I've never been one to name my cars, so the heading will be considerably more boring than most.
As posted in this thread. I got my Jeep last Friday.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/first-jeep.69901/#post-1315059
I've always wanted a Wrangler but never felt it was suitable for me. However an imminent move to Spain is changing that. I'll preface the whole post by admitting that the closest i've ever come to driving/being passenger in a Wrangler is a hire of a Suzuki Jimny. Same concept. Not quite the same car.
We needed an Auto due to my wifes shoulder and i convinced myself i needed the 4.0 engine. Having driven it i'm glad i did as it's certainly not fast and i imagine the 2,5 would be worse!
The only one i could find was in Madrid, the pictures looked decent and i got a decent video from the dealer and excitement made me jump at it. I paid €15,750 which is just the extortionate price you pay in Spain. It's a 1998 Wrangler 4.0 Auto with 56000km and mostly stock.
It got loaded on the Transporter on Thursday and dropped off with me Friday
The immediately disappointing this was this thing was filthy on the inside. I've never had a car from a dealer that's not been valeted on arrival, still it wasn't enough to take the shine off. I went back to work and that night we went down to a local beach town (Javea for anyone that knows Costa Blanca Spain).
I loved it, my wife slightly less so, she's a bit of a germaphobe so the dirt didn't help. We've also come from a Lexus NX, which was about as comfortable as it gets, with electric everything.
There were a few things which needed addressing. There was an interior light fitted which didn't work and had been wired in a horrific manor. I set about the plan to clean it, however decided as we needed to do some shopping i'd drop it off at a valeting place. €40 later and it was lovely and clean, and way better than i could've done with limited stuff given we're in a rented place.
I'll also admit that my mechanical skills are next to zero. I had a 1/4 socket set back in the UK, but nothing here, so picked up some 1/2" sockets and bars. They'll come in handy in the future as i want to get more involved in maintenance.
Got home and set about removing the broken light. At some point the wire had some broken protection and shorted on a dashboard fixing bolt. Didn't think anything of it, until 11pm that night when driving home from a restaurant on some winding mountain unlit roads with only the parking lights illuminated. Still a new fuse and that's all fixed. Just need to pull off the hot glue they'd used for fixing the wire.
I know i don't know what i'm doing, but am sure there must be a better way for wiring in 12V accessories...
The previous owner also added some door speakers. However one tweeted has fallen into the door card. I tried to get to that, but think i need a special tool to remove the door cards. That's on the list.
Moving onto the issues, my wife who wasn't wearing the roses tinted glasses and is more critical, pointed out a lot of panel gaps. On more looking, they all seem to centre around the fact it's taken a whack on the drivers side. The bonnet isn't level, the door is bent out and the hard top doesn't line up on the drivers side.
There's also a bent control arm underneath and the fender doesn't meet the bumper properly.
Some of you may have seen these pics as i posted on Facebook, but here they are again.
I know these cars are designed to take a beating. However my plans are purely for a civilised beach car. Some might say i've bought the wrong car, and in some cases they'd be right. However i had a list of criteria:-
Automatic (Wife)
Convertible (Me)
High up seating position (Wife)
Small footprint (Wife)
Able to stick a paddleboard on the roof (Me)
Make you smile (Me)
As you can see from the list above, the criteria fall into very different buckets for each of us, and she'd have been happy with a Mini. However, a promise she is probably already regretting is that she gave me full decision making ability on a car in Spain. Maybe we'll end up with a second car. Especially as a recent law change here has excluded the TJ from any City with a population over 50,000. Efficiency for traveling anyway is also brutal!
The TJ is one of the very few cars which fit the bill. The Jimny also would've worked, but finding an Auto was damn near impossible. A JK might've been more suitable, but i didn't want the 2.8CRD and the 3.6/3.8 is harder to find here without spending a lot more money. They also grew out quite a bit, and would make winding streets in the old towns difficult.
Given the damage above, i was at a point of wondering if i'd bought a lemon, and so booked it in a local garage to have a look. Guy had a look and then took it for a drive. Came back saying it's one of the best he's driven which was good. He said he wouldn't suggest doing anything. He did bend the door back into shape with his hands, so hopefully that helps wind noise.
A Jeep specialist is also in the process of opening <10 miles away which is ideal. However, based on some conversations on Facebook messenger their accessories might be aiming at the higher end. €575 for some LED headlights for example!
For the next 5 weeks until we return to the UK, the plan is to just enjoy it really. When i'm then back in Spain later in the year for a permanent move, i'm gonna book it in for a proper check/service as i imagine a lot of rubber seals will be dried up and benefit from being replaced. An old car with low mileage always has these risks i figure. No point ignoring them.
The hard top is also pretty faded, he quoted €200 for spraying it. I might go with white to help with the sun although my wife pulled a face when i suggested that! No point doing it yet though, as when i'm in the UK it's gonna be parked up under loads of pine trees at my parents.
I've ordered some sound proofing which i'm going to stick in the engine bay and inside the hard top. Then will order some Noico 80 to do the tub/doors when i'm here properly and can strip the car apart in space as it's currently on the street.
My list of plans. Mainly to make it more comfortable
Soundproofing
LED Headlights
Double Din Stereo with Carplay
Side Steps (Already ordered as my wife can barely get in the car)
Electric Windows
Keyless Entry
Towbar
Bedrug/Other carpet
New seats/Upholster the existing ones
Full sized centre console if i can find one
Armrests for the doors, maybe just the passenger one
Obviously i've created this thread and will then ignore it for ~6 months when i'm back in the UK. Although i might start to accumulate parts to bring back out with me!
As posted in this thread. I got my Jeep last Friday.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/first-jeep.69901/#post-1315059
I've always wanted a Wrangler but never felt it was suitable for me. However an imminent move to Spain is changing that. I'll preface the whole post by admitting that the closest i've ever come to driving/being passenger in a Wrangler is a hire of a Suzuki Jimny. Same concept. Not quite the same car.
We needed an Auto due to my wifes shoulder and i convinced myself i needed the 4.0 engine. Having driven it i'm glad i did as it's certainly not fast and i imagine the 2,5 would be worse!
The only one i could find was in Madrid, the pictures looked decent and i got a decent video from the dealer and excitement made me jump at it. I paid €15,750 which is just the extortionate price you pay in Spain. It's a 1998 Wrangler 4.0 Auto with 56000km and mostly stock.
It got loaded on the Transporter on Thursday and dropped off with me Friday
The immediately disappointing this was this thing was filthy on the inside. I've never had a car from a dealer that's not been valeted on arrival, still it wasn't enough to take the shine off. I went back to work and that night we went down to a local beach town (Javea for anyone that knows Costa Blanca Spain).
I loved it, my wife slightly less so, she's a bit of a germaphobe so the dirt didn't help. We've also come from a Lexus NX, which was about as comfortable as it gets, with electric everything.
There were a few things which needed addressing. There was an interior light fitted which didn't work and had been wired in a horrific manor. I set about the plan to clean it, however decided as we needed to do some shopping i'd drop it off at a valeting place. €40 later and it was lovely and clean, and way better than i could've done with limited stuff given we're in a rented place.
I'll also admit that my mechanical skills are next to zero. I had a 1/4 socket set back in the UK, but nothing here, so picked up some 1/2" sockets and bars. They'll come in handy in the future as i want to get more involved in maintenance.
Got home and set about removing the broken light. At some point the wire had some broken protection and shorted on a dashboard fixing bolt. Didn't think anything of it, until 11pm that night when driving home from a restaurant on some winding mountain unlit roads with only the parking lights illuminated. Still a new fuse and that's all fixed. Just need to pull off the hot glue they'd used for fixing the wire.
I know i don't know what i'm doing, but am sure there must be a better way for wiring in 12V accessories...
The previous owner also added some door speakers. However one tweeted has fallen into the door card. I tried to get to that, but think i need a special tool to remove the door cards. That's on the list.
Moving onto the issues, my wife who wasn't wearing the roses tinted glasses and is more critical, pointed out a lot of panel gaps. On more looking, they all seem to centre around the fact it's taken a whack on the drivers side. The bonnet isn't level, the door is bent out and the hard top doesn't line up on the drivers side.
There's also a bent control arm underneath and the fender doesn't meet the bumper properly.
Some of you may have seen these pics as i posted on Facebook, but here they are again.
I know these cars are designed to take a beating. However my plans are purely for a civilised beach car. Some might say i've bought the wrong car, and in some cases they'd be right. However i had a list of criteria:-
Automatic (Wife)
Convertible (Me)
High up seating position (Wife)
Small footprint (Wife)
Able to stick a paddleboard on the roof (Me)
Make you smile (Me)
As you can see from the list above, the criteria fall into very different buckets for each of us, and she'd have been happy with a Mini. However, a promise she is probably already regretting is that she gave me full decision making ability on a car in Spain. Maybe we'll end up with a second car. Especially as a recent law change here has excluded the TJ from any City with a population over 50,000. Efficiency for traveling anyway is also brutal!
The TJ is one of the very few cars which fit the bill. The Jimny also would've worked, but finding an Auto was damn near impossible. A JK might've been more suitable, but i didn't want the 2.8CRD and the 3.6/3.8 is harder to find here without spending a lot more money. They also grew out quite a bit, and would make winding streets in the old towns difficult.
Given the damage above, i was at a point of wondering if i'd bought a lemon, and so booked it in a local garage to have a look. Guy had a look and then took it for a drive. Came back saying it's one of the best he's driven which was good. He said he wouldn't suggest doing anything. He did bend the door back into shape with his hands, so hopefully that helps wind noise.
A Jeep specialist is also in the process of opening <10 miles away which is ideal. However, based on some conversations on Facebook messenger their accessories might be aiming at the higher end. €575 for some LED headlights for example!
For the next 5 weeks until we return to the UK, the plan is to just enjoy it really. When i'm then back in Spain later in the year for a permanent move, i'm gonna book it in for a proper check/service as i imagine a lot of rubber seals will be dried up and benefit from being replaced. An old car with low mileage always has these risks i figure. No point ignoring them.
The hard top is also pretty faded, he quoted €200 for spraying it. I might go with white to help with the sun although my wife pulled a face when i suggested that! No point doing it yet though, as when i'm in the UK it's gonna be parked up under loads of pine trees at my parents.
I've ordered some sound proofing which i'm going to stick in the engine bay and inside the hard top. Then will order some Noico 80 to do the tub/doors when i'm here properly and can strip the car apart in space as it's currently on the street.
My list of plans. Mainly to make it more comfortable
Soundproofing
LED Headlights
Double Din Stereo with Carplay
Side Steps (Already ordered as my wife can barely get in the car)
Electric Windows
Keyless Entry
Towbar
Bedrug/Other carpet
New seats/Upholster the existing ones
Full sized centre console if i can find one
Armrests for the doors, maybe just the passenger one
Obviously i've created this thread and will then ignore it for ~6 months when i'm back in the UK. Although i might start to accumulate parts to bring back out with me!
