X2. I had a 2010 Mtn Ed jku in Rescue Green (my favorite jeep color) and I traded it in this past October for a 2013 JKUR that I had built to my specs, instead of just picking one off the lot. Totally worth it. I salvaged as much as I could off the old rig (spyderlocks, LoD sliders, tie rod, evap skid, headlights, etc) but left on the 35"s and 3.5" RK lift, since it had 5.13 gears and I didn't want to pay to have them removed. Loving my JKUR.

 

I had the same dilemna. Had an '07 JKU Sahara lifted and modded. In fact I had just decided with my wife that we would buy her a new car and I would keep the Jeep and further mod it with $5,000 in upgrades since I had paid it off. After buying all my new parts, some idiot decided to turn left into me, further modding my Jeep by installing a curb on my passenger side axles, a street sign on my passenger doors, and my favorite of all... a utility pole through my tailgate/ hard top.

Despite these upgrades, it was totalled. Now I'm in a '13 JKUR and am much happier with this new set up. Much more power and I do like the interior better. Back into payments though but our JK's hold their value. I received a $25,000 payout from the insurance company for my '07 (six model years old) with 64,000 miles. Beat that HONDA!!! Lol Great re-sale on our vehicles.

 

Comes down to $$ and if you want to build something custom to suite you or just have something out of the box. My fiance has a 2010 JK that has 5" lift, 35s, shortened bumper and winch. Only mods so far, but it will get either new axles or just regeared with lockers. Now at the time of buying her JK the price difference was $10-15gs between her JK and a RUBI JK. That's any extra 2 years of payments. She also didn't want options and bought a base model so she'd know there wasn't anything extra to go wrong with it. We all know electronics in vehicles don't last forever. Now that we're dating she'll keep it forever as when the engine dies it'll get a V8. For the most part the difference in cost and interest between paying the extra amount we'll have spent it customizing her Jeep to kill any Rubi out there. But we can also do the work ourselves and have a shop with everything we need, so for us we rather save money and build a custom Jeep to suite her tastes and driving habits. If she had gotten a Rubi, everything except the t-case would've been replaced, so is the extra $10-15s + interest would've been a big waste of money.

If you don't like to modify vehicles yourself and just want something out of the box and want to keep having payments for another 5-years then that's one route to go. I see it as having an almost paid of vehicle (warranty doesn't matter as most is void once you modify it) and then the $$ you would've spent on Rubi payments you can put in your "modification piggy bank" and over time build a Jeep far more capable compared to a stock Rubi. That's just one way to look at it though. Lots of people want things fast and see the Rubi has items they want, but if they are serious builders everything except the t-case will disappear and then they have a modified Rubi, which is the exact same as a modified Sport A Jeep is a Jeep and in the end it comes down to the driver and gear you have to work with. If we're to do it over again, I'd go down to Cali and buy a 2-wheel driver 4dr and import it up here then build it up. Rubi's here are around $40,000. I could get a 2-wheel drive for around $25gs imported up here and have $15gs to modify it and it'll be way better than any out of the box vehicle. Or I could buy an older Jeep for around $14gs and spend $20g on a V8 swap if I wasn't mechanically inclined. Or do it myself for say $5gs or so, then have $15g still left over for lift, tires, rims, bumpers, winch, protection etc.

There's more to it than just looking at it from face value, but the majority of people don't or can't build/modify their own vehicles so it's not worth it for them to buy the lower models and save money. It's worth it for them to pay a premium for a vehicle that is already modified from the factory. That's fine, if they have the $ and no time to do it, why not. Everybody is different, so it's a personal choice. Personally, I'd never buy a Rubi and if I was given one I'd sell it and get a base model, but that's just me. Nothing against the Rubi, but when you look at a Rubi owners sig on the forum and see they've change every item the Rubi was originally bought for it's just a waste of money in the end in my opinion unless they bought it as a status symbol because it's a Rubicon and most expensive Wrangler there is

 

If you are close to paying off your rig...IMHO..you'd be crazy not to keep it and build a better that rubicon, rig. In my eyes, a paid off jeep is the only way to go.

Prorock the front and rears..if oyou don't do major rock crawling..do the prorock trail series. 60 more months of payments does give you a newer vehicle and more power. Trade offs...Do a simple list of pro's and con's.

 

If you can afford either option then just figure out how much your current Jeep is worth as it sits and then how much over that you will be spending on the repairs/mods. In my opinion, if the repairs/mods are equal or more than a year's payments ... sell it and buy new. Repairs/mods are cash killers.

 

Take all your mods off (or if you get a better price leave them on, but you'll never get their value) to put on your new $17,000 Rubicon and trade your 07 in.

 

Get the Rubi!

 

I am now a Rubi owner....

Thanks everyone, for your input.

 

Sweet... Congrats

 

Awesome, welcome to the club