JeepYak

I went to the dealer today and checked out their small selection of two Unlimited Xs, an Unlimited Sahara hard top($30k! yikes!), and a 2 door X hard top. One of the Unlimiteds was unlocked, so I took a peek inside.

CAUTION: Begin whining zone!

I don't like the white interior of the hard top. The contrast between the dark interior colors and the white ceiling made me feel a little quirky. A can of Krylon or some Herculiner should take care of that. I just hope I make it home from the dealer without having a fit.

The door locks are extremely weird. I can see where it would be pretty easy to bump it and lock your keys in. I thought of remedying this with power door locks with a remote entry to keep in my pocket, but that brings me to my next dislike:

The back seat passengers don't have control of the power windows. I don't have many friends this shy, but what if someone wants to discreetly fart and crack the window? I can't figure out why it is designed like that. I think I'll keep my $800 and spend it on a bumper.

Even on the manual window and lock model, the door strap has the wire run that tucks inside the door panel. I could not figure out how this comes off for door removal. Do you have to remove the panel? Surely not.

The receiver hitch is fairly gimmicky. $270 didn't sound like a bad price for the hitch, until I saw that it is nothing more than a receiver bolted to the rear cross member. It's not a full hitch, in the conventional sense, that bolts to the frame. With the cross member as it is, a conventional "Hidden Hitch" won't fit the JK. I'm willing to bet after market hitches will be very cheap. This is a good thing, but OEM is a little pricey for what it is.

The X doesn't come with the cool instrument cluster.

The interior of the Sahara is really cool. I want the X because it is cheaper, and I could care less about the $400 plastic tubular side steps and body colored fender flares. Don't get me wrong, the flares are cool on the Sahara, but I don't feel it's worth the price difference. But, after looking inside the Sahara (sticker price $30K!!!) the X seemed a little "plain". I hate when they do this! Everything about the Sahara looks better than the X! The seats are extremely cool, the instrument cluster, the 18" wheels, power windows and locks(which I would feel like a total traitor for having that in my Jeep, so I feel justified not getting power). I just can't get myself motivated enough to pay 30 thousand dollars for a Jeep, though. A Rubicon...maybe. But that is still pretty steep for a transfer case and one different axle.

The Sahara is the only one that has a khaki top. I don't like it, but I would like for it to be an option for the Rubicon and the X.

The sound bar on the soft top equipped models has a huge, gaping hole for the hard top bolt. The least they could have done is put a plastic plug in it!

What is the rubber plug in the doors for? I was tempted to remove it, but the lot was closed and I don't think the Jeep was supposed to be unlocked, so I left it alone. I hate jail.

The angle of the floorboard under the rear seat. On the two door model, it looked like there was less leg room than on my 03. The Unlimited had ample leg room, but it felt weird sitting with my feet forced out in front of me. I'm pretty short (5'8") and sometimes like to pull my feet in closer to the bottom of the seat, especially on longer rides. It just felt a little off.

The large gap left behind the rear seat when folded down. (whining, even harder) Man...I'm gonna have to get an air mattress! :sad:

The outside door handles. Although more comfortable than my 03 paddles (which are backwards IMHO), I'm scared they are going to get broken off. Hopefully, this is just nonsense worrying, but it looks like it really could happen. I've had my 03 in some tight places, but there aren't any dents in the doors, so I seriously doubt the JKs handles will get broken off.

End Whining

I haven't driven one, yet. But, so far, I love everything else! I'll be ordering one in a couple of months, fo shizzle. You guys that already have them are sooo lucky.

Steve&2jc's

You've got a good point there about the door handles. I have removed my mirrors thanks to trees more than once. Hopefully they don't tear up the door when they get broken off.

Rubidon

You can safley fart in the back seat......window buttons are on the back of the center consel.

dsp

you can put the windows down in the backseat, or you can child lock them and let them suffer in their own stench. The door strap just pulls up over the hook. It is hard to see to reattach, but my wife was able to put it back together. Bottom line the JK unlimited is awesome. I know change is hard, but tommorow will still be here.

JeepYak

Damn. I thought it was an easy decision to opt out of the power windows. Now I'm thinking I want them again.

:p

grishuha

Now that you mention it... It does look a little odd but also kind of tells you, actually yells at you "REMOVE ME!"

Did you try to shut the drivers door after you lock it? On a lot of cars the lock would pop open and you can only close the drivers door with the key or a remote.

But the Tow package includes the 4.10 axle ratio, a $50 separate option, so the price is really $220 which is a little less pricey than you think.

Can you motivate yourself to pay$26.5K? this is the invoice price for a fully loaded Sahara 4-door.

mmccurdy

I'm curious about what you mean by this -- the only difference that I know of is the sliver bezel around the gauges. If you get the "S" package on the X, it includes the compass, fuel computer, etc. Of course the Rubi will have a few additional status LED's for sway bar disconnect, axle lock, etc...

To my eye, the X cluster looks way better than the one with the silver. Plastic painted to look like metal is a big pet peeve of mine. But obviously I'm in the minority here since the silvery one is on both of the higher end trim levels.

jeepguyinMS

guess I'm in the minority with you, I hate the look of plastic painted to look like metal too...

JeepYak

You make me feel better about the cluster. You're right, I was talking about the silver stuff, not just the gages.

I did lock it and shut the door, and it remained locked. Before I did this, though, I unlocked the back door and was able to reach through and unlock it. This Jeep was not equipped with power locks.
:
Tonight I finally drove one! A Jeep Green Unlimited X with S package and power windows and locks, 6 speed. It had a soft top, which I completely forgot about until we got back to the lot. Even driving it on the highway at 70mph, it was quieter than my wifes honda civic. Absolutely no flapping or rattling.

The ride was a little stiff, but that's what I was hoping for. Steering was incredibly tight, along with responsive brakes. I was especially surprised at the V6. After all I have read about its lack of torque, I felt it had plenty of power and accelerated quite nicely when I wanted it to. After entering the highway from the ramp, I had to tap the brake to slow down. When I finally shifted into 6th gear, that's when I noticed a little lag. But, when I pressed the gas, the Jeep sped up. That's all I ask for it to do! That was my first experience with the six speed, so I may have been a little slow for the gear, as well. As for low end, I was taking off from red lights and stop signs in second gear, consistently.

I am pretty short, 5'8", and felt right at home in the driver seat. The clutch pedal had quite a bit of travel, so I had to sit closer to the steering wheel than normal. The steering wheel was comfortable and the gages were easy to see, even if they weren't so easy to read. The speedo isn't marked very well, but that is what cruise control is for. The new seats are awesome.

I love it, even the parts I whined about earlier. There will be a shiny red Jeep in my driveway, very soon. I just can't make up my mind whether I want power windows and locks or not...:confused:

Bill

I would go for it. I'm glad I did. Having the keyless entry is great and not having to reach into the back seat to unlock the door is really convenient. I'm a pretty lazy guy so I'm loving it. The best part about the power windows is being able to drop all four windows without having to get out of the driver's seat which is a little tricky sometimes while driving.

I've only had mine 3 weeks but after having the power group I would have really regretted not getting it for the few bucks extra.