GJK

I have an 08 with 120,000 and no major issues. As said before, lifting an older or/and high mileage vehicle will result in strain on already weakened and worn hardware.

Kalitri35

Had an 08' 2dr X for almost 8 years, bought it new, mod'd it as much as I could afford, wheeled all the time in So Cal. The only problems of note were: leaky soft top, E-brake cable broke(this was before they incorporated the maint interval), and shortly before I sold it I had a right front caliper problem, had to get it replaced, also towards the end I was dealing with burning oil with the engine, losing about 2 qts between changes. That being said, I know plenty of people who have had 07'-08' wranglers and they haven't had any problems except from mod'd components. It's like anything you buy like this; it's a toss up, you could get a great one or you could have a myriad of problems. Research can only do you so much good, then it comes down to luck and happenstance. I'd say, get a wrangler, regardless of what COULD go wrong.

Baddkarmaracing

I have an 08 with 120k on it, I put a new motor in it when I bought it at 98k because the lady that had it before me didn't take care of it, it was 15k one the last oil change sticker ( I asked.she hadn't had it changed) and was out of oil when I bought it, I bought it slapped a Reman 3.8 in it and have never looked back, it runs great with 5.13's and 35's but it also ran just fine with 3.73's and 32's it had when I bought it. It's not a race car but it runs pretty good, keep up with maintenance and it should be fine!

JeepaRoo

since your daughter is 16, she lives at home, you can keep on top of her jeep and teach her, buy one with no lifts, special wheels or mods, take it on the freeway go around a bit of a left curve that is bumpy and see if you get death wobble, always that slight turn left above 50 MPH hitting a bridge threshold or such triggered it on my TJ, till i got it fixed..

on my TJ a new steering damper , new tires and never puting more than 30k on a set of tires never had DW again.

07s and 08s had the potential to use oil.. sometimes up to a quart every 1000 miles, so teach the daughter to check the oil at every gasoline fillup and you'll be fine. that 3.8 was used in the minivans for many many miles.. many of the Taxi cabs i ride in on my business trips are 08 / 09 Grand caravans with 200k+ miles on them running pretty much the same 3.8 as in the JK...

Buy your Jeep in a big city preferrably at a suburban dealership in a Nice area of town.. you are likely to find one thats never been wheeled.. its easy to tell by crawling under it and looking at the skidplates for scratches scrapes and dents out of the ordinary..

im one of those that buys JK's and never wheels( i got tired of wasting money breaking stuff wheeling hard) so I trade in 'virgin jeeps' all the time, they are easy to find.

-Christopher

Its-a-JK

I recently bought a stock 2013 2 door base sport 6spd for my 16 year old thats just starting to drive. Although I am driving it and love it, come Feb it becomes hers when we turn in the Fiat 500. Almost bought a 2011 with the 3.8 but after finding details about the 3.6 I liked the more modern motor, better economy and better throttle response. Got a really good deal at $19K (do alot of searching) and its just a much better motor in my opinion plus the soft top on 2013's are better than prior year JKs. Glad I bought it and I will be buying myself a JKU sometime next year after she takes this one off my hands. Good luck on the search and either way you shouldn't go wrong.

08REDROCKX

My caution does not have anything to do with being a "lazy ass", I have worked on cars since I could walk and I enjoy it. I had DW with 20k bone stock....How many vehicles have that problem? Vehicles with straight axles....design problem!!! Don't get me wrong, straight axle is what makes the Jeep great but we are talking about daughter's safety. The culprit in my situation was wrong bolts in the track bar from the factory. I lifted mine and changed track bar and didn't have a problem until 50k. Inspected all components and everything was tight. I had tires re-balanced and still had problem. I went to a slightly bigger tire with a little more give and have not had a problem since. I love my JK but I love my daughters more so I would put them in a Grand Cherokee... Would you want your daughter to drive a vehicle that can go into a violent shake at HWY speeds if you missed something on last inspection?... Or some kid helped her put too much air in her tires? There are many posts on this site that people know they have DW but aren't sure how to tell what is too much play in a tire rod end or ball joint .... How can you know for sure that you will catch any problem before your daughter drives it on the HWY? If you buy the JK I would recommend rebuilding the whole front end and installing new tires.

DunnyBunny

Ok let's correct something. You DO NOT need new trackbars and control arms to lift a vehicle "right". You WILL NOT automatically get death wobble if you don't replace those components. I know several people (including myself) who didn't or haven't replaced those components and have never had death wobble. But you were right about something. Proper maintenance is what's need to keep from having death wobble. Checking torque specs, rotating tire properly, getting proper inspections of components from reliable sources who know what they are doing, etc.

KG6SLC

Shortly after our daughter learned to drive she totaled her Honda CRX, we made sure her next vehicle was a Jeep!

For one, she would not have peer pressure to "Hot Rod" in a Jeep. Second if she were in an accident there would be plenty of protection for her.

The high mileage does not scare me. My first jeep I put almost 250,000 miles on it. And we all know it is "OK" and even "Cool" to have a Jeep of ANY year.

If and when it comes time to sell there are always people that want to buy any year of Jeep.

My advise is go for it! Nothing in this world is certain.(except death of course) ...but I would hedge my bet on this one being a good decision.

KG6SLC aka Eugene

horrocks007

There it a hardware kit from northridge4x4 that solves a lot of the DW problem.

Jeepin Dad

150k plus miles on my '07 2dr. Mine is a 6 speed and ordered with 4.10's gears, before I swapped out the axles. I never had complaints about the power/acceleration with the 3.8 even when I upgraded to 33's. The only problems/repairs that were not mod related were a bad clock spring, I had a cam shaft sensor go bad and a few weeks ago I lost my serpentine belt due to a worn tensioner pulley.