Local dealer here just texted me some pictures of a jeep they just got in...its a 2015 rubi with 16k miles, has 3.73 gears instead of 4.10, but thats not a deal breaker. What do y'all think? Anything in particular I should be looking for here? Carfax shows it was serviced at a local dealer every 3k miles. They are asking 33,700 for it, KBB shows $34k to be a fair price in the local market. Thinking about going to take a look at it...

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Agmechanic said:

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Meh. If you are paying full retail, dont settle. Get the gears you want, color you want, options you want, etc.

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For real. Either get everything you want or shop for a better deal and then install everything you want.

It pretty much has everything Im looking for on it, except for the gears, which I would more than likely re gear to 4.56 anyways. And new rubicons out here are $40k+, unfortunately. However, after looking at it some more, looks like the PO lifted it, so ill probably ending up passing on it. Don't feel like inheriting someone else's problem...

It doesn't look lifted very much. If they put quality parts in the lift it would be a good deal. If it's just a cheap spacer lift that is easy enough to undo yourself - not something I would let sway my decision. But if you know nothing about lifts then I can understand your hesitation. If you were in Austin I would look at it for you.

Since its a Rubicon, things to check would be the electronic sway bar disconnect and the front/rear e-lockers to make sure they work.

https://www.texasdirectauto.com/for-sale/Rubicon/vehicle/1C4BJWCG6GL241149

Possible the lift was removed.

I would nogo.

txagfisher - PM sent on a Jeep I am selling

PM replied to.

So I went and looked at the jeep this evening. As far as aftermarket, from what I can tell it has the following: trucklites head lights, 2 sets of rigid duallys, atlas front and rear bumpers, smittybuilt defender trail basket, alpline head unit, a pillar switch pod, volant CAI, and aftermarket muffler. The wiring for the off-road lights was extremely neat and routed through relays.

Tires are stock 255/75/17 and it appears there is no lift on it. It did have a winch at one point that was removed. I climbed under the jeep and found minor powder coat missing from the rock rails, but no dents, scratches, or gouges on the frame or skid plates indicating any major off-roading damage.

While test driving, it tracked straight and no death wobble up to 75 mph. The steering did feel a bit loose, but the 3 other jeeps in my family have loose feeling steering.


The flip side here is I'm also looking a new 2017 sport with the same options/axle gearing as the rubi, that is 400 miles away. Its listed at $29.6k and has hail damage, that the dealer is claiming they will fix. The way I see it, I am getting a much better deal in drivetrain infrastructure alone, not taking into account the aftermarket parts, given the low miles on the rubi.

Any flaws to my logic here?

I'm scheduled to go back on Saturday and look at it again. Anything else I should check out on it?

ShaggyAggie01 said:

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Jeeps used to be inexpensive

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No kidding. My mom bought an unlimited sahara 2 years ago for $29k.

Buy the sport. Make it your own Rubi

Lots of options on Cars.com all over the country for pricing reference. I'd do a search there first before going any further with that dealer.

We just bought an '08 JK X. While I know that year isn't incredibly popular, it had 80k miles, 5 brand spankin' new BFG 285/75 tires, upgraded factory installed Mopar front and rear bumpers, drove straight as an arrow, no lift or suspension work, with very, very few paint blemishes and no discernible undercarriage damage.

We walked out with an extended B2B warranty writing a check for $20k and felt like we got a great deal, all considered.

I'm with BigPuma, keep looking and buy a Sport that you can enjoy upgrading in the coming years to your own personalized Rubicon.

BigPuma said:

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Buy the sport. Make it your own Rubi

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I used to think that way - but a new front axle on the Sport is a few grand (not including the lockers and re-gear cost). And you're not likely to ever get around to replacing the transfercase on the sport. Even the Rubi rear 44 is different from the sport 44 (it's stronger).

If you want to rock crawl and don't plan on putting 60s on it - get the Rubi. If you just want to fart around on the beach and in the woods then get the sport and put a single rear locker on it.

I come from the life of customization. so it is what it is.

The only reason I'm interested in the Rubi is because it has all the options I want, plus lockers and axles (which i something i wouldn't swap on my own anyways). Everything else I can take off and sell for more than what I could get for stock parts if I want to swap out.