The XJ still looks better.

I watched someone circle a parking lot looking for another spot rather than park next to my old 1991 XJ with mismatched body parts and moderate body modifications to clear larger tires. I tried to tell them it’s not diseased and even if it was, the disease only affects the owners of other Jeeps, but they wouldn’t even…

Makes me want to move out of Kalifornia and put one of those engines in a Jeep.

My biggest hesitation on buying an EV right now is what happens when I run out “juice” on the 91 fwy on my way home because I have been stuck behind the end of a police pursuit. And before anyone says that it will never happen, it has already happened to me once. In my Jeep, it’s easy, it will idle for a long time…

I bought a 1991 Jeep XJ for $2k. That might not seem like I got ripped off, but this was in 2000, when XJs where cheap. That still might not seem like a bad deal, but I found out later that this XJ was a salvage titled Jeep from New York with more hidden rust than this Californian has ever seen. The up side is that I…

In a controlled environment (track) lift-throttle oversteer can be fun. When you are not expecting it on a freeway on-ramp you have entered way too fast, lift-throttle oversteer can send you into a ditch resulting in an end-over-end roll that kills your beloved GTI.

Neutral: What Did You Get For Christmas?

I think it was the $600 project Swiss Cheese XJ that started it. I know he started to hoard parts for it and that is how it starts. Just a few spare parts becomes a parts vehicle and then it’s 10 years later and you have more vehicles than you could drive in a week... not that you could since they are all broken.

It wasn’t in snow, but I got very painful and expensive lesson in lift-throttle oversteer in a FWD hot hatch. Probably not a very common concern, but it is one thing the an AWD can handle better.

Read it and studied the pictures, answer is still yes. Buy the Chief and give a proper restoration before somebody else gets it and puts a cheap lift and LED light bar on it and ruins it.

Haven’t read any of this post yet, but I already know the answer, yes, you should buy it.

1st Gear:

I have some work to do on my XJ this week and there is no room in my garage, so I will have to work on it in the 85 degree sunshine.

I recently test drove the GTI, A3, and A4 and the GTI was by far the best and the cheapest. My 7 year old Jetta (right before the cheapification) seemed nicer that the A3. I should love Audi, I really respect their motorsports efforts, but when I drive one it’s just meh (unless it’s the “S”).

If the stock market doesn’t crash and I remain employed, I will be able to retire with enough to buy 1 of each type of Jeep made before 2000 around 2066.

I love the looks of these, but if I can’t bend it back into shape with a hammer after bashing it on some rocks, I don’t think I would put them on my Jeep. They are the perfect rim for a GTI/Golf R however so that may sway my choice of my next vehicle.

The smog you see is different than CO2. They both have common sources, but different types of pollution.

I had my YJ in shop to adjust the “magical fuel device” AKA carb and they were nice enough to suggest that the serpentine belt looked old and they could replace it for me. I usually would do that myself, but thought they can’t screw that up. Later they called again and said that the alternator pulley bearing was…

The medical coverage part of my insurance was way cheaper for the ‘10 Jetta than the ‘99 Cherokee. Advances in safety help there, but I think you are mostly talking about 1-2 year old vehicles of the same type where that wouldn’t be an issue.

I am sure it has already begun. Maybe not in earnest yet, but the JM is only about 10 years away. Someone has to be looking at things like CAFE, new safety regulations, autonomy (hopefully never in a Wrangler), etc and which of those can be put into the JL, and which one will require a new platform.