I know this has been beaten to death, but I haven't seen a lot in this debate that focuses primarily on reliability, as opposed to fuel mileage, performance, etc.
My son goes to college at Michigan Tech, in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Truly the middle of nowhere. There are lots of sparsely-populated areas with no cell service. If his vehicle breaks down in winter up there while driving to or from home, our out in the field, it might be a long stay, might entail sleeping in the vehicle with potentially no heat, and generally be unpleasant. My top priority is a reliable vehicle.
He's majoring in forestry, so the Jeep is a natural fit for his career path. We'll be splitting the cost, because I don't want him to have an unreliable vehicle. I know and agree that, generally speaking, the 3.6 is superior in just about every way to the 3.8. That being said, my '10 JKU has 92k miles, and has been dead-nuts reliable, and hasn't even been in a repair shop for the last two years.
Budget is low $20s ish
Preliminary scouting on Autotrader shows that in that price range my choices will be 3.8s with roughly 30k-50k miles, or newer 3.6s with higher mileage - 70k and up. Don't want a stripper - we really do prefer the Saharas or Rubicons with power windows, power/heated mirrors and remote start. In fact, (blasphemy, I know) remote start is a dealbreaker must-have.
I also know that there were some issues with the first year of the 3.6 in 2012 (corrected, thanks 4jeepn), so I'm planning to avoid that year entirely.
He's a good driver, but one of the attractions of the 3.8 is the lower power and less tempation to a 19 year-old kid to do stupid stuff.
I'm just starting the process, not in any rush, and I plan to be patient and look at dozens or even hundreds before I make a purchase, and I'm not afraid to travel a few hours for "the one."
Any and all advice would be appreciated. Am I missing anything, or wrong on something? What has been your experience with the earlier vs later JKs?
Thanks!
TL, DNR: The Boy needs a reliable Jeep. Don't care about fuel mileage, performance, etc. Would you choose a lower mileage 3.8 or a higher mileage 3.6?
My son goes to college at Michigan Tech, in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Truly the middle of nowhere. There are lots of sparsely-populated areas with no cell service. If his vehicle breaks down in winter up there while driving to or from home, our out in the field, it might be a long stay, might entail sleeping in the vehicle with potentially no heat, and generally be unpleasant. My top priority is a reliable vehicle.
He's majoring in forestry, so the Jeep is a natural fit for his career path. We'll be splitting the cost, because I don't want him to have an unreliable vehicle. I know and agree that, generally speaking, the 3.6 is superior in just about every way to the 3.8. That being said, my '10 JKU has 92k miles, and has been dead-nuts reliable, and hasn't even been in a repair shop for the last two years.
Budget is low $20s ish
Preliminary scouting on Autotrader shows that in that price range my choices will be 3.8s with roughly 30k-50k miles, or newer 3.6s with higher mileage - 70k and up. Don't want a stripper - we really do prefer the Saharas or Rubicons with power windows, power/heated mirrors and remote start. In fact, (blasphemy, I know) remote start is a dealbreaker must-have.
I also know that there were some issues with the first year of the 3.6 in 2012 (corrected, thanks 4jeepn), so I'm planning to avoid that year entirely.
He's a good driver, but one of the attractions of the 3.8 is the lower power and less tempation to a 19 year-old kid to do stupid stuff.
I'm just starting the process, not in any rush, and I plan to be patient and look at dozens or even hundreds before I make a purchase, and I'm not afraid to travel a few hours for "the one."
Any and all advice would be appreciated. Am I missing anything, or wrong on something? What has been your experience with the earlier vs later JKs?
Thanks!
TL, DNR: The Boy needs a reliable Jeep. Don't care about fuel mileage, performance, etc. Would you choose a lower mileage 3.8 or a higher mileage 3.6?
