Teenagers and Jeeps

JeepMama · Oct 22, 2025

When I posted on here almost 2 years ago that we bought our teenage son a 2006 TJ, a few people felt it necessary to criticize my parenting, tell me it was dumb to buy a 6sp for a teenager, laugh that he won't know how to fix it, and tell me teenage boys are wild and irresponsible and he will just tear it up.

Happy to report they were absolutely wrong. This Jeep has been an expensive pain in the A. But it has also given us priceless quality time with our son. He's learning how to fix things and to appreciate the time/money it takes. Our latest project- my brother, nephew, husband, and son all worked together this weekend to change out the rear axle. My brother could have done it faster himself but took time to explain things to my son and have him do a lot of the work. Wouldn't trade this time for the world.

The4bangertj · Oct 22, 2025

As someone who’s first car at 16 was my jeep that I still daily 10 years later. You did good.

speeding_infraction · Oct 22, 2025

JeepMama said:
When I posted on here almost 2 years ago that we bought our teenage son a 2006 TJ, a few people felt it necessary to criticize my parenting, tell me it was dumb to buy a 6sp for a teenager, laugh that he won't know how to fix it, and tell me teenage boys are wild and irresponsible and he will just tear it up.

Dollars to donuts those are the same folks that complain about nobody not knowing how to drive manual any more, etc
Glad that you all have been able to spend quality time together

JeepMama · Oct 22, 2025

speeding_infraction said:
Dollars to donuts those are the same folks that complain about nobody not knowing how to drive manual any more, etc
Glad that you all have been able to spend quality time together

Or they, themselves, dont know how to drive a manual and felt inferior to a 15yo (at the time) that could. By the time he got his license and was driving on his own, it was second nature for him.

wayleigh · Oct 22, 2025

This is great. I love to see this.

lumberjacklloyd · Oct 22, 2025

Awesome. My 99 TJ was my first vehicle at 15 and obviously had a few bad decisions...dropping front driveshaft on a dirt pile and hanging axle, hitting raised man hole cover on a power line, getting caught passing on double yellows, playing in red mud, etc.

My father was also a little worried and understandably so...It worked out with all the times in the garage wrenching together. Way to go being an awesome parent!

Apparition · Oct 22, 2025

Found the original thread so we can see the offenders.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/p0133-error-code.76310/

lBasket · Oct 22, 2025

Only 1 whiney baby in that thread tbh

JeepMama · Oct 22, 2025

Apparition said:
Found the original thread so we can see the offenders.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/p0133-error-code.76310/

I think a few of the rude comments were deleted but some of the highlights are still there. Most of the comments were friendly/helpful.

D's Jeep Wrld · Oct 22, 2025

JeepMama said:
When I posted on here almost 2 years ago that we bought our teenage son a 2006 TJ, a few people felt it necessary to criticize my parenting, tell me it was dumb to buy a 6sp for a teenager, laugh that he won't know how to fix it, and tell me teenage boys are wild and irresponsible and he will just tear it up.

Happy to report they were absolutely wrong. This Jeep has been an expensive pain in the A. But it has also given us priceless quality time with our son. He's learning how to fix things and to appreciate the time/money it takes. Our latest project- my brother, nephew, husband, and son all worked together this weekend to change out the rear axle. My brother could have done it faster himself but took time to explain things to my son and have him do a lot of the work. Wouldn't trade this time for the world.

View attachment 650698

View attachment 650699

People critized yall,Fck'Em
You buying a jeep for your teenager isn't a bad idea in my eyes,That jeep is a good vehicle to learn on,Makes you learn to be persistent

I bought my jeep when I was 18,Currently 21 and I've done quite a bit too my Lj! Learned quite a bit too

Unfortunately,All the work I did by myself so no cool memories with friends Or family

But rather driving it with friends&family

...
But yeah,Jeeps can get expensive lol. Cheapest part is the jeep

got my Lj for 11k Recently spent close to 6k manual swapping it and doing some other small odds&ends lol

JeepMama · Oct 22, 2025

lBasket said:
Only 1 whiney baby in that thread tbh

I think some others were deleted. And I should have clarified that most comments were friendly/helpful.

JeepMama · Oct 22, 2025

lumberjacklloyd said:
Awesome. My 99 TJ was my first vehicle at 15 and obviously had a few bad decisions...dropping front driveshaft on a dirt pile and hanging axle, hitting raised man hole cover on a power line, getting caught passing on double yellows, playing in red mud, etc.

My father was also a little worried and understandably so...It worked out with all the times in the garage wrenching together. Way to go being an awesome parent!

Not saying he's perfect

But he takes pride in the work (and money) we've put into it. It annoys me when people expect the worst from teenagers and assume they're all irresponsible jerks.

Question now is whether he gets to keep the Jeep when he leaves home. Technically it's mine. And I kinda want to keep it now

hear · Oct 22, 2025

My daughter bought her 97 when she was a few months away from turning 16. Found one that needed a tranny rebuild & other minor stuff, so we had it ready when she was. And after it got plowed by another teenage kid starting at his phone and his car was demolished and the TJ showed literally zero damage, I'm comfortable with my choices for her.

And I fully agree on the stick...everybody should know how to drive one (especially girls).

TheBoogieman · Oct 22, 2025

I sold my XJ to a 16 year old that just got his license. He blew the engine within a year, had his dad pay to fix it, then wanted to know if I wanted to buy it back for $2500 more than what I sold it to him for.

Not all kids/adults are created equal. You taught yours well.

Camdenst · Oct 22, 2025

Thats great. Id argue there might be a bit more patience and kindness in traffic if everyone was driving a stick

JeepMama · Oct 22, 2025

TheBoogieman said:
I sold my XJ to a 16 year old that just got his license. He blew the engine within a year, had his dad pay to fix it, then wanted to know if I wanted to buy it back for $2500 more than what I sold it to him for. Not all kids/adults are created equal. You taught yours well.
View attachment 650735

We do pay for most of the parts to keep it running so he can focus on school and sports more than working. But if he breaks something offroading or driving like a fool, that will be on his dime to fix.

06TJ35's · Oct 22, 2025

JeepMama said:
When I posted on here almost 2 years ago that we bought our teenage son a 2006 TJ, a few people felt it necessary to criticize my parenting, tell me it was dumb to buy a 6sp for a teenager, laugh that he won't know how to fix it, and tell me teenage boys are wild and irresponsible and he will just tear it up.

Happy to report they were absolutely wrong. This Jeep has been an expensive pain in the A. But it has also given us priceless quality time with our son. He's learning how to fix things and to appreciate the time/money it takes. Our latest project- my brother, nephew, husband, and son all worked together this weekend to change out the rear axle. My brother could have done it faster himself but took time to explain things to my son and have him do a lot of the work. Wouldn't trade this time for the world.

View attachment 650698

View attachment 650699

This a great! Whenever the younger generation is working with their hands is a plus.

Teach them to learn a skill because no one can take a skill away.

alittleoff · Oct 22, 2025

Good on you JeepMama and your family to share and gather helpful information on vehicle operations and maintenance. When I turned 18 last century, my Dad, a neighbor and I started to look for a flat fender that I could buy.
The ones we found were either too much of a basket case or too expensive for me to pay cash for.
My Dads friend heard about a '73 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-40 at the local dealership. So we looked at it and my Dad co-signed on my first auto loan of $2,500. It was 4 years old and had 28,000 miles on it. And I drove it for the next 34 years. I learned a lot about vehicle maintenance well beyond my knowledge of lawn mowers and Volkswagen's that my Dad and I used to work on when I was a kid.

The best to you and your family.

KennethS · Oct 22, 2025

Camdenst said:
Thats great. Id argue there might be a bit more patience and kindness in traffic if everyone was driving a stick

And less texting while driving.

Snukulu · Oct 22, 2025

JeepMama said:
When I posted on here almost 2 years ago that we bought our teenage son a 2006 TJ, a few people felt it necessary to criticize my parenting, tell me it was dumb to buy a 6sp for a teenager, laugh that he won't know how to fix it, and tell me teenage boys are wild and irresponsible and he will just tear it up.

Happy to report they were absolutely wrong. This Jeep has been an expensive pain in the A. But it has also given us priceless quality time with our son. He's learning how to fix things and to appreciate the time/money it takes. Our latest project- my brother, nephew, husband, and son all worked together this weekend to change out the rear axle. My brother could have done it faster himself but took time to explain things to my son and have him do a lot of the work. Wouldn't trade this time for the world.

View attachment 650698

View attachment 650699

I couldn't love this any more. Happy for you.

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