New Jeep Buyer

[Felix]

Hi Everyone, 

 

I am planning on purchasing a Jeep Wrangler tj in the next few months. Wanted to reach out to everyone to see if there was any things I should be looking for in the Jeep? or general advise for a beginner Jeep buyer? 
 

thanks 

 

Felix 
 

 

[Marcus Durand]

Hi Felix, welcome.

There are plenty of TJ enthusiasts who I'm sure will have lots of advice for you.

[frosty]

i think you will be lucky to find a Rubicon TJ, very few around. 

[Arno]

TJ Rubicon in the UK?? I thought the handful here were US imports?  No?

 

Felix, what year you looking at, as every year had its points, for example, pre 2003 tend to crack their outlet manifolds but post 2004 oil pan was made of a thinner metal, causing it to easily rust through, don't ask me how I know

[AlexK]

Yeah, Rubicon TJs were never officially imported, unfortunately. They're awesome, though - ask Patrick.

 

As Arno says, the earlier ones suffered from cracked exhaust manifolds, but a redesigned part was usually fitted under warranty. Probably long since fixed by now.

 

'97 UK models had a terrible fob-operated immobiliser that packed up and was (as good as) impossible to fix.  '98 and on moved to SKIS (chip-in-key) which was better.

 

Pre-2000-ish models were a little basic with the goodies - didn't even have intermittent wipers to start with, for example.

 

2001 saw distributorless ignition introduced on the 4.0L, slight increase in power, plus they sound better.

 

Main body rust spot is the top of the front wings. TJs with checkerplate there are almost certainly hiding a large hole.

 

I'm personally not a fan of Japanese imports. The specs are different, and the JP models weren't undersealed. Jap imports have been known to rust very quickly once they arrive here. Fresh underseal on a UK car might be trying to hide general crustiness. Unusual colours, wrong speedo, or an auto box on a Sport means it's an import.

 

You need a good reason to opt for the 2.5 over the 4.0L, and it won't be to save fuel as in the real world they're both about the same.  4.0L one of the greatest engines ever devised by mankind, in my opinion, but not immune to problems.  Oil leaks are most likely from the rear main seal.

 

Look out for cowboy LPG conversions (which is nearly all of them, in my experience, I'm afraid).

 

Buyers new to TJs tend to start off thinking they want a hard-top, but really a TJ is all about the soft-top. Hard-tops pose a storage challenge on the sunny days you want to take it off, soft-tops aren't anywhere near as hard to live with in winter as you might think. Don't worry about the condition of the soft-top too much as there's tons of support both OEM (Bestop) and aftermarket.

 

4WD system (called Command-Trac) is part-time only and not to be used on tarmac.

 

That'll probably do to start with. As Jim says, let us know what you're looking for and we can advise further.  By the way, TJs are awesome.

[TimC]

Don’t know much about TJs as never had or been in one but completely agree with Alex about the soft tops. Only downside to a soft top in my experience is if it’s you daily drive and you have security worries.....can be a bit noisier too. Other than that they’re definitely what you should have on a Wrangler as often as possible

[John]

Personally I’ve never worried about security with a soft top ...

just don’t leave any thing it that u don’t mind loosing ...

in 17 yrs of ownership I never had any thing stolen out my to ... used to leave it all day like this 

[frosty]

great picture, half metal doors just look fantastic, along with a Trek top, i have the same set up on my JK, and TJ. half metal Mopar doors are expensive, i imported mine from USA, new for the JK, used ones for the TJ. 

[John]

I have thought about some for the jk ... I do miss that set up for the summer months ...

maybe in time ...

[TimC]

18 hours ago, John said:

Personally I’ve never worried about security with a soft top ...

just don’t leave any thing it that u don’t mind loosing ...

in 17 yrs of ownership I never had any thing stolen out my to ... used to leave it all day like this 

 

Nice pic at Whitecliff there John, when was that taken? weather looks too good for the one I went to.

[TimC]

........and I agree, half doors look great and are very cool ..........it’s just the cost! They are not a cheap accessory.

[digger]

Here's an idea for YJ/TJ folk. I have a spare set of stock doors for my YJ. Has any one converted their doors to half doors. Is it possible to buy just skins? Maybe a good panel basher could change stock ones, if I did some donkey work first.  Are the stock ones basically the same?  Any other ideas?

[frosty]

you can get used ones quite cheep in USA, then ship them over, or time it in with a trip there ( post Covid) and bring them back in a suitcase, i have seen it done. i only paid $300 for mine, and £300 shipping including uppers. 

[digger]

I think you did well there Frosty.  I've been looking for quite a while on and off and have seen none at that kind of price. There was a pair on recently asking $600 a door and I would have had to repaint them.  I might make up a pair of tube doors (£50 for materials+ hinges etc from my spares) and then get them skinned with alloy and painted. I'll look into it more once I'm allowed out!

[John]

I quite like the bestop core doors ... mind my jeep is b&w so they would work 

[John]

20 hours ago, TimC said:

 

Nice pic at Whitecliff there John, when was that taken? weather looks too good for the one I went to.

It was 2017 

[frosty]

5 hours ago, digger said:

I think you did well there Frosty.  I've been looking for quite a while on and off and have seen none at that kind of price. There was a pair on recently asking $600 a door and I would have had to repaint them.  I might make up a pair of tube doors (£50 for materials+ hinges etc from my spares) and then get them skinned with alloy and painted. I'll look into it more once I'm allowed out!

i have a good friend in USA, he bought my TJ doors off a guy near him, i must admit they were cheap, and i was respraying the jeep anyway, so color wasn't a problem, i was going to go there for a holiday to pick them up, but then covid happened so plans changed, i buy a lot of aircraft parts from USA, so i called in a few favor's and got them shipped for free.  

[frosty]

i was quoted £300 for shipping, which i think is quite good. 

[John]

If I remember the ones on that green tj cost me £500 on ebod & £500 shipping ... at the time there were £2k at the dealer so worth doing & they were the right Color

[Felix]

On 17/02/2021 at 16:12, Jim said:

Hi Felix and welcome to the club. As Marcus has already said, there are plenty of TJ owners on here but if it was me buying a TJ, I would probably go for the Rubicon Edition as it comes with so good factory fitted modifications.

 

One question we would need to know is what will your new TJ be used for? Will it be your main car, will you want to take it off road, do you just want it to look nice and shiny? If you can let us know then our TJ members can advise better.

 

On 18/02/2021 at 08:31, Arno said:

TJ Rubicon in the UK?? I thought the handful here were US imports?  No?

 

Felix, what year you looking at, as every year had its points, for example, pre 2003 tend to crack their outlet manifolds but post 2004 oil pan was made of a thinner metal, causing it to easily rust through, don't ask me how I know

 

On 18/02/2021 at 11:48, AlexK said:

Yeah, Rubicon TJs were never officially imported, unfortunately. They're awesome, though - ask Patrick.

 

As Arno says, the earlier ones suffered from cracked exhaust manifolds, but a redesigned part was usually fitted under warranty. Probably long since fixed by now.

 

'97 UK models had a terrible fob-operated immobiliser that packed up and was (as good as) impossible to fix.  '98 and on moved to SKIS (chip-in-key) which was better.

 

Pre-2000-ish models were a little basic with the goodies - didn't even have intermittent wipers to start with, for example.

 

2001 saw distributorless ignition introduced on the 4.0L, slight increase in power, plus they sound better.

 

Main body rust spot is the top of the front wings. TJs with checkerplate there are almost certainly hiding a large hole.

 

I'm personally not a fan of Japanese imports. The specs are different, and the JP models weren't undersealed. Jap imports have been known to rust very quickly once they arrive here. Fresh underseal on a UK car might be trying to hide general crustiness. Unusual colours, wrong speedo, or an auto box on a Sport means it's an import.

 

You need a good reason to opt for the 2.5 over the 4.0L, and it won't be to save fuel as in the real world they're both about the same.  4.0L one of the greatest engines ever devised by mankind, in my opinion, but not immune to problems.  Oil leaks are most likely from the rear main seal.

 

Look out for cowboy LPG conversions (which is nearly all of them, in my experience, I'm afraid).

 

Buyers new to TJs tend to start off thinking they want a hard-top, but really a TJ is all about the soft-top. Hard-tops pose a storage challenge on the sunny days you want to take it off, soft-tops aren't anywhere near as hard to live with in winter as you might think. Don't worry about the condition of the soft-top too much as there's tons of support both OEM (Bestop) and aftermarket.

 

4WD system (called Command-Trac) is part-time only and not to be used on tarmac.

 

That'll probably do to start with. As Jim says, let us know what you're looking for and we can advise further.  By the way, TJs are awesome.

Hi everyone, thanks for your great responses. If I’m honest a bit of everything, always had a thing for the looks, but will be looking to use as mainly on weekends. I’ve seen a lot of Japanese imports, is this something I should be avoiding then? Are they quite hard to work on? ( like to get my hands dirty)