The dealer (and I) settled at $10775 plus TTL.
I think it fits my needs perfectly. Frankly, it'll get used more as a postal Jeep than a 4x4, running errands around town. I'm not in a hurry. I work weekend nights. I'm the guy at the bar at noon on Tuesday, eating hotwings.
Anyway, here's the Jeeps stablemate:
I figure anything the little toad can't handle, the Dodge can. I love the truck, and a primary reason for getting the Jeep is to keep some miles off the Dodge. I'm getting buried in that Dodge truck. A proper man just can't roll in a CRV or RAV4... considered an Xterra or old 90's 4cyl 4Runner, but thought I could do better with a Jeep.
BTW, today I dropped the little Jeep from 6th to 5th and at 70mph on the freeway. It spun up to 85mph and was still pulling when traffic ahead of me slowed and I had to let off. It won't break 75mph in 6th.
FWIW, I typically roll at 55mph or 60mph on the freeway, so it's capable enough for me. Even with that monster 7,000lb Dodge 2500 4x4 rolling on E-rated 265/75/17s... I can get 18mpg highway cruising 55-60mph by virtue of it's 5-speed auto with 0.67-1 overdrive and 3.73 gears. She's doing 1500 RPM at 55mph, berely chugging. Around town I get about 11mpg, and average about 12.5 combined. You ultimately can't beat physics. Inertia applies to objects in motion and static. The Dodge has a lot of inertia to move from a stop, and there is no way around it.
The little toad Jeep should do much better than the Dodge in the city. It's got greatly lower fuel consumption at idle and far less inertia. I ran the Jeep down until the low fuel light chimed on, then put in three gallons of fuel and drove over 50 miles (some of it hard driving) before it chimed again (16-17ish mpg). It was as scientific as I could get on an overnight test drive. I've already topped the little Jeep off and I'll do a proper full-tank mileage test with a light foot now.
IMO, light foot is the best way to drive. My old Ram has 122,000 miles on the odometer. A set of E-rated tires lasts 70,000 miles. I've replaced the front brake pads once at 50k (when the ex-wife used to drive it), and after 70K more on the replacement OEM pads, they still have a lot of life left. I also had to replace the battery for the first time last year, and I put in a thermostat about 3 years ago. Other than regular maintenance, nothing has ever failed. It's never been to a mechanic. I'm guessing that since the engine rarely ever sees the + side of 2500 rpm, nothing really wears or gets too hot. Yeah, I drive that slow. My fiancee hardly believes I can drive fast enough to do my job. I don't know, I've got nothing to prove to any strangeron the road.
At any rate, a 4cyl Jeep may be desireable for some people. People who won't do extreme 4x4ing, with huge lifts and tires, don't need the extra power or want the additional fuel cosumption that comes with it. If the Jeep were to be my only vehicle, and I wanted to do extreme 4x4ing, and I didn't have a tow-rig to get it down the highway, then I'd be all over a 4.0 6-cyl. As it stands, I got a pretty well set-up little Jeep for $5K-6K less than a comparable I6 Jeep.
Back in the mid 90's, when I was a teenager and fuel was 95-cents/gallon, I owned nothing but huge lifted V-8 4x4s, a 1972 F-250 Camper Special, 1975 F-100 (fullsize) Ranger, 1979 Ford Bronco. I didn't care what mileage they got. The rumble from the exhaust is/was addicting. MY old Camper Special didn't need catalytic converters or an air-pump. Heck, I recall filling it up with regular gas, and worrying whether unleaded would hurt it's valve seats. I could rev it, and it would shoot flames out the exhaust on decel.
Gasoline will go back up to $4.00 per gallon (at least) in 2012. The annual cost difference between getting 20mpg and 13mpg will be about $1200/year or $100 per month. A handful of MPGs is a big factor.
Lastly, I LOVE I-6 engines. IMO, that's the perfect engine design for balance and performance. They naturally balance better than I-4s, and produce better torque than V6s. There is a reason why BMW uses I-6s. If they weren't as rare as hen's teeth, I'd have bought a 1993-1996 Bronco with the fuel injected 4.9L I-6 and a 5-speed manual OD transmission. I gave up on ever finding a clean one. Granted, they don't get great fuel economy, but that 300ci inline 6 was IMO the greatest gas truck engine ever fielded, with it's gear driven valve train (no belt or chain), they'll sometimes last 500,000 miles. BTW, F-350s, school buses, and dump trucks came from factories with that amazing little engine.
I suppose I've always been a fan of low HP 4-wheel vehicles. The I-4 engine is precisely what I wanted, and it performs better than I expected ta'boot. I'm not suffering.
Apologies for rambling and being scatter-brained.
Also, thank you for the advice. I read and weighed all responses, and each was relevant. However, we all have our own unique objectives/priorities/desires for our Wranglers.
The thing about the four cylinder is that it is a decent engine, but if you want a capable off road setup it will need low gearing that will make it suck for driving on the road. The I6 gets around that with its extra power available allowing for a less aggressive setup. Since you said you do not plan on doing much if anything at all to it then the four cylinder should work out for you.
