@ genesbro I think you and I have similar view on wheeling and how to enjoy it but to each their own. Do you have the 3.8 or the 3.6 and do you ever use 6th on the highway with 3.73s and 35s? 4 to 1 is frigg'n sweet, its awesome for super technical stuff, literally you never use the clutch, currently I have 4.56s with 33s in my XJ. Admittedly 4 to 1 is a little bit bothersome on fire trails. When I had 2.72 to 1 I used to be able to cruise 4 Lo in 5th gear if I wanted to up to 25 or 30 MPH with out running out of RPMs. It was nice because on fire trails 15-20 MPH max was cruising speed, tons of torque, no need to brake often when slowing and slowing down to a crawl was nice because being in 4 Lo meant you can crawl at a moments notice. Now having gone to 4 to 1 its great in the rock piles and steep steep climbs in Moab for example but if your in snow, sand, mud or want any type of speed like going from hard core rocks to a fire road for 100 yards like on Rubicon your constantly going from 4 Lo to 2 High. So there are trade offs not to mention having a Tera 4 to 1 kit I'm limited on RPMs and run time at high speed because of heat. If your going to spend money get an Atlas and nothing else. One up side to a Jeep 241OR like in the Rubicon is I believe they aren't RPM sensitive like the Tera kit is BUT I'm not 100 percent certain.

 

I did a lot of research before I purchased my first jeep.
I started looking for highly modified used rigs, but the resale value was so high I just decided to buy new.

My company buys several vehicles every other year or so, so I have good relationships with a couple of local dealers.

I ended up with a well optioned new '12 rubi auto.
36 months at 0%.
I think I paid $33K plus BS WA state license and taxes etc. so about $37K and change out the door.

The 0% option if its still available is soo great.
It actually is FREE money.

Work your deal.

I buy Chev's for my company, always factory invoice plus $0.
When I set up a meet with the owner of the jeep dealership they told me that they didn't deal on wranglers, because they just "leap off the lot".
I said great, because I don't deal, I buy at factory invoice, if not here I will "leap off the lot" to Dave Smith Motors.
Took the manager about 5 minutes to see my way of thinking.

Another tip is, go at the end of the month when they are trying to increase monthly sales numbers.


I immediately started bolting on parts.
Love it!
Rolling 37's and it seems reliable enough with the sleeves and c gussets.
I went 5:13 but if I did it again, I would probably go 4:88 or 4:56.

 

I bought my 2011 Rubicon in May of 2011 and was originally going to buy a sport and do lift, reinforcement and 35's right away with the savings. At the time the dealership was running $3,500 off Rubis but nothing on the sports so the sport would have been 26,500 and the Rubi was 31,500 after rebate for a hard top 6 speed.

On top of the D44, discos, lockers and everything else mentioned before you get a lot of simple extras with the Rubi like power locks and windows, Rubi rails, fog lights, subwoofer, tinted windows, fog lights. Plus a set of Rubi tire / wheel take offs could get $1,200, I doubt you'd get more the $500 for sport skateboard wheels.

Maybe I was looking at a bone stock sport and got lucky with the Rubi factory rebate but $5k difference was an easy choice. Not that ill ever sell my Jeep but I feel like the Rubicon holds its value better also.

 

ExpedJK, I have the 3.8 and I like the torque it has down low. It is a little less torquey down low than the old 4.0 but not bad for a V6. I drove a stock used rubi 6spd that had original stock tires and it was so different from my sport taking off from a stop, I mean it was like I had to upshift almost as soon as it got rolling. I bet with 35s that would be a sweet setup with the 4.10.

I am going to trade my little car for a 10th anniv Rubi as soon as they are available for order. Already spoke with the local dealer and the only way to get one the way I want is to order because the owner of the dealership won't let them order anything for stock that is manual tranny. Can't wait to get that and take it on some of the same trails that I have been doing with my 09 sport just to see if the lockers and 4:1 make much difference with it having stock suspension compared to my modified sport with superflex. I firmly believe all the flex I have is what lets my sport perform so well in really tuff situations. Depending on what I discover I am either going to get a rubi 4:1 case for my sport or go ahead with my original plans and put pro rock 60s with lockers under the sport. I have had so much fun with this JK that I just can't trade it in for anything else.

 

Yes, I found an internet special last week, $4500 off a $37,500 rubi 4dr. I qualified for another $1500 in rebates and got 0% for 36 months so it was a no brainer. The interior, engine and 5 speed auto is a big upgrade from my 2010.

 

Additional things, other than the mechanicals that's been said, the '13 JKU Rubi has these standard that the '13 JKU base model does not:

-SIRIUS AM/FM/Satellite w/ Subwoofer. Infinity speakers

-Fully automatic Exterior light control

-Air conditioning

-1 AC power outlet

-Leather Steering wheel

-Rock rails

-Power remote mirrors

-Power with 2 stage door locks.

-Remote keyless entry

-Power windows

-Auto-dimming rear view mirror

-Illuminated entry

-Deep window tint

-Front reading lights

-RUBICON decal and things I missed

Other things to consider when moding is the things that you can sell as you mod. Rubi wheels/tires, springs/shocks, Rock rails, axles, etc, sell well.

Rubi's also seem to resale better, but I don't have data to back that up.

Guess what I'm trying to say is your not just paying more for axles, gearing, lockers, 4:1 TC, sway bar dissconnect. Your getting more standard features.

 

How do you guys find internet specials? Are they only offered through certain dealerships or Jeep/Chrysler in general? I just cruised by my local Jeep dealer tonight and they had a pretty nice black 2013 Rubicon Unlimited. It had Smitty Built bumpers, sliders, some rims and tires and winch if I remember correctly. For a price tag of...48,000...haha no thanks. All the other Rubicons were stock and had a 4,995 mark up on them. Thats insane. Anyway, I'm going to go test drive one this weekend and see how I like the new 3.6 with a 6 speed and 4.10's. Right now I own 3 cars and it sucks because my Jeep is old and has 300k on it, my Mustang I never drive so I want to get rid of both and just drive a JKRU and keep my old 66 Mustang GT for fun. This is a big purchase (duh) so I'd be willing to go down to LA, up to Sacramento or even Nevada to get a killer deal. We'll see, I'm not buying this weekend so I have time on my side, I've been told carsdirect or what ever its called is actually pretty legit. Just gotta line up all the ducks before I pull the trigger.

I might try and drive a used JK with a 3.8 just to compare also. I know the 3.6 has more power but is it really crappy down low or is the torque ok? Honestly I have no idea how some of you guys got so much off on your JK's, thats frigg'n sweet. Hopefully I don't get anxious and buy too soon. I sure as hell wont pay any mark up just out of principal, thats like a slap in the face IMHO. Anyways, I'm done ranting...

 

Your 100 percent correct. I've been considering what you could sell off the new Rubicon also. The Rubicons have insane resale value like you say. Not only that buy regular Sports do too. I've been perusing craigslist and in all honesty I've pretty much stopped looking. The only used Jeep worth getting has 80ish thousand miles on it which is way to used for me. For how much you pay I don't want that many miles and for how expensive a 30k mile one is you might as well buy new. Not to mention usually borrowing money for a new car is a lot cheaper then a used car. Realistically if I pay an additional 80 or so a month I could drive a Rubicon, its a no brainer.

 

Why not just get the Vengeance off ebay? It's at 39K currently.

 

Yeah, really that things set up. I like how low and stretched it looks. To bad its a 2 door : / its still bad ass though.