Can you build a better Jeep and save money by starting with a Sport S?

[5JeepsAz]

All depends on what the parts you don't want are. If you want to remove the bumpers, sliders, 4.10 gears, lift it, replace the shocks... then all you're really left with that are Rubi specific is the interior and some glitch prone lockers and e-sway bar.

YMMV but those aren't really great things to be left with for the entrance price of a Rubicon. The interior maybe depending on your wants... but that's why we started with an Overland.

All true. I don't know the diffs well enough. I do know the base sport is entirely capable, moreso if modified. And agree the ruby is an ugly sickly. Those red hooks. Ai hai yai. Someone told me to paint em. I was like, they scared my eyes, it'll never go away and paint won't help. Don't even mention the dash. YMMV. Not trying to offend.

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[Jonny A]

The way I got the JT I wanted.... I bought a 1 year old JTR, leveled, 35s tires, steel bumpers, upgraded rock rails and sliders among other things. Got it for less money than new JT Sports. It depreciated $20,000 off sticker price + the cost of the few thousands in upgrades I would likely have done my self. As I will be owning this till it is basically worthless, resale ain't a big deal, but I feel I got a helll of a good deal on my purchase.
So I say buy used then upgrade, that should save some doe.

 

[GEETCH]

Interesting topic. The opinions are as varied as aftermarket parts are. Personally I don't care what people buy, I bought what was right for me, that might not be right for you. Though just to add my two cents since I have taken the time to read all six pages lol.

I was a previous owner of a basic 4x4 Tacoma and really enjoyed the build from ground up. (in a way, not like I started with a frame). For starters that's all I could afford at the time, and well I wanted the experience and fun building it. and I did and enjoyed it very much. I learned a lot and discovered where I had made some mistakes, some very costly but hay it was fun.

I will be taking delivery of my JTR in two weeks from today if the schedule holds. Reason for the Rubicon? well for starters I could afford it this time around, while I had really enjoyed building a basic model up, I wanted to start with something more capable this time. there will be some heavy mods I do to it, but no where near as extensive as I had to on my basic Taco.

After a long career in the service, I enjoy wrenching and such as well as a great stress reliever, however I want to spend more time on the trails than in the garage when it comes to my truck. the free time I have while not wrenching on the truck is spent wood working now as I have found great pleasure in that and is a great stress relief for me.

I don't have a difference in care of what someone buys, be it Sport, Rubicon, Mojave ext. you buy whats right for you. At the end of the day as long as you can get out on the trails and wheel to your hearts content, mission accomplished in my book. Cheers to ya'll.

 

[ChrisK]

Not sure if I could do better with limited mechanical but I bought my Sport Altitude and have since done the Mopar Fox lift, the accessory switch pack (going in tomorrow) and new tires. The lsd in the JT is phenomenal and I will be upgrading my bumper and adding a winch over the summer but I am not going to re gear my truck. I have been adding small upgrades all along including the 67 designs sets, iPad mount, hood lift etc. but most of my money has gone into the lift and tires. I have opted to keep my altitude package 18 wheels with 35s and some under armor will be going on in the next few weeks as the temperatures start to rise. I have talked to some Jeep enthusiasts, one of my Troopers and my Brother and bot have cautioned against going Rubi and upgrading to fit my needs. Not new to 4 wheeling out here, but what I really want is the ability to hit some trails at speed up north. Rock crawling isn’t my forte. I really do love my first Jeep and my Son loves it which is a-okay to me. My Wife wants me to retire in Sept of 22 and getting this beast upgraded in that time is a big thing for me. Pulling a trailer, hitting some State Parks across our Country and some trails to boot when I can spend some serious time with my munchkins is a big deal.

 

[aldo98229]

My wife said no to the Rubicon, so Max Tow it was. We've gotten stuck, but only three times needed a yank; locking differentials could've helped.


How does one know what mod holds value?

The less extraterrestrial the Jeep ends up looking, the easier to sell. Usually Mopar parts keep the Jeep looking relatively factory.

 

[Adawg1203]

I really don’t understand why there is so many comparison’s to Rubicon versus a different trim.

People do overstate the price difference between trims and understate the cost of doing a bunch of aftermarket stuff to make a vehicle similar to a rubicon. But that is just life.

I’m going to put it out there. I bought a Rubicon LE because that is the vehicle i wanted. Period end of story. If it were called something else I would have still purchased it. I liked it, i wanted it, I ordered it. The End.

I don’t bash rocks, I’m not doing aftermarket stuff to it, or anything else.

I bought what I bought because it’s what i wanted. No other reasons.

 

[Willys2Gladiator]

I really don’t understand why there is so many comparison’s to Rubicon versus a different trim.

People do overstate the price difference between trims and understate the cost of doing a bunch of aftermarket stuff to make a vehicle similar to a rubicon. But that is just life.

I’m going to put it out there. I bought a Rubicon LE because that is the vehicle i wanted. Period end of story. If it were called something else I would have still purchased it. I liked it, i wanted it, I ordered it. The End.

I don’t bash rocks, I’m not doing aftermarket stuff to it, or anything else.

I bought what I bought because it’s what i wanted. No other reasons.

No one is questioning why someone buys a Rubicon.
The OP's question is can you buy and build and save money starting with a Sport model. No need to defend your purchase.

One really need to first ask is the Rubicon is going to be enough for what they plan on doing. If not then most certainly start with a Sport. If yes Rubicon is a great choice.

 

[Brfertig [HACKED ACCOUNT]]

Yes, loaded sport was 47k, rubi was similar and 77k. Guam life.

I really don’t understand why there is so many comparison’s to Rubicon versus a different trim.

People do overstate the price difference between trims and understate the cost of doing a bunch of aftermarket stuff to make a vehicle similar to a rubicon. But that is just life.

I’m going to put it out there. I bought a Rubicon LE because that is the vehicle i wanted. Period end of story. If it were called something else I would have still purchased it. I liked it, i wanted it, I ordered it. The End.

I don’t bash rocks, I’m not doing aftermarket stuff to it, or anything else.

I bought what I bought because it’s what i wanted. No other reasons.

Ohhhh kayyyy, not sure where that came from; however, the prices were proven, go back and read the whole thread, not overstated.

Go Google "Cars Plus Jeep Guam" and look. Report back, I'll wait.

 

[tysongladiator]

Yep. Just wait until you decide you want a different lift or a lift period with different shocks. Or when you feel like the 4.10s aren't enough. When that disconnect starts to have issues or when you decide to pull the trigger on air lockers.

 

[RetireeJTtoy]

Interesting topic. The opinions are as varied as aftermarket parts are. Personally I don't care what people buy, I bought what was right for me, that might not be right for you. Though just to add my two cents since I have taken the time to read all six pages lol.

I was a previous owner of a basic 4x4 Tacoma and really enjoyed the build from ground up. (in a way, not like I started with a frame). For starters that's all I could afford at the time, and well I wanted the experience and fun building it. and I did and enjoyed it very much. I learned a lot and discovered where I had made some mistakes, some very costly but hay it was fun.

I will be taking delivery of my JTR in two weeks from today if the schedule holds. Reason for the Rubicon? well for starters I could afford it this time around, while I had really enjoyed building a basic model up, I wanted to start with something more capable this time. there will be some heavy mods I do to it, but no where near as extensive as I had to on my basic Taco.

After a long career in the service, I enjoy wrenching and such as well as a great stress reliever, however I want to spend more time on the trails than in the garage when it comes to my truck. the free time I have while not wrenching on the truck is spent wood working now as I have found great pleasure in that and is a great stress relief for me.

I don't have a difference in care of what someone buys, be it Sport, Rubicon, Mojave ext. you buy whats right for you. At the end of the day as long as you can get out on the trails and wheel to your hearts content, mission accomplished in my book. Cheers to ya'll.

Great Points! While I love the Bells & Whistles of the Rubicon, I needed the MAX TOW PACKAGE so my options were limited to the Sport or Sport S. So now, I am in the process of picking my Bells & Whistles, already done the Passive Entry & Trailer Brake Controller, on my way today to get some higher line stock wheels & tires.

 

[JeepFam]

It was a close call for me. It's been a while, but as I recall, it came to about a $2500 price differential starting with the lower trim and adding the things I wanted (upgraded wheels, larger tires, leather upholstery, etc.) I opted to go with the Rubicon for resale value, even though I plan to keep it for years. It just seemed like the easier and safer bet in the short run, which was a bit of a consideration since it was the first model year.

 

[eternus]

All true. I don't know the diffs well enough. I do know the base sport is entirely capable, moreso if modified. And agree the ruby is an ugly sickly. Those red hooks. Ai hai yai. Someone told me to paint em. I was like, they scared my eyes, it'll never go away and paint won't help. Don't even mention the dash. YMMV. Not trying to offend.

The marketing hyperbole has led folks to believe they need a Rubicon for capability, while the reality is that the base sport has almost as much capability out of the box already. Few are the people that will ever need the low gear ratio, lockers or swaybar disconnect.

 

[FitfulGoat]

Ohhhh kayyyy, not sure where that came from; however, the prices were proven, go back and read the whole thread, not overstated.

Go Google "Cars Plus Jeep Guam" and look. Report back, I'll wait.

Not trying to be argumentative, but isn’t your comparison and analysis based on outliers with relation to the general population on this board?

You’re using unique market dynamics (Guam’s supply/demand) to justify to a larger group that isn’t dealing with remotely the same circumstances.

For you it seems the sport model was the right route and I don’t think one can argue that. For many commenting on this topic the margins are far smaller and paint an entirely different point of view.

Great videos and input all around though. What you discover is what makes a forum a useful tool and a good community.

 

[ClunkyJeep]

Haven’t read every post so forgive me. Thought I would chime in as a former Rubicon Wrangler owner and current Mojave JT guy. First thing that jumped out when I read a few early posts is someone saying that a similarly equipped Rubicon is 10K more than a sport. Unless there is some year end magic on a sport that statement is not true. If you compare the price of a base sport to a rubicon then you aren’t comparing similar equipment. The base model doesn’t have power anything and has 5” radio. The only fair comparison is the Sport S which is only about 5K difference. Max tow is even closer. If you going to change tires and rims for the Rubicon closes that gap by about 1,000 because takeoffs are worth some money. This comparison is closer for wranglers if you bought one with 3.21 gears and basically had to regear a sport which is more money gone.

You also can’t be hypocritical and say that a mod to a Rubicon is worthless while adding lockers to a sport adds value. Pretty much any modification is worthless for trade. Yes, a lot of people consider trade when buying a vehicle. Sorry, a Rubicon locker adds value on trade because it is part of a package, sport lockers don’t. Only chance for extra value is during private sale and that may take a lot of time to find the right buyer.

if you step away from forums and facebook pages most people are not doing builds on 40s with a 4” lift. A little bigger tire and mild lifts are the norm for mods while a lot of people just drive them stock.

If you get a base Rubicon you can get it on 35s (which is the biggest tire most will consider) and do wheeling cheaper than a Sport S. If you don’t wheel they look better stock. If you want 37s and don’t like the 4.10s that may not even make a difference since people like the Max tow for wider axles. Same to regear both models.

If you are going to wholesale change gears, suspension, and everything in between it doesn’t matter as much because then you are buying things twice for the Rubicon. Everyone seems to start this conversation from a different place based on their own needs. But everyone has own needs and wants.

 

[pic8526]

Depends on your starting point.
My Base Max tow with many options$34K. Lots of $ for build.

Buy and start where you want and need. All these JT's are amazing and I've owned mine for almost a year and stare at ever one I see regardless of model.

Like most Sport owners, we don’t dislike Rubicons. As a matter of fact our modifications are to be like them but within budget. I’m in a Jeep family surrounded by all Rubicons and Willys. Mine might be a FAUXICON, RUBINOT or RUBI-CON but the copying of an idea is the greatest form of flattery not indignation. I love Rubi’s, but in order to keep up with them on a shoestring budget, I must do it myself.

Besides, I’ll also add when you only make 23K a year that 415.00 a month payment really makes a good pucker in the wallet holder. I do what I can, when I can.
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I’m new to the forum, just bought a Sport S with Max Tow. My rookie question is how much do you need to worry about voiding the warranty? I’m thinking to start with I want to get bigger tires to replace the sad Bridgestone Dueler AT tires it came with... very disappointing! I might want to add a lift also. I see a ton of modifications on different threads and it makes me wonder if everybody’s warranty stays in tact... any experience on this? Thanks.

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