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I'm considering buying a Jeep. Advise and smart-a** comments requested

We have had 3 YJ’s. None of them I would advise for daily drivers but decent extra vehicles .Never had many mechanical issues but 2 were 4cyl …slow as Christmas… current YJ has an LS…not slow
 
Hey all,
I'm considering buying a jeep to have as an extra vehicle and something fun that my wife and daughters could cruise around town and occasionally take to the mountains.

I know jeeps aren't known for reliability so I have some reservations. I'm handy but with 2 jobs and 2 kids I don't have time to piddle around with fixing a jeep constantly.

I like basic Jeeps. 2-4" of lift would be ideal.

I don't mind a brush guard and winch but don't want crazy mods and purple neons mounted to the frame.

1) I'm thinking about 2 options:
Option A: Spend less than $15k and find an older (maybe 1995-2005) 2 door wrangler with low miles and preferably 1 owner.
Option B: spend $25k-$35k and get a 4 door wrangler 2015ish with low miles and preferably 1 owner. 4 door would be much more convenient for the kids and surely more comfortable in the back seat.

2) I 100% believe that a jeep should be manual transmission. I'm sure my wife would appreciate an automatic. Are Jeep transmissions any good.

3) I've always heard the 4.0L inline 6 is a good engine. What are other good engines in Jeeps?

4) I'll never buy a car from the auto bail out era (2006-2009). i've heard too many stories of lemons in this timeframe. Any other models, engines, etc to avoid?

5) Aside from rust what should I watch out for? Signs of being submerged? etc?

Any other advice or smart-a** comments are welcomed.
Buy a gas station tooo!
 
Driving on I95N yesterday saw not one, but two of the gayest vehicles ever.
Four door Wrangler pickups. Are lesbians trading in their Subaru wagons?
 
This thing does everything I want it too.

It can be a grocery getter, a hunting rig, a tow vehicle for firewood hauling or landscaping or all around work truck that will go anywhere and will get you up any driveway or logging trail you need to access plus you can keep a lot of gear in it and keep the contents warm and dry.
You will need to learn how to fix things when they break but that’s what the ODT IS for.
The in-line six 4.0 will run about 300-k before a piston skirt breaks and you’ll need to rebuild, swap a crate motor or splurge for a stroker.

I did a stock rebuild on mine and it’s got a 3” lift with no lockers and got me out of every steep slippery spot including hauling trailer loads of firewood out of the woods.
It’s a 99 model and the later models put redundant crap
In them like the one giant coil
Pack that needs replaced if one cyllinder misfires.
They also added a key transponder ring with a chip key that was prone to failure.
The 99’s IMO had all the bugs worked out then someone decided to let an overzealous engineer that most likely got fired from Mercedes’ Benz put crap in the jeeps that would be sure to fail and cost more money to make the vehicle less reliable.
BUT…..I’m sure once Mercedes’ heard of these stunts they hired the engineer back to help them add more redundant/breakable crap to Mercedes’ .
 

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