danielj903

First off, I own a 94 Wrangler that is my rock crawler, but my wife and I are seriously considering the JK Rubicon Unlimited.

I've read a lot of different things on this forum and now I want to ask the Rubi Unlimited owners what they think? What's the good, bad, and ugly? This thing won't see heavy trail use, that's what the YJ is for, but it will see light trails. My wife will be doing most of the driving so another woman's opinion would be great. Any information is appreciated.

duneslider

Do you have to have the Rubi? I guess it is just a money thing there. I got the unlimited x for my wife and she loves driving it. I can't imagine it would be any different than the rubi. I don't know what options you are planning on with the rubi, or what you can get. But my wife loves having the keyless entry, that was a big selling point for her. She didn't want to have to be carrying the car seat (or groceries) and try to get back doors unlocked. I imagine you can get the keyless for the rubi too. We would have got the rubi if it wasn't so much more expensive. Plus, no rubi unlimiteds have shown up at any of the dealers by me.

Bryan

Bill

Had mine about 8 weeks now and I'm loving it.

The good:
- Ride is great
- Keyless entry is great
- Power windows and locks are nice to have
- Heater gets hot unbelievably fast
- Seats are comfortable
- Extra space and doors are handy
- Fold down seats are easy and give a lot of extra space, the 60/40 split comes in handy as well
- Standard speakers/sub sound great
- All the standard Rubcon offroad goodies, especially sway bar disconnect
- Cup holders have rubber inserts that "lock" stuff in which works well despite how shallow they are
- I find the turning radius is still quite good despite the extra length
- Freedom top panels!
- Having the roof off in the summer!

The bad:
- When it rains, if you don't seat the freedom top panels properly it will leak
- The water channel along the side of the roof drains right at the edge of the door by the windshield which has a pretty good chance of getting on you or in the car depending on the angle you're parked on
- Some of the controls are a little tricky to get used to (fan, heat, etc.) because the line of site is a little off
- The reset buttons for the trip computer and fuel economy suck to get to and push
- Center console is pretty tricky to lock which I used to do on my old one in the summer a lot when the soft top was on
- The rear view mirror is blocked a little by the rear seat headrests, the windshield wiper motor and the tire

The ugly:
- Not a big fan of the bumpers but like many others I will be replacing them
- The fenders are a little tough to get used to but there will probably be some aftermarket olnes available soon
- Like many others I have the missing paint around the hinges
- Plastic headrests

The bad stuff is mostly minor annoyances. Had a '97 TJ that I drove for the last 10 years and am really enjoying driving this JK for a change. I do miss her a little though...

danielj903

duneslider, after driving a couple TJ Rubicons I swore that if I bought a new Wrangler that it would be a Rubicon. I've test driven a JK Rubicon Unlimited and it seemed great too except it was an auto, I plan on getting a manual.

Bill, that's exactly what I'm looking for, thanks for the detailed write up of what you think. I'm not a big fan of the bumpers either, but that's just a minor detail. What is entailed with the Freedom Top? How much of a pain is it to take off the panels/put them back on?

Rubidon

I took mine off a few times and it was pretty simple.......about 5 minutes. The thing I didn't like is I don't see a good way to take them along for the ride.

danielj903

Any other owners out there? Would anyone wait for the 2008 model and if so why?

Rubidon

I've never been one to waite........mostly because I have the patients of an 12 year old. I think there will be things that they need to correct but I don't feel it is going to be anything worth waiting for. I've bought first model year Jeep's three times and have no horror stories.........but I have heard some.

Tjen97

I couldn't wait to get mine either, no regrets here! Mine is not an Unlimited, but I am totally in love with it so far. The best thing about it lately is the fact that it heats up very quickly, and just yesterday was the first day it hit the snow, and did very well considering how icy the roads were. I own other Jeeps, but this one is the best by far.

Bill

Mine's a 6 Speed manual as well, forgot to mention that. I think it's an improvement over my TJ in the way it shifts. Forgot to mention also that the fly by wire gas pedal takes a bit of getting used to, stalled it a few times in the first couple days.

Freedom top is pretty easy as a couple of others have mentioned, just takes a few minutes to remove the panels. There are storage bags you can get to put them in for placing in the back. I would recommend that since it sounds like the roof scratches easily.

I know people always say don't buy a first year model but when the TJ came out I ordered one without even sitting in it (before they were on lots) and in the 10 years I had it there were only minor issues. If the JK didn't come out I'd still be driving it! When I saw the JK I pretty much did the same thing, ordered it before even sitting in one. I think quality is so different now than it was 15-20 years ago which is where the new model fear seems to be from. Watching other people drive around in one would have driven me crazy for a year, I couldn't wait.

jamesr

I know! I haven't stalled a standard for years, and when I got my new JK I bet i stalled it 4 times in the past month. I knew there was something different than my tj. I never stalled my tj once.

What is a fly by wire gas pedal? What was in my TJ? And is it better or worse?:confused: