Jeep Wrangler Pros and Cons
If you're thinking about buying a Wrangler, congratulations you're going to have a lot of fun with it. You'll also make new friends, especially Bob, down at the gas station, because they are surprisingly inefficient vehicles. The four cylinder is only slightly more fuel efficient than the six cylinder, but the four is drastically under-powered. The 4.0 litre inline 6 will give you plenty of power, and when combined with the four wheel drive, you will never get stuck on your way to see Bob at the local gas station. Remember what I said about these vehicles being thirsty?
Another great/not-so-great thing about Wranglers is the soft top. If you're thinking this is a great convertiblewell, it is technically a convertible. Great is still in debate. With the top down you can experience the sky and the wind in your hair (bring a hat, hair band, or at least a brush), but getting that soft top down isn't easy. First you have the two clips up behind the sun visors on the windshield frame, then it clips into the side roof rails, not once but twice per side, and some people find it difficult to fold it down with the side rear windows still in place. It is possible to leave the windows zipped in and fold it down, but it certainly adds to the degree of difficulty. If you leave the side windows attached, they still have to be unclipped from the retainer at the front and bottom of the side windows.
Putting the soft top up is a whole other ordeal! It either involves standing in the area of the back seat and pulling up, or better yet, using two people, located one on each side and folding it into the up position from beside the vehicle. It's very difficult, but not impossible for the roof to be closed by one person, especially when the top is new and hasn't been used much. After it's been worked in by frequent raising and lowering, it gets stretched and therefore becomes easier to secure it in it's numerous locations. Many people just leave it up because of the hassle of putting it down.
If the Wrangler you're buying only has a hard top, this too is removable to enjoy the sun and wind, but check the weather report to make sure it's not going to rain before you can come back and get your friends to help you reinstall the hard top. The hard top is heavy and takes at least two people in reasonably good physical condition to remove or install it. If you can get three other people plus yourself, you're better off and far less likely to scratch your paint. Once in place, it bolts rather easily into place.
With the back seat folded up (so it can be sat on), there is storage behind the seat (for you're your lunch maybe, if you don't eat much). With the rear seat folded down, you have some storage, but if you're carrying anything of a decent size, you can remove the rear seat easily and leave it at home for extra storage. Once put back in you and the three friends that helped you with the roof can go for a ride.
These vehicles are able to seat four people in relative comfort, that is until you start moving. The short wheel base makes for a rough ride, but makes it very manoeuvrable. You can turn on a dime, but don't try that at higher speeds because they tend to roll over rather easily. There's even a warning about that on the driver's sun visor.
Towing is another short-coming of the Wrangler. Although, in it's six cylinder form there is plenty of power, the short wheel base seriously limits the legal towing capacity of the vehicle. They are capable of towing a lot more than they're legally rated for, but obey the rated towing capacity. It mostly applies to being able to safely stop a larger trailer, or control it in the event of swaying. The short wheel base makes towing larger trailers quite dangerous.
As you can see there are good and bad things to be said about the Wrangler, only you can judge for yourself if the good outweighs the bad for your particular needs. If you want a toy, and you like seeing Bob at your local gas station regularly, this might be exactly the right vehicle for you. If you want a smooth riding, economical commuter vehicle, this probably isn't right for you. One thing I don't think anyone can deny though is that they sure are a lot of fun, especially in snow or if you go off-roading!
