Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

Wife totaled her Jeep WK2 Hemi

JMT said:
Well, we went down to Carmax and got a 2024 Dodge Durango R/T Plus. It’s about the only one we could find anywhere near with the Class IV tow package, Hemi, vroom vroom! It’s only money and I feel good about it. Only 21k miles. It’s freakin’ awesome, and while I don’t particularly like all the modern infotainment crap, I’ve got 5 years of coverage for all that stuff that should get us past any issues that pop up.

It’s worth it knowing I can sell it in five years for $20+ today’s money or keep it ten years. My wife really liked it too. 🤣

I possibly could re-buy the Cherokee, but the estimate was parts heavy (over $10k). The rack and pinion was going to have to be replaced. The axle shaft was forced into the diff and there’s that. I really don’t have the time to fix it and there’s still the issue of the unibody. Just having it evaluated is $$$. I think in the grand scheme I’m ahead. Hopefully I’ll get about $20k out of the Cherokee. I will be arguing my case. I know what I’ve got. 🤣

I’m glad getting a car is over with. It’s exhausting. I’d love to be able to take our time and sort it out, but our lives are too crazy.

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Congrats. I will say, once you get over the cost premium, CarMax is about the best dealer experience I've had.

I had better reliability on the Uconnect infotainment in my last Ram than I have had in my Chevy. Should be pretty solid once you are used to it.
 
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GATORB8 said:
Congrats. I will say, once you get over the cost premium, CarMax is about the best dealer experience I've had.

I had better reliability on the Uconnect infotainment in my last Ram than I have had in my Chevy. Should be pretty solid once you are used to it.
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So much is the same in the structure of the Cherokee’s and Durangos. Durango and the Cherokee L are pretty much identical if I understand.

The UConnect sucked in the 2017 Cherokee. This is better. It has Apple CarPlay and I’m hoping it’s seamless. I’ll play with it later when she gets home. The dash is certainly very user friendly, and my wife loves that.

Carmax was easy to deal with. 1 hr 45 minutes including the test drive. We knew we wanted it. When this happens you comb the reachable market and after a day or so you know it. After that cars creep in slowly. You could wait a long time if you don’t get something you find right away. For this type of car it could be a long time, so I told her we better jump on it. She was antsy anyway. Wants her own car. I get that. Doesn’t hurt that I love me a Hemi and I can haul my LJ!
 
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BlueC said:
Isn't it? We seem to cycle out a vehicle every 5 years and I absolutely hate car shopping now. Zero joy, all pain.
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It’s a huge disruption, especially when it’s an accident. I spent months looking for the WK2. That was easier because I didn’t need a car tomorrow. I just waited and watched. This was pain to the nth. I still have a headache (literally), and I haven’t even heard back from Progressive with their offer.

I didn’t realize how disruptive the vehicle aspect of life can be. Very thankful we were able to just go buy something without much concern. Never really been at this type of spot in life.

My wife is so concerned now about driving on snow/ice, which was the conditions during the wreck. So, good lessons learned there. She’s never had an accident (45 years old). It was her fault, but the policeman did not issue a ticket. He said no one was being reckless or breaking laws, it was just unfortunate. He said the hill she was on is literally the number one place in our city where people have wrecks during snow/ice conditions. Still sucks.
 
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Nice! I like the color, pretty similar to my WK2. You'll love the Carplay, it works pretty well in my 2019, and seems like a major upgrade over the earlier infotainment. I think you made the right choice, because at the end of the day even if you decided to fix the Jeep, your time and hassle is worth something.

As far as the wreck and snow confidence, maybe it is worthwhile to pick up a set of dedicated snow tires on separate wheels so you can easily take them on and off seasonally. I had snow tires on my RWD BMW, and it made a huge difference. That car wouldn't leave my driveway in 1" of snow with all-seasons, but with the snows I could push snow with the front bumper, and braking/handling was exponentially better. I wasn't a believer in them before, but after having them the difference is night and day. Right now my daily commute is ~8 miles each way and I can be remote during snow storms, so good A/T tires work fine on the WK2, but if it was any further I'd have snow tires for it. Worth looking into at least.
 
JMT said:
It’s a huge disruption, especially when it’s an accident. I spent months looking for the WK2. That was easier because I didn’t need a car tomorrow. I just waited and watched. This was pain to the nth. I still have a headache (literally), and I haven’t even heard back from Progressive with their offer.

I didn’t realize how disruptive the vehicle aspect of life can be. Very thankful we were able to just go buy something without much concern. Never really been at this type of spot in life.

My wife is so concerned now about driving on snow/ice, which was the conditions during the wreck. So, good lessons learned there. She’s never had an accident (45 years old). It was her fault, but the policeman did not issue a ticket. He said no one was being reckless or breaking laws, it was just unfortunate. He said the hill she was on is literally the number one place in our city where people have wrecks during snow/ice conditions. Still sucks.
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We’re definitely considering a set of snow tires, especially since we’re considering a set of SRT wheels in gloss black. I think they’d look amazing. While I’m there 2k the calipers in yellow or orange. Should look awesome. Or just silver. Keep it sleek.
 
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jeepguy03 said:
As far as the wreck and snow confidence, maybe it is worthwhile to pick up a set of dedicated snow tires on separate wheels so you can easily take them on and off seasonally.
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^^ This ^^ !!!!!!! Snow tires are really great in snow . It is worth the extra cost , especially if you can avoid injury and this fun vehicle replacement issue fun .
 
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JMT said:
Well, we went down to Carmax and got a 2024 Dodge Durango R/T Plus. It’s about the only one we could find anywhere near with the Class IV tow package, Hemi, vroom vroom! It’s only money and I feel good about it. Only 21k miles. It’s freakin’ awesome, and while I don’t particularly like all the modern infotainment crap, I’ve got 5 years of coverage for all that stuff that should get us past any issues that pop up.

It’s worth it knowing I can sell it in five years for $20+ today’s money or keep it ten years. My wife really liked it too. 🤣

I possibly could re-buy the Cherokee, but the estimate was parts heavy (over $10k). The rack and pinion was going to have to be replaced. The axle shaft was forced into the diff and there’s that. I really don’t have the time to fix it and there’s still the issue of the unibody. Just having it evaluated is $$$. I think in the grand scheme I’m ahead. Hopefully I’ll get about $20k out of the Cherokee. I will be arguing my case. I know what I’ve got. 🤣

I’m glad getting a car is over with. It’s exhausting. I’d love to be able to take our time and sort it out, but our lives are too crazy.

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View attachment 666953
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All ya need is some nice black wheels, that thing looks good! Really low miles is a bonus too
 
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@MtPockets

They are legal here. I used to swap my neighbors every year. Actually I had my 17-18yr old boys do it. He’d pay them like $50 rather than wait for an appt at Les Schwab and pay who knows what. Done in 20 minutes in his driveway.
 
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JMT said:
Sheesh. Now I’m looking at TPMSensors and crap like that. 🤨 This is why I hate modern cars. Ughh…
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When I put new wheels on my Ram, they just swapped the factory sensors in and remounted the factory tires and wheels (only charged a couple dollars per) and then I sold the stocks and just listed them without tpms. Worked for me. But I may have just gotten lucky with selling them because he was putting them on an older model and didn't care.
 
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