Thread: Jeep Wrangler

Originally Posted by lambrover

The new penistar engine seems good so far.

Must be a Jeep thing

Originally Posted by Grumbles

The Pentastar engine is well matched to the new five speed auto. I have done mostly secondary highway running with small towns on it [read up and down speed restrictions] and it is also hilly and windy. The best fuel consumption I have seen so far is 12 litres per hundred kays.

The Pentastar engine is used in other vehicles and has a pretty good history - read reliable and durable here. The was one small batch of engines which had head issues but this was caught by Chrysler and in reality is just a small blip on the radar. The auto also appears to be vice free.

I would not buy a diesel Jeep except if I was turning them over regularly and they were always under factory warranty. These engines are problematic - swirl motors, electronics. A manual diesel Jeep also has a dual mass flywheel too which is far too light duty for the diesel - many wear out prematurely and it is major dollars to repair and is not covered by warranty. The petrol manuals do not experience these premature wear rates.

The other thing with these diesel Jeeps is that spare parts from Chrysler are unobtainium. There's more than a few sidelined due to parts non availability.

If you want a Rubicon be prepared for a very long wait with no guarantees. These are so popular in the USA that production is going to fulfilling local demand.

Even the petrol JK Unlimited Sports have a waiting list here in Oz if you want one of the more popular colours.If you're not that fussy on colour - read limited options - then you will get your Jeep pretty quickly from Aussie stock.

Anything else I can help you with?

I live in North East Victoria lambrover- why?

Great info. I was hoping you lived in Sydney.

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Sorry about not living in Sydney mate but I can't hack cities of any sort.

I'll add this to my Jeep comments. Pick your dealer carefully and with an eye to the service people - their competency and interest in you the customer. And then stay with the selling dealer for the servicing. This way they see some loyalty from you and generally reciprocate it back to you.

I just rocked up to my local [100 kays away] dealer and inquired about a Jeep so off we went for a test drive - in a brand new manual four door petrol Wrangler on trade plates. The important thing to note here is the test drive - it was not your normal "once around the block" sort of thing followed by the equally normal follow up of "do you want to buy it". This was refreshingly different. My test drive went for nearly an hour and a half. We did the highway drive, the around town drive, the dirt road drive the high range four wheel drive thing and then the low range four wheel drive experience. I was unconvinced about a manual so I went back in the next day and we did the same sort of thing in one of their petrol auto Wranglers on trade plates.

After these experiences I ordered my white Wrangler from them with a great deal even though they are in high demand [short supply] and also ordered a few Jeep accessories. I took possesion of the Wrangler two weeks later which was great service.

Just a small note about accessories. Non Jeep acesssories fitted will compromise your warranty - never ever doubt this.

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

Must be a Jeep thing

Yeah yeah I forgot the correct spelling lol

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Originally Posted by lambrover

I am looking at all of them ATM. How is the fuel consumption on the petrol.

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i took one for a test drive yesterday.. Because I was curious and had no intention of buying V6 petrol had plenty of toe. IMHO the low range was not low enough and it felt very plasticy (if thats a word). All in all I very uninspired.

What do I think? I think enough about the new Sahara Unlimited with 3.6 V6 Pentastar to put down a $4000 deposit.

If Land Rover had made as much of an effort to keep the Defender up to date, I'd be buying a LR, but the Wrangler just ticks all the boxes.

I'm only 1.8m and the wife is 1.75m so it fits us well.
The engine is strong and smooth and MUCH better on fuel than the old 3.8.
Tiptronic gearbox with lock-up TC is a winner.

I was considering a Rubicon, but since this will be the "bling" off-roader, I really don't need the extra goodies, so dropped that idea although the price still beats the Defender 110 Puma hands down.

I'm just waiting for the financing and I can take delivery.

how much for a major service including gearbox lube?

For free for 3 years / 100,000 km.

Full service and maintenance warranty included.

They don't cover motor glass (that's short term insurance anyway) or tyres or fuel.

Bloody no-brainer I reckon.