Not Gladiator specific, but Jeep related

[Rubiwoo]

I am teaching my daughter to drive and she is learning in the Gladiator driving on the dunes in Pismo. I have started looking at Jeeps as her first vehicle. I thought it would be a good bonding opportunity as well. Work on it together, oild changes, build it up, etc...

What would be a good teenager Jeep, TJ, JK, JL? Thoughts?

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[Mac Attack]

Purchased a JK for my daughter as she is leaving to attend college. 1) she wanted it. 2) Fuel mileage sucks 3) Imagine she will use your child's car for road trips (refer to #2) 3) resale value when she graduates 4) Should provide better fender-bender-door protection in crowded college hangouts 5) Its my 6th Jeep...love Jeeps...and I need to help support her good values!

 

[Rusty PW]

Neighbor bought 2 beat up 4 banger TJ's. One for his son, and the other for his daughter. The son is on his second TJ, as he rolled the first one. The daughter is out of college and just bought herself a Honda.

 

[Blade1668]

A JK or later model may be better than a TJ /LJ due to age, mileage and abuse. With a primary advantage in safety in crash protection over smaller "TJ, YJ, CJ size and improved air bags softer interior panels than older models. Thirdly, probably more reliable vs factors in start of my response.

 

[same_O_G]

I'd vote JK. Still simple enough to work on yourself, more modern safety features and you can still find used ones reasonably priced without a quadrillion miles on them.

The prices people still want for TJs blows my mind. I get it, they're cool. I'd love to have one and the old inline 6 is badass... but a 20 year old vehicle with 200k+ miles is not worth $20k.

 

[Coachcal]

JK: There are a couple of things to be aware of if considering a JK. The 2006-2011 JKs have terrible drivetrains. Both the engine and transmission fail at very high rates. There are some still on the road, but they definitely won't reach those high mileage numbers that most Jeeps hit. Chrysler put the Pentastar in the JK in 2012 and anything 2012 or newer is very reliable. One small note, they upgraded the seats in 2013 so I'd look for that year or newer. Also, I consider the JKs safer than the TJ, but I haven't researched it.
TJ: super solid mechanically, thousands of aftermarket and stock parts out there, pretty indestructible. These will seriously run forever. I sold my last TJ with 232,000 miles on it and I still trusted it on 3-4 hr road trips. They are awesomely simple and reliable machines.

Just my opinion.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

but a 20 year old vehicle with 200k+ miles is not worth $20k.

I have an '05 with 140k you can have for $24k...

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