"My thoughts after a dozen years in my Wrangler..."

Twelve years ago, I was swayed by the advertising blitz that Chrysler had under way at the time. They managed to convince me that "I NEEDED A JEEP".

Don't get me wrong; I figure that just about every adventure-loving young American male is, at one time or another, smitten with the fantasy of four-wheeled adventuring with the top down. Sounded good to me. So, after a month or so of intensive research on the subject, I responded to a "limited time special" in the local Jeep dealer's ad in the Sunday paper.

The whole buying process went fast (so enrapt was I with with the thought of my new Wrangler). I even traded-in my precious little Nissan pickup for pathetic little in return somewhere during the process. That fact did sully the the "euphoria-of-buying-a new-car" experience for me, but I got over that pretty quickly.

Perhaps the biggest selling point for me initially was the convertibility of the Wrangler's top. I live in Southern California & had always been a bit jealous of owners of convertibles; plus, I like owning a truck... so the Jeep seems an ideal compromise, right?

Unfortunately for me, I found that the Wrangler is neither. Sure it has a cloth-top & sure it's kinda got a bed & kinda rides like a pick-up. The convertible top, however, is cumbersome. After you get good at it, the top will take one person around ten minutes to properly employ or deploy. Certainly a far cry from the Mustang I once rented on which the top was in place ten seconds after pressing a button (but that's an unfair comparison). And the windows... you have to be really, really, really, really careful how you stow them lest they quickly start to cloud. Mine were like looking through wax paper after the first 3 years. By this time, the fabric that comprised the top began to get quite ratty & faded anyway, so a new top (which, luckily, included a new set of nice TRANSPARENT windows) was had for about $350. As far a any comparison to a truck is concerned, all I'll say is that if you can get by with a bed that measures around 48 inches & essentially no separation between you and your load, you should be OK (& that's only if you take out the back seat).

And then there's the noise factor. I can relate the act of driving a Wrangler w/ soft-top to being inside a tympani drum. Often, when My wife and I went on long trips, we were only able to carry on a conversation when stopped at traffic lights or when the tail-wind was just right. Three years after buying the vehicle, I suffered an injury which left me deaf in my right ear & impeded my ability to project my voice effectively. Communications with my passenger while on the road went from difficult to impossible. I purchased a hard top soon after, which helped quite a lot (although it did set me back nearly $2000).

I was in my 20's and single when I bought my Jeep. I'm now a 41 year old family man who has out-grown the visceral need to drive over tumbleweeds & the like. Besides, back then they were still rather novel. These days, they're about as ubiquitous as Toyota Camrys (so much for "head-turning" or "chick-magnet" value). And while the MPG could be worse, with gas now at $2.30 per gallon (& headed God only knows where), I find myself yearning for better fuel economy. My Jeep rarely leaves the asphalt these days & that brings me to another issue; I've always been a rather conservative driver (i.e., kinda on the slow side) & back when I bought my Jeep, The national speed limit was, of course, 55... and I was perfectly content to drive 55. Now that the local highways have gained 10 MPH (and that one risks being run off the road at 55), I'm finding that the Wrangler's fuel economy suffers badly at 65 MPH. I'm experiencing a difference of about six to seven MPG between those two "extremes" in speed. I opted for the 4-cyl. on the assumption that "well... of course it would have a better MPG rating than the 6-cyl. Right?" Well, from what I hear, the only real difference in the two engines is the power. Apparently, the 4-cyl. works so hard to push the two tons of Jeep Wrangler around that the mileage for the two engines comes out pretty much the same.

Considering the negatives aspects I've listed up to this point, you might think that I have soured impression of my '92 Wrangler. Hardly. It is, without a doubt the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. In nearly twelve years, it has YET to require ANYTHING in the way of major service (even in spite of a lot of time spent off-road) and having been driven 100,000 miles to present. My biggest regular expense has turned out to be, oddly enough; windshields. The current one is my FIFTH. Just something about that flat, non-cambered shape that seems to act like a magnet for small pebbles, etc. The resulting little divots quickly evolve into long cracks from the resulting wind pressure on the flat, vulnerable glass. The good thing is that Jeep windshields generally cost less than those for your average car (a lot less, in fact... normally running about $150 or so if you shop around). Alas... I now have a very small hair-line crack in the current glass so number six won't be far off.

Two major suggestions I have for perspective buyers; get one with a factory hardtop as well as with A/C. The hardtop for the above stated reason. I found the A/C to be extremely important. Factual example... you're tooling down a dusty dirt trail in the middle of July. The interior ventilation in a Wrangler truly sucks. Sure, you could open the window and allow the outside air to evaporate the sweat from your brow; but you will soon face the task of removing a 1/4 inch layer of yuck from every nook and cranny of your vehicle (and there are a lot of nooks and crannies in there). The air conditioner allows you to be on your merry way with all the windows shut tight. This very scenario happened to me in 2002.... had A/C within a month. This all seems very obvious and matter of fact, but I wished I'd thought of it back at time of purchase (F.Y.I., I actually found an aftermarket unit on eBay for less than $800. It went in like it was factory-built (or so I was told by my mechanic) & has worked beautifully ever since).

The moral of the story; a Wrangler is essentially built for a specific purpose and it performs in that manner very, very well. But... if you have any pretense about using it as a passenger car during the week, I'd think twice before taking the plunge.