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The Cost of Ownership

30K views 23 replies 20 participants last post by  Jayd_5150 
#1 ·
Hello! I'm a new member here. At the end of the month I should be a proud and terribly excited owner of a 2013 Sahara Unlimited. I'm currently the struggling and pavement-trapped owner of a 2010 Civic Coupe. Bad call, ladies and gentlemen, bad call. My 100lbs GSD does not fit all that well in the back seat of my car. And his little brother (planned litter by breeder in the fall) will be the straw the breaks the camel-car's back.

So the long and short of it is.... what are the true costs of ownership for a JK? We don't drive all that much, both of our workplaces are on an LRT line. We do, however, spend most weekends in the mountains (well, the last year has been mostly park camping). What do you guys find costs you the most money? We plan for a few (seriously not many if I can control myself) little things after, like seat covers and a way to keep the doggies in, and likely hardtop insulation for our Canadian winters.
 
#2 ·
Mods by far is where many sink most of their money...once bitten by the mod bug your screwed...in a good way for your Jeep...bad way for your wallet. :D
 
#21 ·
Since most major mods replace factory systems (suspension, wheels, tires, etc.) the maintenance schedule doesn't become any more frequent.

However there are some mods, such as wheel spacers or aftermarket secondary axle seals and possibly some others, that duplicate factory systems and these at the very least add another level of maintenance.
 
#5 ·
Maintenance is fine for me should be on any brand new vehicle I'd hope! Gas mileage isn't the best but its worth the extra cost. Mods are definitely the biggest expense. What I'm trying to do is any money I put into mods I'm going to force myself to match it in payments on the principle. Self control is a must :)
 
#6 ·
Actually this is something I'd like to know too. Take mods completely out of the equation and what are your service costs like for the scheduled intervals? How much of it can be easily DIY? Etc.
 
#18 ·
Majority, if not all is very DIY friendly. There are also many writeups with pics and youtube videos available. I hadn't changed my own oil in 20+ years due to it being a PITA to jack it up to get to the drain plug, access to oil filter, a big mess, etc.. With the jeep, I use a crawler and go right under for the plug. The filter is on top of the motor. Piece of cake. I taught my 15 year old daughter to do it and she didn't reach for her phone once during the process. :dance:

Gas is the most painful cost. At least with mods, you do them when you can and you get a lot of entertainment value out of it. There are also dozens of cheap mods you can do in between the costly ones.
 
#7 ·
We also have a 2006 civic coupe in the family (aka the submarine). They designed the outside of that car without considering the interior space... However, my Jeep (over 1 year of ownership) has been in the shop for mechanical repairs about 20 days more than the civic's entire 7 years of service. I've also spent more on extras than we spent on repairs for the civic. lol.

They're two different animals. One is boring and worry-free. The other is awesome, rewarding, and a huge money pit.

Good luck, sir.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Setting aside the modifications and offroading, you should expect it to be like any other new car.

You're going to have a warranty that covers defects, so in the unlikely event that you have defects they'll be a non-issue in terms of cost. I have no doubt that as a matter of statistics, you'll be more likely to have defects in a Chrysler product than a Honda product, but that's really an issue of likelihood--just because you're more likely to have issues in one vehicle over another doesn't mean that some folks don't have trouble-free wranglers and trouble-prone hondas.

Beyond that, you've got the typical service stuff. Fluid changes, tire rotations, etc. If you have specific questions, just head over to the jeep owners website and download a PDF of the entire owners manual (here). That will give you the recommended service intervals out until over 100k miles.

If you're a DIY guy, you should expect service stuff is likely to be somewhat easier than it is on most new cars. The design of the wrangler--its height, open spaces in the engine bay, big wheel wells, exposed nuts and bolts, etc.--tends to make stuff more accessible than I'd expect it to be on a Honda Civic, for example.

The stickier issues when it comes to costs are modifications and offroading.

As to modifications, you can spend as much as you want to modify a wrangler. It's not terribly unusual to meet guys who spent more in mods than they did to buy the jeep in the first place. Just in this thread we have a guy who says he's sunk $45k into mods. You can obviously spend far less as well. With a small lift, tires and wheels, and some other doodads, I'm probably in for a few thousand in mods.

As to offroading, it will raise the cost of maintenance (and repair) of any vehicle, whether it be a military tank or a jeep wrangler. The wrangler is a sturdy offroader, but heavy duty offroad use will require additional maintenance obligations and could cause damage not covered by warranty. Those are costs that are, obviously, not part of owning a honda civic.

For example, you shouldn't leave mud and dirt caked everywhere as it will accelerate rust, so you'll have cleaning obligations (including the undercarriage) that you've probably never faced before. If you engage in significant water fording, you will want to change the differential fluid afterwards. If you smash your muffler on a rock, it isn't going to be covered by warranty as a "defect" in your muffler. Etc.
 
#12 ·
If you're a DIY guy, you should expect service stuff is likely to be somewhat easier than it is on most new cars. The design of the wrangler--its height, open spaces in the engine bay, big wheel wells, exposed nuts and bolts, etc.--tends to make stuff more accessible than I'd expect it to be on a Honda Civic, for example.
Well, I'm a DIY girl for the most part. I could likely learn how to do some of the service stuff. The honda scares me... I limit my maintenence touching to zero. But I'm sure I can change tires (dad made sure of that!), change oil and fluids. Just a matter of reading the manual and asking more questions than likely necessary, I suppose.

Good luck, sir.
Haha, aside from the sir, thank you.



Thank you for the input, everyone. I will do my best to restrain on mods. Sorta. I know my husband will likely be the bad one for that. I like the suggestion of putting down the money onto the principal anytime I feel the itch. That's very smart.
 
#9 ·
Very generalized question... like asking whats the cost of having a girlfriend.... LOL.

If you go crazy and modify then its gonna hit you hard, if you keep it stock, it shouldnt be too much more than any other new car out there as the person above stated.
 
#10 ·
MTH pretty much nailed it. Without mods, and while under warranty, your major expense on a new JKU will be gas. Plan on 15-16 MPG around town and 18-19 hwy to be safe.

But don't underestimate the mod bug that comes free with every Jeep. It often starts out innocent enough with slush mats. Then grab handles, gas cap cover, aggressive bumpers, lights, winch.......:eek:. You also have to factor in the time lost admiring your Jeep and driving the long way around just to enjoy driving it. After all, time is money.

If you peruse other threads on this site you will see that Jeeps aren't transportation, they are an addiction. :hide: People talk of peeping in their garage or out to their driveway for loving glances before bed, going to a farther grocery store than necessary and volunteering errands to the wife as an excuse to drive their Jeeps.

But if you can stick with a budget, or find a buddy to talk you out of those modding urges, you will be ok..... for a few months anyway.:facepalm:
 
#11 ·
And man, that bugs hits you hard no matter how hard you try to resist. I bought my 2013 with absolutely no intent to modify it- especially after offroading it stock and realizing it was more capable out of the box than my previous ride- a heavily modded Ram truck with a 4" lift and 35" MTRs.

But then I bottomed out on a trail. No damage whatsoever- just light scuffing on my factory skid plate- but it bothered me like an itch on my foot in the middle of the night. I can ignore it right now, but I know I will eventually scratch it. (I have a lift, tires and wheels all priced out on a piece of paper I keep hidden from my wife...)
 
#13 ·
Several sites and forums have step by step on just about any routine maintenance issue you could imagine. You will save a ton of money when not paying for labor. If you are DIY oil changes, keep purchase receipts to document the oil service for warranty.
Cost related to other vehicles, you just added 4x4 and related drive train so it is more to maintain. Tires should be replaced as a set, both differentials and transfer case need to be changed at a regular interval. I enjoy working on my cars as a hobby so doing work on my TJ is my fun time.
 
#17 ·
German Shepherd Dog? I couldn't figure it out for sure either.
 
#16 ·
You can also do little mods to hold you over.. plenty of good info on this site. only thing I did is buy new rubber...stock rubicon tires(2011) suck on wet pavement. Other than that, warranty covered little stuff...all and all, I've owned 42 vehicles in 30 some years and this ones been in the shop far less than others and its the only one I've kept more than 12 months.. Fun as heck to drive...buy it enjoy and don't look back, because you'll wonder why you waited so long!
 
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