”

“an old commanche, or a wrangler?”

“I am guessing he meant a Wrangler.

I have not heard anything about the Commanche coming back. They just put out the Commander; a larger SUV.

I have had the hard top on the Jeep for the last 2 years. I am going to have to topless next year.”

“Chili, I know it's not a STUD car, but the Subaru Forrester four wheel drive mini SUV has a lot going for it.”

“I knew I saw it somewhere, I meant the scrambler not the commanche.
Looks like they scrapped it. crap.

http://trucks.about.com/cs/jeep/a/jeep_unlimited.htm”

“save some money and get this bute:



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1974-Jeep-CJ5-304-V8-18K-Original-Miles_W0QQitemZ230026916598QQihZ013QQcategoryZ6280QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem”

“thanks a lot chili...now you've got me looking at old beater jeeps again...i thought i'd put that dream to bed”

“Yeah, chili goes through a crisis and the next thing you know, I have the whole TT community torn up.

Blame it all on me.....I am getting pretty dog gone used to it by now.”

“LOL, i think every man has dreamt about owning a jeep every now and then...this is the first time in my life when i didn't have some old beater that i paid cash for setting in my drivway to play around with...i think i need to fix that”

“I came awfully close to ordering a 07 Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited, the new 4 door Wrangler. But, since they're so new, there's no discount or incentives and they're $31K+. Definitely cool. That new Toyota FJ Cruiser is pretty cool too; goofy looking but WAY capable. Just too small in the back seat and expensive. I needed a vehicle that can easily fit my 5 y/o and my 10 month old, oh yeah, and my wife, and between my 96 Cherokee and my 91 Toyota truck, I had 357K miles racked up. I ended up buying a Nissan Frontier crew cab 4x4, with the NISMO off road package and couldn't be happier. I feel it'll get me to any trailhead I ever want to hike(32" tires, skid plates, tow hooks, and a rear locking differential).”

“bigben i really like those new toyotas too...i also like the ford freestyle and i think they have an allwheel drive version too”

“Thrifty, if you haven't already, check out the FJ Bulletin on Toyota's website under videos or something like that. They have a buttload of videos of stock FJ Cruisers going places that blew my mind. Moab, the Rubicon Trail, Tellico, Paragon, etc. Watching those videos got me to go to the dealer and test drive one, but in the end I couldn't pull the trigger. With it the way I would have ordered it, it was $32K. And IMO, the rear passenger space sucked. And to order one from Toyota, as in not take one from dealer stock, means waiting 4 months for it. I couldn't live with the Baywatch yellow or the goofy blue, which is all I was able to find, other than one black one with a manual tranny.

With my truck, I got more room, more power, more towing capacity, $7000 less worth of financing, and I think with sacrificing very little capability. The longer wheelbase and a normal truck departure angle are the only things that hurts me on the rocks or in the dirt in comparison. I got bigger tires, a tad more ground clearance, the same width, etc.”

“Well, the price got right and I bought an '06. Started to hold out for an '07 but figured the price differential wasn't worth it.

Yeah, it burns gas, yes, it can be noisy, but I like it. I think this is the vehicle I need. Ninety percent of the time, it is just me. Occassionally I have a passenger.

I will probably buy a hardtop for the winter, but other than that, no upgrades planned for a while.”

“Have fun. Hope you make it to the PA cook-off.

Doug”

“I'll be there.”

“A free support group that giggles a lot. Can't beat it.”

“No kidding. Thank God for friends or I would have been over the edge by now.”

“Um...chili...I thought we more or less had to be over the edge to come here to start with (LOL)..have fun, you are a source of strength.”

“No, we just have to be willing to walk on the edge to come here.

Somedays, I don't feel to damn strong.”

“the 07' Wrangler has alot of improvements over the 97-06' model. The Wrangler is just not a practical vehicle. If you have to ask if should buy one then you probably shouldn't.

I have an 99' TJ 6-cyl. and I have no plans of ever getting rid of it. It is so fun to drive on and off-road.”

“The dealer already had 17 people on a waiting list for the '07. He said, they would set the price and the prospective buyers could pay it or they would sell a new one to the next guy in line.

Made the '06 more attractive in a hurry.”

“ltwt prolly designed the cigar holder and stripper pole in the 07'..... I'd hold out for the 07'!”

“I think chili needs a ’02 Jeep. The 2002 Jeep Wrangler Tabasco. Complete with Tabasco noz bottle and chili pepper treaded tires.

”