Okay, here the deal...got a sweet 2008 JKU, 35" tires, 3 inch lift kit, all the goodies. Just paid it off, but now finding out that I have to go overseas, and possibly I will have to go to the United Arab Emirates. Sadly, they will not let me bring a car over five years old, so the jeep can't go (going December 2013)...so....do I trade it in on a new one and lift it,etc...keep it and buy another one (probably sit in my dads garage for the next five to seven years), or give it to my newly licensed sixteen year old daughter ( who will be staying with my ex)?....

 

If you are going to be gone more than 6 months, sell it and get a new one when you get back.

I am just finishing a deployment. I sold my 1976 FJ40 before leaving and gave my 2002 VW Golf TDI to my sister-in-law. I hate the idea of a vehicle just sitting, but would be more scared to let a 16 year old drive a lifted JKU every day.

I am waiting on a 2013 JKUR to be delivered when I get home. I looked for a high mileage 2007-2008 JKU for $12,000 or less, so I could get a Cummins 4BT or LS1 swap, but could not find one.

Good luck with it!

 

Sell it now, while it still is worth top dollar. Or if you can afford to give it away, I am sure you will make someone happy...

Putting it in a garage for long term storage is not a good option for any car. I sold my previous truck that I loved, before heading out of the country for a while. It was fun to come back home and shop for a new toy!

 

I would sell it and take the money and buy a beater for your daughter, then keep some of the left over for accessories for the new one when you get home

 

I'll be assigned to the embassy, and I'm required to ship a vehicle, or buy one there. Too expensive there, so I'll get one here and modify it before they put it in the shipping container

 

Make sure you have the shipping container dimensions so you know how tall/wide you can go. I know of a vendor that modifies Jeeps & trucks and ships them over there and many they have had to modify for shipping. Things such as putting on small tires to lower the height all the way to a complete removal of the axles/suspension and welding the frame to a custom platform to slide it into a container. Pretty crazy stuff, but with how much they pay for these vehicles, it's worth it for them to do it. One time the owner even flew over there to put the thing back together as the customer did not trust anyone else to do it; of course he paid for all his travel, hotel, meals etc,. For your own vehicle, probably way more work than you'd want to do.

 

Well I bought a 2013, but they would only give me $12K for a trade so I kept it, now to figure out what to do with two lol!

 

Beat up one and baby the other. After all, you do have two...so your good if you break one!

 

New one looks great!

Post the old one on the for sale section here...maybe you'll get some bites? Worse comes to worse you can always let your daughter drive it if you feel she's mature enough to handle the responsibility.

 

Keep it and buy another.