As the title states. I have a 2012 2 door JK. It's great, but I never offroad and my mpg is horrible so I think the renegade might be a better fit for me. There are 2 identical Anvil Trailhawks for sale at a local lot. One is a 2016 with 15k miles and the other is a 2015 with only 4k miles. They are both priced at $24K. Which one would you go with? The '15 with less miles or the '16 with more miles? Thanks
Since you do not go off road is there really a need for a Trail Hawk? There are some crazy deals right now, I just paid 4200 below sticker for mine. I was looking for a daily and fairly base so I picked up a Sport, 4wd, 1.4l 6speed for <18k I think.
2nd the 16. I have one as my DD and really really like my Trail Hawk. I still have the YJ for serious off roading. A man can NEVER have too many jeeps.
My buddy just got a 16 Trailhawk going from a lifted Chevy Silverado and we took it to some trailheads in WA for hiking. It handles really well and he loves it. I really like it as well, its kind of like a Cocker Spaniel. Its small/compact with a metric ton of spunk and good efficiency for its size. Only thing I have an issue with is I'm not a huge fan of the bi-tone color scheme but that can be negated with the grey combo choice.
I know this thread is not been active for several months, but as as of last week I added a 16 Renegade in the 75th Anniversary trim (2wd). I also have a JKU that my wife DD's and a 91 YJ that was my DD. I opted for this one mainly due to the fact I wanted decent MPG's and I love the Jungle Green Color. First impressions are way better than I had originally thought, it drives really good and has many creature comforts that obviously my YJ does not have, such as AC and not to mention GPS. Our JK is the sport so we really just got a few upgrades and to be honest if you are really looking for comfort the JK is a good upgrade to an older Jeep, but the Renegade definitely gives the most bang for the buck with comfort. I get the same range of not more in miles per tank with the small 12 gallon tank in the Renegade as I do in the 22 gallon tank in the JKU. Just something to consider when making the comparison. If you are not using the JK or any other solid axle Jeep for at least partial use off road there is no reason to go that direction unless you just want the look there is just never going to be the same level of comfort and mileage when you are pushing that weight in a drive train. Which is why I also opted for a 2wd Renegade, there is obviously less drag than with a Wrangler system but if mileage is the concern like it was for me than that really is the best option. I still have my occasional snowy day covered with the ability to choose one of my other Jeeps. Sorry for the long all over the place post, I was hoping to throw out there some of my opinions about this vehicle which I would have never looked at twice and now am absolutely thrilled about!
People always talk about mpg, but at $3 per gallon, driving 15k a year, going from 19 mpg JK to 30 mpg BU only saves $550 a year. That's drop in the bucket. My 2010 Rubicon meets 19 mpg easily and it was about $33k new. It fetches about $10k now, so almost all depreciation is sunk at this point. If I drag it out to 2022 and junk it, I'm paying $2k per year, plus that $550 in "gas guzzler tax". If I get a new Renegade for, say, $25k, I'm going to pay $4k per year, assuming I can sell it at the end of term. It's plainly obvious that 4 is larger than 2.55. Sticking with JK is free money, despite its poor mileage.
We can presume that YJ has a worse mileage, but its depreciation happened back in the 90s, or 20 years ago. You can do 10 mpg and still win over 30 mpg BU. You need gas above $7/gallon to start breaking even with the purchase of a new car.
Just face it: new car is nicer and you have to pay for it.
P.S. I forgot to mention, if your JK or TJ starts falling apart, the cost of repair is going to tilt the equation the other way. So far I was lucky, only got $500 worth of trouble in 2017 (leaking transmission cooler lines). The gap between $2.5k and $4k is only $1.5k. If JK starts eating a grand in repairs each year, it's Renegade time.
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