u2ecila

Hey everyone!
I just got a call from my dealer that the Cosmos Blue and Bright White are available to order now, so I will be ordering my first jeep as soon as my new tread lightly membership gets in!

So, outside of the dilema on white versus blue, what other options would you guys recommend and why? It will be my daily driver (with a little bit of off roading on the side).

Right now, I am leaning towards either the Sahara or Rubicon with:
- automatic
- side air bags
- connectivity group
- limited slip on the sahara
- leather and heated seats
- engine heater?
- air conditioning with auto control/air filter on Sahara (doesn't the standard a/c have a filter?)
- dual top?
- tow package?
- anything else I should consider?

Do the Sahara and Rubicon drive differently? I have only had a chance to test drive the sport 2011 so far.

Also, anyone have any idea what the new blue will actually look like (outside of the digital pic on jeep.com)? Thanks for any feedback!

cheers!
alice

cbcwrangler

Fairfax VA? I'm from there originally too.

All depends on your personality and situation. Two questions: do you need a secure vehicle (locked, alarm, parking in an urban area)? Second, do you like the outdoors and do you plan on using the jeep with the top off often?

I live in VERY snowy central NY, and the open-air ability is an equal to the off road ability for me. In that vein, I would get a Rubicon with soft top and half doors, even for winter, but I don't have to worry about security. If you like half doors, it is MUCH, MUCH easier to find fulls for sale or salvage aftermarket. If Jeep ever gets a clue and offers a dual top AND door package from the factory, I'd consider that if the price was not insane.

As far as your options, all personal preference, but I would start with the Rubicon as resale value is likely higher and you can always add body colored options later. Adding a new transfer case, axle, etc is a much bigger and costlier job. Also, the tow package, even if you do not use it (and you might) will also help resale.

Oh, a manual transmission, of course............ ;-)

JK-Tex

Everybody always says Rubis have higher resale yet no one can point to any evidence that's actually true. They may retain more of their value in relation to the sticker price, but you'll pay closer to sticker for a Rubi too. I'd be surprised if their retained value versus the ACTUAL purchase price is any different than for other Wranglers.

You're smart to get the LSD on the Sahara. A no brainer at $295.

oeser

If you plan on leaving the top off during the summer I would think twice about the leather seats. I almost put leather in mine after the fact because I really like leather but I sat in my cloth seats after they had been in the sun for a few hours and imagined how hot leather would be. Just something to consider. Other than the summer heat, leather seats are awesome. If the heated seats are important you can get them with cloth seats. I did and love it. In the end it is up to you and I'm sure what ever you order you will love. Good luck.

B.S.

It's a Jeep so keep it real:


2 Door Sport (B or S package they're not much different)
Manual
Hard top (maybe dual top but it's easy to add a after factory soft top)
Air Conditioning if your summers are hot and resale value.
Tow Package (or 3.73 rear end at minimum)

The rest of the stuff that belongs in a luxury car....forget about it leave it to the luxury cars and save some money.

Only spend the money ($4-$5K more) on a Rubicon if you think you are going to be really doing some way out off-roading. Even then you might have to upgrade a Rubicon if you are into extreme Rock Crawling or similar so in that case start with a base and build it up. If you don't see yourself doing that why spend all that extra cash for equipment you'd not use?

Oh, and have fun and don't forget to wave back at us once you are on the road!

B.S.

Rob W.

I plan on ordering my 2011 tomorrow. Are the heated cloth seats available from the factory, or only as a dealer-install? The website seems to force leather if you want heat.


BTW, this is my first post!

kd5zwf

Rubicon and call it a day!

11JK

I'm from north of Detroit too!

I priced a 2011 at the Washington Twp dealer, and you could only get heated leather. But I assume you can get mopar heater kits and the switches actually have a factory spot on the dash which will look nice.

I am waiting on the 70th anniversay edition to make my decision, but so far . . .

Black 4-door Saharah, loaded every option but leather and Nav (thats a maybe). Also still unsure of the black or Tan cloth (haven't see the tan cloth yet in person).

herks

I have leather in my 2010 Rubi. I had the top off most of the summer, and the seats did get a little warm, but it wasn't overly bad. You can always lay them forward to block most of the sun. They do wipe clean a lot easier then cloth, and the few times i got rained on, it was a lot easier to wipe up than if it had been cloth. I say leather all the way.

I enjoy my leather and my nav. people say it only belongs in a mall crawler, but it's a damn fine mall crawler!

oeser

It must get hotter here. That or you're a little tougher than me. I sat in some leather after the top was off and burned my arm pretty bad. Even my cloth seats feel extra toasty. I do love leather for all the other reasons, I just decided not to put it in after the fact for the heat factor. I do love my nav though and cannot live without it.